For half a century, how couples met in America was primarily shaped by family and friend networks, communities, churches, colleges, and workplaces – you know, just the traditional fabric of Western society. However, the advent of the internet and the rise of Big Tech, with its closely guarded algorithms (and now AI bots), have dramatically reshaped modern romance. Yet, new data from Goldman suggests that how couples meet, whether online or through dating apps, may have reached a major inflection point.
The three-decade trend is clear: traditional networks, whether through friends, bars, or other social circles, haven’t dominated how couples meet since the late 1990s. The internet changed everything. But the question now is, how sustainable is the trend of finding your partner on a dating app?
This brings us to a report published by a team of Goldman analysts led by Eric Sheridan, who provided clients with everything they need to know about dating app companies tracked by GS ahead of the third quarter earnings season.
We won’t focus on Sheridan’s downgrade of Bumble from “Buy” to “Neutral” or the key investor discussions surrounding Match Group and Grindr. Instead, the focus is on new SensorTower data cited by the analyst, which shows that monthly active users and download growth across major dating apps have been stuck in a funk.
The highlights of the data (US only) include:
Monthly Active Users: During July-September, Hinge posted MAU growth of +6% YoY, while all other tracked dating apps declined.
Downloads: Download trends during the quarter remained negative, with Bumble app downloads -39% YoY (driven in part by lower marketing spend).
The question now is: what’s changed in how people perceive meeting a significant other online? Could it be a growing trust issue that meeting a random stranger on the internet feels increasingly risky, given the occasional horror stories? Perhaps people are rediscovering the real value of meeting through friends or social circles, where some level of vetting naturally occurs. Whatever the reason behind the apparent slowdown in online dating momentum, younger generations may be quietly shifting back to the basics.
As several governments aim to battle climate change by shifting away from fossil fuels and pursuing a green transition, many are revisiting a long-overlooked energy source – nuclear power.
Nuclear power was at the top of many countries’ energy agenda for several decades before a few notable nuclear disasters shifted the public perception of the clean energy source, and several governments halted development for years. Now, as studies show that nuclear power is one of the safest forms of energy, so long as strict oversight mechanisms are in place, we are seeing a revival in the clean energy source. However, one of the major constraints to development is the high cost of project development.
Nuclear power plants are relatively cheap to run, but the cost of developing a new plant and reactor is extremely high, costing several billion dollars to set up. Many governments are funding the development of nuclear energy facilities through public-private partnerships to alleviate the financial burden on the state. In addition, private investors are often more willing to fund nuclear projects that have the political and financial backing of the government as a reassurance.
Over the last year, several tech companies have signed agreements with nuclear companies to gain access to a vast amount of nuclear power once projects come online, as they aim to find a cleaner way to power advanced technologies, such as data centres and artificial intelligence (AI). The widescale deployment of these technologies is expected to drive up the world’s energy demand significantly over the coming decades, and governments are increasingly shifting the burden to tech companies to find clean energy sources to power their operations instead of relying on the existing grid.
In September, representatives from some of the world’s biggest uranium and nuclear energy firms, as well as nuclear experts and investors, met for the annual World Nuclear Association (WNA) symposium to discuss the potential for nuclear investments, with investments in the nuclear value chain expected to increase to $2.2 trillion by 2050 from $1.5 trillion in 2024, according to Morgan Stanley.
Many investors are hesitant to invest in nuclear power due to the uncertainties involved in project development. The construction of new nuclear plants and reactors is extremely complex, and projects can often run over budget and take years longer than anticipated to develop, as seen with EDF’s Sizewell C nuclear power plant in the U.K. The cost of developing Sizewell C has almost doubled to $51.9 billion since it was first proposed, which will result in higher bills for consumers. This is largely due to the lack of nuclear power construction in recent decades, which has driven up the costs of new project development, compared to countries such as China, where projects are generally delivered on time and within budget.
One investor, Arfa Karani, emphasised the change in the nuclear power investment environment in recent years. She explained how the U.K. government has adopted a more hands-on approach to supporting nuclear power and related tech startups in securing investors. “The regulation has to figure itself out. It’s no longer a question of where do we get the capital from? …because now suddenly it’s become a matter of national security and global power and global dominance,” Karani said. “All the insolvable problems suddenly become solvable, which is very exciting for nuclear,” she added.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2025 publication “The Path to a New Era for Nuclear Energy” explores the new policies, projects, investments, and technological advances driving the development of new nuclear power. The report shows that, in a rapid growth scenario, annual investment would need to double to $120 billion by 2030. This means that the rollout of new nuclear projects cannot rely exclusively on public finances. The IEA highlights the importance of bringing down financing costs and attracting private capital to the nuclear power sector.
