December 6 2024

1 - Historic Wealth Transfer to Transform U.S. Economy
2 - Concentration of Inherited Wealth Perpetuates Economic Inequality
3 - UnitedHealth CEO Murder Sparks Debate on Healthcare Industry
4 - The New American Political Landscape: Musk Gave Trump $250M, Silicon Valley and “Little Tech” Influence Grows, Dems Face Big Structural Headwinds
5 - Battle for Eurasia Update: Russia Seeks Capitulation, Advances, Sabotage Escalates Across Europe, CCP Faces Unrest
December 6, 1957: Vanguard TV3 explodes on the launchpad, thwarting the first US attempt to launch a satellite into Earth’s orbit after Sputnik

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1 - Historic Wealth Transfer to Transform U.S. Economy

The largest intergenerational wealth transfer in US history is about to take place — though the vast majority of Americans are unlikely to inherit much money at all. About $105 trillion is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023. Rising stock markets and home prices, as well as inflation, have fattened the estates that members of the baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, are expected to leave their heirs. The latest inheritance projection by Cerulli is 45% higher than the 25-year forecast the firm made only three years ago. US gifts and inheritances are expected to total $2.5 trillion next year alone. “About 80% of the wealth held today is going to be in motion,” Chayce Horton, the lead author of the Cerulli report, said in an interview. “The ratio of wealth expected to be changing hands in the next 25 years is significant, and much greater than what we even saw a decade ago.”  

Article Source: Bloomberg

2 - Concentration of Inherited Wealth Perpetuates Economic Inequality

Yet even as the assets of millions of aging Americans are passed on, the share of the US population that will benefit from inherited money has remained static, a sign of how accumulating family wealth has become more concentrated among the most affluent households. Receiving any funds from a deceased family member remains the exception in the US, not the rule. Just one in five American households have received a substantial gift, trust or inheritance in recent decades, according to Bloomberg’s analysis. Inherited wealth is expected to become increasingly concentrated among the most affluent, according to Cerulli. The firm estimates that more than half of the wealth transferred between generations through 2048 will come from households with at least $5 million in investible assets. Only about 2% of US households meet that threshold. 

Article Source: Bloomberg

3 - UnitedHealth CEO Murder Sparks Debate on Healthcare Industry

A. The cryptic inscriptions scrawled on bullets found at the fatal shooting of a UnitedHealth Group executive aren’t just clues of possible motivation left by an assassin. They are also a variation of an angry rallying cry adopted by some people who feel they have been cheated by insurance companies. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose”—etched in Sharpie on bullet casings recovered outside the Midtown Hilton after Wednesday’s deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson—have focused attention on threats faced by professionals in all levels of the health-insurance industry, from call centers to c-suites, as companies review their security measures and plan to step them up.  

B. A Facebook post by UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, said it was “deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague Brian Thompson.” But that post has garnered over 11,000 laughing emojis as of the time of this writing, far outweighing the more somber emojis used to express condolences. Comments have been turned off for that post, but shares included comments like “I would offer thoughts and prayers but they are not covered as they are out of network.” An Instagram post from the company was similarly locked down, stopping average users from commenting directly, but other posts on the platform also had scathing comments.

Article Source: WSJ, Gizmodo

4 - The New American Political Landscape: Musk Gives Trump $250M, Silicon Valley and “Little Tech” Influence Grows, Dems Face Big Structural Headwinds

A. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, spent over a quarter of a billion dollars in the final months of this year’s election to help Donald J. Trump win the presidency, federal filings revealed on Thursday.  

B. President-elect Donald Trump named a Silicon Valley investor close to Elon Musk as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency policy chief, signaling the growing influence of tech leaders and loyalists in the new administration. David Sacks, a longtime venture capitalist who worked with Musk at PayPal more than two decades ago, will serve as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” Trump said on his social-media platform Truth Social.   

C. As part of capturing the Senate this year, Republicans knocked out the final remaining Democratic senators from a group of 20 states that have consistently voted Republican for president since at least the 2000 election. A quarter-century ago, Democrats held nearly a third of the Senate seats from these 20 states. But that tally was down to just 2 leading into this election, and Republican victories in Montana and West Virginia reduced it to 0. Additionally, 5 other states backed a Democratic presidential candidate at least once this century but voted for Donald Trump in all 3 of his elections. Republicans now hold all of the Senate seats in these states as well. In total, these 25 states hold half the Senate seats. Realistically, Democrats can’t win future Senate majorities without making at least some inroads back into this now fully Republican bloc of states.

