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Charted: The U.S. National Debt Reaches $35 Trillion Since January, the U.S. debt pile has expanded by $1 trillion alone, moving the debt-to-GDP ratio to 98%. By 2032, the International Monetary Fund projects that this ratio could surpass 140% under current policies. Despite the looming threat to U.S. fiscal sustainability, neither Republican or Democratic parties show political incentive to address the rapid pace of borrowing.
As a result, the cost of servicing government debt is surging. In 2024, interest costs on the national debt are forecast to reach 17% of federal spending, making it the fastest growing expense overall. These interest costs are expected to escalate further as higher interest rates drive up the cost of new borrowing.
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WorkHow Companies Can Take a Global Approach to AI Ethics - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)
 Many efforts to build an AI ethics program miss an important fact: ethics differ from one cultural context to the next. Ideas about right and wrong in one culture may not translate to a fundamentally different context, and even when there is alignment, there may well be important differences in the ethical reasoning at work — cultural norms, religious tradition, etc. — that need to be taken into account. Because AI and related data regulations are rarely uniform across geographies, compliance can be difficult. To address this problem, companies need to develop a contextual global AI ethics model that prioritizes collaboration with local teams and stakeholders and devolves decision-making authority to those local teams. This is particularly necessary if their operations span several geographies. Work
WorkOpenAI co-founder John Schulman says he will leave and join rival Anthropic
Last week, Altman said on X that OpenAI \"has been working with the US AI Safety Institute on an agreement where we would provide early access to our next foundation model so that we can work together to push forward the science of AI evaluations.\" Altman said OpenAI is still committed to keeping 20% of its computing resources for safety initiatives. WorkHow to reduce the risk of developing dementia - The Economist (No paywall)
Some of the best strategies for reducing the chances of developing dementia are, to put it kindly, impracticable: don’t grow old; don’t be a woman; choose your parents carefully. But although old age remains by far the biggest risk factor, women are more at risk than men and some genetic inheritances make dementia more likely or even almost inevitable, the latest research suggests that as many as 45% of cases of dementia are preventable—or at least that their onset can be delayed. WorkWorkHow the Google Antitrust Ruling May Influence Tech Competition
The influence of the Microsoft antitrust case was, in fact, apparent in the Google decision. In Judge Mehta’s 277-page judgment, Microsoft appeared on 104 pages, both as an aspiring rival to Google and as a legal precedent. Google has said it will appeal the ruling. WorkWork WorkBangladesh's prime minister just fled the country in a helicopter. Why?
The movement that ultimately toppled her started with students frustrated at their lack of job prospects and snowballed to include ordinary Bangladeshis facing increasingly tough economic conditions. But the jubilant scenes in the capital Dhaka come at great cost; around 300 people have been killed since the protests started in June, and the country’s future remains uncertain as a military-backed caretaker government steps in. WorkWhat happens when everyone decides they need a gun?
It’s a Saturday morning on the South Side of Chicago, and the heat is rising in the classroom as firearms instructor Mike Brown leads students through gun-handling drills. They hold the model guns aloft until he yells, “Chest!,” which is their cue to draw the weapons back to their bodies. He drills them over and over, so pointing the gun feels like pure instinct, a reflex each time they hear him shout, “Threat!” WorkColorado wants to bring back the wolverine. There's just one problem.
