We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
In a research note published Thursday, Goldman economist Pierfrancesco Mei laid out a detailed framework for how higher energy prices translate into labor market pain — and the picture isn’t pretty. As explained by the bank earlier in the week, its commodities strategists expect Brent crude to average $105 in March, spike to $115 in April, and then gradually retreat to $80 in the fourth quarter, assuming flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain severely disrupted for roughly six weeks. In an adverse scenario — one where the conflict deepens — Brent could peak as high as $140 a barrel, or $160 in a “severely adverse” scenario.
The damage isn’t distributed evenly. Goldman’s sector-level analysis points to leisure and hospitality as the single hardest-hit industry, accounting for roughly 5,000 lost jobs per month, with retail trade shedding another 2,000. The logic is straightforward: when energy prices surge, consumers cut back on discretionary spending first — skipping vacations, eating out less, and trimming shopping trips — while continuing to pay for essentials like healthcare and housing. The oil shock, in other words, hits the working-class service economy well before it touches more insulated sectors.
That dynamic is hitting Gen Z especially hard. A recent Bank of America Institute report found that after nearly two years of lagging other generations in spending, Gen Z’s year-over-year spending growth had actually surpassed Baby Boomers’ by mid-2025 — fueled by slowing rent growth and wages rising roughly 9% year-over-year. But with national gas prices now up approximately 26% year-over-year as of March 23, BofA economists Joe Wadford and David Michael Tinsley warned that the recovery “could be snuffed out before it fully takes hold.” Gen Z carries the highest ratio of gasoline spending to discretionary spending of any generation — and many work in the very leisure and hospitality jobs Goldman now projects will see the steepest cuts. It’s a feedback loop that hits them from both sides: higher costs at the pump and fewer hours at work.
The cumulative effect is showing up in Goldman’s macro forecasts, which were also adjusted earlier in the week. The bank said it expected the U.S. unemployment rate to climb 0.2 percentage points to 4.6% by the third quarter of 2026 — with the oil shock accounting for roughly half of that rise and the other half reflecting job growth that was already running too slowly to keep pace with labor supply before the conflict began.
đź”— https://fortune.com/2026/03/26/trump-iran-war-oil-shock-jobs-goldman-sachs-gen-z/
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s official 2024 report shows that Texas processed 2,900,357 new valid voter registrations between the 2022 and 2024 elections, representing 56.5% of 5,133,464 voter-registration transactions.
Another 2,165,514 transactions (42.2%) involved updates to existing registrations.
During that period, Texas required applicants to affirm U.S. citizenship under penalty of law but did not routinely require a birth certificate, passport or naturalization papers with registration applications. The 56.5% share exceeded the national average of 25.3%, although other states reported even higher percentages. In September 2026, Texas officials referred 117 potential noncitizen-voting cases for investigation.
Official Election Administration and Voting Comprehensive Report buried this information all the way on page 193 of the document.
55% "new" Texas voter registrations might explain how leftists won in the midterms there.
🇺🇸 The Real Architect of the Iran Mess and its not Pete Hegseth
Yesterday, the military command for the Middle East unveiled its new podcast, “Inside CENTCOM,” featuring its commander, Navy Admiral Brad Cooper — the man most responsible for the Strait of Hormuz crisis and skyrocketing gas prices.
The timing couldn’t be more hilarious. The entire country just voted against his Iran war, and there’s Cooper, the architect, grinning and chatting up his workout routine, love of french fries and basketball. Asked about Operation Epic Fury, he says only that “I just couldn’t be prouder” and how even amidst the war he guards the “sanctity” of his workouts.
Considering that Cooper never bothered to make keeping the Strait of Hormuz open an objective of the war — which sent oil prices soaring — maybe he should’ve spent less time working out. But judging from his breezy podcast appearance, Cooper sleeps like a baby.
“Let me be clear: the Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the...
Things I am not afraid of (and you shouldn't be, either):
1. Trump escalates the Iran War. The U.S. will not win, Iran will prevail, U.S. will be expelled from Middle East and Israel will be destroyed.
2. Trump passes amnesty with Democrats. This was always in the cards for Trump's final 2 years, with or without a Democrat majority. There was never going to be mass deportations under ZOG. They aren't leaving without major economic collapse, civil unrest or race war.
3. Woke censorship comes back. All it did was piss off and radicalize White people the first time. The "vibe shift" did nothing except allow rightoids to cheer ZOG on Twitter.
4. Whites become a minority in America. This will the beginning of a genuine White nationalism and eventual breakup of the republic. It's also inevitable at this point. Nationalism only grows under occupation and adversity.
5. Democrats fail to end the Iran war. This will cause huge unrest within the Democratic grassroots & open revolt ...
