Gizmodo (June 8)
AI mania “is running up against some hard economic realities. In recent weeks, big tech companies have been forced to admit that spending on tokens—the basic unit of measurement for AI usage—has gotten out of control.” As companies grow more cost conscious, big tech is waking up to the need “to find a new way to sell people on the future of AI without the exorbitant token costs. If they don’t, companies and users will just switch to some open model they can use for free.”
Tags: Admit, AI, Big tech, Companies, Cost conscious, Economic realities, Exorbitant, Free, Future, Mania, Open model, Spending, Switch, Tokens, Usage
Seoul Economic Daily (June 1)
“Chinese imported cars overtook Japanese vehicles in Korea’s import market for the first time in April…. The result is striking, considering that all Chinese imports came from a single brand, BYD.” The “Red Tech threat” extends beyond EVs and looks poised “to engulf the AI and advanced manufacturing ecosystem. Before it is too late, the public and private sectors must mobilize all their capabilities to drive structural reform of mainstay industries such as steel and petrochemicals, where competitiveness is weakening, and to nurture new industries. If we fail to confront the reality of the crisis and respond complacently, we will surrender not only future growth engines but also industrial leadership itself.”
Tags: Advanced manufacturing, AI, BYD, China, Competitiveness, Confront, Crisis, EVs, Future, Growth engines, Industrial leadership, Japan, Korea, Mainstay industries, Mobilize, Petrochemicals, Red Tech threat, Steel, Structural reform, Surrender
The Guardian (May 20)
“The balance of global power is shifting fast, but Britain is stuck in the same old Brexit rut. Without a reckoning about the epic strategic error of leaving the EU, there is no serious debate about the country’s future place in the world.” The nation’s “capacity to influence global events was diminished, not boosted, by leaving the EU….The road to control leads back to Europe.”
Tags: Balance, Boosted, Brexit rut, Britain, Control, Debate, Diminished, EU, Future, Global events, Global power, Influence, Reckoning, Shifting, Strategic error
OilPrice.com (January 12)
“Regardless of how investable Venezuela will be in the future, the U.S. control over its oil industry would change the power balance in the oil markets, giving the U.S. more sway in longer-term supply. This would leave OPEC and the wider OPEC+ group including Russia and Kazakhstan with potentially diminished clout in influencing the oil market balances and prices.”
Tags: Clout, Control, Diminished, Future, Investable, Kazakhstan, Market balance, Oil industry, OPEC, Power balance, Prices, Russia, Supply, U.S., Venezuela
New York Times (October 26)
Under Donald Trump, a “casino… now passes for the American economy.” Distinguished by froth, Trump’s “casino economy” is “built on speculation and risk. Across markets and policy, wagers on the future are being made with other people’s money at a cost that could prove catastrophic.” While it’s true that “economies run on risk, growth and ambition…. There’s risk, and then there’s reckless gambling.”
Tags: Ambition, Casino, Casino economy, Catastrophic, Cost, Froth, Future, Gambling, Growth, Money, Reckless, Risk, Speculation, Trump, U.S.
The Guardian (July 9)
“As the climate crisis throws its destructive effects ever more fully in our faces, cities during heatwaves are their own type of ground zero.” We need to “create more green spaces and more tolerable streets” Make no mistake, “extreme heat is our future” so “European cities must adapt.” It is true that “greenery, shade and swimming spots won’t solve the climate crisis, but they’re becoming ever more critical.”
Tags: Cities, Climate crisis, Critical, Destructive effects, Europe, Future, Green spaces, Ground zero, Heatwaves, Shade, Streets. Extreme heat, Swimming spots, Tolerable
Inside EVs (June 30)
Ford CEO Jim Farley is impressed with China’s electric vehicle industry. Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Summit, he said, “it’s the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen.” He recognizes that EVs in China are far more advanced, “They have far superior in-vehicle technology.” American technology “in most cars amounts to a media player, a navigation system and maybe some smart cruise control. China has pushed the envelope far beyond that.” They also offer a better price and better quality than U.S. cars. “Their cost, their quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West” said Farley who added, “We are in a global competition with China…. And if we lose this we do not have a future at Ford.”
Tags: Advanced, Aspen Ideas Summit, CEO, China, EV, Farley, Ford, Future, Global competition, Humbling, Impressed, Price, Quality, Technology, U.S.
New York Times (April 6)
“It’s downright scary,” but the future is “not in America.” President Trump and his administration are “focused on what teams American transgender athletes can race on” while “China is focused on transforming its factories with A.I. so it can outrace all our factories.” Trump is ramping up “tariffs while gutting our national scientific institutions and work force that spur U.S. innovation.” Meanwhile, China is ramping up “research campuses” and “A.I.-driven innovation to be permanently liberated from Trump’s tariffs.”
Tags: A.I., China, Factories, Future, Gutting, Innovation, Outrace, Race, Research campuses, Scary, Scientific institutions, Tariffs, Transforming, Transgender athletes, Trump, U.S.
Barron’s (December 16)
“Investors betting on future interest rate moves expect the Fed to cut rates a quarter-point, ending 2024 with a federal-funds rate in the range of 4.25%-4.5%.” That not something bond investors like. They are increasingly “shunning long-term Treasuries,” with the yield on 10-year Treasuries moving beyond the “20-day moving average of 4.293% on Thursday,” before “topping 4.4% during intraday trading on Friday.”
Tags: 10-year Treasuries, 4, 4.293%, Bond investors, Fed, Federal-funds rate, Future, Interest rate, Intraday trading, Investors, Shunning, Yield
New York Times (December 13)
Venture capital (VC) stands at a cross roads as firms adopt opposing paths. The “industry that funds and fosters American innovation” is undergoing “a profound debate” about its future. Some funds are remaining true to the lean, traditional VC model of infusing capital and not much else. Others are adopting a “bigger-is-better” approach in the belief that “even more money is needed to solve society’s thorniest problems with innovation. Small funds, they scoff, can back only small ideas.”
Tags: Bigger-is-better, Capital, Debate, Future, Innovation, Lean, Money, Society, Thorniest problems, Traditional, U.S., Venture-capital
