Category: economics – Page 107
The U.S. Is Losing the Global Race to Decide the Future of Money —and It Could Doom the Almighty Dollar
What must the US do Eric Klien?
Read More: How China’s Digital Currency Could Challenge the Almighty Dollar
China has already largely moved away from coin and paper currency; Chinese consumers have racked up more than $41 trillion in mobile transactions, according to a recent research paper from the Brookings Institution, with the lion’s share (92%) going through digital payment processors WeChat Pay and Alipay.
“The reason you could say the U.S. is behind in the digital currency race is I don’t think the U.S. is aware there is a race,” Yaya Fanusie, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and a former CIA analyst, tells TIME in an interview. “A lot of policymakers are looking at it and concerned…but even with that I just don’t think there’s this sense of urgency because the risk from China is not an immediate threat.”
India’s got the next big thing in tech, and it could be worth $1 trillion
Of India’s 10 SaaS unicorns, six reached that milestone in 2,020 and investors around the world are paying attention. Last year, investors pumped $1.5 billion into Indian SaaS companies, four times more than in 2018 or 2,019 according to the SaaSBoomi report.
More than two decades ago, India began its transformation into a global IT powerhouse, ushering in an era of wealth and job creation never before seen in the country.
Now, Asia’s third largest economy is ready for the next big frontier in tech: Coming up with a new generation of software companies like Zoom or Slack.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced business around the world to make huge investments in digital infrastructure, furthering the influence of companies providing software-as-a-service, or SaaS. Businesses spent an extra $15 billion per week last year on tech as they scrambled to create safe remote working environments, according to a KPMG survey.
Quantum mechanics for plants
Circa 2004
To what extent do photosynthetic organisms use quantum mechanics to optimize the capture and distribution of light? Answers are emerging from the examination of energy transfer at the submolecular scale.
The first law of photosynthetic economics is: “A photon saved is a photon earned.” Research into the factors behind this principle has been burgeoning, and has recently culminated in a paper in Physical Review Letters by Jang et al.1 in which the authors look at photosynthetic energy transfer at the quantum level.
Department of Commerce establishes National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has announced that the Commerce Department has established a high-level committee to advise the President and other federal agencies on a range of issues related to artificial intelligence (AI). Working with the National AI Initiative Office (NAIIO) in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Department is now seeking to recruit top-level candidates to serve on the committee.
A formal notice describing the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC) and the call for nominations for the committee and its Subcommittee on Artificial Intelligence and Law Enforcement appears in the Federal Register published today.
“AI presents an enormous opportunity to tackle the biggest issues of our time, strengthen our technological competitiveness, and be an engine for growth in nearly every sector of the economy,” said Secretary Raimondo. “But we must be thoughtful, creative, and wise in how we address the challenges that accompany these new technologies. That includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that President Biden’s comprehensive commitment to advancing equity and racial justice extends to our development and use of AI technology. This committee will help the federal government to do that by providing insights into a full range of issues raised by AI.”
Mastercard makes a big bet on crypto, buying blockchain analytics start-up CipherTrace
Mastercard has agreed to acquire blockchain analytics start-up CipherTrace, in the latest sign of how major companies are warming to cryptocurrencies.
The payments giant said Thursday it entered into an agreement to buy CipherTrace for an undisclosed amount. Based in Menlo Park, California, CipherTrace develops tools that help businesses and law enforcement root out illicit digital currency transactions. The company’s competitors include New York-based Chainalysis and London start-up Elliptic.
“Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient,” Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard, said in a statement. “With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe.”
IT’S HAPPENING! Elon Musk is Fearful about China And Here’s Why
Elon Musk is fearful about the competition between China and the USA in terms of the military, economy and car industry. China is already far ahead of USA economy and car industry!
NEOM: City Of The Future or $600 Billion Stunt? | Answers With Joe
Video on Neom, the future city.
Earn money for charity just by browsing the internet when you sign up for Tab For A Cause here: https://tab.gladly.io/joescott.
NEOM is Saudi Arabia’s tentpole project in their Vision2030initiative to help move the Kingdom away from an oil-based economy and rely more on technology and tourism. It has some ambitious goals, like being 100% sustainable, moving all transport underground, and even glowing beaches. But the most noticeable thing about the project is the fact that the city will lie on a 100-mile line serviced by a hyperloop-style high speed train system.
But is it all it’s cracked up to be? Let’s take a look.
Here’s the link to NEOM’s official site: https://www.neom.com/en-us.
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Why Bill Gates Is Buying Up U.S. Farmland
Bill Gates made headlines for becoming the largest private farmland owner in the U.S. But he’s not the only one. Some of the wealthiest landowners including Jeff Bezos, John Malone and Thomas Peterffy are buying up forests, ranches and farmlands across the United States. Why? Watch the video to find out.
Investments in farmland are growing across the country as people, including the ultra-wealthy like Bill Gates, look for new ways to grow their money.
In 2,020 Gates made headlines for becoming the largest private farmland owner in the U.S. He had accumulated more than 269,000 acres of farmland across 18 states in less than a decade. His farmland grows onions, carrots and even the potatoes that are used to make McDonald’s French fries.
“It’s an asset with increasing value,” American Farmland Trust CEO John Piotti said. “It has great intrinsic value and beyond that, it is a limited resource.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 30% of all farmland is owned by landlords who don’t farm themselves. Buyers often purchase land from farmers who have owned it for decades; many of whom may be asset rich but maybe cash poor.
“The economic realities for them are typical that they’ve spent their life farming,” said Holly Rippon-Butler, land campaign director at the National Young Farmers Coalition. “Their retirement, their equity is all in the land and tied up in selling land.”
NuScale modular nuclear reactors can produce over 2,000 kg/hour of hydrogen
NuScale Power, the startup specializing in the design of small modular nuclear reactors, has published new data concerning the production capacities of its NuScale Power Module (NPM). Thanks to the 25% increase in power output of an NPM, each NuScale module is now capable of producing 2,053 kg/hour of hydrogen, or nearly 50 metric tons per day.
Just one NuScale Power Module can produce 77 MWe of carbon-free electricity to power 60,000 homes in the U.S. NuScale’s flagship power plant design can house up to 12 modules for a total gross output of 924 MWe. The 924 MWe that a 12-module NuScale plant produces is enough to power nearly 700,000 homes with clean, reliable energy.
“The ability of our NPM to now produce even more clean hydrogen, in a smaller footprint, is yet another example of how NuScale’s technology can help decarbonize various sectors of the economy while providing additional revenue streams for customers,” said Dr. José Reyes, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of NuScale Power. “Coupled with our proven design, unparalleled safety, and load-following capabilities, this analysis further demonstrates that NuScale’s design is the gold standard in helping meet the demand for innovative solutions to challenging global energy needs.”