I’m almost 100% certain you could ask ChatGPT or one of the AIs you use to do this for you, simply by asking, at this point. This project was about a year ago, and AI wasn’t as far along as it is now, so there was more legwork involved in retrieving this data. As you know, I am in finance, and my objective was to learn how to use programming to gather large amounts of data and sort it quickly. By doing this, I can research relevant investment topics and identify potential perspectives and an edge for my clients on planning trends, recurring patterns, and what’s visible only when you look at all the data over a long period of time.

So, for my first project, I used Python to search a newspaper’s archives from 2001 to 2025 for articles relevant to government spending and expenses. I wanted to see if I could pick up on potential spending trends and broaden my perspective on spending in our economy and others’. After seeing the results, I was saddened. I thought of split shifts and the restaurants I worked at when I was younger, and framing in -18 degree weather, and all the jobs where a day covered an expense like food, or a parking ticket, it was disheartening.

To keep things on a cheery note, I learned a lot about Python and its origins. There’s a great documentary about it, and I really enjoyed watching it. Fascinating how some communities flourish and help one another, while others just can’t create this contagiousness. Here it is if you enjoy the history of computers and programming.