Frustration and a lack of hope are pushing young voters right. Industrial policies are back. Desperate resort to AI warfare in Ukraine is weaponising consumer technology in unprecedented ways. The devil is in the detail – Bernard Arnaud’s mantra for success. The lure of analogue activities to right the life-screen balance.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Ngaire Woods, Why Young Europeans Are Embracing the Far Right
(Project Syndicate, 28 June 2024)
The young voters’ rightward shift is apparent across the EU, but also, to some extent, in the rest of the world. In Europe, their growing support for xenophobic, anti-EU, and ultra-conservative parties is driven less by anti-immigrant sentiment than by a powerful sense of betrayal by establishment politicians. Contrary to the older generations who have lived economically secure lives, with generous pensions and health care, the young Europeans grapple with a cost-of-living (and housing) crisis and dwindling economic prospects. Their growing frustration can be partly attributed to politicians’ failure to ensure stable, well-paid jobs for them (metered paywall that may require prior registration, reads in 6-8 min).
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Valentine Millot and Lukasz Rawdanowicz, The return of industrial policies
(VOXeu, 1 July 2024)
A short and useful primer to industrial policies – i.e.: governments actively providing support to selected industries. They are on the rise everywhere, and the two economists discuss their pros and cons. There isn’t ‘one’ industrial policy; data shows instead that the intensity of support varies over time, country, and by industry. Industrial policies should be limited in time and size, encourage transparency and independent evaluation, and ensure a competitive selection process of businesses to be helped (free access, reads in 6-8 min).
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Paul Mozur and Adam Satariano, A.I. Begins Ushering in an Age of Killer Robots
(The New York Times, 2 July 2024)
Innovation, combined with huge flows of investment, donations and government contracts, is turning Ukraine into a Silicon Valley for autonomous drones and other weaponry. This is due to the asymmetry with Russia and the resulting pressure to outthink the enemy, which prompts Ukrainian startups to work on a major leap forward in the weaponization of consumer technology. “What the companies are creating is technology that makes human judgment about targeting and firing increasingly tangential. The widespread availability of off-the-shelf devices, easy-to-design software, powerful automation algorithms and specialized AI microchips has pushed a deadly innovation race into uncharted territory, fueling a potential new era of killer robots” (gifted article, reads in 7-9 min).
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Brad Stone and Angelina Rascouet, The House of Arnault
(Bloomberg, 25 June 2024)
The ‘King’ of luxury – the most analog of industries – and 75-year-old owner of LVMH bought up many of the world’s major luxury brands, but he’s not finished shopping. This article based on direct interviews with Bernard Arnault delves into the strategy for the conglomerate, the strategy and of course his succession (any of his five children is a contender). One of the most striking features: his obsessional attention to detail (gifted article, reads in 15min+)
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Nina Jones, Life in analog
(VML, 21 June 2024)
In a backlash to the ever-more frantic pace of the digital world and social media, analog pursuits are booming. The young generation – most exposed to digital – now increasingly embraces activities like pottery, needlepoint and book clubs. As one psychologist puts it:
“Many of us are reaching burnout with our constant exposure to screens. We’re fed up with Zoom meetings, emails, and WhatsApp messages, and are craving a return to in-person connection and nature” (free access, 3-4 min).
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