The Economy Markets

Surging Compute Demand Driven by the Proliferation of Frontier Models and AI Agents Data Center Expansion Absorbs Power-Grid, Construction and Capital-Market Resources Profitability Cracks Could Transmit Shock Across the Broader Economy AI infra

QE saved 2008 without inflation but fueled a 40-year high in 2021 The difference was the regime: deep slack in 2008, near-full employment in 2021 Supply shocks plus unspent savings turned overheating risk into a real inflation surge

Publishing Industry Reels from Generative AI Controversies and Disputes Major Technology Companies Ensnared in Litigation over AI Training and Use Commercial Value and Credibility of AI-Generated Content Continue to Erode Noise surrounding gen

CXMT Builds New Beijing Fab Following Hefei and Shanghai Projects LPDDR6 Race Heats Up Across Memory Industry as CXMT Accelerates Development China’s Semiconductor Self-Sufficiency Stagnates, Raising Doubts Over Process and Equipment Capabilities Ch

Korean Job Seekers Turn to Japan’s Employment Market Japan’s Foreign Workforce Surges, but Job Quality Remains in Question Reports of Mistreatment Proliferate Amid Broker and Staffing-Agency Involvement The number of young Koreans seeking employmen

“Real Life Is Exhausting—Who Has Time for a Two-Hour Movie?” Viewing Time Among Teens and Twentysomethings Shifts From Long-Form Content to One-Minute Videos Plunging Production Costs and AI-Driven Mass Output Fuel a Surge in Short-Form Supply

China’s Manufacturing Sector Contracts for the First Time in Five Months Amid Weak Domestic Demand and Investment Cut-Price Exports to Clear Inventories Encroach on Core Markets in South Korea, Germany and Japan Industrial Policy Fallout Spills Into Falling Corporate Profits and Trade Frictions

Lower birth rates predict higher GDP per worker, not decline Labor scarcity drives technology, not economic shrinkage AI and robots may be repeating that pattern now, starting with China A one-percentage-point drop in a country

Lower switching costs make deposit rates respond faster to central-bank moves The same digital convenience can accelerate deposit flight during stress Bank supervision must now operate in hours, not weeks On March 9, 2023,

China’s export-first strategy delivered a record $992 billion surplus in 2024 Heavy subsidies helped Chinese industries, especially EVs, outpace Western competitors China and the West are now managing rivalry, not pursuing convergence

Google Backs Anthropic’s $15 Billion Financing With Its Own Credit AI Debt Issuance Forecast to Reach $570 Billion This Year as Off-Balance-Sheet Financing Surges Protests Spread Across 42 States as Three-to-Seven-Year Grid Connection Delays Intensify Construction Cost Pressures

U.S.

Management Proposes “Industry-Cycle Response,” Labor Decries “De Facto Pay Cut” Labor and Management Deadlocked Over Mechanism to Adjust Labor Costs During Downturns Bonus Bargaining Benchmark Spreads to Auto, Shipbuilding and IT Industries

Trump Cancels Massive Strikes on Iran Without Prior Notice to Israel Three Gulf States Urge Restraint Over Fears of a Strait of Hormuz Blockade and Attacks on Oil Facilities Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Emerges as a Key Middle East Power Broker After Spearheading 14-Nation Maritime Defense Coalition

Cutting the food consumption tax to 1% to create an annual revenue shortfall of $29.9 billion Yen-selling pressure fueled by fiscal instability and rising government bond yields BOJ tightening bias intensifies as yen weakness drives up import prices

Debt-service costs reveal fiscal pressure better than debt ratios alone Financing conditions determine when high debt becomes a real budget constraint Caribbean economies show why volatile states need wider fiscal buffers A ten p

U.S. launches comprehensive review of European defense posture European allies pressed to assume greater responsibility for conventional defense Strategic focus shifts to the Indo-Pacific to counter China The U.S.

Meta’s cash burden intensifies amid astronomical AI capital expenditure Forms $14 billion joint venture with BlackRock to tap external capital Risk premium spreads across AI data-center debt market Meta has agreed to establish a joint venture

China counters Western “overcapacity” claims with market-economy logic Automation and supply-chain clustering underscore genuine manufacturing competitiveness U.S.

Professional civil services limit the economic damage linked to populist rule Patronage replaces expertise with loyalty and weakens public performance Merit-based hiring protects growth, contracts and institutional stability