The IEA’s Executive Director Fatih Birol stressed that “governments and industry must still overcome some significant hurdles on the path to a new era for nuclear energy, starting with delivering new projects on time and on budget – but also in terms of financing and supply chains.”
The IEA also suggests that the introduction of small modular reactors (SMRs) could help reduce costs and that with the right support, SMR installations could reach 80 GW by 2040, accounting for 10 percent of overall nuclear capacity globally. However, the report states that the success of the technology and speed of adoption will hinge on the industry’s ability to bring down costs by 2040 to a similar level to those of large-scale hydropower and offshore wind projects.
With support from several state governments, we can expect to see a wide-scale rollout of nuclear power capacity in the coming decades. However, the extent of the capacity growth will depend largely on how much private funding governments can attract to the nuclear power market through the introduction of favourable policies and regulations, as well as public funding into new projects.
Saudi Arabia’s grand Vision 2030 ambitions may be colliding with a colder fiscal reality.
Fitch Ratings warned Friday that Riyadh faces rising financial risks as oil prices soften and government spending balloons, threatening the kingdom’s plans for fiscal consolidation.
The numbers tell the story: Saudi Arabia now expects a budget deficit equal to 5.3% of GDP in 2025—nearly double its original 2.3% forecast—before narrowing to 3.3% in 2026.
The deterioration comes largely from weaker oil income, Fitch said, with non-oil revenues holding up but not enough to offset the gap. The rating agency pointed to revenue shortfalls and overspending as the main culprits, noting the massive capital outlays required by megaprojects like NEOM.
This week’s pre-budget statement from Riyadh signaled a shift toward tighter fiscal discipline, but Fitch noted the tension between Saudi’s promises of restraint and its reliance on the Public Investment Fund’s trillion-dollar Vision 2030 agenda.
That tension is only magnified by sliding crude prices, with Brent down more than 7% this week on speculation of further OPEC+ supply hikes.
Those hikes are themselves controversial. Reuters sources have floated that Saudi Arabia wants much larger quota increases than Russia, moves that could win back market share but put additional pressure on oil prices. OPEC has already lashed out at the newswire, dismissing reports of a half-million-barrel increase as “wholly inaccurate.” Yet the clash illustrates the stakes: Saudi Arabia’s fiscal health depends on a stable oil market, but its production strategy is geared toward defending long-term relevance, even if that risks lower near-term prices.
Fitch said fiscal tightening would ultimately come through modest spending cuts, stable oil revenues, and continued growth in non-oil income. But the kingdom’s vulnerability to oil price swings remains obvious. Vision 2030 may be designed to break the dependence on crude—but for now, Saudi Arabia’s books are still hostage to it.
Georgia Condemns ‘Coup Attempt’ After Pro-EU Protesters Try To Storm Presidential Palace
Chaos has once again hit Georgia’s streets, as a large group of demonstrators attempted to storm the presidential palace in the capital Saturday, at a moment of controversial municipal elections.
Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream has gone so far as to describe unrest in the capital is an attempt to stage a coup in the country. “This is a direct attempt at a coup. They literally broke into the presidential palace,” the ruling party’s general secretary and Tbilisi Mayor, Kakha Kaladze, has said.
Opposition parties have charged Georgian Dream with being too close to Russia and running the country based on authoritarian rule, and so called for the mass boycott of the municipal elections.
Thousands of protesters were seen in Freedom Square and along the central Rustaveli Avenue. The flag of the European Union was being waved prominently alongside Georgian flags, which for ruling officials has raised the spectre of the influence of Western ‘anti-Russian’ NGO’s.
Protesters had at one point set fires, blocked roads, and engaged in confrontations with police – resulting in riot control measures being deployed. Russian media says:
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze reiterated his claim that the protests were “organized by foreign intelligence agencies” to overthrow the government.
He vowed an “uncompromising” stance against lawbreakers, stating that “anyone who participates in operations ordered by foreign special services will be given a just punishment,” according to First Channel.
🧵🇬🇪 UPRISING Tbilisi, Georgia 🇬🇪
Mass protests are taking place on the occasion of the local parliament elections:
“The demonstrators have completely blocked traffic on Melikishvili Avenue. They accuse the authorities in power, including the founder of the ruling party… pic.twitter.com/wvn4i8X8u6
By evening, groups were seen marching toward the presidential palace and tried to breach the perimeter fence, after which the government declared it an illegal gathering.
