In 2021, amid a global pandemic, warnings that the federal government might repurpose warehouses into detention facilities on American soil were dismissed as speculative, alarmist, even conspiratorial.
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
As we have long forecast, the 20th Century was the century of the United States but the 21st Century will be the Chinese century.
GOLD’S PRICE WILL REMAIN ALOFT THIS YEAR, ANALYSTS SAY
Gold’s price will average $4,746.50 over this year, according to a January Reuters survey of 30 analysts.
ISRAEL TAKES NEW STEP TO ANNEX WEST BANK, AND NOBODY WILL STOP IT
Israeli officials on Sunday took another step towards fully annexing the West Bank by removing hurdles for “settlers” to purchase land inside the territory in direct contradiction to international law.
NEW POLL: AMERICANS GROWING MORE PESSIMISTIC ABOUT THEIR ECONOMIC FUTURE,
A newly released New York Times/Siena poll found that there is a growing number of Americans who feel like it is becoming more difficult by the day to try and get by in the current economy and are growing more pessimistic about their future.
YOUNG PEOPLE SEE 60 PERCENT JUMP IN PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS IN LAST 30 YEARS, STUDY SAYS
A newly published study found that there has been a noticeable increase in people aged 14 to 20 who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness characterized by psychosis compared to previous decades.
THE COMING CONSTITUTIONAL ICE AGE
Last fall during the opening of the United Nations in New York City, I recognized the face of a federal officer from his days working in law enforcement in New Jersey and mine as a trial judge.
Global Economy
GERMANY LOST MORE THAN $1 TRILLION IN GDP OUTPUT SINCE COVID WAR, AS NEARLY 70 PERCENT OF GERMANS DISAPPROVE OF MERZ
Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has lost more than $1 trillion over the last six years as a result of the COVID-19 War, the Ukraine War, and President Donald Trump’s tariffs against the country, according to data from the German Economic Institute.
EUROPE’S BIGGEST ASSET MANAGER SHUNS INVESTMENTS IN THE U.S.
Paris-based Amundi, with about €2.38 trillion in assets under management, is shrinking its exposure to the U.S. dollar and telling clients to steer clear of investments denominated in the currency.
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
Spanish bank Banco Santander has agreed to pay about $12.3 billion in cash and stock to take over Webster Financial, a Connecticut bank with roughly $80 billion in assets and 177 branches throughout the New York City region and in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
U.S. Economy
WALMART JOINS THE TRILLION-DOLLAR CLUB
Walmart’s stock market value reached $1 trillion on 3 February, making it the 10thcompany and second retailer to enter a realm that has been the domain of tech firms.
WEAK U.S. HOUSING MARKET HANDS BUYERS THE ADVANTAGE
U.S. home sales are the slowest in decades. As a result, homeowners intent on selling are lowering their prices at a record pace.
FED NOMINEE SEES AI AS PRODUCTIVITY BOON FOR U.S. ECONOMY
Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump’s choice as the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, shares Trump’s conviction that the central bank’s interest rates must be much lower – and he thinks artificial intelligence (AI) is the way to make that work.
Trends in AI
ALPHABET, NOT OPENAI, “HAS THE HOT HAND” IN AI NOW
Seen as trailing the pack of AI competitors a year ago, Google parent company Alphabet has now taken a leading spot after its Gemini Model 3 AI received stellar reviews and the company is reporting AI is driving “revenue and growth across the board” with both business customers and individual consumers, CEO Sandar Pichai said in an earnings call last week.
MATH ANXIETY? THERE’S AN AI FOR THAT
Math anxiety is as common among students as smartphones. Compassionate, individualized support can overcome it but teachers with 20 or more kids in a classroom have little time to give to that effort.
LIFE IMITATES TECH: BRAIN PROCESSES MATCH THOSE OF AI, STUDY SAYS
It turns out that our brains build meaning from language in more or less the same way that AI does, according to a new study from Hebrew University.
Hi-Tech Science
CHINESE ROBOTICS FIRM DISPLAYS “BIOMIMETIC” HUMANOID ROBOT
While many Chinese robotics developers focus on industrial designs or robots displaying superhuman feats of strength and endurance, Shanghai firm DroidUp has focused on a robot you’d like to have around the house.
“FIBER CHIP” COMPUTER IS AS THIN AS A THREAD
At Shanghai’s Fudan University, engineers have solved a problem that has dogged wearables: how to shrink computing power so it can be small enough, and flexible enough, to be woven into fabrics.
ANTIBIOTIC PROMPTS GUT BACTERIA TO MAKE ANTI-AGING COMPOUND
Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have been researching anti-aging compounds for some time and wanted to take their findings beyond the confines of their lab to see how people might make use of them.