My morning train WFH reads:
• Donald Trump vs. the World: “The bond market cannot be bullied, fooled, or bribed. It does not flatter or make deals. It reveals all.” (The Bulwark)
• Greenland Clash Risks Undermining America’s Place in World Economic Order: The U.S. has long been a beacon of safety when uncertainty reigns. That is changing. (Wall Street Journal) see also Canada Flexes on Global Stage: With an Eye to Its Own Survival Prime Minister Mark Carney got a standing ovation in Davos for starkly describing the end of Pax Americana. He is looking for new allies to help his country survive it. (New York Times)
• They quit their day jobs to bet on current events. A look inside the prediction market mania: Reminds me of people quitting their jobs to become Day-Traders in the 1990s — and we know how that worked out…. (NPR)
• Can America build beautiful places again? Ugliness has more to do with the housing crisis than you think. (Vox)
• Chinese EVs Blow Past Tesla and Tariffs En Route to Global Reign: U.S., European Union and Mexico try to quash accelerating demand for China’s hottest electric vehicles. (Wall Street Journal) see also BYD’s Cheap EVs Are Suddenly Everywhere in Mexico as Tariffs Take Hold: Chinese brands find growth in EV, plug-in segment other carmakers bypassed. (Bloomberg)
• Maybe we’re all doomed. Or maybe Japanese bonds are getting cheap: Japanese government bonds have been having a monumentally awful time. The yield on 40-year JGBs on Monday sailed clean through 4 per cent for the first time. Investors in ultra-long maturity JGBs have now lost a cool fifth of their money over the past year alone. (FT Alphaville)
• Apple lost the AI race — now the real challenge starts: It’s time to turn Apple Intelligence into something people actually care about. (The Verge)
• In the AI economy, the ‘weirdness premium’ will set you apart. Lean into it, says expert on tech change economics. The word “weird” didn’t always mean strange. In Old English, descended from a mix of Germanic and Norse concepts, it meant something closer to “destiny” or “becoming” or even “fate.” Once upon a time, human beings in that culture thought that the way someone’s life would turn out was unseverable from the fundamental weirdness of being alive. (Fortune)
• What Happened to Pam Bondi? How the attorney general became a person who loves telling Trump yes (also, she has been corrupt since the GFP, so we have that going for us, which is nice) (The Atlantic) see also Lindsey Halligan leaves DOJ as judge calls her use of title ‘charade’ Judges threatening actions against people INDIVIDUALLY— not against the office —is the best way to enforce Rule of Law. (USA Today)
• How Gen Z is making millennials look cool again: Gen Z is reimagining the trends of its elders, embracing low-rise baggy and flare jeans, baby doll tops, and sweatpants with numbers. (Washington Post)
Be sure to check out our bonus edition of Masters in Business interview with Cory Doctorow — science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger. We discuss the power of large companies over the Internet is “Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.”
When Chaos Reigns, So Does Gold
Source: Bloomberg
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