Regulation

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Markets

The Fed Will Now Show Banks the Stress Test Before They Sit It. One Governor Says That Is the Problem.

The Federal Reserve finalised two rules on Wednesday that put its stress test scenarios and models out for public comment every year and average banks' stress capital buffers over two tests. The Board says the changes should cut year-to-year swings in those requirements by about half without materially changing total capital. Governor Michael Barr says they will let banks optimise for the test instead of the risk.

By Daniel Okafor · October 1, 2026

Explainer

The Catch-Up Contribution Changes Hands in 2027, Not 2026

From taxable years beginning after 31 December 2026, a saver whose Social Security wages from the plan's own sponsor topped $145,000 the year before can no longer make a pre-tax catch-up contribution. It has to be Roth. The threshold is measured per employer, on last year's wages, which catches people who do not think of themselves as high earners.

By Daniel Okafor · September 19, 2026

The Argument

Will the World Agree AI Red Lines Before the Year Runs Out?

A declaration signed by more than 200 figures, including ten Nobel laureates, asked governments to agree international red lines for artificial intelligence by the end of 2026. The year has fifteen weeks left, no binding instrument exists, and the United States rejected the premise outright.

By Margaret Holloway · September 17, 2026

The Long View

The Labs Asked for Rules. The President Says the Guardrail Is Him.

Three rival chief executives spent the weekend agreeing that AI development should slow down. On Sunday in Ireland the president dismissed the idea, saying there are "a lot of negative forces" behind it and that "whoever wins AI wins." The White House's former AI czar said the industry can pace itself without being made to.

By Alison Acosta · September 15, 2026

The Long View

Three Rivals Agreed to Slow Down. Only the First Step Needs No One's Permission.

Dario Amodei published an essay on Saturday arguing that frontier AI companies must deliberately slow the rate at which their models improve. Within hours Elon Musk wrote "Dario is right" and Sam Altman said OpenAI would not go public this year. Of the essay's three steps, only one can be taken without a government, a waiver or a treaty.

By Alison Acosta · September 13, 2026

The Long View

The Deal Was Structured to Avoid a Filing. The Filing Is Now the Investigation.

The Justice Department has issued Nvidia a formal demand for information over its licensing arrangement with Groq, in which Groq's chief executive and chief operating officer moved across. The question is whether a licence plus a mass talent transfer is an acquisition that should have been reported. It is the first formal test of a structure the whole industry has been using.

By Alison Acosta · September 10, 2026

Opinion

Coverage Should Follow the Approval, Not the Advice

A regulator decides a vaccine is safe and effective. A separate body decides who should prioritise getting it. Insurance is wired to the second document, which turns a clinical prioritisation into a payment rule nobody voted for. The wiring is the error, and it is fixable without touching the science.

By Margaret Holloway · September 8, 2026

Field Notes

A Thousand New Rules, and Eighteen Percent Fewer People to Enforce Them

From this week, 95 percent of the National Wildlife Refuge System — about 92 million acres — is open to hunting or fishing, through 1,488 new opportunities across 32 states and more than a thousand changes to federal regulations. Fish and Wildlife Service staffing fell 18 percent between April 2024 and May 2025.

By Margaret Holloway · September 4, 2026

Health

The Permission to Make the Drug Expires the Moment It Works

A would-be maker of a scarce cancer drug may produce it only while the drug is officially in shortage. Succeed at ending the shortage and the permission ends with it, which is a rule that guarantees nobody builds durable capacity.

By Thomas Gutierrez · September 1, 2026

National News

States Are Writing the AI Rulebook, One Legislature at a Time

In the absence of comprehensive federal legislation, statehouses have produced a growing body of AI law, and companies are complying with the strictest version everywhere.

By Cory Chamberlain · July 29, 2026