Feb 19 2025 58 mins 42
This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss technological inflection points and examine how legal frameworks mask continued globalization despite apparent retrenchment, explores US-China dynamics, analyzes AI industry structure and emerging models, and considers Uber's strategic positioning against autonomous vehicles.
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Highlights from the Episode:
- Globalization isn't truly reversing, but adapting through legal structures that help bypass trade barriers (like routing Chinese goods through Vietnam)
- China's economic model succeeded in early growth stages but faces challenges with an over-leveraged real estate sector and declining population
- Taiwan remains in a surprisingly stable but tense relationship with China despite rhetoric suggesting imminent conflict
- The AI industry is evolving beyond simple model providers/applications into specialized layers with different data access advantages
- Financial engineering works well for known variables but struggles with pure research funding due to fundamental uncertainty
- Uber faces an existential challenge from autonomous vehicles that initially complement their marketplace but could eventually replace it
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LINKS:
Byrne’s writing: https://thediff.co
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X / TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/ByrneHobart (Byrne)
https://twitter.com/TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)