Article Source: NYT, WSJ, Center for Politics

5 - Battle for Eurasia Update: Russia Seeks Capitulation, Advances, Sabotage Escalates Across Europe, CCP Faces Unrest

Editors note: This ongoing conflict pits the West, led by the United States, against an axis of adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. At stake is dominance over the vast and strategically critical landmass of Eurasia. The conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and rising tensions with China in East Asia are all interconnected, forming part of a larger struggle: the Battle for Eurasia. To dive deeper into my framework for understanding the Battle for Eurasia, see my article.

A. Russian officials continue to demonstrate that the Kremlin aims to seize more territory in Ukraine than it currently occupies and is unwilling to accept compromises or engage in good faith negotiations, no matter who mediates such talks. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin claimed on November 26 that Russia is open to negotiations but stated that Russia "categorically rejects" any "freezing" of the current frontline or the creation of a demilitarized zone. The Russian military's rate of advance since Fall 2024 has notably increased recently compared to its rate of advance in 2023 and the rest of 2024, but recent Western media reports comparing recent Russian gains to those at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion continue to mischaracterize the gradual and tactical nature of Russia's recent advances. ISW assesses that Russian forces have gained 574 square kilometers since November 1, 2024 — an average rate of 22 square kilometers per day. This is remarkably less than the 1,265 square kilometers per day that ISW assesses Russian forces were gaining in March 2022.  

B. New research shows that the revenues of Russia’s top defence contractors outpaced those of their United States and European counterparts last year, as they increased weapons production more effectively than their Western rivals.  

C. Taken in isolation, they could just about be explained away as coincidences – freak accidents, one-off attacks, unfortunate infrastructure failures. The DHL cargo plane that crashed on Monday as it approached Vilnius airport. The recent bomb scares that have hobbled London, from Euston Square and Gatwick Airport to the US Embassy. The drones spotted circling near US Air Force bases in the UK. The explosion at a weapons manufacturing facility in Wales in April. The telecommunications cables severed in the Baltic Sea earlier this month. The many arson attacks, including on a Ukrainian-owned business in Leyton, East London, in March. The successful attempts to interfere with Czech rail operators. The ransomware attack on an NHS provider in June. The television satellites disrupted and damaged, causing changes to programming across Europe. The defector gunned down in Spain in February. The assassination attempt on the chief executive of a German arms manufacturer. Yet isolated is not what they were. Nor are the dozens of other worrying incidents that could be grouped with them. Taken together, the conclusion becomes unavoidable: that over the last 12 months, as the West has continued to support Ukraine’s war efforts, Russia has dramatically escalated its acts of sabotage across Europe and beyond, sowing a greater sense of instability on the continent than at any time since the Cold War.  

D. China saw a dramatic rise in protests in the third quarter, according to one US advocacy group, an acceleration that came as the nation’s economic downturn prompted officials to unleash more stimulus. Cases of public protest rose by 27% between July and September compared with the same period last year

Article Source: Bloomberg, ISW, Al Jazeera, Telegraph

December 6, 1957: Vanguard TV3 explodes on the launchpad, thwarting the first US attempt to launch a satellite into Earth’s orbit after Sputnik

Vanguard TV-3 was the first attempt of the United States to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth, after the successful Soviet launches of Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2. Vanguard TV-3 was a small satellite designed to test the launch capabilities of the three-stage Vanguard and study the effects of the environment on a satellite and its systems in Earth orbit. It was also to be used to obtain geodetic measurements through orbit analysis. Solar cells on Vanguard TV-3 were manufactured by Bell Laboratories. At its launch attempt on 6 December 1957, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the booster ignited and began to rise, but about two seconds after liftoff, after rising about 1.2 m (four feet), the rocket lost thrust and fell back to the launch pad. As it settled, the fuel tanks ruptured and exploded, destroying the rocket and severely damaging the launch pad.

Article Source: Wikipedia

Sources

1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-05/a-105-million-inheritance-windfall-is-coming-for-heirs-in-the-us

2. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-05/a-105-million-inheritance-windfall-is-coming-for-heirs-in-the-us

3. A https://www.wsj.com/health/health-insurance-threats-65508332?st=28S9GX&reflink=article_copyURL_share
B https://gizmodo.com/bitter-americans-react-to-unitedhealthcare-ceos-murder-my-empathy-is-out-of-network-2000534520

4. A https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-rbg-election.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
B https://www.wsj.com/tech/trumpplans-to-appoint-musk-confidant-david-sacks-as-ai-crypto-czar-9a9d400c?st=T875Uh&reflink=article_copyURL_share
C https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/the-end-of-the-line-for-red-state-senate-democrats/

5. A https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-26-2024
B https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/2/russia-races-ahead-of-nato-in-weapons-production-for-ukraine-war-sipri
C https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/30/russia-secret-war-invasion-of-europe/
D https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-21/china-protests-spiked-27-in-months-before-xi-s-stimulus-push

6. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_TV-3