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☆ How Economists Got the Inflation Debate Wrong (on Both Sides) - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Paul Krugman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

True, economists’ games have been rather lacking in sex and, at least so far, violence. But while I’m tempted to use the old line about how academic disputes are so vicious because the stakes are so small, these debates matter. A current case in point is the determination of central banks across the world to get inflation down to 2 percent. That target emerged in large part from academic research suggesting (probably wrongly) that inflation at that rate would be more or less optimal. I was on Team Transitory, but as inflation went far higher for far longer than I had imagined possible, I admitted that I got it wrong.

Persons: I’m, John Maynard Keynes, Madmen Organizations: HBO

CNN —The Vatican said Thursday it will hand over evidence in the disappearance of a 15-year-old daughter of one of its employees 40 years ago to the Rome city prosecutor. Emanuela Orlandi, who was the daughter of a prominent Vatican employee and lived within the walls of the holy city, disappeared in the summer of 1983 while on her way home from a music lesson in central Rome. Her father, Ercole Orlandi, who died in 2004, worked for the Institute for the Works of Religion in the Holy See. Her mother, Maria Orlandi, still lives in the family apartment in Vatican City. A year later, the Vatican agreed to exhume the tomb of two princesses thought to be buried in the cemetery of the Pontifical Teutonic College inside the Vatican City.

Persons: Emanuela Orlandi, Alessandro Diddi, ” Pietro Orlandi, Antonio Masiello, Diddi, ”, “, Pietro Orlandi Orlandi, Ercole Orlandi, Maria Orlandi, Pietro Orlandi, Castel Sant ’ Angelo, Pope, Angelus, Orlandi, Mark Lewis, Mehmet Ali Agca, John Paul II, ’ Organizations: CNN, Vatican, Dei Catholic, Institute, Religion, Pontifical Teutonic College, Vatican City Locations: Rome, Vatican, St, Piazza Navona, Vatican City, Italy

☆ Investors have piled into AI startups following the launch of ChatGPT. Here are 20 pitch decks used by Europe's AI founders to win over VCs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AI startups raised $60 billion last year and investors have continued to pile in on the tech in 2023. Below are 20 pitch decks used by European startups deploying AI in everything from health to property. V7Generative AI, media, and designThis startup uses generative AI to speed up the property-buying process. This AI startup helps Big Tech firms compress videos while maintaining quality. This AI startup helps firms like TrueLayer and CurrencyCloud meet their revenue targets.

Persons: Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, Alberto Rizzoli, Simon Edwardsson, Iris Organizations: Morning, Investment, Venture, Insight Partners, Ventures, Google, Creative Fabrica, Big Tech, Health, Microsoft, Enterprise, Ikea, Twitter, CurrencyCloud Locations: Temasek

☆ Horace Tapscott Was a Force in L.A. Jazz. A New Set May Expand His Reach.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Marcus J. Moore | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Along the way, noted musicians and vocalists like Nate Morgan, Kamau Daaood, Adele Sebastian and Phil Ranelin played in the band. Trible came across Tapscott in the late 1980s as a singer in another group who wanted to work with the Arkestra. Six decades since Tapscott formed the band, Session said the group’s mission hasn’t changed, and he vowed to continue pushing forward. I want to get back to how Horace did shows at prisons and high schools and colleges for free,” he said. “We could sell out Carnegie Hall and then come home and do the same set for 50, 60 cats.

Persons: Tapscott, Nate Morgan, Kamau Daaood, Adele Sebastian, Phil Ranelin, Trible, “, ‘, ” Trible, Horace, Michael Session, Azar Lawrence, ”, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, “ It’s, We’re, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin —, Kendrick Lamar, hasn’t Organizations: Carnegie Hall Locations: Tapscott, Little Africa, Brooklyn

☆ Odey Asset Management sets out replacement plans for Crispin Odey
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - Odey Asset Management Partnership has started its replacement plan for Crispin Odey after severing "personal and economic involvement" with the founder, following allegations of sexual misconduct, said a letter seen by Reuters on Sunday. Freddie Neave will take over full responsibility of the Odey European Inc (OEI) and OEI Mac funds. James Hanbury will assume leadership of the LP Odey Opus Fund and Oliver Kelton will take the Odey Pan European Fund. Odey Swan Fund will be taken on by Neave as an interim leader before a final fund manager is decided upon by the board, said the letter. The Financial Times and Tortoise, in a joint publication on Thursday, reported allegations by 13 women that Odey had sexually assaulted or harassed them over a 25-year period.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Freddie Neave, James Hanbury, Oliver Kelton, Neave, Odey, Nell Mackenzie, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Odey, Reuters, Sunday, Pan European, Financial Times, Thomson

