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Back in 1987, President Ronald Reagan made a televised speech defending the principles of free trade, and slamming tariffs as a misguided policy that drives up prices and ultimately hurt American businesses, workers, and consumers. Now a Canadian ad campaign aimed at Americans is using that speech to remind Republican voters that Reagans views are still relevant. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars, Reagan said. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs. The ad began airing this week on Newsmax and Bloomberg, and will expand to Fox News, Fox Sports, NBC, CBS, CNBC, ESPN, and ABC. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Tuesday during a speech Im a big Ronald Reagan fan . . . Were going to launch a $75 million ad, and were going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is, right across the entire country. This work follows a December ad campaign that focused on the negative impact of tariffs on trade. According to a September report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, the province’s real GDP growth is projected to slow to 0.9% this year and 1.0% next year due to the impact of U.S. tariffs. It comes at an awkward time, as automaker Stellantis announced a change in plans, moving production of its Jeep Compass model from Ontario to Illinois. The federal Canadian government is threatening to sue to company over the decision. This isn’t the first time advertising from the north has been aimed at Americans. In December, the Ontario government ran ads on Fox News and during NFL games to remind U.S. viewers that the Canadian province is America’s third biggest trade partner, and the main export buyer for 17 states. And in July, Quebec ran a series of tourism ads to encourage Americans to keep visiting despite Trump threatening Canadian sovereignty. The new Reagan spot is a soft sell, using Americans’ own words to try and persuade them of a different tack on tariffs. But that gentler, more polite (dare I say Canadian) approach may not last long. Since President Trump started pontificating about a 51st State, Canadians have reacted strongly by boycotting American goods and traveling south significantly less. The “Elbows Up” sentiment drove down U.S. travel in July by more than 30%the seventh consecutive month of declines over 2024and are buying more Canadian-made goods. On Wednesday, Ontario premier Doug Ford blamed President Trump and his tariffs for the Stellantis decision. That guy, President Trump, hes a real piece of work, Ford said. Im sick and tired of rolling over. We need to fight back.”
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E-Commerce
The Trump administration is looking to provide an additional $20 billion in financing for Argentina through a mix of financing from sovereign funds and the private sector.That would come on top of the $20 billion credit swap line that the U.S. Treasury pledged to Argentine President Javier Milei and his government this month to bolster the South American nation’s collapsing currency.“We are working on a $20 billion facility that would complement our swap line, with private banks and sovereign funds that, I believe, would be more focused on the debt market,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Wednesday. He called it “a private-sector solution” and said “many banks are interested in it and many sovereign funds have expressed interest.”At a White House meeting Tuesday with Milei, Republican President Donald Trump said his administration wanted to help “our neighbors” with the aid package, but he also suggested that the money could be pulled if Milei’s party did not prevail in the Oct. 26 midterm elections.“If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina,” Trump said.The Argentine peso weakened slightly Wednesday after Trump’s comments. The peso depreciated about 0.7%, with the dollar the currency Argentines rely on to save trading at 1,395 pesos, compared with 1,385 pesos the previous day.On Wall Street, shares of major Argentine companies rose slightly after dropping as much as 8.1% Tuesday upon Trump’s comments.In Argentina, the opposition’s criticism was swift.Former President Cristina Fernández, who is under house arrest after a corruption conviction, wrote on social media: “Trump to Milei in the United States: ‘Our agreements depend on who wins election.’ Argentines you already know what to do!”Martín Lousteau, president of the centrist Radical Civic Union, said “Trump doesn’t want to help a country he only wants to save Milei,” and that “nothing good can come of this.”Maximiliano Ferraro, head of the opposition Civic Coalition, called Trump’s comments “a blatant act of extortion against the Argentine Nation.” Vulcano reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fatima Hussein and Andrea Vulcano, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet are the five largest corporations by market cap, with the value of their combined shares totaling more than $16 trillion. These firms each pull in multiple billions of dollars in profit annually, and so pay tens of billions of dollars in annual taxes, too. But like other corporate giants in the S&P 500, the companies are also spending massive amounts on shareholder payouts, funneling trillions of dollars to wealthy shareholders through stock buybacks and shareholder dividends. Over the past five years, those five largest companies spent more than $1 trillion on stock buybacks and dividends, according to a new analysis from Oxfammore than five times what they paid in federal taxes over the same time period. Looking at the entire S&P 500, the largest U.S. companies spent nearly $1.6 trillion combined on stock buybacks and dividends in 2024 