Top of Mind
Goldman Sachs Research's single-theme report, edited by Allison Nathan, that puts bulls and bears from inside and outside the firm side by side on the question markets care most about. Each issue is a free PDF.
Free to read
Top of Mind is the one regular piece of Goldman Sachs Research that the firm makes freely available. Allison Nathan picks one question that investors are debating, such as whether AI spending will pay off, where tariffs are heading or what a Fed regime change means. She then interviews outside experts, often academics, former policymakers and investors, and sets their views next to Goldman's own economists and strategists.
The format teaches you how a good research debate is built. Each issue opens with a framing of the question, then gives opposing interviews, followed by data pages and charts from Goldman's analysts. The June 2024 issue Gen AI: too much spend, too little benefit? became one of the most quoted pieces of the AI cycle because it gave real space to a skeptical view from inside the firm.
Read an issue when its theme is moving markets, and use the year-end charts edition as a recap of the year. Each issue has a short web page with the full report as a PDF, and many are paired with an episode of the Exchanges podcast.
Start with
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1
Gen AI: too much spend, too little benefit?
The June 2024 issue that framed the AI capital-spending debate and is still widely cited.
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2
AI: in a bubble?
The October 2025 follow-up on valuations, the AI buildout and circular deals across the ecosystem.
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3
2025: 4 Themes In Charts
The year-end edition, a fast chart recap of tariffs, AI, institutional credibility and geopolitics.