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      A Sharp Downturn in the Art Market

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      We explore how a slowdown is affecting a rising generation of artists.As art became a serious business over the last few decades, with record multimillion-dollar sales eclipsing one another, it seemed as though values could just rise in perpetuity. But this year has been a reality check.High-end art sales have slumped. Sellers have withdrawn prominent works from major auctions at the last minute, for fear of jeopardizing artists’ markets. More than a dozen galleries have closed in Manhattan. Layoffs have begun to creep through the $65 billion industry, as one of its largest companies, Christie’s, saw revenue plunge. It took in $2.1 billion from auctions in the first six months of this year, down from $4.1 billion during the same period in 2022.In today’s newsletter, I’ll explore some reasons the art business has slowed, and how it’s affecting a rising generation of artists.The high pointJaws dropped on a November evening in 2022, when collectors bought a record $1.5 billion worth of paintings in a single night at the Christie’s auction house. Buyers snapped up a parade of masterpieces by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and Gustav Klimt — all from the collection of the Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen.That frenzied night seemed to forecast a booming future for an industry that had been getting hotter by the year. But it actually marked the peak of the market.High interest rates and inflation bear some responsibility for the slowdown. Collectors who view artworks as financial assets have flinched at the rising costs of doing business and the diminished ability to get favorable loans to buy paintings they hope will appreciate in value. The supply of modern masterpieces has also decreased as potential sellers sit on their investments until economic conditions improve for the ultrawealthy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Democratic Party’s Money Machine

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      The Democratic National Committee is again raising huge sums from donors, but the rise of super PACs has forced it to adapt to a new era of big-money influence.Vice President Kamala Harris heads to next week’s Democratic National Convention on the back of a wave of enthusiasm.Erin Schaff/The New York TimesA political piggy bank The Democratic National Convention starts on Monday in Chicago, capping an extraordinary few weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris became the party’s presidential candidate.In that time, she has generated momentum and enthusiasm among voters. Some longtime political observers, like the Republican pollster Frank Luntz, are calling it unprecedented.Just one indicator: Last month, Harris’s campaign said it had raised $310 million, including $200 million in the seven days after President Biden dropped out.As Democrats gather in the United Center, one focus will be on the Democratic National Committee, the organizational backbone that coordinates the party’s electoral strategy, management and convention. Much of that involves money, and the committee raises millions that it disburses to fight in federal and state elections.DealBook dug into the numbers and spoke to experts to understand where the committee fits into the wider world of campaign finance and to show how its role has evolved.The first Democratic Party convention was in 1832. Sixteen years later, at their convention in Baltimore, party leaders established the Democratic National Committee. In 1856, the Republicans did the same, paving the way for the Republican-Democratic juggernaut that has dominated American politics ever since.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Changing Supply Chain

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      We explore why commerce has changed — and how companies and governments are reacting.For decades, major companies have behaved as if geographic distance were almost irrelevant. A factory in China was the same as a factory in Michigan. The internet, container shipping and international trading arrangements had supposedly shrunk the globe.No longer. The pandemic and geopolitical upheavals have exposed the risks of depending on faraway industry to make critical things like computer chips, protective gear and medicines.I recently wrote a book on this topic, “How the World Ran Out of Everything.” I’ll use today’s newsletter to help you understand why commerce has changed — and how companies and governments are reacting.The pandemic shockThe emergence of Covid in China ended the previous version of globalization. Quarantines shut Chinese factories at the same time that Western consumers, stuck in lockdown, ordered more manufactured goods like exercise equipment and electronic gadgets.This combination of reduced supply and surging demand made other countries realize that they had become heavily dependent on a single nation — China — for many items, including medical supplies. Covid eventually faded from the headlines, but policymakers and business executives in the United States and Europe faced pressure to diminish their reliance on China.A central reason for concern was the rise of geopolitical tensions. China wasn’t merely the world’s factory; it is also an autocracy that, under President Xi Jinping, has become more aggressive in asserting global influence. Xi, for instance, has been vocal about bringing Taiwan under China’s control, using force if necessary. Taiwan is the dominant manufacturer of the most advanced varieties of computer chips.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Schools Have a Tech Problem

