Global Macro Update Archive

Gold started this week at an all-time high. It’s up about 10% since the start of the year.

Is big tech cooling off?

We all know Big Tech is watching us. Companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon track what you read and watch, where you drive, and what you buy.

Seems like I hit a nerve.

Last week, the House passed a bill that would require ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell within six months or face a ban. Now the bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

Today, I’m sharing a timely discussion with Dr. Robert Zubrin, noted aerospace and nuclear engineer and president of Pioneer Astronautics.

In this week’s Global Macro Update interview, I discuss opportunities in India with Cognitive Investments partner Jacob Shapiro. Most of you know Jacob from our previous discussions or from the Strategic Investment Conference.

India has the fastest-growing major economy in the world—GDP grew 8.4% in the final quarter of 2023, according to data released last week. Many analysts expect it to pass Germany and Japan to become the world’s third-largest economy. Deloitte South Asia CEO Romal Shetty thinks that will happen by 2027.

Most of us know about the “war” raging in cyberspace. We hear about government-sponsored hacks and data breaches nearly every week. Cyberwarfare is now a fact of daily life for every business and government.

A surge in energy demand is imminent. Within a year, the five-year growth forecast for national electricity demand has jumped from 2.6% to 4.7%. Much of this demand surge will come from artificial intelligence.

We are in the early days of an AI-driven productivity boom.

George Friedman says there are two Chinas: one in Shanghai that trades with the rest of the world and another that is still effectively a third-world country, with people living in extreme poverty.