in the clear: 2024-05-20

This is a running list of various media I've looked at each week. It's mostly for reference and to give an impression of the type of news that I'm exposed to. Bullets are written by me and numbers are summaries of the respective article from an LLM.

If you have any suggestions or know of other good news sources, please leave a comment in the guestbook or reach out to me directly. I can't spend all my time reading about current events, but I like to try and stay informed whenever possible.

The Economist: At long last, Europe’s economy is starting to grow

1. Europe's economy is growing, with a 0.3% increase in the first quarter of 2024, ending a six-quarter recession.
2. The euro zone's GDP has risen by about 3% since 2019, compared to a 9% increase in the US.
3. Inflation in the euro zone is under control, with an annual rate of 2.4% in April 2024.
4. Unemployment remains low in the EU, at 6.1% in the first quarter of 2024.
5. Southern Europe has seen faster growth than the north, due to the EU recovery fund and higher tolerance for inflation.
6. Monetary policy is supportive of Europe's recovery, with several central banks cutting interest rates.

Systematic Hatreds: Informed Opinions are Expensive

1. The text discusses the current era as an "Information Age," characterized by the ease and affordability of accumulating, transforming, and producing vast amounts of data.
2. The reduced costs of data-gathering and manipulation have led to higher relative costs of interpretation, making it a more valuable and expensive product.
3. Despite advances in computation, there is a limit to the number of informed observations any analyst can make, emphasizing the continued importance of human interpretation.
4. The creation of reliable interpretations remains a challenging task, even with the aid of advanced technology.
5. The cost of developing expertise has likely risen relative to the marginal cost of data processing, making specialized knowledge more valuable.
6. Offering informed opinions always carries a reputational risk, requiring investments in the production and validation of interpretations, which are ultimately limited by the scarcity of time and resources.

NYT: The High-Class Problem That Comes With Home Equity

1. Home equity has reached $31.8 trillion, but accessing it can be difficult, especially for those with low retirement savings.
2. Home equity is typically tied up in the home and can only be accessed by selling the property or through products like reverse mortgages.
3. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners 62 and older to extract equity, but they have high interest rates and are often viewed negatively due to past scandals.
4. High income and credit scores are often required to qualify for refinancing or home-equity loans, making it difficult for some homeowners to access their equity.
5. Some companies offer to buy a portion of future home value in exchange for cash now, but this can result in a significant cut for the homeowner.
6. With improved government safety nets lacking, there is a growing need for more ways for people with low savings to access their home equity.

Lawfare: How AI Is Changing Tech Policy Politics in Washington

1. The rise of AI is causing shifts in political alliances in tech policy, with both AI regulation optimists and skeptics emerging.
2. AI regulation optimists believe that government can manage AI risks with new rules, while skeptics fear such rules may stifle innovation and benefit larger platforms.
3. The U.K. Parliament's report on LLMs and generative AI highlights the risk of regulatory capture and the potential for incumbents to influence policy.
4. The report also cites AI regulation skeptics like Marc Andreesen and the Open Markets Institute, who are concerned about corporate influence and concentration.
5. New alliances are forming in tech policy, such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Josh Hawley's collaboration on antitrust issues, and Sam Altman's support for a federal agency to govern AI.
6. The traditional divisions in tech policy are being replaced by a new split between those optimistic about regulation and those skeptical of it.

Engadget: The DOJ makes its first known arrest for AI-generated CSAM

1. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested a man for generating and distributing AI-created child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
2. The man, Steven Anderegg, used the open-source AI image generator Stable Diffusion to create the images.
3. Anderegg used these AI-generated images to lure a 15-year-old boy into sexual situations.
4. The case is significant as it could set a precedent for the illegality of exploitative materials even when created without actual children.
5. Anderegg faces four counts of producing, distributing, and possessing obscene visual depictions of minors.
6. The DOJ is committed to protecting children and will hold accountable those who exploit AI to create CSAM.

NPR: Buy-now, pay-later returns and disputes are about to get federal oversight

1. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will treat buy-now, pay-later companies as credit card providers, granting shoppers similar protections.
2. This includes prompt refunds for returned items, regular billing statements, and the ability to pause payments during disputes.
3. The change will not affect how buy-now, pay-later lenders interact with credit bureaus.
4. One in five households have used buy now, pay later services, often those with limited access to credit.
5. BNPL firms let people split purchases into installments interest-free, without a credit check.
6. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will gather comments on whether they need to clarify their new approach to BNPL.

