menu_open Columnists
Jason Ma

Jason Ma

Fortune

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Oil prices soar past $100 while Dow futures sink 900 points as Iran war spirals into worst-case fears and U.S. eyes special forces mission

Prices at the pump are likely to top $4 a gallon now that oil has surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022.

yesterday 1

Fortune

Jason Ma

Here’s why childcare is getting more unaffordable and forcing families to make ‘heartbreaking choices’

"When these costs rise without a simultaneous increase in public funding to fill the gap, programs are faced with difficult decisions."

yesterday 1

Fortune

Jason Ma

‘Nightmare scenario’ looms as global markets head for the biggest oil output disruption in history, top energy guru warns

"The fear? That this will result in skyrocketing energy prices that send the world economy plummeting into a deep recession."

yesterday 1

Fortune

Jason Ma

Forget the U.S. Navy, the best protection for ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz may be claiming to be a ‘Chinese’ or ‘Muslim’ vessel

Most ships in the U.S. Navy's fleet are in port or in maintenance and training, with less than a fifth of the force at sea for operations, according...

previous day 2

Fortune

Jason Ma

Top Pentagon official recalls the ‘whoa moment’ when defense leaders realized how indispensable Anthropic is and saw the of risk losing access

"I'm not biased," Michael said. "I just I want all of them. I want to give them all the same exact terms because I need redundancy."

previous day 2

Fortune

Jason Ma

Peter Thiel warned AI is coming for ‘math people before word people.’ Banks have already said smaller headcounts are possible

Last month, Block announced a 40% cut to its headcount, or about 4,000 jobs, and cited AI models as a top reason.

previous day 5

Fortune

Jason Ma

A Minneapolis Fed report details how much Trump’s immigration crackdown hurt businesses and workers. ‘There are not any people to hire’

"We are hiring now to replace these workers or get more reliable alternatives, but there are not any people to hire."

friday 8

Fortune

Jason Ma

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical choke point for global energy markets, but there are ways to get around it

About 20 million barrels of oil a day flow through the Strait of Hormuz, or the equivalent of 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption.

03.03.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard controls a sprawling business empire that dominates the economy

That empire includes core industrial sectors like oil and transportation as well as banking, telecommunications, agriculture, medicine, and real...

02.03.2026 7

Fortune

Jason Ma

Dow futures plunge nearly 500 points as U.S. attack on Iran sends oil prices soaring, while first American casualties reported

"There is, however, a risk that the OPEC decision is moot if flows do not resume through the Strait of Hormuz."

02.03.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

U.S. military gives Iran a taste of its own medicine with cheap copycat Shahed drones, while concern shifts to munitions supply in extended conflict

"These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran's Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution."

01.03.2026 7

Fortune

Jason Ma

As Iran attacks Dubai, the tax-free haven for the global elite could see ‘catastrophic’ fallout — ‘this can also send shockwaves globally’

The area's success at attracting capital from around the world over the years and diversifying away from oil could also make it a threat to global...

01.03.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Oil prices soar 10% as tanker traffic halts near the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran attacks while IRGC warns against passage. ‘Our ships will stay put’

Hundreds of tankers carrying oil and liquid natural gas have dropped anchor or remain stationary near the Strait of Hormuz.

01.03.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Pentagon chief blocks officers from Ivy League schools and other top universities, including partners on AI and space

"We will no longer invest in institutions that fail to sharpen our leaders' warfighting capabilities or that undermine the very values they are sworn...

01.03.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Israel seeks Iran’s decapitation while U.S. hits military targets as report says Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed

Axios reported that Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike, with an official saying his body was recovered from his destroyed compound.

01.03.2026 9

Fortune

Jason Ma

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says ‘we are patriotic Americans’ committed to defending the U.S. but won’t budge on ‘red lines’

"I believe we have to defend our country from autocratic adversaries like China and like Russia."

28.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Iran is now on ‘death ground’ amid existential threat from U.S. attacks and could ‘go big’ in retaliation, former NATO commander warns

Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz or conduct terrorist attacks against Americans in the region and elsewhere, said retired Admiral James...

