As we head into the final stretch of the presidential election, no topic will frame the outcome more than the momentum of our economy. Recent data suggests the economy is at an inflection point in terms of inflation, wages, and productivity.

As we’ve often pointed out, one of mankind’s most fundamental problems is that economies need population growth to sustain prosperity, at a time when governments struggle to provide infrastructure while sustaining the planet.

In a January Vistage Trends webinar, Vistage Chief Research Officer Joe Galvin asked Optimize President Marc Emmer what he considered the number-one geopolitical threat in the world today. Marc answered, “our enemies ganging up on us.”

If you want to understand why things are as they are, listen to the Freakonomics episode with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. This post is a recap of his illuming narrative about the new world order.

Let’s face it, economists are often wrong. But why has their calculus about inflation been so fundamentally flawed? Why is the current form of inflation so persistent?

What is the ideal rate of growth? It’s the answer to any question in business—it all depends. While “grow or die” has become a mantra, the pace of growth differs by industry, sector, and company.

The U.S. real estate market remains in flux. A dearth of supply has created imbalances, where higher interest rates have failed to arrest residential real estate prices.

We don’t dispense investment advice, so this commentary is more about the state of play in the economy. Investors find themselves in a pickle, given the widespread belief that there are few viable asset classes.

Wendy’s announcement that it would “test” dynamic pricing drew immediate fire from critics who viewed it as a money-grab. Some members of the business press described it as “Uber-like” surge pricing.