Adios, Anna Wintour
Friday, June 27th, 2025
World Events — How Defence Spending Will Reshape the Global Economy
Economists
The current surge in defence spending, driven by geopolitical instability and renewed great-power rivalry, is set to reshape the global economy by straining public finances and redirecting economic activity within countries. As NATO members and other nations commit to higher military budgets—with NATO now targeting 3.5% of GDP for defence and an extra 1.5% for security—governments face difficult fiscal choices, likely squeezing social spending and risking higher deficits and interest rates, which could make public finances more fragile even as security improves. While politicians may tout defence expenditure as a source of economic stimulus and job creation, the reality is that modern defence manufacturing is highly specialised and automated, meaning new jobs are likely to be limited and insufficient to counter broader deindustrialisation trends; for instance, increased defence spending in European NATO countries could generate just 500,000 jobs, a small fraction of the EU’s manufacturing workforce. Moreover, while defence research and development can spur private innovation and productivity, the direct economic benefits of military spending are modest, and attempts to use defence budgets to achieve multiple policy goals—such as boosting growth or reviving local industries—are likely to be inefficient and counterproductive, especially given the wasteful duplication seen in Europe’s fragmented defence industry. Ultimately, governments must prioritize security over economic or political objectives to ensure that rearmament delivers genuine protection without undermining fiscal stability or efficiency.
Tech — Tesla Parting Ways With Top Exes
FT
Tesla has parted ways with Omead Afshar, a longtime top executive and trusted problem-solver for Elon Musk, amid a steep sales slump and a strategic pivot toward autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Afshar, who most recently oversaw sales and operations in North America and Europe, was instrumental in major projects such as the construction of Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory and led significant workforce reductions, but his departure—alongside that of HR director Jenna Ferrua—comes as the company struggles with declining global deliveries, increased competition, and a tarnished public image linked to Musk’s political activism. Tesla’s challenges are compounded by a lack of new models and consumer backlash in key markets, while its ambitious push into self-driving technology faces scrutiny from regulators following safety incidents involving its robotaxi pilot in Austin. Musk is now refocusing on Tesla’s core business, betting that breakthroughs in autonomy and robotics will revive growth, even as the company’s financial performance and market position remain under pressure.
Business — Jane Street’s Retention Tactic
Economists
Jane Street's unconventional retention strategy hinges on its deep investment in OCaml—an obscure, French-origin programming language—which creates a natural barrier against talent poaching by competitors. While the hedge fund touts OCaml's technical merits like static typing and functional programming for boosting productivity, its less-discussed benefit is employee lock-in: rival firms like Millennium typically seek engineers skilled in mainstream languages (C++, Python, etc.), leaving Jane Street's OCaml specialists with limited external opportunities despite the absence of formal non-compete agreements. This linguistic isolation, compounded by Jane Street's new proprietary variant (OxCaml) and its dominance over OCaml's small developer community, effectively traps talent by making their niche skills non-transferable within finance—a clever, unspoken alternative to the industry's growing reliance on restrictive non-competes.
Culture — Anna Wintour Steps Down as Vogue’s Editor
FT
Anna Wintour is stepping down as editor of US Vogue after nearly four decades at the helm, marking the end of an era in which she transformed the magazine into a global fashion icon and became one of the industry’s most powerful figures; however, she will retain her role as global editorial director for Vogue and continue as chief content officer at Condé Nast, overseeing a stable of prestigious titles. As part of Condé Nast’s ongoing restructuring—which has already seen regional editors replaced by “heads of editorial content” to foster collaboration and resource-sharing across editions—Wintour plans to appoint a new head of editorial content for US Vogue, reflecting the company’s broader shift toward a more corporate, streamlined structure under CEO Roger Lynch. This transition, which has led to staff concerns about lost local autonomy and recent job cuts amid digital advertising pressures, signals a departure from the high-glamour, editor-driven culture of the past, as exemplified by the recent exit of Vanity Fair’s editor-in-chief and the Newhouse family’s continued control over the storied publisher.
The Daily Spark
Song Recommendation — Fantaisie-Impromptu In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66
Quote of the Day
“When it feels scary to jump, that is exactly when you jump. Otherwise, you end up staying in the same place your whole life.” - A Most Violent Year