28.02.2026 6

Fortune

Jason Ma

U.S. and Israel launch airstrikes against Iran after enormous military build-up in the Mideast, risking wider regional conflict

"Acts of war unauthorized by Congress," said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

28.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Trump orders U.S. government to stop using Anthropic but gives Pentagon six months to phase it out amid standoff over AI use

Trump added that if Anthropic doesn't obey, he will use "the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply."

28.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

The Trump administration is looking for ways to keep revenue from tariffs that were ruled illegal, after telling courts that refunds would be easy

"The government cannot tell courts that refunds are simple and inevitable when seeking relief—and then imply they are complex and distant when the...

27.02.2026 7

Fortune

Jason Ma

Trump celebrates 2.4 million Americans ‘lifted’ off SNAP benefits after his tax-cut law slashed funding and tightened work requirements

"We cut a record number of job-killing regulations, and in one year we have lifted 2.4 million Americans, a record, off of food stamps."

25.02.2026 20

Fortune

Jason Ma

U.S. debt concerns weigh on Trump’s plan to supersize the Pentagon’s budget to $1.5 trillion, highlighting this law about great-power status

“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE,...

24.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

The record gap between corporate profits and worker pay has an ‘undercurrent of betrayal,’ top economist warns

"Something in our economic narrative is broken."

23.02.2026 6

Fortune

Jason Ma

The Russian economy is now eating itself to death as Putin’s war on Ukraine destroys future capacity, former central bank adviser says

"The body is metabolizing its own muscle tissue for energy," Prokopenko said.

23.02.2026 30

Fortune

Jason Ma

A two-child household must earn $400,000 a year for childcare to be affordable, study says. ‘It’s easy to see why birth rates are falling’

“Most parents could tell you that child care costs are astronomical these days and can cause a major financial burden, even for high-income families."

22.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Hoping for a tariff refund? Trump officials say they are waiting for lower courts to provide instructions. ‘They created the situation’

"I'm not going to get out ahead of the court. We will follow the court's direction. But as I said that could be weeks or months away.

22.02.2026 8

Fortune

Jason Ma

Trump’s sudden decision to hike his new tariff rate to 15% is ‘something of an eff you’ to the U.K., which thought it had a better deal for 10%

"It also means some of America’s biggest trading partners, like the EU and Japan, will find themselves exactly back where they were last week."

22.02.2026 30

Fortune

Jason Ma

The Supreme Court’s landmark tariff decision is the latest defeat ‘piercing President Trump’s seeming invincibility’

"This is significant at a time that the president seeks to head into midterm elections with a head full of steam."

22.02.2026 20

Fortune

Jason Ma

Farmer turns down $15.7 million offer from data center developers: ‘It breaks my heart … the rest of every square inch is going to get built on’

"It really wasn't so much the economic end of it. I just didn't want to see these two farms destroyed.”

21.02.2026 20

Fortune

Jason Ma

Trump’s plan B to impose new tariffs is also illegal as a balance-of-payments deficit doesn’t exist, trade experts say

"A balance of payments deficit is not the same thing as a trade deficit."

21.02.2026 150

Fortune

Jason Ma

Trump calls Supreme Court justices who struck down his tariffs ‘disgrace to our nation’ and vows fresh duties under other laws

"I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country," Trump told reporters.

20.02.2026 7

Fortune

Jason Ma

Fed staff are more worried about stock prices than tech debt, even as hyperscalers go on a borrowing binge for their AI spending

In the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, tech companies issued a record $108.7 billion in bonds, according to Moody's Analytics, capping a full-year total...

20.02.2026 5

Fortune

Jason Ma

Social Security’s trust fund is nearing insolvency, and the borrowing binge that may follow will rip through debt markets, economist warns

"Inflation may not wait for debt to pile up. It can arrive the moment Congress commits to that debt-ridden path."

16.02.2026 800

Fortune

Jason Ma

One of Stanford’s original AI gurus says productivity liftoff has begun after doubling in 2025 amid transition to ‘harvest phase’ along J-curve

"We are transitioning from an era of AI experimentation to one of structural utility."

