🌎 Smells like socialism

Good morning, Quartz readers! We’re off today for Juneteenth, so there will be no Daily Brief tomorrow. Visit qz.com for coverage, and we’ll be back in your inbox Monday morning.

Here’s what you need to know

Still time to rate and see. The Fed announced that it’ll continue to hold interest rates steady as inflation shows signs of cooling but remains above the central bank’s target.

Jerome alone. President Donald Trump remains frustrated with Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not bowing to his longstanding pressure campaign; “I think he hates me,” Trump said.

The U.S. has trust issues. Social Security’s trust fund could soon run out of money — by 2033 — and prompt a benefit cut, jeopardizing benefits unless Congress steps in.

Jet lagging. Airlines are cutting ticket prices as travel from Europe to the U.S. is down, another rough sign for a U.S. travel industry that already faces a multibillion-dollar deficit.

A crude awakening? As the conflict between Israel and Iran worsens, gas prices in the U.S. are rising incrementally, but a supply disruption could soon send costs soaring.

Brains on the blockchain. Sam Altman claimed that Meta has offered OpenAI’s top talent $100 million signing bonuses to jump ship for Mark Zuckerberg’s AI ventures.

Outlook: not great. Microsoft is planning to cut thousands more jobs (mostly in sales) to cut expenses as the company continues to spend heavily on AI investments.

Supply chains of command

Donald Trump has never been shy about calling his political rivals “communists,” “Marxists,” or — in Kamala Harris’ case — “Comrade Kamala.” But in office, Trump has governed less like Adam Smith and more like a populist in a capitalist costume.

According to the president, he sets the prices. “I am this giant store,” he told Time, likening the U.S. economy to a retail empire under his control. “I own the store, and I set prices.” That philosophy has been more than metaphor: Trump has pressured companies such as Apple and Walmart not to pass on tariff costs to consumers, threatened automakers over offshoring, and handed farmers government bailouts to cushion his trade wars. He’s even dangled executive orders to rein in Big Pharma’s drug prices — a move that might make Bernie Sanders blush.

But the pièce de résistance? Last week, Trump unveiled a perpetual “golden share” in U.S. Steel as part of its sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel. The unprecedented move gives Trump veto power over key business decisions — how much steel is produced, whether jobs stay in the U.S., and more — long after the deal closes. “We have a golden stock… which I control,” he bragged.

That level of government control over a private company’s production, hiring, and future is rare in the U.S. — and not something typically championed by a self-described capitalist crusader. “This is, in a very elaborate way, nationalizing U.S. Steel,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the American Action Forum. “That’s a lot like being a Peronista from Argentina.”

Trump’s economic doctrine isn’t socialism as Karl Marx imagined it, but it is a brand of economic interventionism more common in places like China and Brazil, where governments hold “golden shares” in strategic sectors. And while traditional socialism focuses on redistributing wealth downward, Trump’s policies — from tariffs to tax cuts — appear to have the opposite effect. Quartz’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig has more on Trump’s invisible hand — now with more micromanaging.

Get rich or buy trying

Congratulations to the Class of 2024: Over 1,000 Americans became millionaires every single day last year, per the just-released UBS Global Wealth Report. Fueled by a record-breaking stock market and the ever-rising tide of asset prices, global wealth rose 4.6% overall — but North America did the heavy lifting.

The U.S. alone saw an 11% gain in household wealth, powered by a 25% jump in the S&P and a Nasdaq rally that put 2021 to shame.

The fastest-growing cohort? “Everyday millionaires,” or EMILLIs — UBS’ shorthand for people with $1–$5 million in assets. There are now 52 million of them globally, up fourfold since 2000 and holding a collective $107 trillion. That’s nearly as much as the entire ultra-rich club (those with over $5 million), who collectively hold $119 trillion.

Even the billionaire club bulked up slightly, with UBS counting just under 3,000 worldwide. But the real money movement is coming. The long-heralded “Great Wealth Transfer” — roughly $83 trillion in assets expected to change hands over the next two decades — has already begun, and it’s likely to shift financial power dynamics in a major way. One early winner: Women, who are set to inherit at greater rates due to longevity and double-dip inheritances (from spouses and parents).

It’s yet another reminder that income doesn’t equal wealth. In fact, many countries with higher average salaries rank surprisingly low in wealth, thanks to limited asset accumulation. The report suggests that wealth-building is less about a paycheck and more about what you inherit — or how early you bought into Apple. Quartz’s Catherine Baab has more on the rich getting richer — and slightly more common.

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