Economist: Five of America’s biggest firms, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft—call them MAAMA — have invested $280bn in the past year, equivalent to 9% of American business investment, up from 4% five years ago. Big tech wants to find the next big opportunity, and our analysis of deals, patents, recruitment and other yardsticks shows that cash is flowing into everything from driverless cars to quantum computing. The shift reflects a fear that the lucrative fiefs of the 2010s are losing relevance, and the fact that tech’s titans are increasingly moving onto each other’s patches (the share of sales that overlap has doubled since 2015 to 40%). So they are all looking to swoop into new territory.” More: “Their focus is on the metaverse, cars and health care.”
Shankkar Aiyar on the need to redesign the Indian Constitution: “The fundamental issue India must debate as it rises to be the sixth-largest economy hosting over 1.4 billion people, is how to redesign the constitutional framework to address the deficits in governance. The basic design of the current structure was inherited from the colonial regime. The construct of the division of responsibilities in Schedule 7 stems from the Government of India Act 1919 artifacts from the Government of India Act 1935. The confusion about who does what is responsible was worsened by the amendments during the Emergency.”
Brunello Cucinelli: “There are three things you cannot buy. Fitness: You have to keep fit, whether you’re rich or not. Diet: You cannot pay someone to be on a diet for you. I think that diet is the biggest sacrifice in my life. Then, looking after your soul. No one can possibly treat your soul but you yourself. This is something you can do through culture and philosophy.” [via Shane Parish]
