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Semafor – Global mail carriers suspended deliveries to the US in the face of uncertainty over new duties on low-cost packages. “US President Donald Trump last month ordered the end of the “de minimis” provision, which allowed goods valued under $800 to enter the US duty-free. The government closed the loophole for China and Hong …
Visual Capitalist: “U.S. tariffs have climbed to an average rate of 18.6%—the highest since 1933. But what does this mean for everyday consumers? This visualization, developed in collaboration with the Hinrich Foundation, highlights major goods expected to face sustained price increases due to rising tariffs. Based on data from the Yale Budget Lab, it explores …
Coalition for Independent Technology Research: “A report on the struggle to keep public-interest technology research alive and the growing Coalition working to protect it. What’s At Stake – Understanding how technology shapes society shouldn’t be dictated by corporate agendas or political interests. It should be driven by and for the public, because without independent research, …
Common Dreams: “It’s clear that Trump doesn’t want the public weighing in on these dangerous deregulatory initiatives,” said Katie Tracy of Public Citizen. On Friday, the General Services Administration—an independent agency that supports the functioning of the government bureaucracy—quietly eliminated a tool known as the POST Application Programming Interface (API) from the Regulations.gov website. Last …
American Prospect – The Trump administration’s war on reality will make it meaningfully difficult to understand the health of the economy in the coming months. If data is either not being collected or is no longer reliable, now that Trump has fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics as punishment for weak jobs …
Quartz – Poll respondents said they were concerned that “too many people will lose their jobs” because of artificial intelligence. “In fact, 71% are afraid that artificial intelligence will cause permanent job loss, according to a new poll by Reuters and Ipsos. The poll surveyed 4,446 U.S. adults nationwide between August 13 and 18. Respondents …
“Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new statistics and data visualization page that includes statistics and graphics on key elements of the capital markets, such as initial public offerings, exempt offerings, corporate bond offerings, reporting issuers, municipal advisors, transfer agents, and household participation in the capital markets. The webpage provides statistics presented in …
AI In Finance and Banking, August 16, 2025 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to …
The New York Times: “Boris Epshteyn, a personal lawyer for President Trump, connected two firms — Kirkland & Ellis and Skadden Arps — to the Commerce Department. Two of the law firms that reached deals with President Trump this year to avoid punitive executive orders were connected in recent months with the Commerce Department about …
Death of the Billable Hour: Legal’s $900B AI Repricing – Ethan Batraski. Aug 12, 2025. “The legal industry’s last great inefficiency is ending. How AI-native firms will replace billable hours with outcome-based pricing at scale. The legal industry represents one of the last great market inefficiencies in the modern economy. While every other sector discovered …
“A POLITICO analysis of DOGE data reveals the organization saved less than 5 percent of its claimed savings from nearly 10,100 contract terminations. The Trump administration’s claim that it is saving billions of dollars through DOGE-related cuts to federal contracts is drastically exaggerated, according to a new POLITICO analysis of public data and federal spending …
The Economist – no paywall: “Being Rich is not just about earning more. Prices differ between countries, and a modest salary can go further where things are cheaper. Working hours vary too: some places manage to generate high incomes with fewer hours of labour, leaving time for leisure. So which countries are truly rich? To answer …
