Wall Street will survive 2026 on government cash after the AI bubble pops. We put our hand on the stove in 2016, got burned, then did it again. Some will make fortunes from misery—most will just suffer. The question: who gets the money and what's it worth? Watch the full video: youtu.be/-aT9ceVbt8Q

From @snmrrw.bsky.social at @moreperfectunion.bsky.social: We're in an AI bubble. But who inflated it and who gets hurt when it pops? OpenAI wants your electricity, water, data, writing, art, plus acceptance of job loss and deepfakes for a future promise. Watch the full video: youtu.be/-aT9ceVbt8Q

A new longform piece; 40 years of data prove it: trickle-down is a scam. From Reagan to Trump, the pattern never changes—tax cuts for the rich, crumbs for workers, exploding inequality. The wealthy don't spend like we do. Investment follows demand, not tax cuts. Time to build from the bottom up.

Dec 18th: Japan hiked rates, nations dumped U.S. Treasuries in seismic capital flows. The yen carry trade is unwinding. So if everyone's selling our debt but auctions show strong demand, who's buying? Those Cayman accounts… Watch the full video: youtu.be/-aT9ceVbt8Q

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got heckled in public for his "sanctions that starve people worldwide." Best part? The worst hedge fund manager in the world goes full Karen and asks to see the manager. Protect this brave heckler at all costs. Watch the full video: youtu.be/-aT9ceVbt8Q

Trump's post stole the conversation we should be having about Reiner's legacy. His films defined a generation but reflected an America that never existed—papering over brutal realities while giving us enduring art. 🎧 Listen to the latest episode of #UNFTR: The Rob Reiner Conversation We Deserved.

Our final episode of 2025! I predict the 2026 economic disaster, reveals who's keeping the 1%'s dream alive, plus clips from More Perfect Union, headlines from Jacobin & Common Dreams, and the Chart of the Week. Dig in, Unf*ckers. Watch the full video: youtu.be/-aT9ceVbt8Q

When I was a teenager I pretended to like The Smiths. I didn't. As an adult, I really like The Smiths. Not sure what that says but I'm listening to The Queen is Dead and it's fucking great.

Our last OTR for 2025. Highlights of the week in Bizarro America then a blow-by-blow economic prediction for all of 2026. Shouts to Drey Dossier, @moreperfectunion.bsky.social, Time Suck, @ddayen.bsky.social, @commondreams.org and @jacobinmagazin.bsky.social and Old Tom Joad.

Prof. Steve Keen (who predicted the '08 crash), appeared on @owenjones.bsky.social, warning AI will eliminate entire job categories—leaving millions unable to work. His solution: UBI. Not radical, but the only way to prevent mass starvation. Watch the full video: youtu.be/XHUN6f37yEg

Foreign central banks pulled $100B from U.S. treasuries through October—a complete reversal from last year's $31B inflow. For the first time, we're not the safe bet. Governments worldwide are working around our debt because we're unreliable partners. Watch the full video: youtu.be/3aLZBcCd478

Trump's fiscal policy in focus: cut rates + halt immigration = inflation spike. Tax cuts, corporate loopholes, estate tax giveaways—all designed to keep money in small circles while propping up asset prices as an inflation hedge. AI bubble? Try America. Watch the full video: youtu.be/3aLZBcCd478

The Democratic Party needs to recognize that repair isn't the job anymore—reimagining is. We rely entirely on the Fed's blunt instruments while monetary policy's relationship with employment has completely broken down. #UNFTR for @meidastouch.com. Watch the full video: youtu.be/iDfxVzW84f8

The recent treasury data is a total bombshell. I know the Epstein files are grabbing the headlines and this is in the weeds, but Bessent is blowing it and our debt picture is dire. Sell America is real. (Includes fun footage of Bessent getting yelled at btw.) Seriously, this is huge.

