Business
Illinois lawmakers again delay card fee law. The 2nd one-year delay on this interchange law from Illinois. I know for a fact that the card networks are not set up to support this law. I attended a Visa University week at their San Francisco HQ and was told by a senior executive in charge of interchange that they do not have the capability. If this law were passed, it would create a lot of unnecessary burden for merchants and banks. Indirectly, some harm would be passed onto consumers. And for what? Merchants negotiate a low wage with workers. They expect consumers to fill in the gap with tips and now don’t want to pay the interchange on the tip? One way that we could implement this would be to ask each consumer to swipe twice for a single bill. One would be for the principal amount, and the other would be for tax and tips. Again, we do not have the capability from the networks to do this. But even if it were possible, wouldn’t that create friction with consumers? Whatever the problems the Illinois lawmakers want to solve, I think there are alternatives.
Colorado interchange fee law vetoed. I applaud the Democrat governor of the state of Colorado for doing the right thing. Even though his own part sponsors and passed the bill, the governor stood up for his belief and took decisive actions. As explained above, I don’t think these bills have a lot of upside that is worth the trouble and confusion that it would create for every stakeholder in the payment ecosystem. Illinois was an inspiration for the governor. I am sure these two states will set examples for others across the country. If they want to help restaurants or other small businesses, think of another way!
America’s Data Center Build-Out Is Falling Way Behind Schedule. The fact that Google raised capital by issuing shares, instead of bonds, CAN be worrying. But their capable executive team who guided the company to this current state should have more information on why they chose this approach. What is encouraging to read is that Google realized that power and electricity were going to a key challenge to building out their data centers. So they bought an energy company and hired energy experts. The bottom-up first-principle approach is going to do the company well in the long run.
Americans Are Keeping Their Cars Longer Than Ever—and Remaking the Auto Industry. The auto industry is transitioning from one for new vehicles to one for increasingly old cars with emphasis on maintenance and repairs services. Dealerships pour resources into retooling their shops so that they can compete in offering repairs. Some even offer basic repairs in their oil change service. I have not seen new vehicles’ prices come down, so this trend is expected to continue for a while.
Other Stuff I Find Interesting
Trump Clears Way for Corporate Tax Dodge Hidden in the Fine Print. I understand that there is always a “government overeach” element, but creating a unit in a tax haven that has all the profits and no employee is absolutely absurd. Politicians complain about the deficit all the time, but they choose to look the other way instead of directly at the one lever that could help shrink the deficit.
A guide to the 4 minerals shaping the world’s energy future. Vietnam has one of the largest reserves of rare earths in the world, yet we produced a meager amount of 600 tons a year. Economically, becoming a major producer and refiner of rare earths would do Vietnam some good, but since the importance of these elements keeps rising every day, we should do everything in our power to extract values from our partners.
US host cities made transit improvements a World Cup goooooooal. A couple of lessons for cities that want to host an international sports event: 1/ don’t build out infrastructure just for the event itself. Build it for your citizens and 2/ communication is key.
Central Ohio Becomes Hub for Tech and Manufacturing. “Fifteen years later, Columbus, the state capital known as the headquarters for insurance companies and retail brands like Victoria’s Secret, has been transformed. The metropolitan area has become a critical hub for advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence. Manufacturing employment nationwide remained relatively flat in recent years. Employers added 7,000 manufacturing jobs last month, according to the Labor Department. But the picture is different in central Ohio. Job growth in the manufacturing sector here rose 4.4 percent between 2021 and 2024, up from 2.7 percent in the four-year period before the pandemic, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution’s metropolitan policy program. For years, Ohio officials have aggressively courted companies by offering grants, low taxes and light regulation. Many businesses that set up shop here get a high level of cooperation from local government officials and educational institutions, a tradition that is often referred to as the “Columbus Way.”“
Stats
More than 36% of Walmart deliveries from stores arrived in three hours or less in Q1 2027.
JPMorgan’s lockbox operators manually processed about 480 million checks and documents annually
88% of Americans visited local parks and other outdoor public spaces.
Only 26% of companies have a comprehensive view of their AI token costs
Minh Quang Duong 
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