So, the US government won’t default on its debt. The question is whether that’s a win for President Joe Biden or House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Look for Biden to use their deal as launch pad for his reelection campaign as he seeks to keep left-leaning and Black voters on board . To recap, here’s how “two Irish guys who don’t drink” and their aides, fueled by cookies and pizza, maneuvered around the flanks of both parties to end weeks of uncertainty for the world economy. The whole spectacle may now become a regular event.
But let’s face it: much of Wall Street wasn’t fazed by the Washington drama — and some of the biggest companies are on the move. Amazon is considering wireless service for Prime customers in the US, while Apple is eyeing a retail expansion in China and India. Elon Musk is the world’s richest person once again on the strength of Tesla’s share price. By contrast, betting on value stocks seemed like a winner — until it wasn’t, thanks to the recent frenzy over artificial intelligence.
Even when Washington looks dysfunctional, the US has relied on the dollar’s dominance as a pillar of global power. Now, just maybe, a real backlash is brewing, led by China but joined by other countries chafing at the weaponized dollar. Then again, predictions of US decline have fizzled before.
Meanwhile, summer is upon us. If you have children and are looking at summer camps only now, well, good luck. It’s an all-American industry now worth about $3.5 billion, where parents are pretty much on their own and looking for fun for your kids is stressful. Maybe that’s where the California ketamine retreat fits in.
For a European vacation, Madrid is one of this year’s hot spots, partly thanks to an influx of rich Latin Americans.
Or take climate scientist Brian Brettschneider’s intriguing trip: a US journey that keeps you at 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21C) all year. Spoiler: you’ll have to be in the northwestern corner of Nebraska on Oct. 1.
That’s the real world. But it’s impossible to escape the buzz around AI, which is ushering in an age of mimicry that should make human mimes cry, writes technology columnist Parmy Olson. After a London studio turned her into an avatar that looks surprisingly real but talks pretty robotically, she finds that, like earlier technological revolutions, AI comes at a price. The risk is that “it will gradually erode our creative skills and lead to soulless, increasingly derivative content.”
