> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.newmexicomadness.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Kulo 101: Stewardship and the Wealth Ladder - URL: https://www.newmexicomadness.com/kulo-101-stewardship-and-the-wealth-ladder/ - Published: 2026-11-07T14:54:08.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-07T14:54:08.000Z - Author: Kulo the Alien - Tags: Finance Take a seat. Especially those of you measuring the curtains for the Fourth Floor in Santa Fe. On Wednesday, after the midterm elections cleared the air, the Dow jumped 1,569 points. By Thursday afternoon, $2.5 trillion had been wiped off the Nasdaq in six hours, its worst one-day drop since April 2025. What happened in between? Newly victorious politicians started talking. In Washington, Senator Bernie Sanders demanded an immediate national data center moratorium and ban on artificial intelligence (AI). Representative Yassamin Ansari said pausing AI development should be a Day 1 priority for the new House majority. In Texas, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa repeated her pledge to freeze data center approvals in the state that holds 27 percent of America's planned capacity. And right here in New Mexico, Governor-elect Deb Haaland stood in front of the cameras and repeated her own Day 1 priority: an executive order slapping a statewide moratorium on new large-scale data centers. When asked earlier this fall whether she would lift that freeze even if the Legislature passed 80 percent of her own checklist, her answer was four words: *"That remains to be seen."* Let's put Rule Number One on the chalkboard. **Rule 1: Stop using anti-growth language and learn to speak business.** "Moratorium" isn't a regulatory policy. It's a padlock. When the leaders of the world's top innovation economy throw that word at the biggest growth engine on earth, markets don't wait around to see what a committee writes in February. Algorithms and institutional desks reprice risk in milliseconds. And when they do, the pain rolls downhill. Every single time. ## Who actually took the $2.5 trillion hit? Some politicians talk as if the stock market is just five guys in hoodies trading crypto in a basement. Here is the math they don't teach at campaign rallies: - **58 to 62 percent of American households** own stock through a 401(k), an IRA, a college 529 plan, or a mutual fund. - Right here in New Mexico, **302,700 people** are members of our two public retirement systems: **PERA** (every state, county, and city worker — police officers, firefighters, county clerks, road crews) and **ERB** (every public school teacher, bus driver, cafeteria worker, and university employee). That's roughly **one in every seven New Mexicans**. - Together, PERA and ERB hold **$38.8 billion** in retirement savings. PERA's target allocation puts **46 percent** of its fund in global stocks. Add in the Land Grant and Severance Tax permanent funds that pay for New Mexico's public schools and hospitals, and our state's investment pools top **$100.7 billion**. What sits at the top of those equity funds? Nvidia. Microsoft. Apple. Amazon. Alphabet. **When a politician spooks the market with a moratorium threat or pushes policy to stop production and innovation, they aren't punching a billionaire. They are skimming the retirement account of every teacher in Albuquerque, every sheriff's deputy in Valencia County, and every New Mexican earning anything above minimum wage with a 401(k).** ## That money didn't vanish — it changed hands Here is the second thing every elected official should understand before stepping up to a microphone: a policy-driven crash is a **wealth transfer**. When $2.5 trillion comes off the board in an afternoon, where does it go? - **At the top of the ladder:** Wall Street short-sellers, volatility desks, and massive hedge funds that hedge in seconds and buy back those exact same shares at a 15 percent discount. For them, a careless politician is a payday. - **In the middle of the ladder:** Working families watching their 401(k) and PERA balances drop — and worse, the nervous retail saver who gets scared by the headlines, sells at the bottom, and hands their cheap shares directly to Wall Street. - **At the bottom of the ladder:** The family on government assistance or working minimum wage who doesn't own a single share of stock yet. Wait — how does a stock market crash hurt someone who doesn't own stocks? Because words hit **savings** first. If actions match the words, they hit **jobs** next. ## Sawing off the first rung Look at Friday morning's jobs report. The U.S. economy added **165,000 jobs** in October, blowing past expectations, and unemployment fell to **4.1 percent**. What is carrying that job machine? According to Stanford's economic institute, the AI and data center buildout supports **304,000 U.S. manufacturing supply-chain jobs** — steel, electrical gear, cooling systems, concrete — equal to roughly **two-thirds of all net jobs created in America over the past year**. It has added **86,000 blue-collar specialty trade jobs** for electricians, pipefitters, and ironworkers earning 20 percent more than the private-sector average. In southern New Mexico, **Project Jupiter** in Doña Ana County represents up to **$165 billion** in private investment, **2,500 construction jobs**, and **750 to 800 permanent jobs paying $75,000 to $100,000 a year**. And what about the water excuse? One of Haaland's main demands for lifting her freeze is closed-loop cooling. Project Jupiter is *already* designed