☆ The Maestro’s Latest Opus: A Video Game to Save Classical Music
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Simi Horwitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Asked which of his many roles most defines him, Mr. Dubal responded with some drama: “I never want to define myself.” His eyes grew wide. Nietzsche said that.” Like a judge pounding a gavel, he slapped his palm onto his coffee table. Every day.”Mr. Dubal was born around 1944 (he would prefer not to say exactly) and was raised in Cleveland. One day, while sitting in the dentist’s chair, he learned about an opening for the job of music director at WNCN, a classical music station. Despite his dire cultural predictions, Mr. Dubal expresses a quirky optimism and a healthy dose of irony.

☆ Opus uses AI to help train up deskless workers. Check out the 19-slide pitch deck it used to raise $6.8 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New York-based Opus is using AI to train America's deskless workforce. A startup that uses AI to improve the training of non-office-based workers just raised $6.8 million in fresh funds. New York-based Opus, founded in 2020, has developed a platform that can help speed up employee onboarding for so-called deskless workers. Opus works as a mobile app, allowing employers to create training content tailored to every individual workplace. "By using AI, our content builder helps you build it faster than legacy solution," Nemeth told Insider.

Persons: onboarding, Rachael Nemeth, Nemeth, Klara Organizations: Vanderbilt University, Cable, Gutter, NextView Ventures Locations: York, New York

☆ A Lego Crime, a YouTube Rivalry, and the End of a Star Wars Friendship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +30 min

Those who are into Lego Star Wars are among the most popular. It was at an informal contest where Louis met Victor, a fellow Lego Star Wars fanatic. Soon they ranked among the most popular Lego Star Wars YouTubers in France, known for the size and scope of their MOCs. The two friends no longer fit with that satisfying click that comes from snapping together two Lego bricks. Though it must have taken a truck to haul away all of Louis' Lego, no neighbor reported seeing anything suspicious.

☆ Opinion | Justice Delayed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Lisa Belkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“We investigated this thing upside down,” said Jerry Hill, a retired state attorney, in a “Bone Valley” interview with Mr. King’s co-host, Kelsey Decker, minutes after the board denied parole to Mr. Schofield in 2020. And so it went in the Adams and Schofield cases, as the prosecutors all but physically barred the jailhouse door. There was no expression of regret from the prosecutors who convicted Randall Dale Adams in Dallas. (Mr. Lindsey himself spent three years on death row before the Florida Supreme Court concluded the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction. He is one of 30 death row inmates in Florida to be exonerated since 1972, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.)

☆ ‘Maimonides’ Review: The Greatest Jewish Thinker, in Brief
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Adam Kirsch | Alberto Manguel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Moses Maimonides on a 1953 Israeli stamp. Photo: AlamyThe 12th-century sage regularly described as the greatest Jewish thinker of all time leads a double life for posterity. To this day, students in yeshivas turn to the Rambam’s magnum opus, the comprehensive legal code known as the Mishneh Torah, in navigating the complexities of Jewish law. In this context, the book that matters is the “Guide for the Perplexed,” the philosophical treatise Maimonides wrote in Arabic around the year 1190. The “Guide,” too, speaks the language of Judaism, but the questions it addresses aren’t practical and legal, as in the Mishneh Torah, but speculative and metaphysical.

☆ Zara founder buys luxury apartment building in Dublin for $108 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, March 31 (Reuters) - Spanish billionaire and Zara founder Amancio Ortega has bought a luxury residential building with 120 apartments for rent in Dublin, Ireland, for around 100 million euros ($108 million), his private firm Pontegadea said on Friday. It is the first residential building that Ortega's firm has bought outside the United States, Pontegadea said, adding it was part of its strategy to invest in multiple real estate assets. The Opus 6 Hanover Quay building is at the heart of Silicon Docks, the nickname for Dublin's business and technology district, and offers luxury apartments and townhouses for long-term rent, according to the building's website. Pontegadea has focused on investing in real estate assets worldwide and in Spain's energy infrastructure. ($1 = 0.9189 euros)Reporting by Corina Pons Editing by David Latona and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg is leaning into Meta's 'year of efficiency' the wrong way, and multiple rounds of layoffs will be damaging
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week unveiled another round of layoffs hitting 10,000 staffers. The dismissals are part of an efficiency plan boost productivity and turn Meta into a talent magnet. But the job cuts are likely to have the opposite effect, two management experts told Insider. Rather than resorting to layoffs, Sucher said companies should look at other ways to lower headcount, including natural attrition, buyouts, and hiring freezes. "You have to plan for it in order to not have it kill your company," Sucher said.

