Andy Kessler is one of the best commentators writing today.
From WSJ:
Spinning in Circles in 2023
Our leaders worked at cross purposes while pretending to solve our problems.
My head is spinning from all of 2023’s confusing circular circumstances.
OpenAI’s Sam Altman has often said that artificial intelligence will take jobs away. He was right. It took his job away—if only for 100 hours until he circled back. He is no fan of capitalism, famously saying, “The incentives of capitalism to create and capture unlimited value I’m a little afraid of.” OpenAI, given worries about AI’s “existential risk,” was created as a nonprofit that “benefits all of humanity.” But generative AI requires oodles of capital to run. So, as a born-again capitalist, Mr. Altman had the nonprofit OpenAI create a “capped profit” OpenAI that raised $13 billion from
and now, lo and behold, actually benefits humanity.The U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, so as not to upset mainland China, but it will defend Taiwan if China attacks so such companies as OpenAI can get the advanced chips for generative AI that will allegedly “existentially” end humanity.
The U.S. funded “gain of function” research in Wuhan, which led to the pandemic and caused politicians, three years on, to restructure supply chains completely and move away from free trade so that the U.S. could make masks to respond to a pandemic we essentially paid for.
To have any chance at getting elected, presidential candidates must fly to Iowa and promise corn subsidies—almost $100 an acre. This leads to an overabundance of cheap high-fructose corn syrup that’s used in processed foods and sodas. This causes higher rates of diabetes and obesity. The Biden administration had to cap insulin prices, which caused shortages. Also, Medicare has to pay for Ozempic to treat diabetes and obesity.
Thanks to the Obama administration, the U.S. has released billions of dollars to Iran, which funds terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, forcing the U.S. to provide Israel with Iron Dome missiles and send aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean.
After the Soviet Union fell, the U.S. brokered a deal that took nuclear weapons away from the newly independent Ukraine, and now we have to send Javelins and Himars and tanks and F-16s so the country can defend itself against Russia.
At the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in San Francisco, Joe Biden declared California Gov. Gavin Newsom his successor: “He could have the job I’m looking for.” Asked about ordering the removal of homeless tents before the meeting, Mr. Newsom said, “You have people over to your house, you’re going to clean up the house.” San Francisco’s 716,000 residents (it was 874,000 in 2020) are not amused.
In 2010, Goldman Sachs forecast that China would overtake the U.S. in gross domestic product by 2030, forgetting that communism and capitalism are like oil and water. A combination of Chinese government crackdowns on high tech and a deteriorating overbuilt real-estate sector—which funds local governments—may send China into a Japan-like lost decade.
The Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese imports were dumb. The Biden administration has mainly done the opposite of the Trump administration, except on tariffs. Now candidate Trump has proposed 10% tariffs for all imports—as smelly as soon-to-be-more-expensive imported Limburger cheese.
Michael Bloomberg calls universities “bastions of intolerance.” Of course they enjoy a special 1.4% tax on investment income from their endowments, unlike the 23.8% long-term capital-gains rate the rest of us pay. That, along with inflation-beating tuition hikes, helps universities overpay humanities professors who turn non-taxpaying students into terrorist-supporting protesters.
Against the howling of parents and anyone with half a brain concerned about learning loss, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten promoted Covid-induced school closures and then demanded buckets of infrastructure money before reopening. At her April congressional testimony, Ms. Weingarten then said we must “secure the resources” to help students recover “from learning loss.” It never ends.
In December 2021,
chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian correctly noted the Federal Reserve’s “transitory inflation” forecast was “the worst inflation call in the history of the Federal Reserve.” Last month, with interest rates tipping down, economist Joseph Stiglitz declared “A Victory Lap for the Transitory Inflation Team.” Does he not think that interest rates rising from zero to 5.25% had an effect? Cogent economic analysis is a terrible thing to waste.
If you’re doing year-end performance reviews or wonder why China’s social-credit system is doomed to fail, check out the new book “The Fund” by former Journal reporter Rob Copeland. It’s about Ray Dalio and his Bridgewater hedge fund’s cuckoo “radical transparency” and its Dot Collector real-time employee-rating app. Employees would watch how Mr. Dalio rated others and then quickly pile on. Circularly, bad ratings led to more bad ratings and show trials. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.
See why I’m dazed and confused? And in emails and tweets I’m often accused of being a privileged cisgender patriarchy-empowered pale male. Privileged? Heck, I’m only Silver status on United MileagePlus. Keep those cards and letters coming.
