Washington Post (October 20)
“President Donald Trump says he beat inflation. But several conventional measures of rising prices paint a different picture. Most experts agree inflation has picked up in recent months, in part because of Trump’s tariffs. Economists expect more tariff-driven price increases in the months to come.”
Tags: Beat, Conventional, Economists, Experts, Inflation, Measures, Rising prices, Tariffs, Trump
Politico (October 19)
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde believes the global economy is “in transformation,” brought about especially by two factors. “One is the tariffs, which have changed the map of trade around the world and reconstituted new alliances and reformed the way in which we trade with each other…. The second major transformation is the impact of artificial intelligence on everything we do from data management to dating and everything in between.”
Tags: Alliances, Artificial intelligence, Data management, ECB, Global economy, Impact, Lagarde, Tariffs, Trade, Transformation
Harvard Business Review (October 17)
Artificial intelligence (AI) “is both far-reaching and fragile. Its long-term trajectory points toward redefining industries, reshaping work, and altering the balance of global power. In the near term, geopolitical rivalry combines with deregulatory policy and speculative capital, creating conditions that strongly resemble past bubbles. The lesson of history is not that bubbles render technologies worthless, but that they distort timing and expectations.”
Tags: AI, Bubbles, Deregulatory policy, Far-reaching, Fragile, Geopolitical rivalry, Global power, Redefining industries, Reshaping work, Speculative capital, Timing, Trajectory
New York Times (October 16)
China is trying “to beat U.S. at its own game” by imposing rare earth restrictions. “Beijing’s latest effort to weaponize global supply chains is modeled on the American technology controls that it has long criticized.” This new thrust was in some way catalyzed by “Mr. Trump’s aggressive actions — including new fees for Chinese-owned ships that dock at U.S. ports.” Some analysts believe that “with its dominance over the production of these rare earth minerals and its control of other strategic industries, China may have an even greater ability than the United States to weaponize supply chains.”
Tags: Aggressive actions, Analysts, Beat, China, Dominance, Fees, Imposing, Ports, Rare earth, Restrictions, Ships, Supply chains, Technology controls, Trump, U.S., Weaponize
BBC (October 15)
“Silicon Valley is on the hunt for new sources of power to drive enormous data centres and in particular, the high-power chips that have become the backbone of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.” Nuclear power is capturing Increasing attention, especially small modular reactors (SMRs), which “sound like the perfect solution to the growing energy AI demand.” Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. The SMRs being discussed would only produce a small fraction of AI’s needs. Moreover, SMRs generate more nuclear “waste than larger conventional reactors.” Nevertheless, “big tech is making a big bet on nuclear – Microsoft has even recently joined the industry’s lobbying group, the World Nuclear Association.”
Tags: AI, Chips, Conventional reactors, Data centers, Lobbying, Microsoft, Nuclear power, Power, Silicon Valley, SMRs, Solution, Sources, Waste
Axios (October 15)
“More people are concerned than excited about the rise of AI in daily life, with Americans topping the global worry list, per a new global report from Pew Research Center.” Some countries, like South Korea and India were relatively excited about AI with less than 20% of respondents saying they were “more concerned than excited.” In contrast, the majority of U.S. respondents were more concerned about Ai than excited, a level of anxiety only matched by Italy. This “public concern over AI could shape how quickly the tools are adopted, and could upend workplaces if employees aren’t comfortable with the changes.”
Tags: Anxiety, Aopted, Concerned, Daily life, Employees, Excited, India, Italy, Pew, Respondents, Rise of AI, South Korea, U.S., Workplaces, Worry
The Atlantic (October 14)
“Last week, amid widespread geopolitical turmoil and a weakening U.S. dollar, the price of gold hit a historic high of $4,000 an ounce. This year has so far been gold’s best since 1979.” This is not a portend of a strong economy. Over the most recent half century, gold has proven to be a fairly effective “recession indicator” as “spikes in the price of gold have typically been correlated with widespread inflation and geopolitical dysfunction.”
Tags: 1979, Dysfunction, Economy, Geopolitical turmoil, Gold, High, Inflation, Price, Recession indicator, Spikes, Weakening U.S. dollar, Widespread
Cox Automotive (October 13)
“In September, the average transaction price (ATP) of a new vehicle in the U.S. was above $50,000 for the first time, according to new estimates released today by Kelley Blue Book. New-vehicle prices have risen steadily for more than a year, with the pace of the increases accelerating in recent months. Despite higher prices, retail sales continue to maintain a healthy pace.”
Tags: Accelerating, ATP, Estimates, Increases, Kelley Blue Book, Pace, Retail sales, Risen steadily, September, Transaction price, U.S., Vehicle
The Ecoomist (October 13)
Politicians, economists, investors and others have long argued whether China’s economy is “a bubble waiting to burst” or “a sustainable success.” The argument is shifting, however, as “a new debate is now emerging, which is potentially far nastier. Much of the world falls into one camp: admiring China’s accomplishments, but also reeling from a deluge of Chinese exports. In the other camp is China, utterly convinced of the rightness of its economic model.”
Tags: Accomplishments, Admiring, Argument, Bubble, Burst, China, Convinced, Debate, Deluge, Economists, Economy, Emerging, Exports, Investors, Nastier, Politicians, Reeling, Rightness, Success, Sustainable
BBC (October 11)
“Asahi, the maker of Japan’s best-selling beer, was forced to halt production at most of its 30 factories in the country at the end of last month after being hit by a cyber-attack.” The brewer’s facilities in Japan have partially reopened although “its computer systems are still down.” The attack marked “the latest in a series of cyber-attacks… that have hit major firms around the world.” Recent Japanese victims include a container terminal in Nagoya and Japan Airlines. The nation may be particularly vulnerable. “While Japan’s image around the world may be of a technologically advanced nation, some experts have warned it does not have enough cybersecurity professionals and has low rates of digital literacy when it comes to business software.”
Tags: 30 factories, Asahi, Beer, Computer systems, Container terminal, Cyber-attack, Digital literacy, JAL, Japan, Nagoya, Production, Professionals, Reopened, Software, Vulnerable