PacWest is considering a range of options to bolster its coffers and there is no certainty that any deal will materialize, the sources said. The details of the liquidity boost under discussion could not be learned. PacWest shares jumped on the news of the discussions for a liquidity boost, rising 22% to $13.91 in afternoon trading in New York on Thursday, giving the bank a market capitalization of about $1.6 billion. Based in Los Angeles, PacWest is a community bank serving small and venture-backed businesses, primarily in California. It is not clear how much in deposits PacWest has lost in the U.S. regional bank crisis that has led to U.S. regulators taking over Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (SBNY.O).

☆ From battery health to tax credits, there's a lot to consider when buying a used electric car. Here's how to shop smart.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Tim Levin | Nora Naughton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Driving habits can also impact which type of used EV you should shop for. Aside from wondering which car to buy, used EV shoppers might be wondering if their (used) battery can die. The good news is that an EV's battery is unlikely to fail completely or render the car useless. The used EV tax credit is your friendAt the start of the year, a new used electric vehicle tax credit went into effect as part of a larger EV incentive program in the Inflation Reduction Act. Vehicles that qualify for the used EV tax credit must have a sale price of $25,000 or less and must be at least two model-years old.

☆ The Watch List: Underscored’s most anticipated product launches of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Cnn Underscored Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN Underscored editors regularly highlight new product launches — everything from a new colorway of that viral pan to the next must-have sneaker — through announcement posts, in-depth reviews and comparative testing pieces. Now, for the first time, we’re giving readers a sneak peek at some of the most anticipated products that are set to launch in 2023 with a new feature: The Watch List. The Legendary Classic Canteen will combine an old-school aesthetic with modern design elements like a handy strap and leakproof lid. Meanwhile, the box quilt pattern keeps everything looking casual cool in four colors: natural, white, light gray and charcoal. Cabeau TNE S3: The Neck’s EvolutionCabeauThe Cabeau Evolution S3 is our pick for best travel pillow based on a variety of factors.

☆ Scientists chip away at how ancient Roman concrete stood test of time
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Roman concrete was introduced in the 3rd century BC, proving revolutionary. Many of these structures have endured for two millennia while modern concrete counterparts sometimes crumble in mere years or decades. Roman concrete contains white bits called "lime clasts," remnants of the lime used in the concrete. Some viewed the lime clasts, absent in modern concrete, as an accidental byproduct of sloppy preparation or poor-quality materials. Masic is a co-founder of a company called DMAT, based in the United States and Italy, that is commercializing concrete inspired by the ancient Roman version.

☆ It Would Be Hard for Ukraine to Lose the War to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

World War II revisionist historian Phillips O’Brien has been fighting the good fight lately on Twitter, upholding the thesis of his 2015 magnum opus, “How the War Was Won.” To wit, Russia’s contribution to victory in the world war was relatively minor after all. German weapons and materiel consumed in battle on the eastern front calculate out to a modest fraction of those destroyed or prevented from being created by the Western air and naval war against Germany’s productive capacity. He turns on its head an old belief that allied bombing was ineffective because Nazi production for a time continued to grow in absolute terms. Mr. O’Brien suggests the effect on potential output is what matters. According to Mr. O’Brien’s figures, the lion’s share of resources went to the Luftwaffe and German navy even at the height of the ground campaign in the east.

☆ How Much of My Paycheck Should I Save?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +12 min

By Tanza LoudenbackIf you’re wondering how much of your paycheck to save but don’t have any concrete goals in mind, there may be a better strategy. Where to save for retirementYou should count yourself lucky if you work for a company that offers a retirement plan to employees. How much to save for other goalsSavings targets for nonretirement goals also depend on your timeline and where you save the money. You should keep the cash somewhere easily accessible that carries no risk, such as a savings account, money-market account, or CD. Once you know your target down payment, it’s easy to figure out how much you need to save from each paycheck.

☆ ‘Adam Smith’s America’ Review: Wealth of a Nation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Barton Swaim | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Admirers of Adam Smith may be surprised to learn that there is an entire academic industry dedicated to the proposition that the great Scottish economist was not a proponent of free-market capitalism. Scholarly articles on Smith and the economic ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment frequently contain lengthy explanations of how he really didn’t promote amoral capitalism and unfettered markets but believed rather in a virtuous society that placed moral concerns above the market. Academic debates aside, the basic point about Smith’s economic views isn’t in doubt. They recruited Smith, in other words, to make the case against central planning and high taxation. His metaphor of an invisible hand, in their view—the self-interested merchant going about his business is “led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention”—exploded the fantasy that faraway planners were best equipped to create widespread prosperity.

