Business
For Generations of Alaskans, a Livelihood Is Under Threat. Alaskan fishermen face a host of daunting challenges, including a lack of state-of-the-art technology that would enable cost savings, a drop in demand from key markets such as Japan, high inflation that shifts consumer preference to cheaper meat and the interference from Russia.
Apartment Construction Is Slowing, and Investors Are Betting on Higher Rents. I expect a low single-digit rent increase or flat in Jan 2025 before rising a bit in 2026. On the other hand, I don’t think we will see lower housing prices until 2027.
The Day Delta’s ‘On-Time Machine’ Broke, and the Blame Game It Sparked. It sounds like all parties are at fault for what happened at Delta Airlines. A bad update from CrowdStrike and Microsoft being the owner of the operating system started all the trouble. But if other airlines could get back up and running more quickly than Delta, it begs the question: what makes Delta different? The call to delay flight cancellations so that they could save as much revenue as possible? Or the 40-year-old tech stack that has not been upgraded but should have? If I am a betting man, I will not bet on Delta’s chance at winning the lawsuit. In fact, some institutional shareholders may even hold the executives accountable for what happened under their watch. The lesson here is that in this day and age, it’s just irresponsible to leave your technology infrastructure woefully outdated.
VW Turns on Germany as China Targets Europe’s EV Blunders. After multuple strategic blunders, things look very bleak for VW, other European car manufacturers and Europe as a whole. This is not just about poor execution. This is about being competitive in an increasingly competitive world and Europe, including Germany, has not shown that it is progressing enough.
AI craze is distorting VC market, as tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon pour in billions of dollars. AI startup valuations are driven mainly by the restless investments from big techs. Hence, once the likes of Microsoft, Meta and Amazon stop pumping billions of dollars, valuations will plummet. What I am interested in seeing is how the upcoming rate cuts will delay such a reflection point. Compared to a few months ago, more questions on the ROI of AI investments have popped up. The sentiment that AI is overhyped and too expensive has grown more popular. However, if rates are lower and companies have access to cheaper capital, they may still want to make that bet. We may still see crazy valuations long into 2025.
Other Stuff I Find Interesting
Something’s Poisoning America’s Land. Farmers Fear ‘Forever’ Chemicals. The federal government has encouraged farmers for decades to use sludge made from treated sewage as fertilizers. Recent reports showed that this sludge contained toxic chemicals that could lead to cancer and birth defects in children. Yet, the EPA has been slow in its investigation and issuing new rules.
How a Leading Chain of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients. There must be a criminal investigation into this egregious practice and, dare I say, jail time for those that willingly employe such practice for financial gains.
How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction. A very interesting read on America’s obsession with highways. I echo the author’s confusion as to why we don’t address the demand issue by building more public transit.
The Price of Parenthood Is Growing Prohibitive. That’s Bad News for the Economy. Spot on! Everyone I talked to about day care complained that it has gotten a lot more expensive these days. As parents spend more on day care, they will have less disposable income for everything else. Consumption is impacted and so is the revenue of businesses. And then, more parents will choose to have fewer kids or no kids at all. Population will drop. The only way to slow down the population decline is to have more immigrants; which itself brings some unwanted consequences as well.
The Effects of Generative AI on High Skilled Work: Evidence from Three Field Experiments with Software Developers. It is important to note that only three companies are included in this study: Microsoft, Accenture and the other that remains anonymous. The nature of the subjects’ business matters as it will dictate how tools such as Copilot are used. If you ask me, I’ll say that Copilot doesn’t help me or someone in junior positions at all. We need a larger scale study that involves different types of industries, businesses and workflows.
Stats
The Alaskan wild seafood market is estimated to be worth $6 billion a year
Telegram Premium has reached 10 million paid subscribers
“Fewer than 8 percent of high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past month”
Minh Quang Duong 
Leave a comment