RT writes further, “People began gathering in the center of Tbilisi Saturday evening. Later, one of the organizers urged demonstrators to take the keys to the presidential residence into their own hands. They stormed the property and managed to break into the courtyard of the residence.”
Protesters earlier en route to the standoff at parliament and the presidential grounds…
Tens of thousands of people are continuing to stream in to Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenu, heading towards the protest outside the Georgian Parliament.
The country of some 3.7 million people has been beset by accusations of election fraud under ruling officials. These charges grew more fierce in the wake of last year’s contested parliamentary elections, during which time the government froze the EU accession process.
Once again a former Soviet satellite state finds itself in the center of an ‘east-west’ struggle involving European integration on one side, and the Russian sphere of economic and political influence on the other.
It’s highly suspicious that Zelensky just claimed without any evidence that they were launched by Russian tankers and subsequently demanded that Europe close the straits to its shipping in response…
Unknown drones recently flew in close proximity to Danish and Norwegian airports, prompting speculation among some that they were Russia’s delayed hybrid retaliation against NATO for backing Ukraine’s drone flights in proximity to Russia’s own airports over the past few years.
No evidence has emerged in support of that hypothesis, but Zelensky still dishonestly passed off such claims as fact during his speech at the latest Warsaw Security Forum.
According to him, “there is growing evidence that Russia may have used tankers in the Baltic Sea to launch drones – the drones that caused major disruption in Northern Europe. If tankers used by Russia are serving as drone platforms, then such tankers should not be free to operate in the Baltic. This is de facto Russia’s military activity against European countries, so Europe has the right to close straits and sea routes to protect itself.”
His proposal for NATO to close the Danish Staits to Russian shipping on this pretext, which would amount to an illegal blockade that could thus legitimize offensive action by Russia in self-defense, was predictable given Ukraine’s and some of its patrons’ interest in escalating the bloc’s tensions with Russia. In fact, it might even be the case that this was the false flag that Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service twicewarned could soon be staged by the UK and Ukraine, albeit ultimately taking a different form.
They assessed that those two might orchestrate potentially forthcoming provocations in the Baltic that would then be blamed on Russia in order to justify cracking down on its sanctioned energy trade that the West dramatically describes as being conducted by a “shadow fleet” transiting through that sea. While no US ship was targeted with Ukrainian-transferred Soviet/Russian torpedoes nor were such mines fished out of the Baltic, Scandinavia’s Russian drone scare still arguably fulfills the same role.
Skeptics might insist that Russia resorted to “plausibly deniable hybrid retaliation” against NATO, yet it’s illogical that Russia would risk anything that could justify the same escalation that Putin’s restraint has thus far avoided, the same goes for the earlier drone incident in Poland. Ditto that for the associated accusation that it violated Estonia’s maritime airspace. All these incidents were spun by the West as deliberate Russian provocations and preceded escalatory proposals misportrayed as “retaliation”.
The Polish and Estonian ones were exploited to get Trump to greenlight NATO downing Russian jets on the basis of them violating the bloc’s airspace, which might embolden some to attempt this on false pretexts, while the Scandinavian ones were exploited to call for closing the Danish Straits to its shipping. Both concern escalations in the Baltic, which could amount to an illegal blockade that obstructs the free movement of Russian planes and ships there, thus also placing unprecedented pressure on Kaliningrad.
This insight strongly suggests that Scandinavia’s Russian drone scare was indeed a false flag to justify cracking down on Russia’s “shadow fleet”, though it’s presently unclear whether any NATO members will cross the Rubicon by seriously making any such move like closing the Danish Straits to its shipping. In any case, Zelensky’s proposal proves that he’s trying to manipulate Trump into a disaster of epic proportions together with some of his like-minded NATO patrons, but hopefully Trump won’t fall for it.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.
Trump To Slash Refugee Admissions By 94% From Biden Levels
The Trump White House is poised to dramatically reduce the number of refugees that will be accepted into the United States over the next fiscal year — with the ceiling falling a whopping 94% from the limit set by the Biden administration, according to a New York Times report.
Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Times says a maximum of just 7,500 refugees would be admitted over the coming year, a tiny fraction of the 125,000 limit set by the Biden administration last year. Most of those slots would be reserved for white Afrikaners fleeing South Africa and its murderous violence against white people and the looming threat of uncompensated land confiscation. Afrikaners now represent less than 5 percent of South Africa’s population.
The pending reduction and prioritization of white refugees elicited condemnation from promoters of mass immigration. “Such a low refugee ceiling would break America’s promise to people who played by the rules,” Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) president Mark Hetfield, told the Times. “Trump isn’t just putting the Afrikaners to the front of the line, he is kicking years-long-waiting refugees out of the line.” HIAS has itself been hammered by Trump policies, slashing its staff by more than half after the new administration slashed funding for refugee programs.