☆ Sure, You’ve Got a Wine Cellar. What About a Whiskey Lounge, or a Tequila-Tasting Room?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Candace Taylor | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Raja Amar’s 23-acre estate in Stony Point, N.Y., has plenty of places to enjoy a cocktail. Visitors can choose a bottle from his glass-enclosed custom wine cellar, which holds about $2 million worth of wine from Opus One, Screaming Eagle and other pricey wineries. They can sample it at a table in the wine-tasting room just outside. They can pour a Macallan 25 at the bar and sip it in the whiskey-and-cigar lounge, a cherry wood-paneled room with two commercial-grade smoke eaters. A 56-year-old entrepreneur in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Amar built these amenities to house his collection of rare wines, whiskeys, cognacs, bourbons and tequilas, spending about $250,000 to create the wine cellar and wine room and roughly $1.2 million on the whiskey lounge.

Some elements of the Jeep joint venture's failure are particular to Stellantis - and the former car groups that feature among its 14 brands. But data compiled for Reuters by consultancy LMC Automotive expose a problem shared by a number of other global carmakers: plummeting Chinese plant usage. Reuters GraphicsThe Jeep failure in China happened less than two years after Stellantis was formed by the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler. "Chinese companies actually have an early mover advantage because they embraced electrification faster than the foreign companies were willing to," he added. While fully-electric cars make up an average of 5% of models foreign carmakers sell in China, they account for 30% of Chinese carmakers' models, according to LMC data.

☆ Russian Nationals Arrested Over Alleged Scheme to Evade U.S. Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Two Russian nationals were arrested for allegedly using their Germany-based company as a front to move black market oil and sensitive equipment with military uses in defiance of U.S. sanctions. Three other Russian nationals and two Venezuelans were also charged in what prosecutors described as a global scheme to evade U.S. sanctions and export controls. The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday unveiled sanctions against Mr. Orekhov, NDA and Opus Energy Trading LLC, another Orekhov-linked company. The alleged oil buyers included a Russian aluminum company controlled by a sanctioned oligarch and a Chinese energy conglomerate, neither of which were named by prosecutors. Some of the same electronic components obtained through the scheme were found in Russian weapons platforms seized in Ukraine, prosecutors said.

Some of the electronics obtained through the scheme have been found in Russian weapons platforms seized in Ukraine, prosecutors said. They used a German company to ship the military technologies, as well as Venezuelan oil, to Russian purchasers, prosecutors said. The U.S.-origin technologies can be used in fighter aircraft, ballistic and hypersonic missile systems, smart munitions, and other military applications, Treasury said. After the initial round of U.S. sanctions on PDVSA, Russia's Rosneft emerged as a key intermediary for Venezuelan crude. After Washington sanctioned Rosneft subsidiaries over their dealings with PDVSA, dozens of firms with no track record of oil trading have been intermediating in sales of Venezuelan oil to Chinese buyers.

Where to get audiobooksMost audiobooks are available to listen to on your smartphone, tablet, smartwatch and desktop or laptop — how to listen to audiobooks depends mostly on which device you have and which apps can be downloaded on it. Getting started: Audible offers two main types of memberships — Audible Plus and Audible Premium Plus — each with a 30-day trial membership. During those 30 days, you can listen to podcasts, meditation programs, sleep tracks and audiobooks, plus access Audible Original content. An Audible Premium Plus membership also gives you 30% off any additional premium titles you may want to buy. Find other audiobooks optionsBest audiobooks for getting startedIf you’re on the hunt for your next audiobook or on the fence about joining the world of audiobooks, it’s a good idea to start off with audiobooks that are much more satisfying in their spoken iteration.

☆ Overlooked No More: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Artist and Author Who Explored Identity
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-07 | by ( Dan Saltzstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. In 1982, about three months before the publication of her avant-garde magnum opus, “Dictee,” Theresa Hak Kyung Cha wrote to her older brother, John. “It is hard to say what I feel, how I feel, except that I feel freed, and I also feel naked,” she wrote. She had been carrying the manuscript around for three years and had just turned it in to her publisher. “It feels frightening.”“Dictee” is part memoir, part history, part experimental meditation; a challenging, innovative exploration of Cha’s life, her mother’s difficult immigrant journey across East Asia and to the United States, the fractured immigrant experience, women warriors, and language itself.

Persons: “, ” Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, John, ” Locations: Times, “, East Asia, United States

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