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      We explore some of the tech challenges faced by educators.As the new school year begins, school districts across the United States are cracking down on cellphones in classrooms. Teachers are tired of constantly pressing students to stop watching TikTok and messaging friends during class. In many schools, students have also used phones to threaten or bully their classmates.As a result, as I note in a story today, at least eight states, including Indiana and Pennsylvania, have adopted measures this year to limit cellphones in schools.But the phone crackdowns illustrate a larger issue. Technology rules and safeguards in schools often lag far behind student use and abuse of digital tools.And it’s not just phones — school-issued laptops, tablets and classroom apps can also become sources of distraction and bullying. In today’s newsletter, I’ll highlight some of the tech challenges schools are facing.Student cellphone bansSchools have been trying to limit student phone use for decades. Maryland banned students from bringing pagers and “cellular telephones” to school in the late 1980s as illegal drug sales boomed. In the 1990s, as mobile phones gained traction, some schools barred the devices to stop the chirping from disrupting class.Since the 2000s, though, it’s also gone the other way. As school shootings became more common, many districts began allowing mobile phones as a safety measure. And, after the rise of iPhones, some schools that had barred cellphones reversed the bans in part because some lower-income students who did not own laptops used them for schoolwork.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Doping Scandal

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      How the Olympic drug testing system is supposed to function — and why it may not be working.When you sit down to watch the Olympics, you expect that you’re seeing the world’s best athletes competing on a level playing field.The organization that runs the Olympics prides itself on that promise, and it presents the Games as being tougher on dopers than any other sporting competition. It claims to have the most rigorous drug testing. Those who test positive face serious punishments, including multiyear bans. And an independent entity — known as the World Anti-Doping Agency — has global authority to enforce a strict antidoping code.But that system’s shortcomings have been on display at the Paris Games.Over the past few months, my Times colleagues and I have uncovered a troubling pattern of positive doping tests in the Chinese swimming program. Twelve members of the Chinese Olympic team tested positive in recent years for powerful performance-enhancing drugs but were cleared to keep competing. Until our stories, none of the positive tests had been publicly disclosed, as required by the rules.Concerns have spilled over to the pool deck in Paris, where some swimmers said the antidoping authorities had failed to ensure that these Games were fair. “I don’t really think they’ve given us enough evidence to support them with how this case was handled,” said Caeleb Dressel, one of the senior leaders on the U.S. team.In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain how the Olympic drug testing system is supposed to function, and why, in some of the most high-profile cases, like this one involving the Chinese swimmers, it may not be working. And now the Justice Department and F.B.I. are investigating.How it’s supposed to workEach country is in charge of policing its own athletes. That means that the United States Anti-Doping Agency takes the lead in testing and investigating American athletes, the China Anti-Doping Agency does the same in its country, and so on.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Adapting to the Heat

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      How to help your body adjust to higher temperatures.It has been hot outside. Very, very hot.It’s the kind of hot that can make you miserable. It can make you sick. For older adults and outdoor workers, it can be deadly.As an editor on the Well desk at The Times, I work on stories about health issues like extreme heat every day. I’m always looking for practical advice that people can use to live healthier lives. For many health issues we report on, my thinking is: Well, that’s terrible. What are we supposed to do about it?I thought I knew the answer when it came to heat. Stay cool, stay hydrated, stay alert to the signs of heat illness. Those are all important. But I was surprised to learn there’s another approach that has largely been overlooked.It’s called heat acclimatization, and The Times published a story about it this morning. It’s about teaching your body to deal with the stress of heat. Right now, the people who try to do so are often outdoor laborers, athletes, soldiers and others who have to be outside all the time. But many other people might benefit from giving it a shot.How acclimatizing helpsHeat taxes the body. You sweat more, and your heart beats harder. Both help keep you cool. But in very high temperatures, your heart rate can jump too high. Your blood pressure can drop. You can sweat so much you can become dizzy or dehydrated.Pushing the body too hard in extreme heat without preparation can be deadly. Almost half of all heat-related deaths among workers occur on their first day on the job, and more than 70 percent occur within the first week, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Once bodies are used to the heat, they start to adapt within days.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      You Ask, We Answer

