The economy is not crashing. It is freezing. In this episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied break down the Fed’s Beige Book, a bifurcated consumer, sticky inflation, margin-squeezed businesses, and a labor market that has become low-hire, low-fire. Then the conversation turns to the real insanity: Treasury buybacks, Bitcoin liquidations, Ethereum weakness, gold replacing U.S. Treasuries as the world’s top reserve asset, and SpaceX preparing for a historic IPO at a $1.77 trillion valuation. The question is simple: are we watching the next great technological leap forward, or the biggest liquidity-driven rug pull of all time?

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🔗 Resources:

The Beige Book: May 2026 (Federal Reserve)

FedWatch Tool (CME Group)

SpaceX targets $135 IPO price at valuation of $1.77 trillion (CNBC)

How SpaceX’s Dream of a Record Breaking IPO Stacks UP (Bloomberg)

Gold replaces US Treasuries as world’s top reserve asset, ECB says (Financial Times)

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