That is my essay in the new NBER volume The Economics of Artificial Intelligence: An Agenda, edited by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb.  Here is one excerpt from my piece: These distribution effects [from more powerful AI] may be less egalitarian if hardware rather than software is the constraint for the next generation […]

Authored by Jake Johnson and Jon Queally via Common Dreams If there were any lingering hopes that the corporate media learned from its role in perpetuating the lies that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and would never again help start a Middle East war on the basis of false or flimsy evidence, the headlines that […]

Colorado has passed another major marijuana milestone, surpassing $1 billion in state revenue since it legalized the drug in 2014. Source: Colorado.gov Up to May of this year, Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes that the state has seen more than $6 billion in total marijuana sales since the industry was given the green light. You will find […]

Authored by Federico Pieraccini via The Strategic Culture Foundation, Generally, when discussing air-defense systems here, we are referring to Russian devices that have become famous in recent years, in particular the S-300 (and its variants) and the S-400. Their deployment in Syria has slowed down the ability of such advanced air forces as those of […]

The latest Cushman & Wakefield commercial real estate report shows demand for US industrial space collapsed 60% on year in 1Q19, reflecting the global synchronized decline and the deepening trade war. Cushman & Wakefield’s economists warned President Trump’s trade war is unraveling complex supply chains around the world that have led to a slump in […]

As discussed earlier, and as both Bank of America and JPM explained, the biggest risk for the market next week is if the Fed not only doesn’t cut – the market assigns a very low probability to such a “pre-emptive” move – but fails to signal an aggressive dovish reversal in the form of a […]

Today, we present a guest post written by Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and formerly a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.  Remembering Martin Feldstein June 13, 2019 — Here in Cambridge, we are reeling from the passing of Martin Feldstein on Tuesday.  He was tremendously influential both […]

Total credit card debt among American consumers jumped 29% since 2015, reaching a whopping $807 billion in 1Q19, according to the latest Experian data. In the past year, as the economy cycles down, overall credit card debt rose 6%. More than 60% of Americans used credit cards for basic purchases in 1Q19. That’s an 11% […]

Authored by Walter Williams, op-ed via Townhall.com, We are living in a time of increasing domestic tension. Some of it stems from the presidency of Donald Trump. Another part of it is various advocacy groups on both sides of the political spectrum demanding one cause or another. But nearly totally ignored is how growing government […]

As the boom in mortgage applications and refinancing activity last week would suggest, the return of interest rates toward multi-year lows this year is helping to pump more froth into the already bubblicious American housing market. But while somebody will inevitably be left holding the bag when the bubble bursts, for now, at least, the […]

With arguably the most important two weeks of the year looming, on Friday Bank of America’s Chief Investment Officer, Michael Harnett, laid out a 2-by-2 matrix summarizing the four possible scenarios that could result from the Fed’s announcement next week, and the G-20 meeting on June 28-29, where there is a chance (if minuscule) that […]

Authored by Haley Zaremba via OilPrice.com, It’s been well over a year since the then-United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis accused Russia and China of being “revisionist powers” each working its way toward making a power grab on the world stage and announced that the U.S. would be shifting its international relations focus away […]

What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Own Business Culture.  It is the best book on business culture in recent memory, here is one bit: When Tom Coughlin coached the New York Giants, from 2004 to 2015, the media went crazy over a shocking rule he set: “If you are on […]

Tax payments for big businesses are declining much faster than was initially anticipated due to Republican tax cuts, according to Politico. As we profiled earlier this year, this could provide significant ammunition for Democrats who are calling for corporate tax increases as a staple of many 2020 platforms. The US Treasury says that they saw […]

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The American Institute for Economic Research, Facebook changed the way we communicate, interact, and gather information. You don’t have to love all the results. But the reality of the shift in our lives is undeniable. Will Facebook’s new initiative to create a cryptocurrency do the same for money and payment […]

