Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Science and tech headlines:

• Cambridge Quantum and a segment of Honeywell are merging, and one of their goals is to build the world’s first quantum operating system.
• Scientists at the National University of Singapore have devised a new blood test that uses measurements of light to gauge the effectiveness of a given cancer treatment in 24 hours.

News items:

• A bond selloff continues for two of China’s largest debt issuers, fueling fears of contagion. Rebecca explains why she doesn’t think Beijing will allow them to default.
• George Packer paints a compelling portrait of four separate American “national narratives,” in The Atlantic, and John offers his take.
• Google, a public utility? Ohio’s attorney general is suing the tech giant in an effort to make it so. Rebecca and John hash out their disagreement over the suit’s merits.
• According to The Recode, Facebook’s newsletter subscription service, called Bulletin, will launch later this month. John and Rebecca discuss whether or not it’ll succeed.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John interviews David Barse, founder of XOUT Capital (an index company) and DMB Holdings (a private family office). John talks to David about assessing the tech-driven disruption coming for just about every industry, the future of streaming, and XOUT’s unique approach to building a portfolio: weeding out losers instead of picking winners.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Science and tech headlines:

• The FDA approves a controversial new medication for Alzheimer’s — on a fast track — for the first time in nearly 20 years. 
• NOAA registers another record high for carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

News items:

• FBI Director Christopher Wray tells The Wall Street Journal that the agency is investigating around 100 ransomware attacks. John and Rebecca discuss the political implications of continued hacks on the Biden administration.
• The Senate is nearly certain to pass a bipartisan bill that The New York Times calls “the most expansive industrial policy legislation in U.S. history.” Rebecca explains why she’s all for it.
• The Republican Party is at war with itself in Idaho, and its most extreme elements may win. John breaks down the dynamics at play in the potato state.
• Germany’s ruling center party, the Christian Democratic Union, beat the neo-Nazi-linked Alternative for Germany in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. John and Rebecca discuss how the win affects both parties — and others in Germany ahead of the country’s federal election in September.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John interviews Robin Wigglesworth, the global finance correspondent for the Financial Times, about life in Oslo; what a sardine mania in Monterrey, California can tell us about speculation; and the upshot of the fact that most people are pretty bad at investing.

This is a longer, lightly edited version of an interview that ran on Thursday, June 3.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John interviews Financial Times global finance correspondent Robin Wigglesworth about the markets’ near-meltdown in 2020; the difference between value and momentum stocks; and private equity’s image problem. Plus, Wigglesworth weighs in on the “stupendous stupidity” in today’s equity markets.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Science and tech headlines:

• Amazon has a new plan for increased interconnectivity — and customers in the US only have a week to opt out.
• Researchers at Google and Harvard have released a detailed rendering of one cubic millimeter of the human brain's cortex, the outer layer that makes humans so complex.

News items:

• Former President Donald Trump kicks off a series of rallies this Saturday. John explains why looming indictments may have motivated him to go back on the road.
• President Xi Jinping wants China to be seen as “trustworthy, lovable, and respectable” — is he changing tack because he’s worried about his job?
• High bond prices, low yields, and historically high stock valuations have some institutional money managers looking for new investment strategies... potentially imported from Canada? 
• New York City and 21 of New York State’s counties are suing McKinsey & Company, alleging it fueled the opioid epidemic. John and Rebecca discuss the firm’s reputation, whether or not it’s been tarnished, and whether or not “optimization” needs to be re-evaluated.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John interviews Shannon O’Neil from the Council on Foreign Relations about the state of America’s southern neighbor. They discuss Mexico’s fight against COVID-19; President López Obrador’s surprisingly austere fiscal policies; why cartels are changing their business model; and the difference between President Biden and former President Trump’s approach to immigration.

Plus: how AMLO — as Mexico's president is known — is actually more conservative than President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John interviews Nicholas Eberstadt, who holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute, about two of his essays. First, “Our Miserable 21st Century,” from 2017, which used economic data to show how America has been declining since 2000 – and how that explains the election of Donald Trump. That essay became the most-read piece in the history of “Commentary Magazine.” And second, a recent article for “Foreign Affairs” where Eberstadt argues that, despite the recent doomsday predictions over America’s demographic decline, the U.S. is still well-positioned demographically – at least compared to its chief rivals, China and Russia.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Science and tech headlines:

• India’s “black fungus” could be a preview of the global health risk posed by fungi adapting into effective pathogens.
• CNBC has auctioned off an NFT of the “Haines bottom,” the iconic moment when CNBC host Mark Haines correctly surmised — on March 10th, 2009 — that the worst of the Great Recession was over.

News items:

• Analysts say we’re at the start of a “red-hot capex cycle,” and predict that global capital expenditures will have risen to 121% of pre-recession levels by the end of the year. Rebecca explains why this is good news.
• As Iran claims it's enriching uranium at 60% purity (well beyond the 3.67% cap it had agreed to in 2015), the International Atomic Energy Agency warns that its bomb-building knowledge cannot be unlearned. John breaks down Iran’s reasons for investing in uranium enrichment even though its economy is in shambles. 
• John and Rebecca discuss the latest news out of Arizona: the state's Republican-led House Appropriations Committee has stripped Katie Hobbs, the Democratic Secretary of State, of her ability to defend election lawsuits.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.