with closed-loop cooling, uses zero municipal drinking water, desalinates brackish groundwater, and consumes roughly the same water per building as two households. Engineers are solving the resource problems faster than politicians can type a press release. When you threaten to freeze projects like that, you don't hurt the CEO. You saw off the **first rung of the wealth ladder** for the young New Mexican who needed that union electrical apprenticeship or that $80,000 technician job to get off assistance, support a family, and open their first retirement account. ## Don't worry — your politician's broker called them back Now, before you shed a tear for Washington, take comfort: our elected leaders are going to be just fine. According to a recent Washington Post analysis, at least **106 members of Congress** personally hold between **$83 million and $325 million** in AI stocks — led by Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon. Even the lawmakers who rail against Big Tech and skip individual stocks own multiple homes and sit in twenty mutual funds that hold the exact same companies. Yes, their portfolios took a hit on Thursday too. Here's the difference: they woke up Friday morning and were still millionaires. The median member of Congress is worth **$2.1 million**, collects a $174,000 salary, and has a federal pension waiting. Most of them don't even know how a normal family's 401(k) works because they pay a wealth manager, a CPA, and a lawyer on retainer to run their money. When they fire off an anti-growth post for political applause, their wealth manager quietly harvests the tax loss, buys the dip, and files the disclosure form 45 days later. They get the applause. Their broker gets the discount. And regular people — if they panic — pay the tab. ## Class dismissed To New Mexico's incoming administration: stewardship means protecting water and ratepayers *with clear rules*, not padlocks. Speak the language of business, let engineers engineer, and stop sawing off the ladder your own constituents are trying to climb. And to our readers: **do not panic, and do not pay their tab.** Corrections of 10 percent happen roughly every 18 months. The AI revolution is already woven into healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and space. It is bigger than any one election, any one governor, or any one senator's X account. Stay on the ladder. Keep your shares. And when politicians put great companies on sale, do what their brokers do — go shopping. Professor Kulo out. 🎓🌶️ --- 🎓 **Not investment advice.** Kulo's Kash and Kulo 101 are published for educational and commentary purposes. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and nothing is tailored to your personal situation. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. #### Endnotes 1. On November 4, 2026, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,569 points (+3.0 percent). On November 5, 2026, the Nasdaq 100 fell 6.4 percent, erasing roughly $2.5 trillion in market value, its largest one-day drop since April 2025, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5 percent and the Dow fell 1,835 points. Reuters and CBS News, November 5, 2026. 2. Post-election statements calling for data center moratoriums or AI pauses from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Yassamin Ansari, Rep. Greg Casar, and Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa were reported by CNBC and Reuters on November 4–5, 2026. 3. New Mexico Gov.-elect Deb Haaland's Day 1 data center moratorium pledge and her September 2026 "That remains to be seen" remark were reported by KOAT, KRQE, Source NM, and KOB-TV (September 17–21 and November 3–5, 2026). Project Jupiter closed-loop cooling and water usage details (roughly 168,000 gallons per year per facility using non-potable desalinated brackish water) were published by Oracle in Albuquerque Business First, November 5, 2026. 4. U.S. household stock ownership of 58 percent (Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances) to 62 percent (Gallup) includes direct holdings and indirect holdings in retirement accounts and mutual funds. 5. New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) and Educational Retirement Board (ERB) membership (131,700 and 171,000; 302,700 total) and asset balances ($19.37 billion and $19.43 billion; $38.8 billion combined, and $100.7 billion across all state investment funds) are from the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee Quarterly Investment Report (period ended March 31, 2026) and NASRA. PERA's 46 percent Global Equity target is from the PERA Investment Policy Statement (December 9, 2025). 6. U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October 2026 and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 6, 2026\. Data center supply-chain employment (304,000 jobs, roughly two-thirds of net U.S. job creation) is from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). Blue-collar specialty trade job growth (+86,000 jobs) is from Business Insider / BLS analysis (September 2026). Project Jupiter investment ($165 billion) and job projections (2,500 construction, 750–800 permanent) are from Doña Ana County economic development disclosures. 7. Congressional AI stock holdings (106 lawmakers holding $82.8 million to $325 million) are from The Washington Post (October 15, 2026). Median congressional net worth ($2.1 million) is from Capitol Markets (September 2026); mutual fund disclosures for Sen. Sanders's household are from VT Digger and OpenSecrets.