The economic consequences of the current federal government shutdown hinge critically on how long it lasts. If it is resolved quickly, the costs will be small, but if it drags on, it could send the U.S. economy into a tailspin.
Thats because the economy is already in a precarious state, with the labor market struggling, consumers losing confidence and uncertainty mounting.
As an economist who studies public finance, I closely follow how government policies affect the economy. Let me explain how a prolonged shutdown could affect the economyand why it could be a tipping point to recession.
Direct impacts from a government shutdown
The partial government shutdown began on Oct. 1, 2025, as Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a deal on funding some portion of the federal government. A partial shutdown means that some funding bills have been approved, entitlement spending continues since it does not rely on annual appropriations, and some workers are deemed necessary and stay on the job unpaid.
While most of the 20 shutdowns that occurred from 1976 through 2024 lasted only a few days to a week, there are signs the current one may not be resolved so quickly. The economy would definitely take a direct hit to gross domestic product from a lengthy shutdown, but its the indirect impacts that could be more harmful.
The most recent shutdown, which extended over the 20182019 winter holidays and lasted 35 days, was the longest in U.S. history. After it ended, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the partial shutdown delayed approximately US$18 billion in federal discretionary spending, which translated into an $11 billion reduction in real GDP.
Most of that lost output was made up later once the shutdown ended, the CBO noted. It is estimated that the permanent losses were about $3 billiona drop in the bucket for the $30 trillion U.S. economy.
GREAT FALLS, MARYLAND – OCTOBER 02: The closed visitor center at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park is seen on the second day of the federal government shutdown on October 02, 2025 in Great Falls, Maryland. National parks are remaining partially open and with limited services during the shutdown. The U.S. federal government shut down much of it’s operations on Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a bipartisan funding bill. [Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images]
The indirect and more lasting impacts
The full impact may depend to a large extent on the psychology of the average consumer.
Recent data suggests that consumer confidence is falling as the stagnation in the labor market becomes more clear. Business confidence has been mixed as the manufacturing index continues to indicate the sector is in contraction, while other business confidence measures indicate mixed expectations about the future.
If the shutdown drags on, the psychological effects may lead to a larger loss of confidence among consumers and businesses. Given that consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity, a fall in consumer confidence could signal a turning point in the economy.
These indirect effects are in addition to the direct impact of lost income for federal workers and those that operate on federal contracts, which leads to reductions in consumption and production.
The risk of significant government layoffs, beyond the usual furloughs, could deepen the economic damage. Extensive layoffs would shift the losses from a temporary delay to a more permanent loss of income and human capital, reducing aggregate demand and potentially increasing unemployment spillovers into the private sector.
In short, while shutdowns that end quickly tend to inflict modest, mostly recoverable losses, a protracted shutdownespecially one involving layoffs of a significant number of government workerscould inflict larger, lasting impacts on the economy.
US economy is already in distress
This is all occurring as the U.S. labor market is flashing warnings.
Payrolls grew by only 22,000 in August, with July and June estimates revised down by 21,000. This follows payroll growth of only 73,000 in July, with May and June estimates revised down by 258,000. In addition, preliminary annual revisions to the employment data show the economy gained 911,000 fewer jobs in the previous year than had been reported.
Long-term unemployment is also rising, with 1.8 million people out of work for more than 27 weeksnearly a quarter of the total number of unemployed individuals.
At the same time, AI adoption and cost-cutting could further reduce labor demand, while an aging workforce and lower immigration shrink labor supply. Fed Chair Jerome Powell refers to this as a curious kind of balance in the labor market.
In other words, the job market appears to have come to a screeching halt, making it ifficult for recent graduates to find work. Recent graduate unemploymentthat is, those who are 22 to 27 years oldis now 5.3% relative to the total unemployment rate of 4.3%.
The latest data from the ADP employment report, which measures only private company data, shows that the economy lost 32,000 jobs in September. Thats the biggest decline in 2 years. While thats worrying, economists like me usually wait for the official Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers to come out to confirm the accuracy of the payroll processing firms report.
