Bessent Leads Trade Talks With China In Paris Ahead Of Trump-Xi Summit Ahead of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, China and US have begun a fresh round of trade talks to set the stage for the main event.  Trade negotiators led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng held talks in Paris on Sunday to map out plans for a leaders’ summit later this month. The first day of the talks concluded around 6 pm local time...

French Municipal Elections Provide Early Test For Le Pen's National Rally Ahead Of 2027 Presidential Race Takeaways France held the first round of municipal elections on Sunday in nearly 35,000 municipalities, serving as an initial indicator of political momentum ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) is seeking to expand its limited local presence, with ambitions focused on southern cities such as Perpignan, Marseille, Nice and Toulon. Pr...

Waiting For Markets To Open By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities One thing that has become incredibly consistent during times of financial stress is all of the “green dots” on Bloomberg terminals on Sunday night. This Sunday night is likely to be no different. There are plenty of questions being asked (at a presentation on Thursday at a conference in Vegas, I may have, for the first time, faced too many questions!). There will be time to figure out how we got here. What went ...

Tucker Carlson Claims CIA Trying To Frame Him For FARA Violation; Loomer Celebrates In a bombshell Saturday monologue, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson alleged that the CIA has been monitoring his private text messages as part of an effort to frame him for a crime and trigger a criminal referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ).  "The other day I found out that the CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me, a crime report to the Department of Justice...

Cotton And Stefanik Bill Targets CCP Ties In U.S. Military Trucking Submitted by American Truckers United, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) have introduced the “Trucking Security and CCP Disclosure Act of 2026.” This legislation requires any carrier handling Department of War equipment to certify that neither it nor its subcontractors are owned, controlled by, or maintain significant ties to entities on the Department of Defense’s list of Chinese military...

US Navy Surveillance Plane Made Provocative Flight Over Taiwan Strait, Weeks Before Trump-Xi Summit With the world's attention hyper-focused on fast-paced events in Iran and the effectively shuttered vital oil transit hub, the Hormuz Strait, some significant things were also happening around Taiwan this past week. The US military confirmed that a P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, a move that predictably drew Beijing's attentio...

Over 3 Million Iranians Forcibly Displaced Under US-Israeli Bombardment More than 3 million Iranians have been displaced by the ongoing US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, according to the main UN refugee agency. Ayaki Ito, director of the Division of Emergency and Program Support at the UN refugee agency, has described that the US-Israeli attack has already triggered mass internal displacement across Iran. "Between 600,000 and 1 million Iranian households are now tempo...

Iran War Exposes America's Unfixed Supply Chains Authored by David Dayen via The American Prospect, One of the more fascinating sidelights of our war of choice in Iran is how it has reinforced the devastating consequences of our hollowed-out industrial base, consolidated commercial sector, and overreliance on long intermediated supply chains. Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile during operations i...

Honda Projects First Loss Since 1957 - $15.7 Billion - Thanks To EV Strategy Fail Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A reassessment of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., corporate electric vehicle (EV) strategy and planned cancellation of three EV models for the North American market could lead to losses totaling approximately $15.7 billion for its fiscal year ending March 31, the company said in a news release on March 12. A Honda SUV e: Prototype electric vehicle is...

Mamdani Proposes Massive Estate Tax Exemption Cut From $7M To $750K, Among Other Tax Increases New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is urging Albany to consider a sweeping overhaul of New York’s estate tax, proposing to sharply lower the exemption threshold and dramatically increase the top rate on large inheritances. His plan would cut the exemption from more than $7 million to $750,000 while boosting the highest tax rate from 16 percent to 50 percent, Bloomberg reported.  The id...

Gun Control's Endgame: No Guns For Anyone Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClearPolitics, Gun control advocates do not just oppose civilian gun ownership; they also argue that guns in the hands of police make people less safe. Gabby Giffords In January, a Border Patrol agent in Portland shot and wounded two Venezuelan nationals who belonged to the violent Tren de Aragua gang after they allegedly tried to run agents over with their vehicle. In response, Kris Brown, presiden...

Major UAE Fujairah Port In Flames As Iran Vows Escalation For Kharg Island Attack Upon the overnight major US attack on Iran's key oil hub of Kharg island, here's what Iran's military is threatening to do by way of response and escalation - which was also entirely predictable: "If Iran’s oil, economic, or energy infrastructure is attacked, we will immediately destroy energy and economic infrastructure across the region belonging to companies with American shareholders or ties to...

