Showing 1 - 10 of 33
News, Published on 23/09/2024
» Google "shamanism" and you will find that it is "a tradition of part-time religious specialists who establish and maintain personalistic relations with specific spirit beings through the use of controlled and culturally scripted altered states of consciousness." Every element of that definition applies to monetary policymaking today, as illustrated by the reaction to the US Federal Reserve's Sept 18 decision to cut the short-term interest rate by 50 basis points.
News, Published on 18/06/2024
» Here's an AI advancement that should benefit all of us: It's getting easier for builders of artificial intelligence to warn the world about the harms their algorithms can cause -- from spreading misinformation and displacing jobs, to hallucinating and providing a new form of surveillance. But who can these would-be whistleblowers turn to? An encouraging shift toward better oversight is underway, thanks to changes in compensation policies, renewed momentum to speak out among engineers and the growing clout of a British government-backed safety group.
Oped, Published on 08/06/2024
» With the launch of GPT-4o, OpenAI has once again shown itself to be the world's most innovative artificial-intelligence company. This new multimodal AI tool -- which seamlessly integrates text, voice, and visual capabilities -- is significantly faster than previous models, greatly enhancing the user experience. But perhaps the most attractive feature of GPT-4o is that it is free -- or so it seems.
News, Published on 27/12/2023
» This year had barely begun when scientists got some jolting news. On Jan 4, a paper appeared in Nature claiming that disruptive scientific findings have been waning since 1945. An accompanying graph showed all fields on a steep downhill slide.
Oped, Published on 08/12/2023
» The largest antitrust trial of the modern internet era, which wrapped up last month, has pitted the world's most popular search engine, Google, against the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The case hearkens back to the DOJ's landmark lawsuit against Microsoft in the 1990s but with a critical difference: most of it was held behind closed doors. This unprecedented secrecy meant that only journalists and observers who were physically in the courtroom had access -- albeit limited -- to the proceedings.
Oped, Published on 11/08/2023
» In March 1985, the Wall Street Journal showered India's new prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, with its highest praise. In an editorial titled "Rajiv Reagan", the newspaper compared the 40-year-old Gandhi to "another famous tax cutter we know", and declared that deregulation and tax cuts had triggered a "minor revolution" in India.
News, Maureen Dowd, Published on 06/06/2023
» I think about Jackie Kennedy several times a day.
News, Published on 13/03/2023
» In recent years, McKinsey & Company has become a household name -- but for all the wrong reasons. One of the "Big Three" consulting firms, its work for major corporations and governments has increasingly become a source of scandal and intrigue around the world.
News, Editorial, Published on 18/12/2022
» Since the 1998 ouster of the dictator Suharto -- who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for over three decades -- the world's fourth most populous nation has undergone a series of rapid changes. Once dependent on foreign aid to exercise its basic functions, Indonesia has firmly established itself as a major economic player in the Asia-Pacific region, with the distinction of being the only Southeast Asian economy to be included in the Group of 20.
Oped, Peter Singer, Published on 30/11/2022
» In the wake of the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and amid reports that FTX's founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, diverted billions of dollars of clients' funds, some observers have linked the alleged financial malpractice to ideas widely held within the "effective altruism" movement, which Mr Bankman-Fried says inspired him. More specifically, they point to the ethical view that the end justifies the means.