In May, a group of 59 white Afrikaner refugees arrived in the United States via a chartered flight, raising eyebrows given the speed with which they were whisked into the country, in contrast to people from other countries who’ve faced waits that extend over years. “They tell quite harrowing stories of the violence that they faced in South Africa that was not redressed by the authorities by the unjust application of the law,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said after welcoming them to Dulles International Airport near Washington DC.
BREAKING: First white South African refugees fleeing persecution arrive in the U.S.
On Sep. 30, Trump signed a presidential determination to reset the ceiling. However, it won’t become official until after consultations with Congress that are required by federal law. For now, those consultations will seemingly have to wait until the government shutdown ends. Earlier this week, a quartet of Democratic senators and representatives used a joint letter to accuse Trump of neglecting his duty:
“Despite repeated outreach from Democratic and Republican committee staff, the Trump administration has completely discarded its legal obligation, leaving Congress in the dark and refugees in limbo…The consequences are dire…[the virtual shutdown of the program is] betraying the nation’s promise as a refuge for the oppressed.”
Moving aggressively to put the brakes on Biden’s open-border policies, Trump suspended the refugee program with an executive order signed shortly after his inauguration. He similarly suspended the acceptance of migrants presenting at the border under a different official avenue referred to as asylum. Trump subsequently carved out an explicit exception to his refugee-program suspension for Afrikaners. However, it appears the total number of Afrikaners to be accepted into the United States this year is less than 100.
Meanwhile children are taught to sing “kill the boer(white man), kill the farmer” in South Africa.
“prrr phaaa”….
Imagine white people teaching their children songs to kill black people. I’t would be all over mainstream media.pic.twitter.com/tlZCDKkdnl
Making it to the United States via the refugee program often entails a multi-year wait in overseas refugee camps, along with successfully passing interviews, background checks and medical exams. Some 130,000 conditionally-approved refugees and 14,000 Iranian religious minorities who’ve already cleared the prerequisites are stuck in limbo.
In other news on the immigration front, the Trump administration has started offering $2,500 apiece to unaccompanied migrant children who are age 14 and older if they’ll self-deport to their home countries. The policy was instituted via a memorandum sent to the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday afternoon. NBC News, which obtained a copy, also reported that, according to rumors among immigration advocates, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has christened the self-deportation scheme “Freaky Friday.” ICE refuted the name, but confirmed the program, emphasizing that it was a “strictly voluntary option to return home to their families.” In just one of many dimensions of the previous era of open-border madness, more than 300,000 unaccompanied children entered the country during the Biden administration.
“Shock Outcome:” Japan Hardline Conservative Takaichi Elected Party Leader, Set To Become First Female Prime Minister
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi as its new leader, positioning her to become the country’s next prime minister in a parliamentary confirmation vote expected in mid-October.
Takaichi, 64, a staunch conservative and vocal China hawk, defeated her moderate rival Shinjiro Koizumi by 185 votes to 156 in a runoff at LDP headquarters in Tokyo. The victory makes her Japan’s first female party president and, almost certainly, its first female prime minister since the LDP remains the largest bloc in parliament and opposition parties are too fragmented to mount a united challenge.
As Goldman trader Ippei Yamaura writes, the outcome was a shock: “Before the election began, polymarket were pricing an 80%+ probability of a Koizumi victory. Odds for Koizumi dipped somewhat as local vote tallies came in, but most observers still viewed developments as broadly in line with expectations. Betting markets held around 60–80% until the first-round result was released. The first-round outcome was largely in line with expert expectations (arguably a touch less favorable for Takaichi), and betting markets again raised the implied probability of a Koizumi win. However, in the runoff, Takaichi secured more Diet member votes than anticipated, reportedly with support from the Aso faction. Some Diet members who had backed Hayashi were also said to have shifted to Takaichi, as Hayashi did not whip his supporters for the runoff. Virtually no one—including media, political analysts, opposition parties, and even LDP insiders—had expected this result (and myself).”
Moments after the result was announced, Takaichi called for unity and renewal inside a party battered by scandal and electoral setbacks. “Rather than feeling happy right now, I feel real challenges lie ahead,” she said. “We must all pull together across all generations and work as one to rebuild the LDP. Everyone will have to work like a horse.”
The leadership race followed deeply unpopular Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation in early September after a year in office and two election defeats due to a stagflationary debacle culminating in soaring prices (of mostly food products) and a deteriorating economy. The handover comes at a time of economic uncertainty, social transformation, and mounting geopolitical tensions across the Asia–Pacific region.