The government data that was supposed to come out on Oct. 3 might have offered a possible counterpoint to the bad ADP news, but due to the shutdown BLS will not be releasing the report.
Problems Fed rate cuts cant fix
This will only increase the uncertainty surrounding the health of the U.S. economy. And it adds to the uncertainty created by on-again, off-again tariffs as well as the newly imposed tariffs on lumber, furniture and other goods.
Against this backdrop, the Fed is expected to lower interest rates at least two more times this year to stimulate consumer and business spending following its September quarter-point cut. This raises the risk of reigniting inflation, but the cooling labor market is a more immediate concern for the Fed.
While lower short-term rates may help at the margin, I believe they cannot resolve the deeper challenges, such as massive government deficits and debt, tight household budgets, a housing affordability crisis and a shrinking labor force.
The question now is not will the Fed cut rates, because it likely will, but whether that cut will help, particularly if the shutdown lasts weeks or more. Monetary policy alone cannot overcome the uncertainty created by tariffs, the lack of fiscal restraint, companies focused on cutting costs by replacing people with technology, the impact of the shutdown and the fears of consumers about the future.
Lower interest rates may buy time, but they wont solve these structural problems facing the U.S. economy.
John W. Diamond is the director of the Center for Public Finance at the Baker Institute at Rice University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A comedy festival in the capital of Saudi Arabia has provided golden material for comedians who declined the offer on principleor wouldve done, if theyd received an invite in the first place.
The debut Riyadh Comedy Festival, running Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, bills itself as the biggest comedy festival in the world. In the line up of more than 50 comedians, some like Bill Burr and Pete Davidson, whose firefighter father was killed in the 9/11 attacks, came as a shock and disappointment to fans.
The irony is also not lost that many of these same comics, who have publicly railed against cancel culture and preached about freedom of speech, sold out to a regime that allegedly provided a list of deal terms for appearing at the event, including forbidding any criticism of religion or the Saudi royals.
Online, fellow comedians quickly jumped on the bit.
Sometimes in order to fight the power, you need to be paid by the power, quipped comedian Vinny Thomas, who often goes viral for his social media skits.
New York-based comedian Gianmarco Soresi wrote on X: If you do the Riyadh Comedy Festival and dont tell a joke that gets you imprisoned by the monarchy then what was even the point of having Trump on your podcast?
Shaan Baig, who regularly posts impressions on TikTok, offered one of comedian Aziz Ansari. At first I was like oh noooo, he says. But then they showed me the money and I was like, um, who cares about dead journalists? Get me to the desert.
Representatives for Ansari, Burr, and Davidson did not respond to request for comment at the time of publication.
Marc Maron, host of the WTF podcast, joked that it was easy for him to take the high road on this one given he was not asked to perform.
He also questioned how the festival would be promoted. From the folks that brought you 9/11, he riffed in a stand-up bit posted to Instagram last week. Two weeks of laughter in the desert, dont miss it.
Jokes aside, Human Rights Watch called on the performers who chose to partake to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists, suggesting that the Saudi government is using the festival to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.
But, as comedian Zach Woods said on Instagram: Name one comedian who hasnt whored themself out to a dictator.
Below, Michelle MACE Curran shares five key insights from her new book, The Flipside: How to Invert Your Perspective and Turn Fear into Your Superpower.
Michelle spent over a decade as a fighter pilot and served as the Lead Solo Pilot for the Thunderbirds, the U.S. Air Forces elite demonstration team. She has nearly 2,000 hours of F-16 flying time and flew combat missions in Afghanistan. Known for her upside-down maneuvers, she has inspired audiences at airshows and flyovers like the Super Bowl, Daytona 500, and Indy 500.
Whats the big idea?
Mace spent years operating in high-pressure environments, from combat situations to performing high-speed maneuvers in front of millions of people. But what also came with that career were the moments behind the scenes of self-doubt, the struggle to find her identity, the near misses, and the mental battles that came with the job. Much of what she learned to persevere and triumph as a fighter pilot applies to winning at life.
