GDP, Private Equity Boyfriends, and OpenAI's Influencers

A core measure of a nation's total economic activity, gross domestic product represents the value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a given year. Economists can calculate a country's aggregate economic activity by adding together its total consumer spending, business investment, government spending, and net exports. As of June 2026, the US' inflation-adjusted GDP was about $24.2T.

> The three different ways to calculate GDP. (More)
> How "nominal" GDP differs from "real" GDP. (More)

Since the concept was popularized by Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets in the 1930s, GDP has become one of the most important economic indicators in both domestic and international policy. Evaluating an economy's size can help policymakers understand its growth and compare it to that of other nations. Although the formula used to calculate GDP is simple, each component accounts only for the final goods and services produced in a specific time frame (such as a quarter or a year). That means any intermediary goods used in a final product, such as tires on a new car, aren't included, with the idea being that the value of those tires is represented in the car's price.

> The history of GDP's invention and popularization. (More)

> How each state contributes to the entire US GDP, visualized. (More)

Many economists are wary of relying too heavily on GDP to determine a nation's total economic health, as it doesn't reflect a country's standard of living or wealth distribution. GDP also excludes many meaningful aspects of an economy, such as environmental damage, unpaid labor, secondhand goods, and even much of the stock market.

> Hear Robert Kennedy's famous 1968 speech criticizing using metrics like GDP as the primary benchmarks for American growth. (More)

> What decides if the US is in a recession? (More)

Discover more: 

> The countries with the highest GDP per capita. (More)

> How each country contributes to the world's $126T economy, visualized. (More)

> Why the US credit rating was downgraded over concerns about the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2025. (More)

🫶 Humankind: A 32-year-old doctor is now working at the hospital where she previously spent a decade working as a janitor. 

In partnership with Mode Mobile

Buffett's ‘Rule’ Could Make This Company Soar

Warren Buffett famously said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." But what if your phone could do it for you? 

That's exactly what Mode Mobile has created: technology that turns idle phone time into passive income. With 490M+ users in their ecosystem and $1B in earnings and savings, their EarnPhone is being called the Uber of smartphones. With 32,481% revenue growth, they were named the fastest-growing software company in 2023 by Deloitte, and with 7 billion smartphones worldwide their market could be significantly larger than Uber’s.

They’ve just secured their Nasdaq stock ticker $MODE, and you have until August 14 to invest in their pre-IPO offering at $0.52/share. Last chance to invest. Share price changes on August 14.*

Please support our sponsors!

 News in Context 

1440 brings you the knowledge and context behind the week's stories:

Large clothing retailers such as H&M and Banana Republic have recently begun integrating secondhand vintage clothing into their strategies in a push for both sustainability and exposure. (More)

> The world's largest fashion companies, ranked by their CO2 emissions.

> Inside a company making millions on retro, refurbished technology.

OpenAI is facing backlash over what appears to be the tech company's first influencer brand trip, with social media users rallying against the content creators who attended the upstate New York trip. (More)

> The difference between influencers and content creators. 

> Visualize the AI industry's web of circular investments.

Spotify has amassed more than 300 million paid subscribers, the music streaming service said last week. Netflix is the only other major streaming platform to have hit that milestone. (More)

> Why Spotify took 18 years to reach profitability.

> Tudum! The story behind the iconic Netflix sound.

SpaceX stock rebounded on Monday after beating revenue expectations in its first earnings report since going public, briefly returning to its IPO price after a period of decline. (More)

> See how SpaceX has reduced costs throughout spaceflight history.

> Visualize how SpaceX compared to history's other largest IPOs.

One Story We're Taking Stock In

What do Nicole Kidman, Olivia Rodrigo, and Reese Witherspoon have in common? They're all dating men who work in private equity—the sector of the finance industry in which firms purchase mature businesses with the aim of exiting at a profit by reselling them or taking them public. While private equity returns have, broadly speaking, been down in recent years, it seems the sector's workers have seen their stock rise in the dating market anyway. 

A motley crew of experts on the topic—including Shark Tank's Kevin O’Leary—weighed in on what's driving the trend in the Wall Street Journal feature story below, one of our personal favorite reads of the week.

> This summer’s hottest arm candy is a private equity boyfriend. (Read)

> How billionaires plan to invest in private equity in 2026. (1440 Topics)

In partnership with Mode Mobile

Mark Cuban’s Biggest Mistake?

Imagine turning down Uber at a valuation of $10M, only to watch it go public at over $80B. That’s exactly what happened to Mark Cuban … but fellow “Shark Tank” investor, Kevin Harrington, spotted a similar opportunity in pre-IPO tech darling Mode Mobile.

Like Uber turned vehicles into income-generating assets, Mode turns smartphones into income streams. Harrington invested early. Last chance to invest alongside him at $0.52/share.*

Please support our sponsors!

 Etcetera 

> The bestselling visual art media, visualized.

> A look inside Mark Zuckerberg's childhood.

> Why the Lindy effect—the theory that the longer something has existed, the more likely it is to continue to exist—matters in business.

> Use a mortgage calculator to see how much you can borrow.

> How Taylor Swift became a billionaire.

> Meet the group of people hunting for the remaining Sears and Roebuck homes.

> Should you buy an annuity?
 

> How Southwest Airlines stayed profitable for nearly five decades.

> The history of prediction markets.
 

> See what really happens inside a credit card network when you make a purchase.

> What is the average wealth gap between homeowners and renters?

> A man who counterfeited over $1M explains how to counterfeit money.