16.02.2026 40

Fortune

Jason Ma

U.S. literally can’t afford to lose superpower status as debt looms—so we’re stuck in an ‘increasingly loveless’ marriage with Europe, analyst says

"Without NATO and its major allies, the U.S. would struggle to maintain its globally dominant role."

15.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

AI is everywhere except in the data, suggesting it will enhance labor in some sectors rather than replace workers in all sectors, top economist says

"Maybe there is a J‑curve effect for AI, where it takes time for AI to show up in the macro data. Maybe not."

15.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei explains his spending caution, warning if AI growth forecasts are off by just a year, ‘then you go bankrupt’

"If I'm just off by a year in that rate of growth, or if the growth rate is 5x a year instead of 10x a year, then you go bankrupt."

15.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

A U.S. ‘debt spiral’ could start in coming years when the interest rate on government borrowing exceeds economic growth, budget watchdog says

CRFB warned the actual fiscal outlook could be far worse than even the latest sobering projections.

14.02.2026 70

Fortune

Jason Ma

Top analyst warns the economy is figuring out how to grow without creating new jobs, leaving a major vulnerability

The economy will grow because of higher productivity, aided in part by AI, says Michael Pearce of Oxford Economics. But people aren't core to that...

13.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

JPMorgan’s nationwide home price forecast hides a Sun Belt full of pain. Watch out, Florida and Texas

JPMorgan Global Research sees prices falling quickest on the West Coast and in the Sun Belt.

09.02.2026 7

Fortune

Jason Ma

Dow futures rise after index tops 50,000 for the first time while landslide election in Japan sends U.S. bond yields higher

The Dow soared by 1,200 points on Friday to top 50,000 for the first time as chipmakers and airlines fueled a ferocious stock market rebound

09.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

NFL legend Joe Montana lived around top VC execs as a 49er, then leveraged those ties to launch his second career as an investor

"Everybody thinks it's always about product. But as early as we invest, most of the time it's about people, and what you're betting on are the...

09.02.2026 20

Fortune

Jason Ma

Russian officials are warning Putin that a financial crisis could arrive this summer, report says, while his war on Ukraine becomes too big to fail

"Russia has to continue the war because this war is too big for Putin to fail."

09.02.2026 5

Fortune

Jason Ma

We may be looking at the housing affordability crisis all wrong. Higher earners are driving home prices, not lack of supply, researchers say

Rather than a lack of supply, housing affordability "may primarily be about differences in income growth at the top of the distribution relative to...

08.02.2026 10

Fortune

Jason Ma

Elon Musk warns the U.S. is ‘1,000% going to go bankrupt’ unless AI and robotics save the economy from crushing debt

"We just need enough time to build the AI and robots to not go bankrupt before then."

08.02.2026 6

Fortune

Jason Ma

The U.S. construction industry’s need for labor is soaring and will need half a million new workers next year while AI giants ramp up spending

The Associated Builders and Contractors said the industry will need to bring in 456,000 new workers in 2027, up 30.7% from the 349,000 needed this...

08.02.2026 5

Fortune

Jason Ma

Anthropic cofounder says studying the humanities will be ‘more important than ever’ and reveals what the AI company looks for when hiring

"The things that make us human will become much more important instead of much less important."

07.02.2026 7

Fortune

Jason Ma

Musk predicts more AI capacity will be in orbit than on earth in 5 years, with SpaceX becoming a ‘hyper-hyper’ scaler

Musk said getting all that AI and solar capacity in space will require about 10,000 launches a year—or a launch in less than an hour every day.

07.02.2026 6

Fortune

Jason Ma

Nvidia CEO denies ‘nonsense’ report he’s unhappy with OpenAI. ‘I really love working with Sam’

"We will invest a great deal of money," Jensen Huang said, while clarifying that Nvidia's potential $100 billion investment was "never a commitment."

02.02.2026 6

Fortune

Jason Ma

Elon Musk warns a new social network where AI agents talk to each other is the beginning of the ‘singularity’

"Just the very early stages of the singularity," Musk posted on X on Saturday.

02.02.2026 7

Fortune

Jason Ma