The U.S. economy grew faster than expected at a healthy 3% rate in the July-September quarter, per AP, despite political uncertainty and the impact of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The 3% GDP figure came in above the estimated forecast of 2.6% and followed 3.1% growth in Q2.
Why it matters: The 3% sustained growth rate in both Q2 and Q3 signals that the economy is growing at a more robust pace than it has in more than two years. But economist Justin Wolfers points out that the "persistent part of growth — final sales to private domestic purchasers" grew at only 2.2%, and warned that advance numbers like today are often revised.
As Jim Mattis toured the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, his South Korean counterpart pointed out the artillery in North Korea that puts Seoul in range of a nuclear bomb and said, "Defending against this many LRAs (long-range artillery) is infeasible in my opinion," Reuters reports.
Why it matters: It's a reminder that any attempts to use force to get North Korea to denuclearize, or any misstep, could immediately result in deadly fire and wrap the U.S. into conflict. And even if the U.S. and South Korea could take out the artillery in case of fire, North Korea could retaliate with chemical and biological weapons. Mattis notably emphasized diplomatic efforts on the visit, and neither he nor his counterpart were in military uniform to send a signal to the North, as South Korean media reported might happen.
For months, a threat to big tech has been building from the top, with numerous senators and congressmen proposing to regulate or give anti-trust scrutiny to Google, Facebook and Amazon. But now figures of both major parties say the unhappiness with the companies is also bubbling up from the bottom. The threat is dual, we are told: against the companies and the Washington establishment:
Why it matters: This bottom-up discontent is nascent, and polls show that big tech retains high public popularity. It is too early to say what shape the disgruntlement will assume, if and when it becomes more broadly visible.
