Has it really been 25 Years since 9/11? My end-of-week morning reads:
• 25 Years After the Sept. 11 Attacks, Lower Manhattan Is Thriving: The neighborhood’s population has roughly tripled, dozens of office buildings became apartments, and financial services no longer dominates downtown employment. (Wall Street Journal) see also How a Restaurant at the Top of the World Trade Center Changed New York: Windows on the World, over 100 stories up the North Tower, was a culinary juggernaut. (Wall Street Journal)
• What is driving the global rise in long-term interest rates? Rising bond yields are likely down to stronger investment demand, more supply of long-duration debt and less absorption by yield-insensitive investors. Gene Frieda’s Bruegel analysis — stronger investment demand, more supply of long-duration debt, and less absorption by yield-insensitive investors. (Bruegel)
• The Dramatic Story of the Pentagon on 9/11: From the co-author of Firefight, the definitive account of what happened at America’s military headquarters. The momentous terror attacks 25 years ago almost put the Pentagon out of commission. These are the people who kept the military’s nerve center open for business. (The Pinpoint Press) see also After 9/11, Documents Suggest, New Yorkers Were Misled About Air Quality: The Mamdani administration releases more than 170,000 pages on the air around the World Trade Center site — the mayor says city leaders “lied” about it being safe. (New York Times)
• Franklin Templeton Turns the Tide as Western Asset Crisis Recedes: Asset manager moves past painful chapter to extend franchise in public and private markets and reach $1.8tn in assets. Harriet Clarfelt on the abrupt denouement — Ken Leech pleaded guilty to obstructing the cherry-picking investigation, after well over $150 billion in redemptions from Western Asset. (Financial Times).
• A Personal Recollection From a Day of Horror: A first person accont of that dreadful day. (The Big Picture) see also Postscript: The follow up, a few weeks later. (The Big Picture)
• 14 Reasons Robotics Is Hard: AI progress is racing along, but nearly all of it lives inside a computer — a skeptical tour of the parallel race to build broadly capable humanoid robots. (Second Thoughts)
• The Staggering Financial Cost of 9/11: Quantifying in dollar terms the toll taken by a horrific event and its many consequences. (City Journal) see also Trump’s 9/11 Fantasies: Trump has made similar claims in interviews for decades, claiming to have sent 100 or more construction workers to Ground Zero. Trump has claimed he “helped“ clear rubble and “spent a lot of time down there.” There is no evidence any of this is true. Judd Legum on the president marking the anniversary by describing his own role in heroic terms. (Popular Information)
• The Metta of Mister Rogers: Twenty-five years after his last episode aired, Gayathri Narayanan on Fred Rogers’ enduring practice of loving-kindness and seeing the good in others. (Lion’s Roar)
• A Long War Will Permanently Damage Oil Demand: Tim McDonnell on the structural shift underway as the conflict grinds on. In other words, rather than being Big Oil’s biggest booster, Trump could be dragging forward the moment of peak consumption. (Semafor) see also Trump Is Preparing for a Long War: The military is doing long-term planning for its force in the Persian Gulf, risking further strain on the Navy. Nancy A. Youssef on the military’s long-term plansand the further strain on the Navy. (The Atlantic).
• Jimmy Kimmel’s Interview With James Talarico Heading to YouTube to Avoid FCC Hassle: The Texas Senate candidate’s sit-down gets pulled from the ABC broadcast and streamed instead. (Hollywood Reporter)
Video of the day: NFTs Are Still a Thing, Apparently
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Seth Bernstein, CEO of AllianceBernstein and Head of Asset Management of Equitable Holdings, the 69% owner AB. The firm manages $905.5B. Previously, he spent 32 years at JPMorgan Chase, where he eventually became the Global Head of Managed Solutions & Strategy at JPAM, responsible for all discretionary assets for Private Banking clients, and Global Head of Fixed Income & Currency. He eventually became CFO of JPM’s Investment Management & Private Banking division.
How much of August’s payroll strength was seasonal?
Source: US Economist BofA
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