New York Times (October 2)
President Trump is now “threatening to ban or restrict the export of diesel from the United States, which is the top supplier to more than a dozen countries including Mexico, Canada and much of Europe. Oil executives and world leaders are issuing increasingly dire warnings that the result could be global price spikes on everything from groceries to jet fuel.” The only nation with spare capacity to process more diesel is China, but analysts believe “China has started again to restrict some of its sizable exports of refined crude products including diesel.”
Tags: Ban, Canada, China, Diesel, Dire warnings, Europe, Export, Global price spikes, Groceries, Jet fuel, Mexico, Oil, Restrict, Spare capacity, Threatening, Top supplier, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (October 2)
“The monthslong rout in global government bonds is getting messier and weirder.” For developed nations, sovereign debt had “moved broadly in tandem.” But on Thursday, “a flight to bonds considered safe drove U.S. Treasury yields lower, while those of French, Italian and Greek bonds jumped in a sudden divergence.” While this was a “reprieve of sorts for the U.S…. it was also a reminder of how extended selloffs in bonds can cause unexpected problems.” There is “a faint smell of a crisis in the making.”
Tags: Bonds, Developed nations, Divergence, Flight, France, Global, Greece, Italy, Messier, Reprieve, Rout, Selloffs, Sovereign debt, Treasury yields, U.S., Unexpected problems, Weirder
Inc. (October 1)
“Self-checkout was supposed to cut costs. instead, it created a problem retailers didn’t anticipate.” Some of the retailers who installed them “are starting to abandon self-checkout lanes” because they are proving costly. ECR Retail Loss found that “grocery stores experienced an average 22 percent increase in merchandise losses in the year after installing self-checkout lanes. These losses included both theft and accidental errors, such as missed scans and incorrect product selections.” Overall, retailers are still investing in technology, but they are currently searching for better solutions.
Tags: Abandon, Accidental errors, Costs, Grocery stores, Incorrect product selections, Losses, Merchandise, Missed scans, Problem, Retailers, Self-checkout, Theft
The Times (September 30)
“Britain appears happier to offshore our pollution rather than risk it at home.” This facile approach ignores the cost. “The most direct cost is felt by workers with skills our economy needs. But their communities, the country and the environment also suffer a cost when we chase away unsightly industries.” Ultimately, “It is better for the world’s land, air and water if a country like Britain is invested in monitoring and containing pollution, treating the problems it creates and inventing new products to replace the most damaging ones.”
Tags: Air, Communities, Containing, Cost, Economy, Environment, Facile, Inventing, Land, Monitoring, Offshore, Pollution, Risk, Skills, UK, Unsightly industries, Water, Workers
Reuters (September 28)
“Offshore Chinese wealth has reached unprecedented levels. Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub, with $2.9 trillion under management, about 60% tied to mainland money, according to a Boston Consulting Group report.”
The Guardian (September 28)
In the U.S., “consumer sentiment has slid sharply in light of today’s stubborn inflation, mixed with slower economic growth, high interest rates and huge economic uncertainty about trade wars and AI.” A University of Michigan poll found that “consumer sentiment fell in September to its second lowest level ever in the poll’s 74-year history. Only this past May was lower.”
Tags: AI, Consumer sentiment, Economic growth, Economic uncertainty, High interest rates, Inflation, Slid, Slower, Stubborn, Trade wars, U.S.
New York Times (September 27)
“Governments, businesses and communities” need to get ready for El Niño. “There are more than two dozen climate models from agencies around the world that forecast El Niño conditions, and they often don’t agree. But this year they are more aligned than ever before in predicting that El Niño conditions will last through the end of 2026. This high level of certainty means that many of the expected impacts — intense rainfall in some regions, drought and wildfire in others and an increase in global warming — are very likely to occur.”
Tags: 2026, Agencies, Businesses, Certainty, Climate models, Communities, Conditions, Drought, El Niño, Forecast, Governments, Impacts, Predicting, Rainfall, Wildfire
BBC (September 25)
Australia is “punching above its weight on one of the most defining issues of our time – big tech regulation.” On Wednesday, the nation “made a dramatic revelation” at the UN General Assembly by revealing its Medicare website had been hacked by Open AI in June, apparently the first time “rogue AI agents” have hacked a government body. In less than a year, Australia “has implemented the world’s strictest social media ban, announced what it says are the world’s strongest algorithm controls, floated the possibility of ‘world-leading’ limits on smart glasses, and is now the first government to confront AI firms over a rogue attack on its data.”
Tags: AI agents, Algorithm controls, Australia, Big tech regulation, Dramatic, Hacked, June, Medicare website, Open AI, Revelation, Rogue, Smart glasses, Social media ban, UN General Assembly
Barron’s (September 24)
“Power availability is a constraint to AI growth.” On Thursday, Oracle “upset the AI apple cart” by seeking to delay payments if a contracted data center “facility doesn’t come online as scheduled in 2028.” The Project Jupiter AI data center in question “had the money, tenants, and AI partners. It didn’t have the permits.” Delays like this send a bearish message: “less revenue for the ones selling equipment to massive data center projects.”
Tags: AI, Bearish, Constraint, Data center, Delay, Growth, Money, Online, Oracle, Partners, Payments, Permits, Power availability, Project Jupiter, Revenue, Tenants
Wall Street Journal (September 24)
“The AI build-out is becoming the biggest economic bet in U.S. history.” Spending on data centers is already “greater than that for the canals, railroads and grid combined—creating jobs and wealth but also boosting inflation.” Between 2025 and 2032, “total investment in data centers and related artificial-intelligence infrastructure is projected to total $10.3 trillion.” As this investment transforms the economy, “it is also creating significant risk, as much of it is built on debt. An abrupt slowdown could ignite shock waves throughout the U.S. economy.”
Tags: $10.3 trillion, 2032, AI, Build-out, Canals, Data centers, Debt, Economic bet, Grid, Inflation, Infrastructure, Investment, Jobs, Railroads, Risk, Slowdown, Spending, U.S., Wealth