When Hugh Jackman agreed to play the mutant superhero Wolverine in the X-Men franchise, he didn’t know that wolverines were real. He thought he was playing a wolf. At a loss for how to mimic a wild canine, he watched a documentary on wolves to better understand how they moved and acted, arriving on set with a “funny” gait. He recalled the ridicule of his director Bryan Singer in an interview with Page Six in 2017: “He said, ‘You know you’re not a wolf, right? ... Go to the zoo, dude.’ I literally didn’t know [wolverines] existed.” WorkThe crucial first step in preparing for a climate disaster
When your phone makes that discordant shrill noise and a disaster alert pops up, do you know what to do? Do you have a go bag? Do you have a place to crash for a few days? Do you have a way to get there? What about your kids or your pets? And if your home’s roof gets ripped off while you’re away, do you have enough cash to fix it? Have you thought about moving entirely? WorkWork WorkWork WorkHow these trickster caterpillars outwit and outlast other insects - Photography (No paywall)
Before they transform into moths and butterflies, caterpillars must outwit, outplay, outlast. Sam Jaffe’s images of the tubular creatures show just how: through mimicry, defensive adaptations, and partnerships with plants. The naturalist-photographer has been enamored with the insects since age four. “I used to bring them into my parents’ house,” he says. “They’d find them crawling up the walls.” While working at Harvard University, Jaffe began taking pictures of native caterpillars during his free time, then displaying the results at local galleries. The exhibitions sparked so much interest that he launched an educational nonprofit, the Caterpillar Lab, in 2013, to open our eyes to these masters of metamorphosis and inspire their protection. WorkWorkTrump and His Allies Seize on Market Downturn to Attack Harris
By lunchtime, it was official party messaging: The Republican National Committee hyped the “Great Kamala Crash of 2024,” and the Trump campaign had produced and circulated on social media a video tying the vice president to Monday’s dip in the markets. By the afternoon, the Trump forces had turned “KamalaCrash” into a “trending” subject on X. WorkWorkThames, Yorkshire and Northumbrian Water face
WorkWorkWorkplace Loneliness Is an Epidemic. Here's How to Change That - Inc.com (No paywall)
For the first 30 minutes of the two-hour meeting, these coworkers reveal hopes and anxieties--what they worry about, what they're grateful for, what they're feeling. Even at a company focused on connecting people, forging real relationships in the workplace takes effort, Hinge CEO Justin McLeod told an audience at the South by Southwest conference earlier this year. He was co-presenting at the event with Ann Shoket, whose initiative to combat workplace loneliness is called "10 Minutes to Togetherness." WorkWhen a Team Member Speaks Up -- and It Doesn't Go Well - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)
Speaking up — and being heard — in organizations is critical, but failed attempts to speak up happen often at work and can lead people to silence themselves and others in the long run. Instead, leaders and team members should frame such situations as opportunities to learn. But this isn’t easy; it can be difficult to recognize such moments as learning opportunities; it can be difficult to move beyond counterproductive emotions like shame and blame,;and we tend to be too busy and focused on the short term to learn. The authors’ research and experience have shown that the antidote starts with all team members, including the leader, explicitly framing such interactions as experiments from which everyone expects to learn; preparing for them; paying attention to them; implementing certain process tools; and thinking more long-term about learning. WorkWorkVirginia man threatened to set Kamala Harris on fire, FBI says
According to court records reviewed by Newsweek, Frank Carillo of Winchester, Virginia, was charged with making threats against the vice president of the United States after investigators found that he had made several threatening statements on microblogging platform GETTR. Carillo had his first court appearance in the Western District of Virginia on Monday, where a judge ruled that the defendant be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday. WorkAI Lawsuits From Music Labels Pose Fair-Use Questions - Inc.com (No paywall)
Country musician Tift Merritt's most popular song on Spotify, "Traveling Alone," is a ballad with lyrics evoking solitude and the open road. Prompted by Reuters to make "an Americana song in the style of Tift Merritt," the artificial intelligence music website Udio instantly generated "Holy Grounds," a ballad with lyrics about "driving old backroads" while "watching the fields and skies shift and sway." WorkWorkHarris Nears Her Big V.P. Reveal After Fierce Lobbying From Democrats
Some of the candidates even tried to cozy up to influential friends of Ms. Harris’s, hoping that it might make their way back to the vice president — or at least to one of the people in the tight group of confidants advising her. Two presumed favorites, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, have been checking in with Democratic members of Congress by phone in recent days. Work'It was the one great mistake in my life': The letter from Einstein that ushered in the age of the atomic bomb
In July 1955, the name that signed off the seminal 1939 letter to Roosevelt would feature posthumously in the title of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, an emotively worded resolution against nuclear war initiated by philosopher Bertrand Russell and endorsed by Einstein just a week before his death. \"We appeal, as human beings, to human beings,\" reads part of the text. \"Remember your humanity and forget the rest. If you do so, the way lies open to a new paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.\" WorkStocks Rebound After a Day of Wild Selling Worldwide
