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By the time they get into their 20s, every generation seems to have nostalgia for one year from their teenage years. For people in my generation (Gen X), that year is usually cited as 1994the final year before the internet really started taking hold. But if a recent trend on TikTok is anything to go by, the year Gen Z is most nostalgic for is 2016. Heres what you need to know. ‘2026 is the new 2016’ In recent days, TikTok has been flooded with variations of the phrase 2026 is the new 2016. Along with the phrase, TikTokers are posting throwback pictures to when they were younger, listening to songs popular a decade ago, and reminiscing about how the world just seemed like a more stable and safe place in 2016. @childhoodcore8 2016 is now officially a decade ago.. #nostalgia #fyp #2016 #edit original sound – Nostalgia Its unclear exactly why or how this trend gained critical mass in the last few days, but at the start of any new year, it is natural to reflect on past years and compare how we and the world have changed over time. Nostalgia and the 10-year rule As a decade ago is both long enough to notice differences yet not so long ago that your memory becomes foggy of the time period, its little wonder why when we nostalgitize the past, we often choose a period that happened 10 years prior. As for why many may feel nostalgic for 2016, you just have to look at events so far in 2026. In America, we’re seeing increasing social upheaval and protests across the country, and once again, the U.S. is attacking other countries. Things feel chaotic, and that chaos makes us long for a time when things felt more stable. For many on TikTok, that time was apparently 2016. As noted by Yahoo Entertainment, for many TikTok users, 2016 felt like the last year before the world shifted. The leader of the free world was predictable and stable, housing prices were more affordable, and AI hadnt yet put a big question mark over the future of peoples job security. Its self-evident why those things are yearned for now. The world that was 2016 If your memory is a little foggy about what 2016 was actually like, heres a little reminder. Googles decade-old Year in Search 2016 roundup showed what people across the world spent their year searching for, which reveals key events from the time. On the geopolitical front, the 2016 U.S. presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was at the top of peoples minds. So were mass shootings in Orlando and Dallas, as well as fears over the Zika Virus outbreak. Culturally, people were obsessed with a new show called Stranger Things, as well as the shows Westworld, Luke Cage, Game of Thrones, and Black Mirror. The Rio Olympics and World Series were also on top of peoples minds. Deadpool, Captain America: Civil War, and Batman v. Superman got people into the theaters, and Celine Dion and Kesha were some of the musicians who generated the most interest. Meanwhile, 2016 was also the year that people were obsessed with Pokémon Go, and the top tech products of the year included the iPhone 7 and Google Pixel.
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E-Commerce
The sonic backdrop of the Twin Cities in 2026 is a cacophony. As thousands of ICE agents raid residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and businesses, theyre trailed by the ambient noise of piercing sirens, whirring helicopters, and screeching whistles at all hours of the day, along with the occasional boom of flashbang grenades and the odd cry for help. Conspicuously silent in all the commotion, however, are major corporations that are headquartered in Minnesota. It’s a list that includes some of the most well-known consumer-facing brands in the country, including Target, Best Buy, and Land O’Lakesall of which have an obvious direct stake in the communities that are currently being disrupted by this occupation. As of Friday morning, not one of them has released an official statement about whats happening. After an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good last week and brought international attention to Minneapolis, escalating tensions have knocked residents out of their normal routines. A pervasive awareness has sunk inviolent ICE sweeps of residents or their neighbors can happen anywhere, and anyone might get caught up in them just for walking their dog at the wrong moment or not carrying proof of citizenship. One of the consequences is that small businesses are sufferingespecially those owned by immigrants. Local restaurants are speaking up about the situation. Minneapoliss Mothership Pizza, for instance, announced its owners are giving 10% of all dinner sales directly to team members affected by ICE, while Owamni by the Sioux Chefwhich the New Yorker dubbed the best new restaurant in the U.S. in 2022donated 10% of its proceeds last weekend to Goods family. As for the Fortune 500 companies based in Minnesota, well, its anyones guess how those in their C-suites feelor at least prefer to be seen as feelingabout what ICE is doing in the state. Fast Company reached out multiple times this week to General Mills, Target, Best Buy, Cargill, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, and Land OLakes for comment. None of them responded. What a difference five yearsand a pivotal electioncan make. The reckoning of the reckoning In the summer of 2020, another broad-daylight killing at the hands of a law enforcement officersimilarly captured on videobrought this city international attention. The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked massive protests, and what some at the time prematurely called a racial reckoning. Even Donald Trump, whom