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      We’re answering reader questions about this newsletter, and the news in general.We recently asked you — the readers of The Morning — to submit questions to us about this newsletter, recent news or anything else on your minds. We’re devoting today’s edition to some of your questions and our answers.We have room for only a small selection in today’s email, but we’ve posted a longer selection online, including answers from Times journalists who cover a range of subjects, whether it’s Moscow or personal fitness. We enjoyed this project so much that I expect we’ll do it again soon.About The MorningI love The Morning. Every morning when I get up, I make a cup of coffee and open the newsletter. I have one wish: Please resist using the awful phrases “modern history” or “recent history.” They are too vague to mean anything. Be precise! — Mark MatassaDavid: Thank you. And noted! We try to avoid vague language, and we will think twice before using these phrases now. I grew up surrounded by discussion of language — my mom was a copy editor, my dad a high school French teacher — and I appreciate it when readers write to us with grammar and usage critiques. Keep ’em coming.I would like to see key business/finance news included each morning. — John W. Morris IIIDavid: My colleagues and I agree that the newsletter has probably been too light on business news recently. We will aim to change that. Thank you for the nudge, John.I enjoy the mix of information you provide in The Morning. Wondering as an addition if you could add a “Good News” section. — Genie MontBlancWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Counting the Costs of the Microsoft-CrowdStrike Outage

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      A “historic” tech failure alarmed investors, after a security update caused problems for Microsoft devices and services, and took down businesses worldwide.A major IT outage involving Microsoft and CrowdStrike has caused major delays at airports around the world.Clemens Bilan/EPA, via ShutterstockThe glitch felt around the world Grounded flights, emergency services unreachable, payment systems not functioning — the world is assessing the damage caused by a cascade of IT outages that is spooking investors and grinding many businesses and government services to a halt.“This outage is historic in scale,” Mikko Hypponen, a research specialist at the software company WithSecure and a cybercrime adviser to Europol, told DealBook.The problem is being attributed to a tech upgrade gone wrong. All eyes are on CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company. It issued a software update that is causing Microsoft systems, including its Azure cloud service, to crash or not function properly. George Kurtz, the C.E.O. of CrowdStrike, said on X that a fix is being deployed, adding it’s “not a security incident or cyberattack.”Here’s the latest: American, United and Delta had grounded flights, according to the F.A.A. Airlines in Europe and Asia, including Air France-KLM and Japan Airlines, also had reported delays or cancellations. Some had reported a partial return to service.Long queues of airline passengers could be seen at airports around the world, with some resorting to manual check-in. In France, the television networks TF1 and Canal+ told the public on X that they could not go on the air on Friday morning. Comcast’s Sky News in the U.K. also went dark for a spell.The incident points to how reliant the global economy is on a handful of major tech companies to run vital infrastructure. CrowdStrike, a major cybersecurity vendor, is taking the brunt of the hit. Its stock was down nearly 12 percent in premarket trading. Microsoft was down about 1.4 percent, and also said a resolution was forthcoming.Security has become a big focus in the cloud wars. Google is trying to bolster its cloud operations with an eye on cybersecurity. The company is in talks to buy Wiz, a New York-based cybersecurity firm, in what would be its biggest acquisition ever, and an effort to take market share from Microsoft.Expect tough questions about the business world’s computing systems. Financial regulators in the U.K. have already begun speaking with financial services companies to learn the extent of the damage on banks and payment companies, The Financial Times reports.In other IT news: A U.S. judge dismissed most claims against SolarWinds, an IT security company, and its chief information security officer; the S.E.C. had sued the company after it was hacked by Russian agents in 2020.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More