The Most Expensive Science Lesson in European History Authored by James Hickman via SchiffSovereign.com, On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan and triggered a massive tsunami that slammed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Three of the plant’s six reactors melted down, and it became the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. On the other side of the world, German Chancellor Angela Merkel panicked. Her government had extended th...

The AI Boom Is Creating A Global Memory Chip Shortage A global shortage of memory chips is emerging as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure surges, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Large technology companies are locking in supply by signing long-term agreements and paying higher prices to guarantee access to chips years in advance. Because these deals are more profitable, chip manufacturers are increasingly directing production toward AI customers. This shi...

UK Councils Warn Schools: Children's Drawings Could Be Blasphemous Under Islamic Law Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, In yet another assault on free expression in British classrooms, schools are being instructed by Labour councils to treat kids’ innocent drawings as potential offenses under Islamic interpretations.  Guidelines warn that depicting humans or prophets could spark blasphemy complaints, forcing teachers to tiptoe around religious sensitivities at the e...

US Issues $10M Bounty For Location Info On Mojtaba Khamenei & Ali Larijani The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice program has newly issued a $10 million reward for information on the whereabouts of Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani. The alert calls for information on the two "Iranian terrorist leaders" at a moment of ongoing heavy bombardment of Iran by the US and Israel. Interestingly ...

SNAP Recipients Sue Trump Administration Over Sugary Food Restrictions Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries sued the Department of Agriculture on March 11 over the issuance of waivers to five states restricting certain types of foods that can be purchased under the program. On May 19 last year, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins issued a waiver to Nebraska that bans SNAP recipients in the state fr...

Vance Sidesteps Questions On Reported Differences With Trump Over Iran War The national media has begun to take note this week that the Iran War is expected to dominate the midterm conversation. This is especially after Republican Sen. Rand Paul's recent warnings. As we reported, he said days ago midterm elections could be "disastrous" if the Iran war persists into a quagmire.  "Already, we are behind the eight ball as far as the electoral process," Paul had told Fox Business. "...

CDC: Little-Known Virus With No Vaccine Spreading In US Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is spreading in the United States, including in California and the Great Lakes region, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A person receives a vaccine in Los Angeles in a file photograph. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images Symptoms include cough, fever, and nasal congestion, and, unlike better-known resp...

UBS And Goldman Map The Paralysis Across Hormuz Chokepoint The second week of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is coming to a close, with no visible off-ramp yet emerging, even as the White House continues to project victory. Goldman now expects the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz to persist for three weeks, a timeline that suggests further intensification of what the IEA has already described as an unprecedented global energy shock. Focusing on the Strait of Hormuz chokepoi...

Energy Secretary Directs Oil Company To Resume Operations In California, Citing National Security Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times, Energy Secretary Chris Wright on March 13 directed the Texas-based oil company Sable Offshore Corp. to restore operations in water off southern California. Wright invoked the Defense Production Act to restore the company’s Santa Ynez Unit and Pipeline System near Santa Barbara to address supply disruption risks that “have left the region a...

Companies Are Starting To Enforce AI Use. Is That A Good Or Bad Thing? Via the AIX Files, Years ago, I was working on the editorial side for what was then a hot new media company, and found myself spending more and more time with Johan, the lead programmer, and his team, asking them a lot of annoying questions as it was all so new – certainly to me. I was standing over Johan’s left shoulder, mesmerized by whatever new video game he was obsessing over that week…when suddenly, ou...

Trump 'Not Ready' For Iran Deal; US Urges Citizens To Flee Iraq, Israel Reportedly 'Critically Low' On Interceptors Summary: Iranian retaliation accelerates, including use of cluster munitions, especially against Israel Gulf countries reported new attacks Sunday morning, a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates. Iran says it targeted U.S. forces at Saudi base with missiles Israel reportedly running low on missile interceptors...

California Startup Starts Drilling World's First Underground Nuclear Borehole Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Deep Fission, a California-based nuclear energy startup, started drilling the world’s first underground nuclear borehole March 10 in Kansas, taking a major step forward in building small modular pressurized water reactors one mile below the surface. The drill rig at the Deep Fission site in Parsons, Kansas. Deep Fission The test project...

"New Era" Begins In Venezuela As U.S. Flag Is Raised At Embassy For First Time In Years The United States Embassy in Caracas announced on X early Saturday morning that the U.S. flag was raised for the first time in seven years, stating that "a new era has begun for relations between the United States and Venezuela." "On the morning of March 14, 2019, the American flag was lowered for the last time at the United States Embassy in Caracas. This morning, March 14, 2026, at the same...