alone. Thats triple the income of the poorest 27 million U.S. households combined, which totals $498 billion. ‘Unprecedented’ shareholder payouts Theres been an unprecedented level of shareholder payouts in recent years, says Rebecca Riddell, senior policy lead for economic justice at Oxfam. That includes both dividends paid out to shareholders and also stock buybacks, which is when companies buy their own stocks, thereby making their stock price go up. (Since many executives also have stock-based compensation packages, this also increases their pay.) Oxfams latest analysis provides a snapshot of those payouts, and the way corporations are spending their cash. To Oxfam, money spent on shareholder payouts are funds that could have gone to other internal investments, like raising worker wages or making a company more sustainable. The nonprofit also wants to highlight the disparity between these payments and how much companies pay in taxes. Corporate taxes have been on the decline since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed during President Trumps first term. Under that law, the effective tax rates for large corporations fell from an average of 22% to an average of 12.8%, thanks to a lower overall rate and a range of tax loopholes. If those five companies had paid pre-Tax Cuts and Jobs Act rates, Oxfam calculated that they would have paid an additional $168 billion in taxes over the past five years. Trumps recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act continues this trend, making permanent the TCJA tax cuts that were set to expire and bringing the effective corporate tax rate to as low as 12%, the lowest rate in U.S. history, per Morgan Stanley. The OBBBA also gives the biggest corporations nearly $1 trillion in new tax breaks. A possibility for change Theres a misconception, Riddell says, that shareholder payouts are a rising tide that will lift all boats in our economy. In reality, these actions overwhelmingly benefit the top 1% and wealthy executives, she says. “The bottom half of the United States owns just 1% of the stock market and very little of the overall retirement pie. And when it comes to tax breaks, theres an idea that when corporations save this money, they invest it elsewhere, like in workers or R&D. In reality, tax breaks fuel those enormous shareholder payouts. “Corporate tax savings aren’t being passed on to workers or consumers, she says. They’re being funneled to wealthy shareholders and executives.” Along with tax rates and stock buybacks, the Oxfam analysis also highlights the issue of enormous CEO pay: Over the past five years, the CEOs of the five largest U.S. companies made an average of $52 million annuallymore than 1,000 times what a typical worker earns in a year. These actions are fueling the growing inequality in our country, and theyre a direct result of policy, Riddell says. Theyre also occurring at a time when millions of Americans will soon lose their healthcare and access to food assistance because of funding cuts. But that means policymakers could take action to change these trends, too. That includes taxing or banning buybacks, capping dividends, supporting worker ownership, and adjusting the corporate tax code. (President Biden proposed tripling the tax that companies pay on stock buybacks, but the measure didn’t advance.) “What this analysis shows is that the corporations can drive inequality by enriching wealthy shareholders and directly through their compensation,” Riddell says. “But also it shows that there is a possibility for change.”
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E-Commerce
This week, fintech company Karta announced a new premium credit card designed with a very specific user in mind: American nonresidents with U.S. bank accountsand high net worths. Its designed to compete with other premium credit cards on the market, and thus, is available to customers who have a bank or brokerage account with a minimum balance of $150,000 in assets all without a Social Security number. It also offers similar perks and benefits to other premium travel cards, such as the Citi Strata Elite, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, or the American Express Platinum Card. Those include access to exclusive events, a Priority Pass Select membership that provides access to airport lounges, travel and auto insurance benefits, and the ability to earn points redeemable for flights or hotels. Also, in the same vein as other premium cards, Kartas card has an annual fee of $300, which is considerably less than others in the space. Kartas also announced that its raised $5.4 million in seed money from Canary, Clocktower Ventures, and FJ Labs, among others, and that its partnering with nearly two dozen U.S. financial institutions to get it into customers hands. Its designed for known residents who have U.S. assets, says Freddy Juez, the founder and CEO of Karta. Juez says that the offering is taking aim at a problem that many nonresidents in the U.S. have: They have a lot of money in the bank, but may lack a Social Security number or tax identification credentials. That means they cant, or have a lot of trouble, getting a credit card, and many high-net-worth individuals in Juezs target customer segment may want one to take advantage of some of the perks offered by other cards. Also worth noting is that the credit cards these customers can getusually in their native countries of Brazil, Argentina, and othersmay have very high international swipe fees (which would be in the mix if theyre using the card in the U.S.) and interest rates. For instance, while an American Express may charge a foreign transaction fee of 2%, Juez says a card issued in Brazil could charge as much as 10%. Additionally, credit card interest rates