productivity

Workers in Canada are now only 70 per cent as productive as their counterparts in the US

Colin Henderson

Workers in Canada are now only 70 per cent as productive as their counterparts in the United States, and our productivity growth lags that of the United Kingdom, Germany and France.August 14, 2024 From: Martin Eichenbaum, Michelle Alexopoulos and Jeremy M. Kronick >Many reasons have been cited for the country’s poor performance, over-regulation and barriers to competition and interprovincial trade among them. >But a lesser-known contributor to the problem is Canada’s focus on investment in the construction industry which tends to have weaker productivity than other industries, said Caranci. >Along with regulation barriers, the industry contains a large number of small … Continue reading Workers in Canada are now only 70 per cent as productive as their counterparts in the US

Military

Trying to Head Off War, U.S. Moves Naval Forces Closer to Israel

Colin Henderson

Trying to Head Off War, U.S. Moves Naval Forces Closer to Israel American officials are sending a signal to Iran and its allies, in the form of two aircraft carrier groups and an attack submarine. By Eric Schmitt Aug. 25, 2024, 12:29 a.m. ET With fears rising that a wider war could break out in the Middle East, the United States has steadily been moving Navy forces closer to the area, including two aircraft carrier groups and an attack submarine. And it has not been shy about announcing the details, in a clear effort to deter Iran and its allies from more … Continue reading Trying to Head Off War, U.S. Moves Naval Forces Closer to Israel

AI

Mike Gallagher is a new hire at Palantir

Colin Henderson

Palantir Hires Someone Very Important… Let’s dive into Mike Gallagher. AMIT KUKREJA AUG 25 READ IN APP Welcome back to DailyPalantir! On today’s newsletter, we dive deep into the latest employee Palantir just hired. Let’s get into it! Who is Mike Gallagher? Mike Gallagher is a new hire at Palantir, and he brings a background that’s a bit different from your typical defense industry professional. Before joining Palantir, he was a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, serving seven years in the House of Representatives. Gallagher’s new role marks his first job in the defense sector, but his experience in politics and national … Continue reading Mike Gallagher is a new hire at Palantir

Sociology2

A thermodynamic miracle: Compute and energy are key to humanity’s continued evolution

Colin Henderson

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS – James Pethokoukis is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an official CNBC contributor. AUG 24 Explaining humanity’s societal evolution is the goal of the marvelous new (and preliminary) paper “The computational power of a human society: a new model of social evolution” by David H. Wolpert (Santa Fe Institute,) and Kyle Harper (University of Oklahoma, Santa Fe Institute.) It’s a big-picture, big-think analysis that syncs well with what I write about both in this premium newsletter and in my 2023 book, The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised. But more on … Continue reading A thermodynamic miracle: Compute and energy are key to humanity’s continued evolution

AI

America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future

Colin Henderson

America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future And They’re Already Here By Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt On the battlefields of Ukraine, the future of war is quickly becoming its present. Thousands of drones fill the skies. These drones and their operators are using artificial intelligence systems to avoid obstacles and identify potential targets. AI models are also helping Ukraine predict where to strike. Thanks to these systems, Ukrainian soldiers are taking out tanks and downing planes with devastating effectiveness. Russian units find themselves under constant observation, and their communications lines are prone to enemy disruption—as are … Continue reading America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future

AI

Discover the rise of efficient AI with smaller language models..

Colin Henderson

The advent of small mobile ready AI applications marks the next step in applied AI and broad usage with new revenue models. Jennifer Wales 4 min read View on Medium OpenAI’s Releases GPT-4o mini LLM Small but mighty! ChatGPT-4o mini defies outperforming larger LLMs in key benchmarks. Discover the rise of efficient AI with smaller language models.. But with the launch of ChatGPT-4o mini, the scenario is changing quite a bit. This smaller sibling of the renowned ChatGPT-4 is leading the revolution for smaller language models. Even though it is compact, it is highly powerful and has greater abilities to … Continue reading Discover the rise of efficient AI with smaller language models..

Business Models

Structural form that offers any position paper approach – from article by Jonathan Alter

Colin Henderson

The Four Points That Harris’s Speech Needs to Emphasize Aug. 22, 2024 By Jonathan Alter Contributing Opinion Writer, reporting from Chicago The most important part of any convention is the acceptance speech. It wins the highest ratings and usually determines the size of the post-convention bounce in the polls. Donald Trump blew his speech at the Republican convention by rambling interminably. Kamala Harris isn’t likely to do that at the Democratic convention on Thursday. But to win the election she must successfully introduce herself to millions of Americans and stress themes that resonate. Here are four possibilities: Opportunity: Harris will tell her … Continue reading Structural form that offers any position paper approach – from article by Jonathan Alter

AI

Summers Says Fed Recovered From ‘Egregious’ Inflation Mistake

Colin Henderson

Former Treasury chief says new mistake is estimate of neutral Summers would be surprised if Fed cuts as much as market sees Chris AnsteyAugust 23, 2024 at 1:03 PM EDT Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said that, while the Federal Reserve hit a “low point” in its monetary policy history by failing to act quickly against the 2021 inflation surge, in the end it did enough to right the economy. “I’ve got to give the Fed credit,” Summers said on Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week with David Westin on Friday. “While it wasn’t always obvious that this would be the case, they moved strongly enough and … Continue reading Summers Says Fed Recovered From ‘Egregious’ Inflation Mistake

AI

Eric Schmidt’s AI prophecy: The next two years will shock you

Colin Henderson

What Eric told Erik Azeem Azhar Could AI help you build a competitor to beat TikTok in just a few minutes? Maybe in the next couple of years, according to Eric Schmidt, Google’s former CEO. My buddy Erik Brynjolfsson invited Schmidt for an intimate discussion at Erik’s Stanford Econ class a few days ago. I watched the full discussion, which was rich and full of challenging ideas. But here is what stood out.1  Unprecedented uncertainty Schmidt confessed to revising his AI outlook every six months, a testament to the field’s volatility. He shared a striking example: “Six months ago, I … Continue reading Eric Schmidt’s AI prophecy: The next two years will shock you