Takaichi, the pro-stimulus and anti-immigration conservative poised to become Japan’s first female prime minister widely viewed as Abe 2.0, is an energetic nationalist with a soft spot for the hard-nosed politics of Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher and the heavy metal music of Iron Maiden. In choosing the former economic security minister as its leader, the Liberal Democratic Party is essentially betting on a swing back to the right to attract the younger voters who have flocked to smaller populist outfits, including the arch-conservative Sanseito party.
It’s a move that could backfire if the party is seen simply reverting to the easy money and hawkish diplomacy of her mentor, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, without any new ideas.
An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and protégé of the late Shinzo Abe, Takaichi has championed Abe’s conservative agenda and frequently visited the Yasukuni Shrine, a flashpoint in Japan’s relations with its Asian neighbors, primarily China. Her win is expected to reassure the LDP’s nationalist base but will complicate diplomacy with China and South Korea.
As Bloomberg notes, Takaichi is expected to become premier later this month in a parliamentary vote. In becoming the LDP’s chief, Takaichi has already smashed a glass ceiling in a nation that has only seen male ruling party leaders.
Her ascent to the top of the political world will send ripples through the male-dominated society that languishes near the bottom end of global gender equality rankings. But like Thatcher, the former UK prime minister whom she cites as an inspiration, her conservative views place her a long way from the stance of progressive feminism.
Her ability to build a lasting legacy as the nation’s leader will depend less on her ability to further the position of women than on her capacity to restore the fortunes of a ruling party in disarray after decades of dominance in postwar Japan.
“From a normal woman’s perspective, she’s what you might call an idol for ‘old men,’” said Mieko Nakabayashi, politics professor at Waseda University. “She’s someone who expresses ‘old man’ opinions from a woman’s mouth and makes them happy.”
If confirmed, Takaichi will soon face her first diplomatic test: a potential meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of October, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea amid reports that the US president will make a stop in Japan in late October during a trip to Asia. Takaichi has pledged to make the Japan–U.S. alliance the cornerstone of her foreign policy. “It is essential to … confirm the reinforcement of the Japan–U.S. alliance,” she said, adding that Tokyo must deepen cooperation with partners such as South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Takaichi’s election drew swift international reactions. U.S. Ambassador to Japan, George Glass, issued a statement congratulating Takaichi on becoming the 29th president of the LDP and its first female leader. “I look forward to working with her to strengthen and grow our partnership on every front.”
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te offered his “most sincere and warmest congratulations” on X, calling Takaichi a “steadfast friend of Taiwan” and expressing hope that her leadership would usher in a “new stage” of cooperation in trade, security, and technology.
China’s Foreign Ministry reacted cautiously, calling the outcome “Japan’s internal affair.” In a statement, the spokesperson’s office said Beijing hopes Tokyo would “promote a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship.”
Takaichi’s longevity at the head of a fickle political machine known for quickly axing its presidents will depend on how swiftly she can unite the party, win back public support and connect with those younger voters. She will also need to build consensus with opposition parties to pass legislation in a parliament where the LDP no longer has a majority.
Takaichi was the most forthright among the five candidates in the leadership race over the possibility of renegotiating parts of Japan’s trade deal with the US. But she toed the line following her election on Saturday, saying that an immediate renegotiation was not on the table. She still said Japan will make its opinions known through the appropriate routes should the deal not serve its interests.
But she said that might happen only if there are problems implementing the deal in its current form, a comment that suggests she is on board with the agreement for now.
On issues such as ramping up Japan’s defense spending and capabilities, containing China’s growing influence and building supply chains that align with US interests, she is likely to be a good match for Trump’s views. Still, she likely has less name recognition among US conservatives who have met her rival in the leadership contest, Shinjiro Koizumi, and who remember his father Junichiro wearing Elvis shades and serenading former President George W. Bush two decades ago.
“Takaichi has extensive experience as a politician, and since the US’s hardline stance toward China does not significantly conflict with her own views, she should be able to build a good relationship with President Trump,” said Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute.
For investors, the main concern will be her reputation for wanting spending to achieve growth and her penchant for central bank stimulus to goose the economy. In the latest leadership campaign, she toned down her scathing views on the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hikes from last year, when she described its raising of rates as “stupid.” But in a recent Kyodo survey she still said the BOJ should leave interest rates unchanged for now. That comment comes amid expectations the bank may raise borrowing costs again later this month. Still, it is very likely that the yen will tumble on Monday sliding toward 150 if not lower.
