Real Robots in Our Near Future: The Rise of Capable Industrial Automatons

DAKOTA DIGITAL REVIEW ……….. We know that even as economies increasingly digitalize and become ever more service- and software- centric, demand will still increase for the kinds of things that are produced by the “hard” industries. That reality was made clear during the disruptive lockdowns. Miners are needed to access minerals to supply the manufacturers…

Yes, This Time It’s Different: ChatGPT

CITY JOURNAL ……….More than 1 million users signed up within a week of the online release of the artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, a date dystopians think will live in infamy. In just two months, 100 million users signed up, a record for any new software, app, or online tool. ChatGPT—along…

‘Cobalt Red’ Review: The Human Price of Cobalt

WALL STREET JOURNAL ………..If you want to know what’s being unleashed by the rush to mandate electric cars for a so-called clean-energy transition, read “Cobalt Red.” It will leave you almost as shaken as its author, Siddharth Kara, who braved lawless militia and state-backed soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo as he visited the…

Book Review: Julio Ottino & Bruce Mau’s ‘The Nexus’

REAL CLEAR MARKETS ……….. Innovation is the sine qua non of our time. Corporate executives claim their business embodies it, whether it’s about computers or coffee. Politicians love to invoke it. Consultants claim they can imbue it, for a price. Venture capitalists chase it, sometimes blindly. Educators claim to teach it. Coders think artificial intelligence can fake it.

Inflation Fuel

CITY JOURNAL……. The European Union has decided to tax imports with a “carbon border adjustment mechanism.” Intended to accelerate global reductions in carbon-dioxide emissions, the policy will instead inflate the cost of everything Europeans buy. Two basic facts about imports in Europe will drive the policy’s inflationary effects.

The Year of Electric Vehicle Inevitability?

REAL CLEAR MARKETS ……… It’s the time of year for annual retrospectives. On the energy front, the electric vehicle (EV) was at the top of obsessions for 2022. Claims of an “inevitable” and “accelerating” proliferation of “zero emissions” EVs emboldened policymakers around the world to enact legislation to outright ban cars with internal combustion engines.