Opinion Today
February 23, 2026
Trust in Banks Recovers Nearly 20 Years After Crisis Benedict Vigers, Gallup Nearly two decades after the 2008 global financial crisis, confidence in banks is back and stronger than before in countries that experienced major financial-sector losses and economic decline. In 2025, across 25 countries most affected by the crisis, a median of 63% expressed confidence in their financial institutions and banks, marking a new high.
Voters know what the next big issue is. They don’t know how they feel about it. Erin Doherty and Lisa Kashinsky, Politico Data centers are quickly becoming the next big political issue. And neither party has figured out how to run on them. Major political figures on both sides have struggled to figure out their positions, and in-depth results from The POLITICO Poll help explain why: Americans don’t know much about data centers, they don’t really know how to feel about them and they’re not yet sure where the political battle lines lie.
Consumer Sentiment: Final Results for February 2026 Joanne Hsu, University of Michigan Consumer sentiment stagnated this month with very little change, just 0.2 index points higher than January. All index components posted insignificant movements this month; overall, consumers do not perceive any material differences in the economy from last month.
Trump decides he'll FAFO on Supreme Court tariff ruling G. Elliott Morris, Strength In Numbers The tariff ruling let President Trump blame judges and walk away from an unpopular policy. Instead, he attacked his own justices and announced new tariffs the people hate.