Unhappy Ending: Chinese National Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering Over Prostitution Scheme Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A Chinese national has pleaded guilty to laundering more than $2 million from a prostitution enterprise run through spa businesses in New York’s capital region, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced on March 11. The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on Aug. 7, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The ...

Jet Fuel Prices Soar As War In Iran Ripples Through Global Aviation Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com, Airlines, including Qantas, SAS, and Air New Zealand, have already announced airfare increases. Surging jet fuel prices and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are squeezing airline operations. Prolonged conflict could weaken travel demand and deepen pressure on global airline stocks. As the war in Iran spills over into other parts of the Middle East, energy ex...

Meta Plans 20% Layoffs To Divert Capital To Data Centers On Friday we noted that Meta has delayed the rollout of its latest AI model because it sucks - and may temporarily license superior models like Gemini to power the company's AI products.  Now, Meta is reportedly mulling a massive new round of layoffs that could affect more than 20% of its workforce as it accelerates spending on AI data center buildouts. The move comes as other hyperscalers consider similar workforce restru...

Texas Antifa Cell Convicted On Terror Charges As Trump Targets Far-Left For years Democrats argued that "Antifa" is not a real organization; rather, they claim it is a set of ideals with no concrete membership.  This illusory definition of the movement is quite deliberate in that it is designed to protect Antifa members from being defined as terrorists or facing direct consequences for their actions.   Legal questions have been growing over the use of federal terrorism laws a...

Estradiol Hormone Patch Shortage Strains Pharmacies After Warning Lifted Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, Some U.S. pharmacies are scrambling to fill estradiol transdermal patch prescriptions as demand for the menopause treatment continues to soar following the Trump administration’s decision to remove what it determined was an outdated cancer warning. “Manufacturers have been unable to provide sufficient supply of hormone replacement therapies [HRT] over the las...

Palantir CEO Has Grim Prediction For Democrats Over AI Palantir CEO Alex Karp delivered an apocalyptic warning to progressives, particularly "highly educated, often female voters, who vote mostly Democrat," stating that their influence over the economy and broader society will erode as technologies such as artificial intelligence transfer power to working-class, right-leaning men. "This technology disrupts humanities-trained, largely Democratic voters, and makes their economic p...

When Do Protest Observers Become Lawbreaking Participants? Authored by Ben Weingarten via RealClearInvestigations, When an ICE agent shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Good after she allegedly obstructed immigration authorities with her vehicle, disobeyed their commands, and attempted to flee – drawing fatal fire from an officer nearly struck by the vehicle – politicians and pundits decried her death as murder. They called it particularly unjust because she was not actin...

Media Says 'Gambling' Trump Got Lucky On The Economy Democrats have been predicting doom and gloom ever since Trump returned to office, yet the economic calamity they assured us would come has yet to materialize. But rather than give Trump credit, the narrative being pushed now is that his wins are just dumb luck. (Washington Post staff illustration; photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post, iStock) That’s certainly the message of a Politico piece headlined "Trump Keeps Ga...

British Tourist Faces Prison Sentence In UAE For Filming Iranian Missiles Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, A British tourist is among about 20 people who are facing charges in the UAE for filming Iranian attacks on Dubai, as America's Gulf Arab allies are taking steps to censor the impact of the war. According to The Guardian, the 60-year-old man is being charged with a law that prohibits sharing material that can endanger public security. The report said that he is stil...

Trump Crosses Iran's 'Red Line' By Heavy Bombing Of Kharg Island, Endangering Energy Assets Across Region In what could prove to be a major step up the escalation ladder in the two-week-old US-Israeli war on Iran, President Trump on Friday evening (notably after US market closure) announced that US Central Command had carried out a major bombing raid on Kharg Island, which handles upwards of 90% of Iran's crude oil exports. Importantly, Iran has previously warned that an attack ...

Seventh Circuit Slams Chicago Judge Over Her "Constitutionally Suspect" Orders Against The Trump Admin Authored by Jonathan Turley, There has been an ongoing struggle between district court judges and the Trump Administration over a variety of policies. In the first year, some district court judges issued nationwide injunctions that were largely rejected by the Supreme Court and appellate courts. These conflicts have continued and the intracourt tensions have increased. That was...

Iranian State TV Drops Rare Footage From The Heart Of Hormuz Strait In his first public statements of the war, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei stressed Thursday that "the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed." Or rather, it is clearly closed to all but those countries Tehran gives approval to. Simultaneously Iranian state TV circulated rare "on the ground" direct reporting from the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, they had a correspondent literally in a fast-boat narrating what he saw in te...

