The Quad

No, I’m not talking about the square at your university. Back in November, I pointed out that one of the key unknowns for the next four years was going to be Biden’s stance on China (“What will a Biden presidency mean?”, newsletter #52). We’re starting to get answers to that question. In addition to his … Continue reading “The Quad”

National Tech Wars

It’s been clear for a while that the major world powers are going to need to do something about securing their own technological future in a world of competing nation-states (“The resurgence of national tech wars,” newsletter #53). One of the things that has come out of the global pandemic, beyond the generic need to have … Continue reading “National Tech Wars”

An Update on Basic Income Experiments

Last year, I wrote on preliminary results from Finland’s basic income experiment (“Preliminary results from Finland’s basic income experiment … social ‘science’ is hard,” newsletter #30). Two things have happened since then. First, the final results have come out.* Second, a city in California, Stockton, has conducted a similar experiment. The final results of the Finnish … Continue reading “An Update on Basic Income Experiments”

Australian news war escalation

It looks like Australia is going forward with their ridiculous news law (“If Australia doesn’t get their act together, they may lose all news”, newsletter #44). It passed their House of Representatives this week, and looks set to pass the Senate. It’s perfectly reasonable to have a discussion around how to save news; and it’s perfectly reasonable … Continue reading “Australian news war escalation”

The on-going game with China

Perhaps the biggest thing to happen last month was that the US declared China’s treatment of the Uighurs as genocide. To be honest, I don’t know how much freedom the US State Department has in making this sort of declaration. Was it something the State Department did independently? Or was it a last-minute poke at … Continue reading “The on-going game with China”