Amid fears that the US is running headlong into yet another sure to be disastrous war in the Middle East, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters Friday that the Pentagon is prepping “contingency plans” should things quickly escalate militarily. “When you look at the situation… 15 percent of the world’s oil flows through the Strait […]

Authored by EconomicPrism’s MN Gordon, annotated by Acting-Man’s Pater Tenebrarum, A Loose Relationship The Dow Jones Industrial Average made another concerted run at the elusive 27,000 milestone over the last several weeks.  But, as of this writing, the index has stalled out short of this psychosomatic barrier.  By our estimation, this is for the best. Since early […]

A Tesla driver appeared to be “fully sleeping for at least 30 miles” while barreling down a Southern California freeway, according to NBC. A passenger alongside of the vehicle, Shawn Miladinovich, began taking video when he noticed that the driver was passed out, and that he had something “tied to the steering wheel” that the report assumes […]

And maybe other folks, up for the Fed? Well, Judy Shelton says gold might be the way to go… That’s from an interview Erik Brynjolffson, Tod Loofbourrow and I conducted back in 1982 for the Harvard International Review. So, if Obama’s November 2008 election could’ve caused the Great Recession that started in December 2007 (and […]

Via CaseyResearch.com, Doug Casey says we’re well into what he calls the Greater Depression. America is headed for trouble… and it’s critical to know exactly what’s going on. That’s why today’s essay is so important. In it, Doug explains the source behind every negative thing that’s happening right now… and what’s really going on behind the […]

In what appears to be a “stunning” and “unprecedented” victory for the leaders of Hong Kong’s massive protest movement (and a similarly unexpected capitulation from the city’s leaders), City Executive Carrie Lam announced on Saturday that her government would suspend the hated extradition bill “indefinitely,” leaving it unclear whether the legislation would ever be brought […]

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com, For this weekend’s roll-up of bizarre and disturbing stories from around the world, we found ourselves zeroing-in on some ridiculous data privacy violations. Soccer app spies on fans The Spanish soccer (sigh, OK– football) league, known by fans around the world simply as La Liga, knew that most pubs across […]

This week, we speak with Jonathan Stein, founder and CEO of Betterment, an online automated firm with $16.4 billion dollars under management. At Harvard, he studied under Martin Feldstein, chief economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan. There he noticed the distinction be academic theory of economics and how different investor behavior was in the real […]

Now, in a strange turn more than three decades after the meltdown, the exclusion area around Chernobyl is gaining a following as a tourism destination, apparently propelled by the popularity of a TV mini-series about the blast that was broadcast in the United States and Britain last month. The mini-series, HBO’s “Chernobyl,” fictionalizes the events […]

The Army expects to procure its Multi-Mission High Energy Laser (MMHEL) by 2022 and a hypersonic weapon prototype by 2023, said Lt. Gen L. Neil Thurgood, director of hypersonics, directed energy, space, and rapid acquisition, reported Army News Service. The MMHEL is a 50-kilowatt laser through a precision pointing, high-velocity target tracking beam control system. […]

Authored by Simon Watkins via OilPrice.com, Underlying the one-year anniversary in mid-August of the signing of the ‘Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea’ is one of the greatest oil industry swindles in recent years. When representatives of the five Caspian littoral states meet on the 11th and 12th of August, Iran intends to […]

by Calculated Risk on 6/15/2019 08:11:00 AM

Trump says his UK visit was the most fun Queen had in 25 years NY Post. Indeed. Darwin’s Finches Are In Danger Because a Parasite Is Changing Their Mating Song Vice (see the website of the Galapagos Conservation Trust for background and context: DARWIN’S FINCHES) A deadly deer disease is spreading. Could it strike people, […]

Jerri-Lynn here. This Real News Network interview with Rob Wallace of the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps discusses what’s caused the current outbreak of African swine flu – the largest animal epidemic in history –  which is currently rampaging throughout China and other parts of Asia. Pork prices have shot up 40% globally. This […]