I'm John Batchel with my colleague Michael Toth, who's head of research Civitas Institute,

that's at the University of Texas at Austin, writing in Civitas Outlook. And while we can spend a great deal of time saying

what went right since 1979 in the death of equities, we need to apply ourselves to those who

doubt the present success. One of those is a young man named Oren Cass, whom I've

talked to over the years. He writes frequently about what's wrong with the American economy.

And the most recent that Michael highlights in his article, the finance industry is a grift.

Let's start treating it that way. That sounds negative, Michael. What's he,

what's he pointing to? You know, the New York Times was in no mood to celebrate after the Dow broke

50,000 on Ronald Reagan's 115th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. So, you know, it starts with

the day itself, February 6, 2026. If you look at the

headline from the New York Times, it doesn't mention Dow 50,000, right? It says market

rebounds, right, because the markets had been down earlier the week. So, you know, they put the emphasis

on kind of the markets having sold off the previous couple days before we're

back to break 50.

As the market sets a new record, right?

Well, the market has been trading near record highs, you know, essentially throughout, you

know, since the Liberation Day tariffs were relaxed in April of 2025. I think the market set new record 17 times in 2025.

So the idea the market set in a new record was really not news. But that's how the New York

Times sort of try to downplay down 50,000. Nothing the day after. And then on February 8th,

John, to your point, the Times publishes a long essay by Oren Kass,

bemoaning financialization, right?

I mean, essentially in the immediate wake of this historic moment, this historic milestone

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