We can enjoy Rob Reiner films while recognizing they're liberal fantasies, not blueprints. We're not looking for another Andrew Shepherd—we need to dismantle the military-industrial complex, fight for universal healthcare, and dream bigger than nostalgia. Watch the full video: youtu.be/wh3Y9A4EmHg

Mortgage rates are dropping, but here's the catch: they're falling because we're already in a deep recession. Fed rate cuts aren't helping homebuyers—they're bailing out commercial property owners. Trump's talking points have collapsed. Watch the full video: youtu.be/XHUN6f37yEg

Trump claims he's the "President of Peace" while Congress just handed him a record-breaking $900B military budget—$8B more than he even asked for. Meanwhile, he's prosecuting regime change in Venezuela and bombing the Caribbean. Some peacemaker. The latest from @rashedmian.bsky.social for #UNFTR.

Kevin Hassett claims tariffs are "mixed," the deficit is down $600B (it's up $27B), & Black Friday broke records (volumes dropped). Then says he wants to talk to Trump "every day until we're both dead" while running the Fed independently. What a great guy! Watch the full video: youtu.be/XHUN6f37yEg

Rob Reiner deserves better than Trump's deranged statements. His movies mean a great deal to my generation so I wanted to offer a more thoughtful analysis of his impact. Because, f*ck Donald. No whitewashing. Just a sincere reflection on a cultural icon and what his movies say about us.

Watching whatever this speech is. He is melting. Coming apart in front of our eyes. I can't imagine what's on the teleprompter but if he goes off script, he could declare war on (insert mispronounced country here) by riffing. This is the most unhinged yet.

84+ new measles cases this week—the most since April. 114 cases in South Carolina alone, mostly affecting the unvaccinated. Coming soon under RFK Jr: polio in the Southwest, typhoid in Maine, scurvy in the Plains. We're doing great. Watch the full video: youtu.be/XHUN6f37yEg

Economics needs a Copernican revolution—centering the worker, not the market. We're in the financialization phase where money makes money from money, and the real economy is now secondary to financial games. #UNFTR for @meidastouch.com. Watch the full video: youtu.be/iDfxVzW84f8

NO WAR WITH VENEZUELA

December 18: The Bank of Japan hikes rates while we get new Treasury International Capital data. Japan's rising bond yields mean billions repatriating from U.S. Treasuries. Translation: Sell America, Buy Japan is on. Watch the full video: youtu.be/XHUN6f37yEg

Housing stabilizes (somehow bad news), Hassett lies better than Bessent, Antifa in your basement, Long Island embarrasses itself, measles make a comeback, Mets are doing who knows what, and Japan's about to torch U.S. Treasuries. On The Record, 12/15/25. Watch the full video: youtu.be/XHUN6f37yEg

ICYMI Our weekly news primer. It was a horrific weekend of murder and mass shootings. Housing might correct for all the wrong reasons. Yen carry trade unwinding. Kevin Hassett is a moron. Shouts to @bestoftheleft.com @owenjones.bsky.social @profstevekeen.bsky.social.

Layaway is back. Credit card debt at record highs. Americans defaulting on everything. If you're living paycheck to paycheck, worried about bankruptcy, and cutting back on gifts—you're not alone and it's not your fault. #UNFTR for @meidastouch.com. Watch the full video: youtu.be/iDfxVzW84f8

My latest for @meidastouch.com. I dissect the Fed's insufficient policies to support the labor market amid Trump's effort to destroy it, then offers solutions that Democrats must pursue to put the pieces back together once the Trump era finally ends.

Biden promised normalcy, but normalcy died in 2016. Like Commodus who destroyed Rome through corrupt appointments, loyalty purges, and economic ruin, Trump is systematically dismantling institutions. The longer we're Trumpified, the greater the risk. Watch the full video: youtu.be/8tj4bzSlpDE

Trump accounts: government funds handed to Wall Street, minimal family benefit, maximum inequality. 50M Americans need food banks today—but billionaires would rather feed Goldman Sachs management fees 18 years from now. #UNFTR for @meidastouch.com. Watch the full video: youtu.be/aZb8S5AtQ1M

Trump's immigration ban targets 19 nations—many of them destabilized by U.S. sanctions & military action. Meanwhile American-born white supremacists are the actual terrorism threat. They're not even using coded language anymore—just open racism. Watch the full video: youtu.be/0l0ef8T4S7g

Trump's 2025: Guantanamo immigrant detention, disappearing people to CECOT, attacking free speech, striking Iran without Congress, federalizing local police, and launching regime change ops in Venezuela. The year of the imperial presidency. The latest from @rashedmian.bsky.social for #UNFTR.

