An example that China is already in the -sorry for the offense- club of neocolonial powers is its financing of mega infrastructure projects in allied countries. These projects, no matter who pays for them, tend to be of questionable utility. The latest example is the first high-speed train in Southeast Asia, 142 kilometers long, financed by Beijing in Indonesia. Ten years after its launch, the project is a failure. The construction had a cost overrun of 20%, reaching 7.5 billion euros, and the route is so unprofitable that it will have to be 'rescued' by the Indonesian government. Jakarta demands a debt reduction from Beijing, which it rejects. Chinese infrastructures are cool, but not very reliable, not only from a financial point of view but also from a purely physical perspective, as shown by the Hongqi viaduct, 758 meters long, which collapsed entirely last Sunday after just five months open to traffic.
The Emirates sequence their future: from oil to genetic code
The United Arab Emirates have just sequenced the genome of 750,000 citizens, that is, 63% of their population (excluding the nearly ten million foreigners in the country), and are on track to become the first country in the world to have the genome of all its citizens before 2030. This is bad news for anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy theorists because it indicates that the industry of the future may not be AI, but genomics. The sector dedicated to research, sequencing, and application of genome-based solutions in medicine (such as Covid-19 vaccines), agriculture, or big data is booming with a growth rate of 100% every five years. The region where this sector will grow the most is - as in everything - Asia. But the main market will continue to be - as always - the United States. Because, no matter what his followers say... Trump is vaccinated against the flu and Covid-19.
Messi, Swift, and the Meta programmer: welcome to the League of infinite money
In the knowledge economy, inequality is not only between those who work with capital (rising like rockets from SpaceX) and those who work with labor (seeing their economic power shrink like a glacier hit by climate change). The proliferation of the -for now- most sophisticated knowledge technology, AI, has generated a new class of super-salaried individuals, especially scientists hired by Meta - in many cases, directly by Mark Zuckerberg - with remuneration of up to 300 million euros in four years. Of course, scientists are curious creatures. Several of them have turned down these offers reminiscent of Messi or Taylor Swift citing ethical issues of working for Meta. And others have decided to leave Zuckerberg to take a chance with their own startup, as is the case with the Frenchman Yann LeCun, head of the Artificial Intelligence division of the company.
The Data Lord: 'Tolkien-Tech' conquers Silicon Valley
A quick search on Google reveals more than a hundred companies with names of characters, objects, or places from the works of J.R. Tolkien. There are so many in defense, technology, and funds focused on financing these sectors that the term 'Tolkien-Tech' even exists. Many are related to Peter Thiel, the theorist of 'techno-authoritarianism' in Silicon Valley, who has lamented women's right to vote and fears that democracy will hinder technological progress (although Hungary, whose 'strongman', Viktor Orban, Thiel supports, is not a paradigm of innovation). The proliferation of 'Tolkien' names is due to the obsession of Silicon Valley 'nerds' with the books of the South African writer, although it does not seem that the Christian humanistic philosophy of the author of The Lord of the Rings has resonated with them. In July, in an interview with The New York Times, Thiel refused to answer the question, "do you want the human species to survive?"
Between barbecue and solar panels: contradiction is part of the menu at COP30
At a United Nations conference on climate change, can you eat beef or not? The question is not trivial. On one hand, there are vegetarians. This has been the case with Paul McCartney, who has sent a tragicomic letter to the organization against meat consumption. But there is also another element. Beef production generates three times more greenhouse gases than all the airplanes in the world and 30% more than the entire Earth's cement production industry. And yet, no one tells a rancher that the intestines of their cows are methane factories that heat up the atmosphere. Agriculture - including crops and animals - emits almost as many greenhouse gases as the entire industry on Earth. If you add the impact of deforestation, which is usually to make room for crops, the countryside produces 50% more than the industry.
ADIPEC 2025: The oil party before climate regret
Just in the same week that COP30 began, but a few days earlier, ADIPEC, the 'Davos' of oil, was held in Abu Dhabi. It became clear that the future of oil is bright. At least, that's the idea conveyed by the five supermajors, the largest Western oil companies that, despite their fame and name, are much smaller than the state giants of producing countries and China. The British BP has definitively abandoned its ambitions to be a renewable energy company and now views oil optimistically. This is the same position as the French Total (the only group with state participation) and the American ExxonMobil, which has never paid attention to environmentalists. On the opposite side were the British Shell and the American Chevron, who believe that demand will eventually stabilize because China is slowing its consumption rate. Regardless of COP, the future of oil remains very bright.