China Owns Canada's Only Antimony Mine And Shuttered It In Critical Minerals Power Play Submitted by The Bureau's Sam Cooper (emphasis our own),  In the rugged interior of Newfoundland, an hour's drive west from the Canadian Forces Base in Gander, sits a dormant mine with profound implications for the nation's security and prosperity. Beaver Brook could be the largest North American producer of antimony — a critical mineral threaded through the entire spectrum of modern military...

New Mexico Bets Big On Fusion And Defense Startups New Mexico’s $70 billion sovereign wealth fund is making a major push to attract advanced technology industries to the state, betting that sectors such as nuclear fusion, defense systems, and advanced manufacturing can generate both financial returns and local economic growth, according to Bloomberg. A centerpiece of the effort is a proposed $1 billion research and manufacturing campus by startup Pacific Fusion near Albuquerque....

The Order Of Battle Authored by James Howard Kunstler, Don’t lose your shit over mines in the Strait of Hormuz and the oil price shooting up. Iran has many thousands of mines. But something has to lay them out in the water. Iran has no more naval ships. They have small boats. The US can see everything moving on the surface, or sitting at docks. We are blowing them up methodically. The news outlets who want the US to fail in this operation (because: Trump) want you to think that ...

Trump Administration Set To Receive $10 Billion Fee From TikTok U.S. Deal The Trump administration is poised to receive roughly $10 billion in payments from investors involved in the recently completed transaction to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations, delivering an unusual financial windfall tied to the government’s role in keeping the popular social-media platform active in the United States. ByteDance is the Chinese parent of TikTok. John G Mabanglo/EPA/Shutterstock T...

Anduril Lands $20 Billion Pentagon Contract For "Modern Battlefield" Hardware Nine days after Axios reported that Palmer Luckey's Anduril was raising around $4 billion at a $60 billion valuation led by a16z and Thrive Capital, Luckey landed a major enterprise contract with the US Army worth up to $20 billion over 10 years.  Photo: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images Announced on Friday, the deal features a five-year base period with an option to extend for another five yea...

Obama-Appointed Judge Temporarily Blocks DHS From Ending Protected Status For Somali Immigrants Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A federal judge on March 13 temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending temporary protected status (TPS) for Somali nationals in the United States. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs in Massachusetts (appointed by Barack Obama in 2014) issued the order following a lawsuit filed by four Somali na...

Hormuz Chokepoint Claims Next Victim: World's Largest Aluminum Smelter Cuts Capacity The world's largest single-site aluminium smelter in the Middle East cut its output by about 20% on Sunday, marking yet another troubling development for the global economy. The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is no longer just an energy story - it's now spreading into industrial metals. These second- and third-order effects could soon disrupt global supply chains and tighten aluminium availa...

Singularity Update: You Have No Idea How Crazy Humanoid Robots Have Gotten Authored by Peter H. Diamandis via Metatrends, I just spent the afternoon at Figure headquarters in San Jose with Brett Adcock and David Blundin, and I’m still processing what I saw. We’re not talking about concept robots. We’re talking about fully autonomous humanoid robots running neural networks end-to-end, doing kitchen work, unloading dishwashers, organizing packages – for hours at a time, with no...

War, Oil And Debt: Which Threats To The US Economy Are Legit? Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us It’s the magic number, the line that’s not supposed to be crossed; when a nation’s public debt finally exceeds its GDP. Historically speaking, it’s not a sign of doom like many economists suggest. Numerous countries have sustained for decades with a ratio of well over 100% and many other factors have to be considered before it’s officially time to panic. Of course, there are...

North Korea Fires 10 Ballistic Missiles, Flexing During US Regional Drills It's obvious that 'wars of choice' never get launched against nuclear-armed powers, and countries like North Korea want to keep it that way, given it is already treated like a 'rogue' state by the West. Saturday saw Pyongyang engage in more muscle-flexing, as its military fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the eastern sea, according to South Korea's military said, staging its own show of force as th...

Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Lower In Recent Months, Preliminary Data Show Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The effectiveness of vaccines against influenza dropped during the 2025–2026 virus season, officials said on March 12, about two months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stopped recommending flu vaccination for all children. An influenza vaccine in a doctor's office in Coral Gables, Fla., on Sept. 15, 2025. Joe Ra...

Iran Mulls Allowing Tankers Through Strait Of Hormuz If Trade Conducted In Yuan Via The Cradle Iran is considering allowing a "limited number" of oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on the condition that the oil cargo is traded in Chinese yuan, CNN has reported. A senior Iranian official told the US news outlet that Tehran is working on a new plan to manage tanker traffic through the strategic waterway on Iran’s southern coast. via Associated Press Iran has effect...