The sharp jolt to stock markets started last week in Japan, where worries about the state of the U.S. economy were compounded by concerns about the effects a rapidly strengthening yen would have on corporate profits. WorkWorkWorkRising methane emissions from wetlands may undermine climate targets - New Scientist (No paywall)
After years of taking a back seat to carbon dioxide, methane has seen a surge of attention as a potent greenhouse gas that must be reduced to meet climate targets. It is responsible for nearly a third of global warming so far. But just as many countries are starting to take steps to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuels and agriculture, climate change is causing methane emissions from wetlands and other hard-to-control natural sources to rise. WorkWhen Your Boss Suddenly Reduces Your Scope - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)
All careers have highs and lows, and scope reductions can be particularly challenging. You may feel like immediately handing in your resignation or retreating and disengaging. It’s natural, but neither response is helpful. Your manager and coworkers are watching how you respond, making it even more critical to approach this difficult situation with composure and pragmatism. In this article, the author offers six strategies to help you bounce back and productively move forward. WorkMargaret Hodge's lessons from east London on countering the far right - The Economist (No paywall)
WHEN LABOUR swept back into power in last month’s British general election, I felt elated. But I also grew worried about the potential implications of the results for mainstream politics. The numbers that emerged on the night of July 4th reminded me of what happened in Barking from 2001 to 2010, when we lived through the alarming rise of the British National Party (BNP). The far-right, anti-immigrant riots that have erupted in English towns and cities in recent days make it even more important to learn the lessons we can from the east London constituency I represented for 30 years. WorkWorkWorkHow tennis uniquely benefits your body--compared to other sports - Science (No paywall)
"Tennis demonstrates the power, grace, intellect, wit, balance, speed, joy, sorrow, and sheer determination of human beings," says Brian Hainline, a neurologist, president of the United States Tennis Association, and former chief medical officer of the NCAA. WorkWorld's Five Leading Chipmakers Have Now Promised U.S. Investment
Only about 10 percent of the world’s semiconductors are manufactured in the United States, down from about 37 percent in 1990. Reversing the nation’s declining share of global chip manufacturing has been a major priority for President Biden and a key component of his economic policy agenda. WorkWorkSouthern California Fire Destroys Homes and Forces Evacuations
That fire alone has burned more acres than all of the fires in California did last year combined, according to Cal Fire. This year, more than 778,000 acres have burned statewide, compared with roughly 325,000 acres in all of 2023, and the peak of the fire season has not yet arrived. WorkHarris Officially Secures Democratic Party's Nomination for President
Ms. Harris first ran for president in 2019, while in her third year as a senator from California. In a crowded field of Democrats, she struggled to find her message, tangled with staff members and dropped out before voting began. Now Ms. Harris is setting out to prove she can lead a party desperate to block Mr. Trump’s attempt to return to office. WorkStar Power Elevates Pin Trading, the Unofficial Sport of the Olympics
“I’m a first-class pin collector,” Serena Williams declared in a video on the Paris Olympics Instagram account. A pins aficionado, she said her most prized possession was a rare find from the North Korean sports delegation, which she acquired during the 2016 Rio Games. “I would never, ever trade that,” she said. WorkSeveral US Personnel Injured In Attack In Iraq - Forbes (No paywall)
At least five U.S. personnel were injured in a suspected rocket attack on an airbase in western Iraq, a U.S. defense official reportedly said Monday—an attack that comes during a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East over concerns about Iran retaliating against Israel. WorkWorkJapan stocks rebound a day after major rout
“Markets are very volatile at the moment and will likely stay volatile until the Fed decision in September, so we wouldn\'t rule out rapid swings in both directions,” said Stefan Angrick, a senior economist with Moody\'s Analytics. WorkRecession Fears May Be Overstated, but Not Unfounded
But they said there were also reasons to worry. Historically, increases in joblessness like the one in July — the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent, the highest since 2021 — have been a reliable indicator of a recession. And even without that precedent, there has been evidence that the labor market is weakening. WorkInvestors beware: summer madness is here - The Economist (No paywall)
So much of finance is automated these days you can forget quite how strongly markets echo human rhythms. Yet stock exchanges still ring their opening and closing bells at either end of the working day designed a century ago in Henry Ford’s car factory; the more civilised of them even break for an hour at lunch. The foreign-exchange market notionally operates around the clock, but it is a brave soul who attempts a big order during London’s early hours, before the City is open for business. And it is not just daily routines that matter—seasonal ones do, too. Spare a thought, then, for the 20-somethings left to run the northern hemisphere’s trading desks over the next few weeks, while their bosses doze on a beach. TradeBriefs Publications are read by over 10,00,000 Industry Executives |
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