The midterms are a referendum on public trust

In today’s CEO Daily: What’s at stake in tomorrow’s elections.

The big leadership story: The AI boom hits a wall.

The markets: Stocks rebound globally.

Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. The midterms are tomorrow, and the outcome will determine more than which party controls Congress. If Democrats win back the House, the Senate, or both, President Donald Trump will have a harder time securing the policies, people, and funding needed to carry out his agenda, and the right could push back. If the GOP retains control, there could be outrage on the left, some over the record $12 billion in projected campaign spending tracked by OpenSecrets, including almost half a billion by Elon Musk alone. Either way, the results will test public trust in three areas: 

Trust in capitalism. Americans put up with a lot when they think they have a shot at the prize, but that sentiment is fading in this winner-take-all economy. This Fed chart shows how a rapidly increasing share of U.S. household wealth has gone to rich white Boomers since 1989. Gen Z in particular is seeing signs that the system is rigged: from record oil company profits amid rising energy prices to the unaffordability of housing, health care, and education. They’re worried AI will take their jobs. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters marched across Europe over the weekend. I hear a lot of concern about more unrest here.

Trust in politics. I’ve interviewed several hundred CEOs over the past year, on and off the record, across a range of platforms and settings. Publicly, many cheer the Republican agenda on taxes, deregulation, and putting American business first. Privately, far more tell me they’re rattled by........

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