1. Your inner critic is just a voice, not a verdict.
When I was a young, inexperienced fighter pilot, I lived with this constant fear that I didnt belong and wasnt good enough. Id walk into a briefing room and feel like everyone else had it together. Meanwhile, I was hyperaware of everything I said and did as I tried to live up to my idea of what the perfect fighter pilot was.
This voice lives in all of usthat inner critictelling you that youre not ready, not enough, or dont have what it takes. It may sound a whole lot like the truth, but that voice is often just fear in disguise: fear of being seen, fear of failing, or fear of finally succeeding and not knowing what to do with it. I had to learn that my inner critic wasnt a signal to stop. It didnt mean I was in the wrong place. It was a sign that I was pushing into something that matteredsomething that was difficult, but worth doing.
I used to think that courage would show up, make me feel ready, and then Id act. But courage comes after the action. So, when that inner critic chimes in, pause, acknowledge it, and then take one small, bold step despite it. Courage isnt the absence of doubt. Its action in the presence of it.
It was a sign that I was pushing into something that matteredsomething that was difficult, but worth doing.
I didnt get rid of my inner critic. I just stopped letting it drive. Even now, it still shows up before big decisions or at the start of new chapters, but Ive learned to recognize its tone. Its never curious. Its never kind. It always speaks in absolutes: youll never, you cant, you shouldnt. When I hear that voice now, I take it as a clue, not a command. Its a sign that Im stretching into something that matters.
2. One minute, one hour, one month.
During an airshow in Columbia, I was flying my Thunderbird jet at 400 miles per hour, just a couple of thousand feet above a forest. Suddenly, I saw a flash of light, heard a loud thud, and felt the jet shake. I had just hit a bird. Later, Id find out it was a vulture with a six-foot wingspan, but in that moment, all I knew was that this was serious. I didnt know how bad the damage was. Was the engine okay? Would the aircraft keep flying? My adrenaline spiked, but I didnt panic. I fell back on a mental checklist that we drilled from day one in training:
Maintain aircraft control (dont make it worse).
Analyze the situation (what do I know?).
Take proper action (what can I do about it?).
First, I focused on flying the jet, checking my instruments, and communicating with the rest of the team. Not fixing, but assessing, then acting. I still use that same process when things go sideways in life, but I translate it like this: What do I need to do in the next one minute, one hour, and one month?
One minute: pause, breathe. Just let yourself feel it. Ground yourself in your body.
One hour: analyze, gather facts. Get support.
One month: adjust your habits, actions, and mindset.
Whether its a breakup, a layoff, or a deal falling through, you dont need to solve everything all at once. When a bird hits your jet or life just hits you hard, start with the next minute because how you respond in small windows determines how you navigate the big ones. That bird strike could have gone very differently. If I had let panic set the tempo, I could have turned a bad moment into a catastrophic one, and I think we do that in life, too. We try to sprint through things that need a steady walk.
When something goes wrong, dont just ask, What should I do? Ask what matters most in this moment? What can wait, and what can I shift long-term? Thats how you lead yourself through pressurenot perfectly, but with purpose.
3. Wiggle your toes.
Air refueling is when one airplane takes gas from another while flying alongside each other at over 300 miles per hour, thousands of feet in the air. It is a skill that requires practice and finesse, and it is stressful to learn. As a newbie pilot with little experience attempting this task, I was tense. My hand was going numb and I was gripping the stick like it owed me money, and every time I got close to the position where our airplanes would actually touch, Id overcorrect, become unstable, and be told to back up and try again.
After one particularly bad flight, my instructor gave me this piece of advice: Mace, when you get close, dont forget to wiggle your toes. It sounded silly considering we were trained combat pilots flying $30 million aircraft, but on the next flight, I gave it a try. As I felt the stress build, I consciously moved my toes inside my boots, and it worked. That tiny movement disrupted the tension in my body. It made me breathe, relax, and refocus.
