10 Thursday AM Reads

My morning reads: • AI at 70: 14 lessons from a lifetime of boom and bust: Adrian Cox of Deutsche Bank Research on seven decades of artificial intelligence cycles. (Deutsche Bank Research) • Global Debt Is Slumping But It’s Nothing Like the 2022 Rout: The difference is scale. While the latest pullback has driven yields to multi-year highs in the world’s biggest markets, the move is just a fraction of the one seen in late 2022. Global government bond yields have risen 17 basis points on a rolling 20-day cumulative basis, compared with 62 basis points back then, data compiled by Bloomberg show. On a peak-to-trough basis, bonds have lost 4.2% this year — a far cry from the 23% plunge seen in 2022.(Bloomberg) see also The Bond Market Issues World Leaders a Failing Grade Nothing in this week’s G-20 suggested an end to the deficits, inflation and geopolitical disruptions that are roiling investors. (Wall Street Journal) • Welcome, Mr. Chairman Kevin Warsh’s speech at Jackson Hole was the introduction to the Fed Chair we deserved. In two weeks, the real work begins. Claudia Sahm grades Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech — the one he needed to give, from the AI open (100% human-written, she checked) to his seven principles of monetary policy. (Claudia Sahm) • Companies Plow Tariff Refunds Into Price Cuts, Appealing to Stretched Consumers: E.l.f. Beauty, Walmart and Tractor Supply are among the companies dropping prices to boost sales. (Wall Street Journal) • Vanguard Struck with Altruist Take-Out After Schwab and Fidelity Zapped It with ETF ‘Platform’ Fees: RIABiz on the $4.6 billion acquisition analysts say could redraw the competitive landscape for RIA custody — a sleeping monster awakened, with a massive “Vanguard effect” to follow. Waking a sleeping monster that could redraw the competitive landscape for RIA custody. (RIABiz) • Why the Flock Backlash Has Gotten So Intense: David A. Graham on a corporate name that evokes both the cameras and a flock of sheep protected by a watchful shepherd — and why the shepherd metaphor stopped working. (The Atlantic) • The Logistics Nightmare Facing U.S. Warships: John Ismay on how Iranian attacks upended the Navy’s Middle East supply chain — a typical carrier’s 5,000 crew members need up to four meals a day, and the ships being kept in the region indefinitely. (New York Times) see also Navy Not Returning to Damaged Bahrain Base ‘Anytime Soon,’ Top Officer Says: CNO Adm. Daryl Caudle levels with displaced sailors. (Navy Times) • There’s No Place Like Group Chats: My old friends and I have ended up scattered across different states, in different time zones, but we’ve made our own neighborhood inside the black and blue bubbles of our phones. Hanif Abdurraqib on old friends scattered across states and time zones who built their own neighborhood inside the black and blue bubbles of their phones. (New Yorker) • What We Know About Autism — and How to Treat It — Could Change After New UCSF Study: Jason Fagone on researchers fusing AI with new molecular techniques to map autism spectrum disorder in unprecedented detail. (San Francisco Chronicle) • An Anvil Just Landed on David Zaslav’s Head: Acme-grade plans produce Acme-grade backfires. (Slate) Video of the day: How A Student’s Question Saved This NYC Skyscraper Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with William McNabb, former CEO and Chairman of the Vanguard Group from 2007-17. He is also an advisor to venture firm Venrock, and was an investor and advisor to Altruist, which was just sold to VG for $2 billion. Private-construction-Data-centers-vs.-everything-else Source: Invictus chart using Census data via ChatGPT. Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.