Her spending plans are less clear. All of the candidates were expected to unleash a package of economic measures to help consumers deal with inflation in the fall, but she was the boldest in saying that extra bond issuance may be needed. In line with many in the LDP, she remains cautious on the idea of opposition demands to lower the sales tax, one of the costliest options for dealing with the cost-of-living crunch.
Instead Takaichi has promised cash handouts and tax rebates to help households. She’s also hinted at raising the tax-free income allowance before the end of the year, a move that would resonate well with the Democratic Party for the People, another populist party that has made major inroads in the last year or two.
While saying her spending plans will be “responsible” and that she’ll ensure the nation’s net debt load will fall over time, she said “the goal is achieving economic growth, not fiscal health,” in a sign of her expansionist spending tendencies.
“While she always leaned toward a reflationary stance, the current economic environment has changed significantly, and curbing inflation has become the country’s mission,” said Meiji Yasuda’s Kodama. “Opposing the BOJ’s rate hikes would be contradictory, so I don’t think she can make extreme statements regarding monetary policy.”
Still, the possible outcome for markets when they open on Monday is a fall in the yen on expectations of slower central bank normalization, a rise in stocks on a weaker currency and an uptick in super-long yields on fears over longer term spending plans.
Background
Takaichi was born on March 3, 1961 and grew up in the ancient capital of Nara, a city known for the emergence of Buddhism in Japan. Her father worked as a salesman at an equipment manufacturing company while her mother worked for the Nara police force. She studied business management at Kobe University.
As a student, she rode a motorbike and played drums in a heavy metal band, and counts herself as a fan of British heavy-metal bands Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, according to local media. She still occasionally picks up the sticks to hammer away on an electric drumset at home, if she squabbles with her husband, she told a local broadcaster in an interview. Her go-to song is “Burn” by Deep Purple.
“To be honest I wish I could go out for karaoke, but I’ve been reining myself in these past years,” she said in that interview.
She studied at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, an organization focused on producing leaders in the world of politics and industry.
She worked briefly as a news anchor before winning her first election in 1993 as an independent at a time when the LDP was in disarray following the bursting of Japan’s economic bubble. That election saw a multitude of opposition parties join forces to form a patchwork administration and oust the LDP for the first time since its formation. But as it has done subsequently, the LDP found a way of regrouping and taking back power, while most of the parties that ousted it have vanished.
Over her years as a politician, including her time as internal affairs minister, promoter of “Cool Japan” and as economic security minister, Takaichi has garnered a reputation as studious with an attention to fine detail. She is known to shun socializing and drinking with her peers.
“If I’m going to go out for dinner or have a drink, I’d much rather work or study something new,” she said during a campaign speech last year, adding that she often works over weekends.
Shortly after winning the LDP election she doubled down on that message. “I’m going to abandon the phrase ‘work-life balance,’” she said, prompting laughter from the rows of LDP lawmakers listening to her speech. “There is a mountain of things that we must accomplish together and I would like to see you work like horses.”
As a conservative darling and Abe protege, China may be wary of how she navigates a relationship that has remained tense in recent years.
Previously, Takaichi did not mince her words when asked whether she would visit Yasukuni shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead including those who were charged as war criminals after World War II. Visits by previous prime ministers have angered neighboring countries and proven to be a flashpoint for Japan and China.
“Once the sentence is carried out, they are no longer criminals,” she said during a live TV show last week. She toned down her messaging after being elected Saturday, saying that she’ll make appropriate decisions over praying at the shrine.
She opened her campaign speech with a gripe about foreign tourists in Nara, saying she had heard of some tourists kicking the deer that roam freely in the local parks.
That gripe seemed to tap into broader anxieties felt by the public as the number of foreign-born visitors and workers rises amid a drop in Japan’s own population. With Sanseito gaining ground in elections by capturing such concerns under a “Japanese first” message, Takaichi could be the conservative icon the LDP thinks it needs to win back right-wing voters. Among the five candidates, she consistently ranked as the most popular in recent opinion polls among the general public.
In a twist of irony for Japan’s likely first female prime minister, her conservatism may not bode well for gender equality issues. She opposes same-sex marriage or allowing spouses to have separate surnames, claiming it could undermine family unity. Novelist Kyoko Nakajima once called Takaichi “an honorary man” for maintaining views consistent with a traditional male-centered society, the Japan Times reported in 2021.
And while her appointment breaks a glass ceiling, it also risks becoming a glass cliff.
“Female leaders are often given some leeway for not doing things the ‘traditional’ way,” said Waseda’s Nakabayashi, who was skeptical whether Takaichi’s election represents a new era for women in Japan. “That’s why it’s often the case that women only get the leadership positions when the going gets really tough.”