My Spotify Wrapped estimated my age. 80. I have the listening habits and tastes of an 80 year old. Am I mad? No. I feel seen.

ADP data shows private sector job losses accelerating—but only at small businesses. Big firms are using their power to crush competition through price dominance while small businesses drown in tariffs, bankruptcies, & debt. #UNFTR for @meidastouch.com. Watch the full video: youtu.be/4vcrkx5n4Hs

"Liam Neeson Swears He’s Pro-Vaccine — Despite Narrating New, Controversial Anti-Vaxx Doc" www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...

Shout out to @franifio.bsky.social for using #Wicked to explain liberals vs leftists: Glinda makes symbolic gestures & stays comfortable in power while Elphaba rejects it all to fight the system. This is the longform analysis we need more of. Watch the full video: youtu.be/0l0ef8T4S7g

Participation trophy week: FIFA & Kennedy Center hand out medals while 3 healthcare plans go nowhere, Bessent finds a fake inflation index, October's budget explodes, and yes—the metaverse still exists (barely). On The Record breaks it all down. Watch the full video: youtu.be/0l0ef8T4S7g

Trump's revenge presidency echoes Emperor Commodus—the beginning of Rome's fall. He's fundamentally altered our culture and country. Moving past this moment will be our greatest challenge. 🎧 Listen to the latest episode of #UNFTR: The Revenge Porn Presidency.

Now that government data is flowing, I did a catch up piece on the labor market for @meidastouch.com. Part one of two. Jobs, inflation, immigration & financialization.

Super late putting this out today! My bad. OTR for 12/08. US "whites only" immigration, @franifio.bsky.social gets the KLTW, Kennedy Center and FIFA nonsense and Scott Bessent is lying again. Headlines from @currentaffairs.bsky.social, @jacobinmagazin.bsky.social and @theintercept.com #UNFTR

Trump's political existence was born at the 2011 Correspondents' Dinner. While everyone laughed at Obama's joke, Trump sat stone-faced, seething. The ultimate grudge calcified. He seized decades of right-wing groundwork and made absurdity our new normal. Watch the full video: youtu.be/8tj4bzSlpDE

ICE detained 600 immigrant kids this year—more than the previous four years combined and a new record. America is still separating families, we just don't let anyone see it anymore. Source: @propublica.org. Watch the full video: youtu.be/QRYQdYaikGk

Trump's second term isn't chaos—it's systematic revenge. While we're distracted by his daily outbursts, he's dismantling institutions with ruthless efficiency. His name will join Machiavelli, Orwell, McCarthy—shorthand for something terrible. Watch the full video: youtu.be/8tj4bzSlpDE

Thank you for helping UNFTR reach the 100k subscriber milestone! This is a quick thank you to those responsible for our growth, and a look ahead to what’s next for the channel. youtu.be/kQSKHupllS4

Would anyone care to do the honors to be our 100,000th subscriber on YouTube? www.youtube.com/@UNFTR

We're less than 300 subs away from 100k on YouTube. Please do us a favor and subscribe today! We'd love to cross that threshold by end of day. Tell your friends too! www.youtube.com/@unftr

Trump is so dumb that Chinese state media edits his statements to make him sound smarter. They remove his jokes from transcripts, calling it "regrettable behavior of a barbarian," so their leaders appear to have a worthy adversary. Source: @truthdig.com. Watch the full video: youtu.be/QRYQdYaikGk

Latest vid for @meidastouch.com digging into the economics behind Trump Accounts, how Michael and Susan Dell are pissing away $6 billion and the real reason they created these accounts.

A ruthless presidency built on personal enrichment and revenge. Is it possible to move past it or is this our Commodus era? Pondering the end of empire.

The media parroted "record Black Friday sales" while ignoring the reality: in-store traffic down 3.6%, volume down 1%, prices up 7%, credit card debt at $1.23 trillion. Kevin Hassett says people "feel richer." This guy wants to run the Fed. Watch the full video: youtu.be/QRYQdYaikGk