They decide to trade, Country A sends grain, Country B sends fish. Both prosper. This is the essence of free trade, fueled by natural differences in resources, climate, labor, and skills. It has shaped globalization for over 200 years.

What a world we find ourselves in today. We’re watching unprecedented policy shifts, a “12-day war” that may not be only 12 days, tariff levels not seen since the 1970s, inflation falling after unusually high peaks, a tax plan that is pro-growth but adds significantly to U.S. debt, and a consumer who is increasingly strained. And yet somehow markets are slightly up this year.

We hear versions of this often from clients, colleagues, and everyday investors. Our brains are wired to focus on negative information, and modern media amplifies this. Compounding matters, the current government shutdown has limited access to the usual flow of economic data, making everything feel even more uncertain.

If you’re like most Americans, you probably loved one of these paragraphs and disliked the other. They’re both factual, yet one is written with a left-leaning tone, and the other with a right-leaning tone. The information is the same. The editorial framing is not.