Expected Market Reaction
The equity market may move higher on expectation for increased fiscal expenditure, potentially driven by a larger defense budget and/or tax reductions, and/or cuts to social insurance costs. In her letter to Hudson Institute, she cites the following themes as potential growth areas: …
Industries include AI, semiconductors, perovskite, digital, quantum, nuclear fusion, materials, biotechnology, aerospace, shipbuilding, drug discovery and advanced medicine, disaster prevention, defense Industries, and more.
Of these, defense and next generation power are the areas which have meaningful impact on large caps while potential losers should be financials on fear for pressure on BOJ rate hikes. *though I believe story of “regional banks consolidation” will keep going.
Defense: MHI(7011, Buy), KHI(7012, Buy CL), IHI(7013, Buy), Japan Steel works(5631, Buy, also work as a nuclear power play), Sky perfect JSAT(9412, Buy, also aero/space related), Melco(6503, Buy), NEC(6701, Buy), Fujitsu(6702, Buy), Namura(7014, Buy, Shipbuilding).
Next generation power: Japan Steel works(5631, Buy, nuclear power related), Hitachi(6501, Buy, SMR related), MHI(7011, Buy, Advances Light Water Reactor), Sekisui Chemical(4204, perovskite-related), TEPCO(9501, NR, nuclear power), KEPCO(9503, NR, nuclear power and light water reactor), Hamamatsu Photonics(6965, NR, Nuclear Fusion)
In the FX market, the yen will move lower as investors still think Takaichi can possibly delay BOJ’s rate hike. Although she has milder tone on BOJ recently, she says “In terms of economic policy, the government is responsible for deciding the direction of fiscal and monetary policy“. Although BOJ have recently paved the way for another rate hike and OIS market priced 60% chance of Oct hike as of Friday close, investor may now think BOJ to face higher hurdle to do so, which may drive the yen lower.
While the yen will slide, JGB yields will go higher on fears for further fiscal expenditure. Although Takaichi recently reiterates she does care about fiscal discipline, she is said to feel no issue with nominal debt increase as long as the pace of increase is lower than nominal economic growth. i.e. nominal debt goes lower vs GDP driven by growth. Unless JGB market shows some kind of meaningful crush, she can possibly try to stimulate economy through expanding fiscal expenditure.
Of course, we will continue to pay close attention to fiscal discipline. The first priority is ensuring fiscal sustainability. To that end, we will monitor the markets and take appropriate measures to stabilize and reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio.
The JGB yield is a key for equities market too. As long as JGB market shows solid moves, I believe equities market can welcome inauguration of Takaichi. However, once JGB market is crushed, equities market may face valuation headwind from higher JGB yields.
Advisers to Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir proposed to US officials the construction of a new port on the Arabian Sea near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran, according to a Financial Times report released Saturday, citing a plan reviewed by the outlet.
The plan envisions US investors constructing and managing a terminal in Pasni, a coastal town in Gwadar District, Balochistan. The site is described as a gateway to Pakistan’s vital mineral reserves.
The blueprint rules out any US military bases. Instead, it highlights development finance opportunities for a rail network linking Pasni to mineral-rich western provinces, the report says.
The British financial outlet noted that the proposal was circulated to some US officials and later shared with Munir in advance of his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
That meeting, held late last month, followed earlier talks in September when Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought US investment in agriculture, energy, technology, and mining.
According to FT, Sharif pressed Washington to encourage private-sector involvement in Pakistan’s economy, while Munir’s advisers positioned the Pasni port project as a strategic opportunity for American companies.
The report noted that the initiative reflects Islamabad’s efforts to attract western development financing, particularly for infrastructure projects linked to the country’s resource sectors.
Reuters reported that the US State Department, the White House, and Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment. Attempts to reach the Pakistani Army were also unsuccessful.
Alongside economic overtures such as the Pasni port proposal to the US, Pakistan is also reshaping its defense posture in West Asia, utilizing its new mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia to anchor itself as a security guarantor.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed last month that the pact is defensive, not expansionist, and left the “door open” for other Arab states to join, comparing it to NATO.
The American College of Cardiology recently released recommendations indicating that inflammation should be considered when trying to predict heart disease.
In a report issued in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Sept. 29, the college said that the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) blood test that measures CRP, a known inflammatory marker that increases in response to inflammation in the body, can determine whether a person is at risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD).
“Because clinicians will not treat what they do not measure, universal screening of hsCRP in both primary and secondary prevention patients, in combination with cholesterol, represents a major clinical opportunity and is therefore recommended,” said the American College of Cardiology.