When pressure rises, your instinct might be to grip tighter, but sometimes the best move is to loosen your hold.
Wiggling my toes became a ritual, and not just in the jet, but anytime. Stress made me want to control everything too tightly. When pressure rises, your instinct might be to grip tighter, but sometimes the best move is to loosen your hold. Try wiggling your toes. Its a physical disruptor. It breaks the stress spiral. It buys you a moment to respond with intention instead of reacting under duress, and sometimes thats all you need to regain control, not by force, but by presence.
4. Call signs are earned, not chosen.
In the fighter pilot world, we have nicknames that we refer to as call signs, and you do not get to pick yours. Its given to you, usually after a mistake you made as a young pilot. Mine came during basic fighter maneuvering. I got so focused on the wrong thing that I accidentally broke the sound barrierI was supersonic when I wasnt supposed to be, and didnt even realize it. I didnt even understand what had happened until after we landed and watched the cockpit recordings during our debrief.
Not long after, I was officially named Mace (an acronym for MACH at circle entry). This wasnt a compliment. It was a reminder of a rookie mistake, and I onestly felt a lot of shame around it. Then I thought about how every single pilot in my unit had a call sign, even the most respected, the best, the most experienced. I realized that when youre doing something hard, no one gets by unscathed, and it wasnt perfection that led to success, but persistence.
Our identities are often shaped by how we recover from missteps, not how we avoid them. That moment became part of my growth. I eventually owned it. I learned from it, and I flew smarter because of it. You might not get to control how every chapter of your story starts, but you do get to decide how it ends. I used to carry so much shame around that call sign, but then I realized it meant I was in the game. You dont get a call sign if youre sitting on the sidelines. You get one by showing up, getting it, and still coming back for more. All the people I looked up to had a moment theyd rather forget. Confidence doesnt come from never falling. It comes from proving to yourself that you can rise after you do.
5. Whats your go/no-go criteria?
In aviation, we use the concept of go/no-go decisions. This is something you decide before the mission ever begins, not when things are falling apart. Before every flight, especially ones that push limits, you set your criteria. If the weather drops below a certain level, no go. If fuel hits this mark, go home. If the system isnt functioning, abort the mission. Why? Because once youre in the air, the variables increase, and so does the pressure. Youre emotionally invested, and thats when people make poor decisions. They press forward toward an objective and into danger because theyre already in motion. A great example from mountaineering is summit fever, when a team pushes ahead because that summit is so close, even though theyve already passed their turnaround time. Go/no-go keeps you honest and calm so that when chaos hits, you dont have to figure it out. You just follow the plan.
Youre emotionally invested, and thats when people make poor decisions.
Ive used this concept in my personal life. Whether business, relationships, or big goals, I try to set my limits and values before investing time, money, and energy. What am I willing to compromise on? When will I walk away or shift course? This is where the sunk cost fallacy kicks in. We tell ourselves that weve already come this far and invested too much to quit now, but that logic traps us in bad decisions. The time, energy, or money youve already spent is gone. What matters is whether continuing is still aligned with your values, safety, and mission.
Go/no-go protects you from doubling down just to justify your investment. It gives you a way to honor your effort without letting it dictate your future so that when things deviate from the plan, you dont have to scramble to find clarity. Bold doesnt mean reckless, and quitting isnt the same as failing. Draw those go/no go lines before you need them because decisions made in calm are what guides you in chaos.
This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
For the ladies of the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury, its time to leave it all on the court.
The 2025 WNBA finals start tonight (Friday, October 3) at 8 p.m. ET. Notably, this is the first year that the WNBA finals are a best-of-seven games format. The Aces may be favored to win, but dont count out the scrappy Mercury squad.
Lets take a deeper look at how these two teams got here, their strengths, and how to tune in.
A season and playoffs recap
The WNBA consists of 13 teams, with the top eight moving onto the postseason playoffs.
