WSJ: “Aluminum, despite its many useful properties, has been largely overlooked. But that could be about to change. Aluminum has applications across several fast-growing sectors. Alongside copper, lithium and steel, it is one of the four key metals needed for the transition to new energy sources, according to BloombergNEF. But electricity is also a crucial input in producing aluminum, and power itself is becoming scarcer.”
Bloomberg: “In 2025 AI technology is expected to generate $60 billion in revenue, according to one estimate by Azeez Azhar and Nathan Warren, who write the AI-focused newsletter Exponential View. That number will need to increase dramatically if tech companies want to recoup costs. In September, Bain & Co. calculated that Big Tech would need $2 trillion in additional annual revenue to pay for data center expenditures by 2030 and projected a shortfall of $800 billion a year even under ideal circumstances. If AI giants and their investors can’t make their money back, then we’re talking about a historically large case of overbuilding and overinvestment.”
Santosh Desai: “It might be time to face the harsh truth. India may continue to grow at a reasonable rate, but as things stand, it will never be a developed country. Not because of inadequate infrastructure or capital, nor for lack of desire or even policy, but because of the way society is structured. Culturally, we desire progress, but we are deeply uncomfortable with the idea of change—fundamental, meaningful change. In some ways, this has been our superpower. It has allowed us to retain our way of life in the face of overwhelming external influences. Faced with conquest or cultural invasion, India has always absorbed the new into the old. Modernity in India has always been a form of negotiated tradition. But this very instinct has also made changing anything fundamental exceedingly difficult.”
Matt Levine: “I used to say this sporadically, but now I say it all the time: Financial markets and sports gambling are merging, and some big financial firms now go around acting like there is no difference between them.”