“In patients with known CVD, hsCRP level is at least as predictive of future events as LDL cholesterol levels, even in patients treated with statin therapy,” the college said in a separate statement.
It is referring to low-density lipoprotein that is sometimes called “bad” cholesterol, and statins, meanwhile, are a class of drugs that are used to lower cholesterol in the blood.
“In individuals with increased inflammatory burden, an early initiation of lifestyle interventions is recommended to reduce inflammatory risk,” the report said, adding that a “finding of a persistently elevated hsCRP level should lead to consideration of initiation or intensification statin therapy, irrespective of LDL cholesterol.”
The report further stated that for people who have cardiovascular disease who are either taking or not taking statins, the inflammation measurement “is at least as powerful a predictor of recurrent vascular events as that of LDL cholesterol” and shows the importance of evaluating residual inflammation in patients.
It also noted that a low dose of colchicine, a medication that is used to treat gout and sometimes a type of heart inflammation called pericarditis, has been shown to reduce cardiovascular events in individuals with chronic stable atherosclerosis, or the buildup of fats and cholesterol on artery walls.
A type of monoclonal antibody called canakinumab has been shown to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events, they said.
The researchers noted that some anti-inflammatory drugs such as methotrexate, corticosteroids, and TNF inhibitors have not shown benefits in major trials. (ZH: Methotrexate is particularly ‘problematic’ as they say for multiple reasons)
The group recommended that health providers should encourage people to focus on the “consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and olive oil” and increase the intake of omega-3 fatty acids by including fish in their diet.
They’re also encouraged to focus on minimizing red and processed meats, refined carbohydrates, and sugary beverages, it said, adding that other lifestyle changes that may be recommended for individuals with high inflammatory markers include more exercise, quitting smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight.
A study published last month, conducted by researchers at Florida Atlantic University, found that there is a correlation between people whose diets have the most ultra-processed foods and higher levels of hsCRP, the marker of inflammation.
“The time is also ripe for the development of strategies to promote increased physician awareness of the crucial role of inflammation in CVD and accelerate the adoption of evidence-based, guideline-directed anti-inflammatory therapy through dissemination and implementation research,” the college said.
* * * Anti-Inflammatory supplements in order of effectiveness
After Quiet Hurricane Season Peak, Meteorologists Monitor New Development In Atlantic Basin
Last year, the global-warming alarmists at Yale Climate Connections were once again citing research claiming that “human-caused climate change made many recent extreme weather events far more damaging.”
A year late, Yale Climate Connections journalists are glitching because they can’t explain “Another round of weird peak-season quiet in the Atlantic tropics.”
So what changed over the past year? Did global warming suddenly evaporate, or did the funding to push the narrative dry up?
But only time will tell if these progressive Ivy League elites, operating under the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, within the Yale School of the Environment, are right about human-caused climate change dooming the planet.
After all, Democrats have pushed narratives that span everything from cow farts and Taylor Swift’s private jet to gas stoves, 2-stroke dirt bikes, and petrol-powered cars that present immediate doom to the planet.
Why? Because Democrats used climate propaganda as cover for the biggest heist on the U.S. Treasury …
Much of their credibility has been staked on pushing immediate ‘climate doom porn’ – using Greta Thunberg as a puppet – insisting that unless we pay more climate taxes, drive more EVs, and destabilize the grid with intermittent solar and wind, the world is literally toast.
However, let’s return to the topic of the quiet hurricane season that has perplexed climate alarmists.
Last month, Ernesto Rodríguez, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service forecast office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said that it was only the second time that no named storms had formed during the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season since modern record-keeping began in 1950.
“Usually, conditions during this period are prime,” Rodríguez said around mid-September. The quietest peak was recorded in 1992, after Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida.
But, we’re not out of the woods yet, and perhaps the next tropical wave in the Atlantic Basin will provide climate doomers with some cover and generate climate propaganda in corporate media outlets. We do miss the days when climate alarmists told us the world would burn to a crisp by 2023 (read here). Yet here we are, still sitting on the Bloomberg Terminal, penning this weather note while eating a burger.
So here is what The Weather Channel’s meteorologists are focusing on ahead of next week: “The National Hurricane Center has increased the odds to a medium chance of development for a tropical wave coming off the coast of Africa.”
Keep an eye on this tropical wave, which could become a tropical storm or hurricane near the Lesser Antilles – at some point next week.
Strong signal that our next tropical wave could become a tropical storm or hurricane near the Lesser Antilles next week…
Long term, we need to keep an eye on this in case it enters the Caribbean Sea. pic.twitter.com/8hdSorDLqJ