This year, the Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Golden State Valkyries, Indiana Fever, and Seattle Storm got the chance to battle it out in a bracket-style tournament consisting of three rounds, including the finals.
In the regular season, the Aces went out on a high note, winning their last 16 games. The team traveled a bumpier path to the finals and fought hard to earn their spot.
In Game 5 of their semifinal series, the women defeated the Indiana Fever in overtime, 10798. Coach Becky Hammon joked, “Our road has been broken. It’s been a twisty, windy one but here we are,” as ESPN reported.
The Aces are no strangers to the finals, having participated in four of them in the last six years. They were victorious in 2022 and 2023, becoming the first team since the Sparks to win back-to-back championships.
On the other side of the coin, the Phoenix Mercury entered this season with almost all new players.
This roster thrived in the playoffs as the underdogs. They first took on defending champions New York Liberty and came out victorious. Next, they defeated No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx. The franchise has not won a championship since 2014, but was present in the 2021 battle.
Coach Nate Tibbetts embraced the team’s darkhorse standing.
“No one has had expectations for us except ourselves,” he mused, according to to ESPN. “The pride and the togetherness for such a new group, it’s pretty impressive.”
Strengths and weaknesses
Each team has their own unique power plays and pitfalls.
The Aces greatest assets come in a trio. Center A’ja Wilson, guard Jackie Young, and guard Chelsea Gray are at the top of their respective games. They have experience winning two previous championships together and have helped mentor newer player NaLyssa Smith. The Aces will also have the home court advantage for games 1, 2, 5, and 7 because they are the higher seeded team.
A potential Achilles’ heel is relying too much on their star players. Wilson and Young cant score all the points themselves. They need backup from their teammates, and without it might not get the results they so desperately want.
Their opponents have their own set of advantages and vulnerabilities.
Phoenix is on a roll, and this momentum could help them win it all. They are not afraid to go all-in. Their defense is going to have to continue to bring the heat to defeat the Aces, just like they did against the Lynx. A failure to do so might just end up in a loss.
Travel searches to Phoenix and Las Vegas skyrocket
Fans are preparing for an epic showdown and appear willing to travel to see it live.
This is evident in data from Booking.com, the WNBA’s official travel partner. The site has seen a 103% increase in travel searches for Phoenix for October 810, and 166% increase for October 15, Booking.com shared with Fast Company.
Aces fans have also gotten in on the action, with Las Vegas searches increasing 67% for October 35 and 127% for October 17. Overall, searches for Las Vegas sustained increased searches during the entire series.
How can I watch or stream the WNBA finals?
If you cant make the trip to see the players in person, never fear. To see game 1 of the 2025 WNBA finals, tune into ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.
You can also catch the action on ESPN.com and the ESPN app, but you will need a traditional pay-TV subscription to watch it this way.
The easiest way for cord-cutters to see it all is to sign up for a live-TV streaming service, including:
Hulu+Live TV
Fubo
Sling TV
YouTube TV.
The entire series will be broadcast across ESPN and ABC.
Below is the full WNBA finals schedule, per the WNBA’s website. If one team dominates the first four games, the last three could be unnecessary.