NPR: Supreme Court rules in South Carolina gerrymandering case (NYT Article)

1. The Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that had struck down a South Carolina congressional district as a racial gerrymander.
2. The case revolves around the redistricting of South Carolina's congressional districts after the 2020 Census, aiming to equalize the number of voters in each district.
3. The lower court found that the redistricting resulted in "the bleaching of African American voters" from a district, which was overruled by the Supreme Court.
4. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, declared the map a legal partisan gerrymander, not a racial one, allowing the GOP to transform a marginal district into a safe one.
5. The court's decision imposes new limits on racial gerrymandering claims, assuming the good faith of legislatures and raising the bar for evidence.
6. The decision was met with dissent from the court's three liberal justices, who criticized the majority for resolving doubts in favor of the state and allowing the "odious practice of sorting citizens by race" to continue.

The Hill: FTC chair: AI models could violate antitrust laws

1. FTC Chair Lina Khan has expressed concern about AI models potentially violating antitrust laws by using data from news websites, artists’ creations, or personal information without consent.
2. The FTC is examining how major companies’ data scraping could hinder competition or violate people’s privacy rights.
3. Using people's data without their knowledge or consent can be seen as an "unfair method of competition" and may raise legal concerns.
4. Companies' secret use of users' data, such as personal or proprietary information, to compete with them can also be problematic.
5. There are concerns about retroactive changes to terms of service that allow companies to use customers’ content, including personal photos or family videos, to feed into their AI models.
6. Khan suggests that government agencies, including the FTC, have a significant role to play in regulating AI development as it continues to advance.

Lawfare: Tort Law and Frontier AI Governance

1. Frontier AI systems have the potential to bring major benefits, but also pose serious risks to society, individual rights, and national security.
2. Precautionary measures can be taken by frontier AI companies to mitigate these risks, and some companies have already started to implement such measures.
3. Ex ante regulatory governance, such as enacting safety standards and a licensing regime, is one way the law can ensure frontier AI companies take reasonable care.
4. The tort system, which allows people harmed by negligent or dangerous activities to sue for compensation, can incentivize companies to adopt more effective safety practices.
5. Tort law's ability to govern frontier AI risk is limited, and if forced to decide, administrative regulation might be a better instrument of frontier AI governance.
6. Current tort law already applies to frontier AI developers, holding them liable for physical harm or property damage if they act negligibly, and in some cases, strictly liable for certain activities.

NYT: Why N.Y.C. Hotel Rooms Are So Expensive Right Now

1. Due to the migrant crisis, New York City has converted 16,532 hotel rooms into shelters, reducing the number of rooms available for tourists.
2. The average daily rate for a hotel stay in NYC increased by 8.5% in 2023, reaching $301.61, primarily due to the decrease in hotel supply and the rise in tourist demand.
3. The city has contracted with hotels to shelter migrants under the "Sanctuary Hotel Program," guaranteeing them a fixed income, regardless of room occupancy.
4. The demise of short-term rentals, such as those listed on Airbnb, due to a new city law, has led to an increase in hotel room demand and higher hotel prices.
5. The decrease in new hotel construction and stricter hotel development rules, backed by the hotel workers union, may not alleviate the strain on the hotel supply in the long run.
6. Despite the rise in hotel rates, New York City remains a popular tourist destination, with 62.2 million visitors in 2022, just below the record set in 2019.

Washington Post (via MSN): Uvalde parents sue gunmaker, Call of Duty manufacturer and Meta

1. A lawyer has filed lawsuits on behalf of Uvalde school shooting victims' relatives against the manufacturer of the AR-15-style weapon used in the attack, Activision, and Meta.
2. The lawsuits allege that these companies are responsible for "grooming" a generation of young men to live out violent video game fantasies with easily accessible weapons of war.
3. The lawsuit against Activision and Meta accuses them of promoting dangerous weapons to millions of vulnerable young people, particularly young men who are insecure about their masculinity.
4. The lawsuits seek to close the accountability gap left open by authorities, as authorities have not held the gun industry and social media companies accountable for their role in the shooting.
5. The lawyer, Josh Koskoff, has a history of successful litigation against firearm manufacturers, including a $73 million settlement on behalf of the Newtown, Conn., families in 2022.
6. The lawsuits are part of an intensifying quest for accountability by Uvalde victims’ relatives through the civil courts, and they aim to hold these companies responsible for their alleged role in the shooting.

The Economist: Baby-boomers are loaded. Why are they so stingy?

1. Baby-boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are the wealthiest generation in history, with most of their wealth in real estate and investments.
2. Despite their wealth, baby-boomers are not spending much, which could impact global economic growth, inflation, and interest rates.
3. Economists predicted that as baby-boomers retire, they would spend their wealth, leading to higher interest rates and inflation. However, recent evidence shows that they are hoarding their wealth instead.
4. This trend is not just in America but also in other rich countries like Italy, Japan, and Germany.
5. Reasons for this trend include bequest motives (passing wealth to children), the COVID-19 pandemic, and worries about care in old age.
6. The flow of bequests from the dead to the living is rising fast across the rich world, indicating a stronger bequest motive among baby-boomers.