Has Xi the political will to fix China’s faltering economy? Can eco-thrillers make a difference? How far can AI go in pushing the boundaries of fraud? The staggering economic impact of the public’s current craving to go out and enjoy. Why weak ties really matter.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
George Magnus, China’s economic model is faltering – does it have the political will to fix it?
(The Guardian, 23 August 2023)
It illustrates Xi Jinping’s conundrum. China’s economy is flailing, revealing a paucity of confidence among households, investors, and private firms in a deflationary environment. This is not a cyclical phenomenon that will fizzle out with the passage of time and additional policy easing, but a faltering of the country’s economic development model. At its core, the real estate bust which is causing damage that requires Xi to make liberal or market reforms. Will he have the political will to do so? (Free access – reads in 5-7 min).
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Ella Riley-Adams, Can a New Genre of Eco-Thrillers Inspire Climate Action?
(The New York Times, 22 August 2023)
How are movies reckoning with environmental catastrophes and the need to change course imminently (“There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all” the IPCC said in March). Making an eco-focused movie that people want to watch, while also inspiring engagement with an issue that feels too intractable to face is a tough brief. Yet a new genre is emerging – the environmental action film, or eco-thriller – that addresses the conundrum of climate anxiety by applying the tropes of a heist flick to the mission of curbing the consumption of earth’s resources. In each of these movies, the villain isn’t some evil mastermind but an industrial force going about business as usual (gifted article – reads in 7-9 min).
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Nabila Ahmed, Deepfake Imposter Scams Are Driving a New Wave of Fraud
(Bloomberg, 24 August 2023)
Whether AI will turbocharge the entire economy is a matter of debate. What is not is the fact that it is currently turbocharging the cybertheft economy, with the world’s banking industry scrambling to contain the risk. The AI explosion offers not only new tools (like computer-generated children’s voices so realistic they fool their own parents, or masks created with photos from social media that can penetrate a system protected by face ID) but also the potential for life-changing financial loss. With the increased sophistication and novelty of the technology everyone, not just the credulous, is a potential victim” (gifted article – reads in about 10 min).
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Jeannie Kopstein and Mariah Espada, The Staggering Economic Impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
(Time, 24 August 2023)
This is set to become the biggest tour of all time only a third of the way through its run, with a projected $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales alone, $5 billion in consumer spending in just the US, and hundreds of millions of streams. The reasons behind Swift’s unmatched success are notably: (1) the sheer depth and popularity of her music catalog; (2) the timing: “We are in an experience economy where people crave going out and participating in social events.” This is quite remarkable. All in all, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and “Barbenheimer” fever will give the US economy an $8.5 billion boost this quarter, raising annualized GDP by 0.5 percentage points (metered paywall – reads in 6-8 min).
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Rhitu Chatterjee, Why a stranger’s hello can do more than just brighten your day
(NPR, 23 August 2023)
This is about the strength of weak ties and how they help to keep us going. A growing body of research looks at the value of social connectedness, not just to our happiness and wellbeing but our overall physical health. While much of the research on social connections has focused on the closest relationships in people’s lives, many are now showing that even the most casual contacts with strangers and acquaintances (the so-called weak ties) can be tremendously beneficial not only to our mental, but also to our physical health (free access – reads in 6-8 min).
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