Game 1: Mercury at Aces (Friday, Oct. 3, 8 ET, ESPN)
Game 2: Mercury at Aces (Sunday, Oct. 5, 3 ET, ABC)
Game 3: Aces at Mercury (Wednesday, Oct. 8, 8 ET, ESPN)
Game 4: Aces at Mercury (Friday, Oct. 10, 8 ET, ESPN)
Game 5: Mercury at Aces (Sunday, Oct. 12, 3 ET, ABC)
Game 6: Aces at Mercury (Wednesday, Oct. 15, 8 ET, ESPN)
Game 7: Mercury at Aces (Friday, Oct. 17, 8 ET, ESPN)
U.S. technology company Nvidia and Fujitsu, a Japanese telecommunications and computer maker, agreed Friday to work together on artificial intelligence to deliver smart robots and a variety of other innovations using Nvidia’s computer chips.“The AI industrial revolution has already begun. Building the infrastructure to power it is essential in Japan and around the world,” Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said, hugging his Fujitsu counterpart Takahito Tokita on stage.“Japan can lead the world in AI and robotics,” Huang told reporters at a Tokyo hotel.The companies will work together on building what they called “an AI infrastructure,” or the system on which the various futuristic AI uses will be based, including health care, manufacturing, the environment, next-generation computing and customer services. The hope is to establish that AI infrastructure for Japan by 2030.It initially will be tailored for the Japanese market, leveraging Fujitsu’s decades-long experience here, but may later expand globally, and will utilize Nvidia’s GPUs, or graphics processing units, which are essential for AI, according to both sides.The two executives did not outline specific projects or give a monetary figure for planned investments. But exploring a collaboration in AI for robots with Yaskawa Electric Corp., a Japanese machinery and robot maker, was noted as a possible example. AI will be constantly evolving and learning, they said.Fujitsu and Nvidia have been working together on AI, speeding up manufacturing with digital twins and robotics to tackle aging Japan’s labor shortages.Tokita said the companies were taking a “humancentric” approach aimed at keeping Japan competitive.“Through our collaboration with Nvidia, we aim to create new, unprecedented technologies and contribute to solving even more serious social issues,” said Tokita.
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
A major Japanese beverage producer says it has been hit by a cyberattack that left its operations disrupted for the fifth day on Friday, and Japanese media are reporting that stocks of the company’s popular beer and other beverages are running low in some stores.Asahi Group Holdings said its computer systems were hit by a cyberattack on Monday, creating glitches that have affected orders, shipments, and a customer call center in Japan. Overseas systems were not affected.A company spokeswoman told the Associated Press on Friday that the problem had still not been fixed, though some emergency shipments were made on Wednesday, with employees entering information into computer systems manually.The cause and motive of the attacks were still under investigation, the spokeswoman said. She requested anonymity, which is customary for Japanese companies.Japanese media said some convenience stores weren’t getting their deliveries and that stocks were low and the products were even being sold out in some places.A 7-Eleven convenience store in Tokyo visited by an AP reporter on Friday evening still stocked plenty of Asahi beer, though the saleswoman said she expected the stocks to start running low soon.It’s unclear when the system will be back up and running, Asahi said. The company has canceled events and is delaying the launch of products. Some Japanese media reports said the attacks may be ransomware, but Asahi declined to comment.Tokyo-based Asahi, founded in 1949, makes beer, including its popular Super Dry rice lager and other beverages, including cider and juices, as well as baby food, candy and some other food products.
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
Teslas Cybertrucks might be the most polarizing vehicle on the market. And due to their electronic door-open mechanism, they’re far from the safest.
A new lawsuit underscores this, alleging that 19-year-old college student Krysta Tsukahara died during a fiery crash because the trucks electric doors shut down, preventing the door from opening on either side, as the New York Times first reported.
Tsukaharas family is suing Tesla in Alameda County Superior Court.
In Cybertrucks, a passenger has to click a button for the door to open. The only manual mechanism to open a rear door is to pull a cablebut reaching said cable involves removing the rubber mat on the bottom of the rear door’s map pocket, according to Tesla.
The person then has to pull the cable forward before pushing the door open. These manual releases are in different locations in various Tesla models.
The November 2024 crash occurred when a Cybertruck carrying four people crashed into a tree and caught fire. A friend following in another vehicle broke one of the Cybertrucks windows and rescued one of the four people. He was unable to rescue Tsukahara, who the suit alleges died from burns and smoke inhalation, not the impact of the crash.
Tsukaharas family is also suing the estate of the driver, who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol, amphetamines, and cocaine when the car crashed.
Fast Company has reached out to Tesla for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
Teslas door handles have a history of malfunctioning
Elon Musk’s electric car company uses door-open buttons across its vehicles, with further accusations beyond the Cybertruck.
