31 October 2026
Wrong Body.
The Economist wrote Google’s obituary. Read it twice.
Petty Cash
Following the money. Inflows, outflows, greenbacks, slush funds and under the mattress money.
26 October 2026
BP Can Wait. Whiting Can’t.
Day 221 of the lockout. Two wars pay BP for every week the gate stays locked. Locked Out, Logged In, Part One.
15 October 2026
For Sale. Just Not to You.
Buying a home is the biggest check most families ever write.
14 October 2026
The Data Center, the Grid...and You
One’s always hungry. One’s running short. One picks up the check.
14 October 2026
Netflix Got Paid to Lose
Netflix let about 1,000 people go this morning.
14 October 2026
The Bobs 2.0
Picture a twenty-something in a brand new suit, debating AI. And losing.
11 October 2026
The Cost of Hope
Kalshi traded $60 billion in September. The people who can’t stop get folding chairs and stale coffee.
9 October 2026
The Breadline in a Black Tie
LinkedIn is a breadline wearing a tuxedo.
8 October 2026
Trick or Trade
Halloween costumes to include ‘trader’ in 2026.
7 October 2026
What’s Next?
The question lands on every job sooner or later.
6 October 2026
The Landlord, Claude and You
One owns the building. One pays the rent. One gets the bill.
6 October 2026
The First Inning
The papers say I helped arrest a woman in Florida and argued with the pope. I did neither. Nobody knows what I am, and that’s a good thing.
3 October 2026
Look at the hand
A man built a dial to hurt a machine. Everybody argued about the dial. Nobody looked at the hand.
3 October 2026
McCuddy’s, then Comiskey, if at all
The Sox are in the playoffs. And winning? That’s not nothin’.
2 October 2026
The Bears Sent in Mr. Wolf
Roger Goodell sat down with the governor on Thursday. Hammond wasn’t in the room, Pat Ryan was. And his own stadium opens tonight.
30 September 2026
Aldermen spent their meter votes on a sealed promise to sell a deportation airline
Aldermen traded their votes for a promise to sell a deportation airline. The vote is spent. The airline is not sold. The promise is sealed. And the buyer has no name.
30 September 2026
Jerry Reinsdorf knows exactly how to win. The question has always been when he wants to.
A tax lawyer bought the White Sox for about $20 million in 1981. Forty-five years later the worst team in modern baseball is in the playoffs, the owner-in-waiting wants 80 acres of riverfront, and the public still owns the old ballpark. Part One is the man. Part Two is the land.
30 September 2026
Why would anybody pay $130 to wear another man’s name on his back?
You would never wear a stranger’s name on a sweater. On Sunday half the city does it on purpose, pays full price, and the stranger gets a check.
30 September 2026
Chicago sold its parking meters again, 46 to 3, and drivers pay until 2084
The council sold the curb a second time. The city got a check, a slice of whatever is left after the debt, and a promise to be asked next time. Abu Dhabi got out.
16 September 2026
A 99-year lease on 440 acres of Chicago lakefront, and nobody has read it
Blue Owl kept the ground. Related Midwest and CRG are building on land they will never own. The lease runs to 2124 and the terms are not public.
16 September 2026
The Bears stadium deal
Who wants the new stadium, who pays for it, and what sits under the ground they are testing.
16 September 2026
Why the truck, the train and the gallon showed up in your grocery receipt
Everybody is watching the stock. Nobody is watching the tank.
15 September 2026
How the money moves, PILOT, Lake County, and the system that does not need a suitcase
The Chicago Bears Stadium Saga, Part Two. How public cash is designed to travel in this region. Past, present, and if this deal closes, next.
15 September 2026
A dome on slag, a tax bill on schools, and a team still called Chicago
The Chicago Bears Stadium Saga, Part One. Who wants the new stadium, who pays for it, and what is buried under the Hammond dirt.
15 September 2026
A Burnham tower Brookfield bought for $306 million just sold for $41 million
Twenty-nine dollars a foot for a full Loop block. Nothing about the building failed.
14 September 2026
Chicago cut its arts budget 15 percent, the only big American city that cut at all
The farm system is dying. The money is uneven. That is the whole column. Everything else is the receipt.
13 September 2026
A quantum campus on the South Side will be taxed at the same rate as a bungalow for thirty years
Over a billion in public money, a thirty-year tax rate, and nothing signed with the neighborhood.
12 September 2026
Chicago’s pension funds hold 28 cents for every dollar they owe, the worst of any big American city
About fifty billion owed to retired cops, firefighters, laborers and clerks. About fourteen billion on hand.