Net zero targets risk doing more harm than good, says Italian cbanker (POLITICO)
By Johanna Treeck · May 12, 2023 FRANKFURT — Net zero targets risk doing more harm than good and should be dropped in favor of more realistic strategies to help the environment, one of Italy’s top central bankers warned. Paolo Angelini, deputy governor at the Bank of Italy, said in an interview with POLITICO that […]
ICYMI: Germany floats subsidies for energy-intensive industries (POLITICO)
By Victor Jack, Gabriel Rinaldi · May 5, 2023 BERLIN — Germany’s Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck on Friday proposed a plan to subsidize electricity costs for struggling energy-intensive industries, hinting at support for EU joint debt to fund the measure bloc-wide if necessary. In a working paper, Habeck’s ministry suggested reimbursing energy-intensive companies […]
ECB needs a new type of bazooka to battle Baltic risk (POLITICO)
By Johanna Treeck · May 5, 2023 FRANKFURT — Russia’s war has pushed borrowing costs for the Baltic states above those of the most indebted eurozone member countries, opening a new chapter in a saga that has been an obsession of policymakers and financial markets since the sovereign debt crisis. This time it’s not out-of-control […]
The battle for your savings is JUST beginning (POLITICO)
By Bjarke Smith-Meyer – May 5, 2023 There’s a turf war going on for your savings. At stake are over $16 trillion worth of deposit balances in the European Union alone, vital to banks’ capacity to keep credit flowing to small businesses and individuals. This is especially the case in Europe which relies far more […]
The military-civil fusion at the heart of the new dollar order (POLITICO)
By Izabella Kaminska · Apr 26, 2023, 2:22 PM To read remarks made by a string of treasury officials and central bankers in recent weeks, one thing becomes clear: It’s no longer an exaggeration to suggest the global economic system is heading toward a shift unlike anything since World War II. And what’s more, what’s […]
Who will pay for the digital euro? Because seigniorage may not be enough (POLITICO)
By Bjarke Smith-Meyer · Apr 27, 2023, 10:41 AM BRUSSELS ― Banks don’t like it, ordinary people have never heard of it, and shopkeepers don’t want to pay for it. Apart from that, the European Central Bank’s digital revolution is getting off to a really great start. The ECB needs to find a way of […]
ECB member calls for fiscal progress as 25th anniversary nears (POLITICO)
By Johanna Treeck · Apr 24, 2023 FRANKFURT — As it heads toward its silver anniversary in May, the European Central Bank (ECB) has its eyes on a less conventional gift than most would want to mark the occasion — a more meaningful step toward a full fiscal union. “We need to start thinking about […]
US takeover of French nuclear firm sparks tensions in Paris (POLITICO)
By Giorgio Leali – Apr 21, 2023 (POLITICO) PARIS — France’s feisty Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has another opportunity to pick a fight with Washington as a sensitive investment screening case is about to land on his desk. The French government wants to prevent nuclear-submarine parts supplier Segault from falling into American hands just […]
How an unlikely “deep state” duo massaged EU Italian-German relations for years (POLITICO)
By Paola Tamma – Apr 4, 2023 It’s a tale of intrigue, improbable friendship and backroom deal-making that gets to the heart of where political power in the EU really lies. And it concerns one of the bloc’s most secretive — yet influential — bodies, and two of its leading members who have just been […]
ChatGPT has some thoughts about organic humanoid robots
Long story short: I tried to test my theory that humans are the optimal embodied intelligence for this planet (due to millennia of natural evolution) by asking ChatGPT a few hypothetical questions about the best way to maximise the efficiency of humanoid robots. The conversation is attached below. Overall, I think ChatGPT agreed with me […]