On September 10, a Bloomberg report revealed that over 140 customers had complaints related to Teslas doors getting stuck, not opening, or otherwise malfunctioning since 2018.
Multiple cases mirror Tsukahara’s case of being stuck inside a burning vehicle, unable to get the doors open.
Take a Toronto crash, in October 2024. A Tesla Model Y crashed into a barrier and caught fire, killing all four of its passengers. The electric door buttons didnt work, trapping the individuals in the car.
Five days after the Bloomberg report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Teslas Model Y vehicles, specifically looking at opening doors from the outside without power. Its preliminary evaluation points to incidents in which parents have been unable to get their child out of the car.
In a September 17 interview on Bloombergs Hot Pursuit! podcast, Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen claimed that the company is working on a redesign to help in a panic situation. It would combine the mechanical and electronic door releases.
So in the moment that youre in a panic situation, the muscle memory to go to what you know is right there, von Holzhausen said. You just pull a little bit further on the lever and you have the mechanical release.
It seems Teslas solution to its dangerous design is to provide a normal, functioning door handle.
Last month, more than 450 artists designed a custom sticker to support Zohran Mamdanis New York City mayoral campaignand, pretty soon, youre going to be seeing the winning design everywhere.
On September 25, Mamdanis campaign announced through an Instagram video that it would be hosting a sticker design contest to get New Yorkers registered to vote before the October 25 deadline. The competition gave followers just 36 hours to submit their designs, during which hundreds of pieces of art flooded the campaigns submission portal. Now that a winner has been selected, anyone who is registered can submit a form on Mamdanis website and pick up the sticker at one of Mamdanis canvases or volunteer events.
Mamdanis campaign took a page out of other regions playbooks through the sticker design contest, which, in recent years, have proven to be both effective fodder for social media discussion and a real avenue to boost voter engagement. Its part of his larger goal to get more New Yorkers, and especially young people, registered to votea mission that, so far, has yielded impressive results.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani)
Why voting sticker contests are on the rise
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has run his campaign with an internet-savvy eye for design. In the election run-up, he masterfully shot candid short-form video content to reach young voters and establish himself as an authentic candidate for the people. His campaign posters balanced a hand-drawn quality with a healthy sprinkling of nostalgia, presenting Mamdani as less corporate and more down-to-earth than his rivals. These aesthetic choices helped pave the way for him to defeat Andrew Cuomo in the primaries.
Now that the November 6 election is fast approaching, Mamdanis campaign is using those same creative sensibilities to prepare New Yorkers for the polls.
Most Americans will be familiar with the classic red-white-and-blue I Voted stickers, and for good reason. According to a 2016 study by four researchers at Berkeley, Harvard, and the University of Chicago, were more motivated to vote when we know others will know that we voted. These now-ubiquitous stickers are a key way to signal our civic involvement. Recently, though, another kind of voting sticker has taken center-stage.
In 2022, Ulster County in New York decided to forgo the traditional sticker, opting instead to solicit sticker designs from local artists. The public overwhelmingly voted for a crazed-looking monster spider, designed by a 14-year-old, which became an immediate viral sensation. Since then, other local governments have similarly turned sticker design into a contest, from Denver to South Dakota and San Luis Obispo County, California. Last May, Michigan residents selected a image of a werewolf ripping off its shirt in front of an American flag to represent that theyd performed their civic duty.
Submissions to Mamdanis call for designs included a giant pigeon head, a psychedelic interpretation of Mamdanis face, and a swaggering NYC alley cat. Mamdani himself chose his 10 favorite designs before allowing the public to vote on the winner.
Nearly 7,000 votes later, the winner, created by local artist Nishan Patel, was chosen. Fittingly, the design features an NYC bodega with a cat in the window and the signage, Vote for Zohran.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani)
How Mamdani is boosting voter turnout
Historically, sticker design competitions have been used to boost final voter turnout on election day. Instead, Mamdanis campaign opted to catch potential supporters sooner by using the contest to encourage New Yorkers to register to votea goal thats been central to the campaigns success so far.