many seem to forget was president at the time, briefly acknowledged in a statement, All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd, before turning his ire forever toward the angry mob of protesters. Meanwhile, all of those major companies mentioned above were sufficiently moved to join the chorus of CEOs who had publicly weighed in on that moment. Depending on your perspective, they were either unburdening their consciences or paying lip serviceyour mileage may varybut it’s notable that their ranks included Targets then-CEO Brian Cornell, who declared in a statement, “We are a community in pain. Graveyard of good intentions The intervening Biden years saw a swift and relentless rightwing backlash against anguished executives promising to do better. Tech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy, for instance, squeezed so much juice out of his staunch opposition to what he termed “woke capitalism” that he briefly became a long-shot 2024 presidential contender. Conservative media hubs like Fox News and Trump-Lite figures like Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida strongly denounced corporate gestures toward social justice, including Targets Pride merch and Disneys LGBTQ advocacy. After a flurry of high-profile boycotts, the sprawling corporate conscience of 2020 looked more like a dream blinked away in the harsh light of day. Many companies had already begun retreating from DEI initiatives and inclusive messaging by 2024; partly for organic reasons, and partly as a result of MAGA influencers orchestrating social media attack campaigns. The election, however, changed everything. The Eye of Sauron is watching brands Conservatives hailed Trumps return to office as the final nail in the coffin of Woke. Mega-companies such as Meta Platforms and Amazon, formerly critical of Trump, made a grand show of shredding their last remaining vestiges of DEI, seemingly part of a broader strategy to ingratiate themselves with the new president and his supportersor, at least, to avoid their wrath. Nearly a year into Trump 2.0, corporations now understand that speaking up about social issues might bring to bear the full force of the federal government in retaliation. Before Good was killed, for instance, a local Hilton affiliate declined to house ICE agents booked at the hotel. The Department of Homeland Security responded by posting on X that Hilton had launched a coordinated campaign against the agency, siding with murderers and rapists to deliberately undermine and impede DHS law enforcement. By the end of the day, the #BoycottHilton hashtag was all over X and the companys shares were down by 2.5%. The hotel giant quickly clarified that the establishment responsible for canceling the reservations was independently owned, and that Hilton is in fact a welcoming oasis for any government agency conducting violent missions in any U.S. city. (More or less.) In another era, the company might have ended its ass-covering there. In this one, Hilton went scorched earth. It de-franchised the hotel, lest there be any confusion about whether the brand itself had been taking a stand against ICE, or even permitting a stand to be made on its property. No brand wants to be a target If it was unexpected how vehemently Hilton distanced itself from the possibility of having an opinion, other recent brand reactions to government overreach are much less surprising. Not a peep was heard from Jeff Bezos this week when the FBI raided the home of a reporter at the newspaper he owns. Nor is anyone holding their breath waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to speak out about ICE reportedly abducting workers from a Meta data center in Louisiana this week As for Minnesota businesses, the most conspicuously silent among them is Target. Its perhaps the company most closely associated with the area, the one whose name adorns local baseball stadium and concert venue Target Field. And its the company most closely connected to the ICE raids, after agents snatched and injured two employees in the middle of a shiftboth of whom turned out to be U.S. citizens, as caught on a disturbing video. But Target also might be the company with the most financially at stake. The retailer incurred persistent boycotts in 2025, after rolling back DEI initiatives amidst a changing political landscape. Its share price has only recently begun to recoverit’s up more than 10% in 2026. Still, the Twin Cities community wants action from the brand. Since the incident last week, residents have protested outside the store where the employees were abducted, demanding a response. A strong statement at least acknowledging that Minneapolis is, once again, a community in pain, might even help win back disappointed progressive shoppers. Then again, if Minnesota businesses continue to keep quiet about the ICE invasion, perhaps consumer demand within the state will become silent too.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?Powell’s term as Fed chair finishes on May 15, but because of the central bank’s complex structure, he has a separate term as one of seven members of its governing board that lasts until January 31, 2028. Historically, nearly all Fed chairs have stepped down from the board when they are no longer chair. But Powell could be the first in nearly 50 years to stay on as a governor.Many Fed-watchers believe that the criminal investigation into Powell’s testimony about cost overruns for Fed building renovations was intended to intimidate him out of taking that step. If Powell stays on the board, it would deny the White House a chance to gain a majority, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to seize greater control over what has for decades been an institution largely insulated from day-to-day politics.