US household incomes

Median household income topped the peak hit just before the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching $87,460 in 2025, up 2.6pc from 2024 after adjusting for inflation, new Census Bureau data show. Upper-income households posted gains while lower-income households didn’t, reflecting a growing divide where high earners are doing most of the spending. Furthermore, after two straight years where the pay gap between women and men widened, women had a good year. Women who worked full time year-round earned about 84 cents for every dollar comparable men earned, up from about 81 cents the previous year. Women have also gained 765,000 jobs since December 2024, while men have lost 6,000 in the same span, according to Labour Department data. However, the annual Census report on households’ financial well-being does not account for data since the war in Iran led to soaring gas prices, higher inflation and more pressure on Americans’ wallets.

(Adapted from “American Incomes Hit Record Last Year As Women Gained Ground,” by Paul Overberg and Rachel Wolfe,” published on September 15, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

Debate over AI safety

Over the past week, a global reckoning about the risks of AI spread from Silicon Valley’s frontier labs to living rooms across America and the corridors of power in Washington and Beijing. Until he publicly resigned from Anthropic and warned about the dangers of AI systems that could end humanity, Jacob Coxon was anonymous. Within days of sounding the alarm, leaders of rival labs came together in a rare moment of unity and agreed it’s time to slow down rapidly accelerating technological development. Since he resigned, top executives of the world’s most valuable companies and AI labs have found themselves on opposite sides of the debate that he ignited. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said he agreed with Coxon more than he disagreed. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he admired Coxon’s courage but questioned his claims about the future and condemned predictions of Armageddon as irresponsible.

(Adapted from “The Anonymous Math Geek Who Quit Anthropic — And Became The Face Of AI Safety,” by Amrith Ramkumar, Erin Woo, Berber Jin and Ben Cohen,” published on September 16, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

Musk’s political power

For years, Elon Musk has used his social-media megaphone to boost anti-establishment parties outside the US. Before last year, the overwhelming majority of Musk’s more than 200m followers likely had never heard of Rupert Lowe, the man Musk says should be Britain’s next leader. The Journal analysis shows that Musk’s attention has given the already-ascendant Lowe a significant digital boost — a retweet or mention from Musk has more than twice the number of likes on average compared with an unamplified post from the same period. And even Lowe’s unboosted posts now get more than double the number of likes and views they did before. Now ministers are at a loss over how to push back without provoking a direct confrontation with the Trump administration, whom Musk has helped bankroll.

(Adapted from “Elon Musk Trains His Political Chaos Machine On The UK,” by Jenny Strasburg, Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, and Max Colchester, published on September 15, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

Jobs without degrees

For most US workers — those without college degrees, that is — it is one of the best job markets in decades. In fact, the unemployment rate for workers ages 22 to 34 who never graduated from college has rarely been lower in the past two decades, according to a new analysis by labour-market think tank Burning Glass Institute. However, those with college educations are having one of their worst runs. And those with advanced degrees or in fields such as science and technology are having an even harder time than usual. That divergence of fortunes is a departure from what the US economy has seen for years, and much of it boils down to supply and demand: There aren’t enough skilled tradespeople to go around, for example, as older generations retire and immigration drops. Meanwhile, more Americans have college degrees than ever, just as AI is doing more of the entry-level work companies typically hire young graduates for.

(Adapted from “Americans Without College Degrees Are Having One Of The Best Job Markets In Years,” by Theo Francis and Ray A Smith, published on September 6, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 21st, 2026