in the U.S. tend to hover around 20%, whereas in Brazil, the average rate, as of June, was 450%. That makes for some compelling reasons to look for an alternative card for those in Kartas target demographic. American Express offered such a card, the International Dollar Card, but started to phase it out at the end of 2024. Juez saw the market opportunityhe estimates there are tens of millions of potential customersand jumped on it, hiring Fernando Delceggio, the former head of acquisition and new business development from AMEX International Dollar Cards (IDC), to help build out Kartas new card. I hired him immediately, says Juez, and now he runs it. Also of note: The card is entirely managed through WhatsApp, the messaging platform owned by Meta. Customers can make disputes, ask questions, inquire about dinner reservations, and moreall through WhatsApp, and at the direction of AI agents. Juez says the reason for that is that the cards target customer is wealthy Latinos, and Brazilians, in particular, and that Brazilians are insane about WhatsApp. Latinos use WhatsApp in the same way or at the same level that Americans use simple texting, he says, which is what made WhatsApp a sort of natural fit for the cardfrom a tech and cultural standpoint. While there is a risk in relying on WhatsAppa third-party messaging platform that could presumably pull the rug out from under KartaJuez says that Karta has thought ahead. Everything weve built is in-house, and WhatsApp is there as the communications channel, he says. So, in the worst-case scenario, Karta could move everything to another channel or platform. But I think the incentives are aligned with what Meta wants to achieve, he notes, since Meta wants more people to use WhatsApp, and Kartas offerings could be one way to get them there. Juez, too, says that this premium card offering is only the beginning for Karta in the U.S., and he says the company could branch out after a few years into other financial offerings, such as bank accounts. And hes confident, after less than a year in operation, that hes tapped into a sizable and underserved customer segment, as evidenced by the companys fast growth. When I hired Fernando, he told me this was going to be a slow process. He said Id only get one or two banks to become partners in six months, Juez says. Weve gotten 22 banks in six months. That tells you how good the product is.
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E-Commerce
If you have a stressful job, meditation can helpbut its not easy to meditate at work. A new workplace pod is designed to help by giving you a private place to take a break, run through a guided meditation or breath work, and begin to experience benefits like improved focus and reduced burnout. OpenSeed, the startup behind the Iris Pod, launched in 2018 after founder Jonathan Marcoschamer attended a 10-day silent meditation course. He wanted to keep meditating during the day, but was working in an open plan office. I couldnt find anywhere to meditate, he says. He also wanted to help make meditation more accessible for other people. So he started work on a prototype of a pod that could sit in a larger space. [Photo: Héctor Alvizoc/courtesy OpenSeed] The first version was installed at companies like Deloitte and Morgan Stanley, where Marcoschamer says that its used as often as 16 times a day. The new version, in production now for delivery in early 2026, was developed over the last few years with Yves Behars Fuseproject, along with the Mexico City-based design studio Tuux. [Photo: Héctor Alvizoc/courtesy OpenSeed] When you step inside the womb-like pod and close the door, a light outside shows that its occupied. Made from wood and wool felt panels and softly lit, it feels welcoming. At the onset, we asked one question: how do we make an environment that as soon as you stepped in, it made you feel calmer? says Marcoschamer. [Photo: Héctor Alvizoc/courtesy OpenSeed] The panels, with wood sandwiched between two layers of felt fabric, help isolate sound so you don’t hear coworkers when you’re inside. On a tablet, you choose a programa meditation to help boost energy, for example, or to calm you down after a stressful meeting. Music helps guide your breath, synchronized with the lighting. The floor and seat gently vibrate. Lavender and other essential oils offer aromatherapy. The sessions are designed to last around 10 minutes. [Photo: Héctor Alvizoc/courtesy OpenSeed] Fuseproject designed the large pods to ship flat and then be easily assembled on sitedrawing on the teams previous experience with prefab homesrather than delivering the product in a giant crate. Shipping is always such a high cost, both in terms of the final price point of the product and environmental cost, says Behar. The pod can be assembled within a few hours. (Initially, the team also planned to use recycled, 3D-printed wood for the structure, but the new technology wasn’t quite ready for this type of application.) The pods can be used in places beyond offices; one of the newest customers is a cancer treatment center, where OpenSeed plans to study how using the pods reduces stress. Other hospitals already used the first version of the product for doctors and nurses on breaks, but now it will also be used by patients. A correctional facility will provide the pod for police officers. The product is pricey, at $22,500 plus shipping and installation fees, but Marcoschamer argues that in a large office where its frequently used, the cost per use is low. Were seeing so many high-end wellness centers with all these very expensive treatments, he says. We want this to be something that’s accessible.
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E-Commerce
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