“I find it very difficult to see Powell leaving before midnight on Jan. 31, 2028,” said David Wilcox, a former top economist at the Fed and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “This is a mortal threat to the governance structure of the Fed as we’ve known it for 90 years. And I think that Powell does take that threat exceedingly seriously, and therefore will believe that it is his solemn duty to continue to occupy his seat on the board of governors.”Powell, 72, was appointed as Fed chair by Trump in 2018, and must step down from the position in May because his second four-year term is ending. He has declined several times to comment on his plans beyond that when asked by reporters. A spokesperson declined to comment for this story.Trump has sought to push out Powell before his time is up, obsessively attacking him for not cutting rates as sharply as the president wants, particularly in light of ongoing concerns about high costs for groceries, utilities, and housing that have remained a salient political issue even as inflation has cooled.On Tuesday, Trump highlighted that mortgage rates have declined in the past year. “If I had the help of the Fed, it would be easier,” he said. “But that jerk will be gone soon.”Or maybe not.Here is a look at the impacts of whether or not Powell stays on the board could have: What happens if Powell stays on the board Trump said Tuesday that he hopes to name a new Fed chair in the next few weeks. But that could get held up by the criminal investigation of Powell.Several Republican senators, including at least two on the banking committee who would have to approve Trump’s nominees to the Fed, have expressed skepticism that Powell committed crimes during his testimony last June regarding the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project that Trump has criticized as excessive. That testimony is the subject of subpoenas sent to the Fed by U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would not vote for any Fed nominees until the legal cloud around Powell is resolved. That would be enough to delay a nomination from getting out of the banking committee.If no new chair of the Fed’s board has been confirmed by May 15, then Powell could remain in that post until a replacement has been confirmed. As a result, the Fed might not cut interest rates anywhere near as quickly as Trump wants.If Powell stays on as a governor even after he is no longer chair, Trump could still name someone to lead the Fed but that would give him a total of three appointments on the board including two from his first term and short of a majority.So even if Trump nominates a chair who seeks to do the president’s bidding regarding interest rates, that person “would have very little persuasive power with his colleagues,” said Wilcox, who is also director of research at Bloomberg Economics. Powell, along with other members of the Fed’s 19-member interest-rate setting committee, could outvote the new chair. That hasn’t happened since 1986. What happens if Powell leaves the board In that case, Trump could nominate a fourth person to the board and gain a majority. He could even then add a fifth, if the Supreme Court allows his attempt to fire Governor Lisa Cook to proceed. The high court will hear her case on Wednesday.A majority on the board would enable the White House to make sweeping changes to the Fed. Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has advocated numerous reforms to reduce the central bank’s influence in the economy and financial markets.Trump’s majority on the Fed’s board could also remove some of the presidents of the 12 regional banks, who are members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee. The New York Fed president has a vote on the committee and four others vote on a rotating basis.Several of those bank presidents have expressed opposition to the deep rate cuts that Trump has demanded. The board of governors could seek to have them fired if a chair wanted to do so. What past Fed chairs have done While nearly all Fed chairs have left the board of governors before their terms were up, there is some precedent for Powell to stay. In 1978, then-Chair Arthur Burns stayed on the board for about three weeks after his chairmanship ended. But in 1948, then-Fed chairman Marriner Eccles remained as a governor for three years after finishing as chair, in part because President Harry Truman asked him to remain.In 1951, however, he played a key role in undercutting the Truman administration in a dispute over interest rates, which led to the Fed-Treasury Accord that established the modern Fed as a largely independent institution.Eccles became a symbol of Fed independence, though some academics say that reputation is overstated. The Fed’s principal office building currently under renovation and at the center of the criminal investigation of Powell is named after him.Truman then appointed a Treasury official, William McChesney Martin, to the Fed chairmanship and assumed he would do his bidding. Yet Martin defied Truman and raised interest rates. Years later, Truman ran into Martin in New York City and called him a “traitor.” The Fed’s second office building in Washington is named after Martin.“So it’s a cautionary tale also for Trump, thinking he’s going to get his own Fed chair in there,” said Lev Menand, a law professor at Columbia University who studies the Fed. “Martin didn’t do what Truman wanted.” Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
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E-Commerce
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