According to an analysis from The New York Times, published on June 29, Mamdani has already changed the electoral map. In the 14 days leading up to the registration deadline for the Democratic primary, about 37,000 people registered to vote, compared with about 3,000 people in the same period in 2021, the publication found.
Mr. Mamdanis campaign had focused on registering voters, and he also appears to have drawn thousands of voters to the primary who did not vote four years ago, the report reads.
Mamdanis campaign told Fast Company that it even believes certain social media videos may have driven spikes in voter registrations. After Mamdani posted a call-to-action in mid-June specifically encouraging New Yorkers to register, registrations shot up. While such data is correlational and not necessarily causal, the campaign says that the narrow timeframe suggests a likely connection.
As Vote for Zohran stickers begin to appear around the city, the design competition may prove to be another way that Mamdani convinces New Yorkers to get to the polls.
Wall Street nudged past yesterday’s record highs in early trading Friday as investors continue to shrug off the U.S. government shutdown, now in its third day.Futures for S&P 500, Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all added 0.2% before the bell. All three closed at record levels on Thursday, boosted by gains of chipmakers and artificial intelligence companies.Markets have largely ignored the shutdown of the U.S. government after Democrat and Republican lawmakers failed to reach agreement on funding.U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional leaders were not expected to meet again soon and the Democrats have held fast to their demands to preserve health care funding, warning of price spikes for millions of Americans nationwide.The government shutdown means this week’s usual report on jobless claims was delayed. An even more consequential report, the monthly tally of jobs gains and losses that usually comes out the first Friday of every month, will also not arrive as scheduled.That increases uncertainty when much on Wall Street is riding on investors’ expectation that the job market is slowing by enough to convince the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates, but not by so much that it leads to a recession.So far, the U.S. stock market has looked past the delays of such data. Shutdowns of the U.S. government have tended not to hurt the economy or stock market much, and the thinking is that this one could be similar, even if Trump has threatened large-scale firings of federal workers this time around.Excitement around AI and the massive spending underway because of it are a major reason the U.S. stock market has hit record after record, along with hopes for easier interest rates. But AI stocks have become so dominant, and so much money has poured into the industry that worries are rising about a potential bubble that could eventually lead to disappointment for investors.At midday in Europe, Germany’s DAX ticked down 0.2% and the CAC 40 in Paris fell back 0.1%. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%.In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed nearly 1.9% higher at 45,769.50 as tech stocks gained despite data showing Japan’s unemployment rate rose 2.6% in August, the highest in 13 months and above the expected 2.4%.Shares in Hitachi jumped 10.3% after it signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI to provide cooling systems for its data centers.Stock exchanges in China and South Korea were closed Friday for holidays.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng won back some earlier losses, ending 0.5% down to 27,140.92 as traders sold to lock in profits from Thursday’s gains.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added nearly 0.5% to 8,987.40. India’s BSE Sensex rose less than 0.1%, while Taiwan’s Taiex edged 0.9% higher.In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude added 17 cents to $60.65 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 21 cents to $64.32 per barrel.
Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott, Associated Press
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said Friday that unpredictable change is inevitable and central banks need to be aware of that and have strategies to operate in those environments.
Williams’ comments, which came in prepared remarks for an event in Amsterdam, did not address the outlook for U.S. monetary policy. Williams serves as vice chair of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, which cut interest rates last month as officials sought to offset rising risks to the job market.
Unpredictable change and uncertainty will certainly continue to be with us for the foreseeable future, Williams said, flagging issues like the effects of ongoing global demographic shifts, artificial intelligence, and potentially transformative innovations in our financial systems.
Williams said dealing with uncertainty means that central banks need robust principles and strategies in place that can deal with a range of contingencies, while noting there will still be novel situations to deal with. Williams also said that formerly unconventional strategies like bond buying are no longer novel and are a normal part of the toolkit.
Williams said anchoring inflation expectations is critical and cannot be taken for granted.
Michael S. Derby, Reuters