"Serve Your Country": Uncle Sam Seeks Investment Bankers For 'Economic Defense Unit' The Department of War is reportedly building a 30-person investment banking team, called the "Economic Defense Unit," to deploy $200 billion in private equity over three years into defense companies and, more importantly, war unicorns, as the race to secure the Western Hemisphere and counter China, Russia, and Iran intensifies in the Trump era. Seamfor reviewed a slide deck from the headhunting...

Oil Could Test $200; Martin Armstrong Warns Attacking Iranian Water Supplies Could Bring Out Nukes Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com, Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong warned in February, “This is where the volatility starts kicking in.”  What do we have?  Oil, gold and silver spiking in price, and violent exchanges between Iran, the United States and many other countries in the Middle East.  Now, water assets like desalination plants in Bahr...

U.S. To Begin 86-Million-Barrel SPR Dump Next Week Via Exchange Program The speed of the energy shock rippling out from the U.S.-Iran conflict in the Middle East and the near-paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz forced the 32-member IEA last week to approve a 400-million-barrel release from Strategic Petroleum Reserves to help cushion the blow to the global economy. The bulk of that supply will come from the U.S., with the Trump administration preparing a request to exchange 86 mil...

London Buses Must Now Be Equipped With Stab-Kits Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Calls for “bleed kits” to be rolled out across London’s bus network have gained traction, with the London Assembly unanimously backing a motion to install them in major bus stations and trial them on high-risk routes. These kits, designed to stem severe bleeding from deep wounds, are pitched as a lifesaver in emergencies—yet their sudden necessity speaks volumes about the city’s desc...

Sweden Seizes Another Suspected Russian 'Dark Fleet' Tanker, Despite US Easing Sanctions Washington has eased sanctions on countries buying Russian oil in connection with the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz crisis, an easing welcomed by the Kremlin, but which has caused angst and anger among pro-Ukraine campaigners. The US waiver is active for a month, and applies to crude which has has been floating at sea and thus was unable to be sold. However, this hasn't stopped some European...

War Abroad Should Not Mean Less Freedom At Home Authored by Mollie Engelhart via The Epoch Times, As an American, a mother, and a rancher, I have been reflecting on what it means when our country enters another war—and what history tells us often follows at home. There will be endless debate about who is right and who is wrong. Some will praise our leaders, others will criticize them, and neighbors will disagree about how we got here and how events will unfold in the future. Tho...

Democrat Lawmakers in Minnesota Pass Draconian Gun Laws After Silencing Largest Gun Rights Group The Minnesota Senate rammed through sweeping gun control measures on Friday, after deliberately sidelining the state’s largest pro-Second Amendment organization with just 6 minutes of testimony, while gun control supporters got 32 minutes of speaking time on the flagship gun ban bill.  Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Commi...

The Pacific Northwest's Anti-Democracy Progressives Authored by Jeff Eager via RealClearPolitics, Seattle, which is home to Amazon and Microsoft, currently employs some 193,000 well-compensated Washingtonians working in the tech sector. One major reason that Seattle emerged as the first big tech hub outside of California is obvious: It is the only West Coast state with no state income tax. Its state constitution forbids an income tax. High wage workers and entrepreneurs seeking ...

Panic Buying Sweeps India As War Disrupts Cooking Gas Supplies Long lines are forming outside cooking gas dealers across India as fears of shortages spread following disruptions to fuel imports linked to the war in the Middle East. At a small distribution shop in Pune, gas dealer Vishal Vilas Mandhare has watched demand surge in recent days. Customers arrive carrying empty cylinders, pressing him and his staff for answers about when the next delivery of liquefied petroleum gas, ...

School Branded 1st Grader 'Racist' Over 'Any Life Matters Drawing; Court Slams Principal Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, When a 7-year-old’s heartfelt sketch promoting equality gets twisted into “racism” by leftist school officials, it’s a chilling sign of how far indoctrination has gone—now finally overturned in a resounding First Amendment victory. This case exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of progressive education: punishing a child for daring to change “Bla...

401(k) Hardship Withdrawals Hit Record High The AI bubble and data center buildout have helped catapult equity markets to new highs (pre-Middle East conflict), minting a record number of 401(k) millionaires. However, beneath the surface, hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans have also climbed to a record, reinforcing the view that the K-shaped economy is becoming more entrenched. Vanguard's How America Saves 2025 report shows that hardship withdrawal activity "increased to a ne...