My morning train WFH reads:
• What Americans Need to Understand About China: Ezra Klein interviews former Australian PM Kevin Rudd — one of the West’s most fluent China hands — on the gaps in American understanding that keep producing bad policy. (New York Times)
• Jony Ive is cooking in the OpenAI kitchen. “Perhaps a computer that makes you feel that you want to hug it is in order?” The former Apple design chief is now deeply embedded in OpenAI’s hardware ambitions. What happens when the man who designed the iPhone tries to design the AI device that replaces it? (Feed Me) but see Generative AI Is an Engineering Disaster: A shockingly inefficient trillion-dollar project. The Atlantic’s cover piece argues that generative AI isn’t just overhyped — it’s fundamentally unreliable as engineering, and the industry is in denial about it. The systems don’t work the way their makers claim they do. (The Atlantic)
• Two Million Workers Are Locked Out of an Improving Job Market: The share of job seekers out of work for six months or longer is hovering near highest level in five years. Share of job seekers out of work for six months or longer hovering near highest level in five years The headline numbers look better. But two million people — disproportionately older, less educated, or formerly incarcerated — aren’t benefiting from the recovery at all. (Wall Street Journal)
• Mapping the World’s Prices 2026: Which are the world’s cheapest and most expensive cities? Mapping the World’s Prices, now in its tenth edition, is the definitive guide to quality of life, rental costs and prices for phones, coffee, taxis and more in 69 cities from Abu Dhabi to Zurich. (Deutsche Bank Research Institute)
• JPMorgan is closing in on a $1 trillion market cap after posting record profits: The Wall Street giant’s market cap stood at about $935 billion. It would be the first bank to ever join the $1 trillion market cap club. Jamie Dimon’s bank is approaching a market cap that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Record profits, dominant market position, and a stock price that reflects both. (Quartz) see also BlackRock Shares Rally After Assets Soar Past $15 Trillion The money manager’s stock rose 6.6%, powering the S&P 500 Financials to a record high (Wall Street Journal)
• Failing is Common, Trying is Rare: Putting in a mediocre effort at a given task is deeply irrational if our goal is success at that task. But often, when we put in a mediocre effort, it’s because we have other covert goals we’re not really acknowledging. The real bottleneck isn’t failure — it’s the unwillingness to attempt anything in the first place. Most people don’t fail; they never start. (Raptitude)
• What Would Jesus Design? A growing number of faith-forward interior designers are decorating homes Christ-first. Turns out it’s as good for business as it is for their souls. Architectural Digest visits the Christian interior-design movement. What would Jesus design? Apparently: lots of neutrals. (Architectural Digest)
• How Ukraine Brought the War to Russia: Long-range drone and missile strikes on Russian soil have shifted the balance of the conflict—will they be enough to end it? (The New Yorker) see also US military smartphones targeted through roaming and ad tech: Cyber attacks tried to track down American personnel in Middle East as Tehran attacked forces in the region. (Financial Times free)
• Researchers are uncovering ADHD’s links to these other health conditions: A growing body of evidence suggests that people with ADHD may be at risk for anxiety, disordered eating, migraines, long covid and other problems. The diagnosis turns out to travel with a surprising amount of company. A useful survey of the emerging comorbidity research. (Washington Post)
• There’s an Injury Epidemic in Pro Sports. There’s Also a Recovery Revolution. Athletes are pushing their bodies to astonishing feats, knowing that medical advances can heal them quickly.Pro sports has an injury epidemic and a recovery revolution running simultaneously. Bodies break faster; the science fixes them faster. (New York Times)
Video of the day: The Billy Joel Interview
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Jason Wenk, founder and CEO of Altruist, a modern custodian built as a clean sheet from the ground up, fully integrated with artificial intelligence. He began his career at Morgan Stanley before launching Retirement Wealth Advisors, and then FormulaFolios. The through-line of his career has been creating lower-cost, tech-enabled, financial advice.
Capital Markets Strategy. The AI Arms Race
Source: MUFG
Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.
