Newsletter 105. Trump’s ultimate goal is the destruction of reality, or at least how we measure it. Plus, will AI doom consultancies; Johns Hopkins licenses books for a pittance, three people to follow, and three books to read. The war on reality We’ve heard past presidents declare war on concepts: the war on cancer, the…
What happens when people demand something illegal? We find a way to make it legal and compensate those whose content was stolen. That’s what’s about to happen with AI. We’ve seen this over and over with digital innovations. Napster made electronic access to all music possible — but violated the rights of musicians and record…
In this year’s primary for New York City mayor, two candidates who were attracting similar followings endorsed each other. Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is why. Let’s take a look at how RCV has affected past elections and how it’s likely to affect future voting. Ranked-choice voting has already affected US elections In a ranked-choice voting system,…
Congress is currently debating major legislation that would cut taxes, especially on corporations and richer Americans, and reduce spending on Medicaid and other programs. In what has to be a peak of Orwellian silliness and as a tribute to how President Trump speaks, it’s called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But before you blame…
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell, 1984 Have you ever made a mistake? (I have made many.) Have you said something publicly that was wrong? (I sure did.) Did you have to admit that you were wrong? (I…
There is no right way of thinking. Diversity of thought is what creates progress. If you can only think of what has already been thought of, no one ever learns anything new. Diversity of thought comes from diversity of viewpoints. Young people, maturing people, old people. Single people, married people. Men, women, non-binary people. People…
Donald Trump’s tariff-centered push to remake who we are as a nation reminded me of something I’d seen before: a pivot. What is a pivot? In the world of startups, a pivot is radical decision to shift the strategic direction of a company, usually because the original strategy is just not resonating. You see this,…
The US economy, whipsawed by inflationary tariff threats and soon to absorb many laid off federal workers, may be headed for a recession. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics now puts the odds of a recession soon at 35%, while J.P. Morgan Chase rates the likelihood as 40%. President Trump has admitted that a recession is…
If you are angry as hell about the actions that Elon Musk has taken in his protean role in the Trump administration, this post is for you. (If you are are a supporter of Musk and his activities, this post is not for you, go read something else.) It’s natural that people project their anger…