David Lidsky's Blog, page 310

‘A safe pair of hands’: Why markets are loving Trump treasury secretary pick Scott Bessent

In a sea of controversial choices for the incoming administration, the president-elect’s choice for treasury head is being welcomed on Wall Street with open arms.

In a sea of controversial choices for his second term, President-elect Donald Trump’s expected pick to head the treasury, Scott Bessent, is being welcomed by Wall Street with open arms as financial markets rallied Monday on the news. The euro rose 1% and Canada’s main stock index hit a record high, while the S&P 500 gained 0.2% in midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up .7%, and the Nasdaq Composite index climbed .2%.

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A wealth of knowledge at your fingertips, all for nothing.

The kids are back in school, the year is winding down, and maybe—just maybe—you’re finding yourself with a teeny, tiny bit of extra time on your hands.

AI bots could be a new tool to get people to be open about their feelings

The experiment by two professors at the London School of Economics argues that AI could change the game when it comes to measuring public opinion.

As the legislative election in France approached this summer, a research team decided to reach out to hundreds of citizens to interview them about their views on key issues. But the interviewer asking the questions wasn’t a human researcher— it was an AI chatbot.

Why are we still talking about return to office?

Bosses have been trying to make employees return to the office for years now. Why are we still having the same conversation?

Think of how much has happened since March 2020 when millions of employees started working from home: Two presidential elections, war and humanitarian crises, countless climate disasters, a roller-coaster economy of inflation and interest rates, the birth of ChatGPT and AI anxiety, eight Taylor Swift albums, and an endless string of debates about if, how, and when employees should return to office (RTO).

The first wave of RTO started in late 2021 and early 2022. But here we are at the end of 2024 still debating the topic. So what’s really behind the yearslong struggle over return to office and where do we go from here?

These artists are rebranding AI image generation with a new name

A new term has slowly been gaining traction on social media. Will it last?

Almost two years ago, the Berlin-based artist Boris Eldagsen made the headlines after winning the prestigious Sony World Photography Award with an AI-generated image, then rejecting the award. “AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award,” he wrote on his website. In a separate statement made a week later, he added an important question: “But what is it?”

5 questions to inspire loyalty, motivation, and initiative

It may be time to find new ways to motivate your people to challenge the status quo by expanding their horizons.

Have you ever had your patience sorely tested by an overly inquisitive child? You know the type: No matter what you say to them, they always respond with the same question:  Why? 

Higher costs, labor shortages, and strained profit margins: A look at what small businesses could face under Trump

The gap between the president-elect’s claims and market expectations may offer temporary reprieve, but small businesses should prepare for turbulence.

A stark reality check looms for America’s 33 million small businesses: While campaign promises suggest dramatic economic shifts, market indicators tell a different story. This disconnect—between political rhetoric and market expectations—creates both uncertainty and opportunity for SMBs, which represent 43.5% of U.S. GDP and employ nearly half of private-sector workers. 

‘The Great Fractionalization’ might be coming to your C-suite

Hiring a fractional leader can be a winning solution, especially for small and midsized companies looking to grow their brands.

The sharing economy has changed the way we vacation, get around, and even dress for fancy events. Why invest a lot of resources into something you need only for a short amount of time, right? 

How COP29 climate experts felt playing a game simulating natural disasters

Spoiler alert: The game and world were lost.

Activists and experts who are pushing world leaders to save an overheating planet learned it’s not so easy, even in a simulated world.

Biden administration outlines plan to save Colorado River before Trump takeover

In 2026, legal agreements that apportion the Colorado River will expire.

Federal water officials made public on Wednesday what they called “necessary steps” for seven states and multiple tribes that use Colorado River water and hydropower to meet an August 2026 deadline for deciding how to manage the waterway in the future.

“Today we show our collective work,” Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said as she outlined four proposals for action and one “no action” alternative that she and Biden’s government will leave for the incoming Trump Administration — with formal environmental assessments still to come and just 20 months to act.

The announcement offered no recommendation or decision about how to divvy up water from the river, which provides electricity to millions of homes and businesses, irrigates vast stretches of desert farmland and reaches kitchen faucets in cities including Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Instead, it provided a bullet-point sample of elements from competing proposals submitted last March by three key river stakeholders: Upper Basin states Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming, where most of the water originates; Lower Basin states California, Arizona and Nevada, which rely most on water captured by dams at lakes Powell and Mead; and more than two dozen Native American tribes with rights to river water.

“They’re not going to take the any of the proposals,” said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. “The federal government put the components together in a different way … and modeled them to provide near-maximum flexibility for negotiations to continue.”

One alternative would have the government act to “protect critical infrastructure” including dams and oversee how much river water is delivered, relying on existing agreements during periods when demand outstrips supply. “But there would be no new delivery and storage mechanisms,” the announcement said.

A second option would add delivery and storage for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, along with “federal and non-federal storage” to boost system sustainability and flexibility “through a new approach to distributing” water during shortages.
The third, dubbed “cooperative conservation,” cited a proposal from advocates aimed at managing and gauging water releases from Lake Powell amid “shared contributions to sustain system integrity.”

And a fourth, hybrid proposal includes parts of Upper and Lower Basin and Tribal Nations plans, the announcement said. It would add delivery and storage for Powell and Mead, encourage conservation and agreements for water use among customers and “afford the Tribal and non-Tribal entities the same ability to use these mechanisms.”

The “no action” option does not meet the purpose of study but was included because it is required under the National Environmental Policy Act, the announcement said.

In 2026, legal agreements that apportion the river will expire. That means that amid the effects of climate change and more than 20 years of drought, river stakeholders and the federal government have just months to agree what to do.
“We still have a pretty wide gap between us,” Tom Buschatzke, Arizona’s main negotiator on the Colorado River, said in a conference call with reporters. He referred to positions of Upper Basin and Lower Basin states. Tribes including the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona have also been flexing their long-held water rights.

Buschatzke said he saw “some really positive elements” in the alternatives but needed time to review them in detail. “I think anything that could be done to move things forward on a faster track is a good thing,” he said.
Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado said in a statement the alternatives “underscore how serious a situation we’re facing on the Colorado River.”

“The only path forward is a collaborative, seven-state plan to solve the Colorado River crisis without taking this to court,” he said. “Otherwise, we’ll watch the river run dry while we sue each other.”

Wednesday’s announcement came two weeks after Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election to Republican former President Donald Trump, and two weeks ahead of a key meeting of the involved parties at Colorado River Water Users Association meetings in Las Vegas.

Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network advocacy group, said “snapshots” offered in the announcement “underscore the uncertainty that is swirling around future river management as a new administration prepares to take office.”

“The river needs basin-wide curtailments, agreements to make tribes whole, a moratorium on new dams and diversions, commitments for endangered species and new thinking about outdated infrastructure,” he said.
Buschatzke declined to speculate about whether Trump administration officials will pick up where Biden’s leaves off. But Porter, at the Kyl Center, said the announcement “shows an expectation of continuity.”