What we’re reading (12/29)
“Jimmy Carter, Peacemaking President Amid Crises, Is Dead At 100” (New York Times). “Jimmy Carter, who rose from Georgia farmland to become the 39th president of the United States on a promise of national healing after the wounds of Watergate and Vietnam, then lost the White House in a cauldron of economic turmoil at home and crisis in Iran, died on Sunday at his home in Plains, Ga. He was 100.”
“What I Got Right About Markets in 2024—And Very Wrong” (Wall Street Journal). “I started out the year arguing that there’s no bubble in artificial-intelligence stocks. I’ve ended it concerned about froth after anything AI-related soared in price and the market as a whole reached dizzying heights.”
“San Francisco House Prices Plunge Amid Widespread Tech Layoffs” (New York Post). “Housing prices in San Francisco have plunged to pre-pandemic levels amid widespread layoffs in the tech sector, SFGATE reports. Despite still being one of the more expensive metropolitan areas in the US, prices for condominiums and co-ops in the city were down 14.7% from May 2022 and now average $986,000. Those prices have not been seen since 2015, according to Zillow data analyzed by Wolf Street.”
“A Global Boom In Cocaine Trafficking Defies Decades Of Anti-Drug Efforts” (Washington Post). “The drug lord had already escaped the law in three countries, and he planned to do it again. In less than a decade, Dritan Rexhepi had built a smuggling business that ran from the fields of Colombia to the ports of Ecuador and on to the streets of Europe, Italian and Latin American investigators said, rivaling the influence of Mexico’s powerful cartels. His brand, carved into cocaine packages, was ‘Bello’ — beautiful. The Albanian’s rise from gunman in his home country to transatlantic kingpin is part of a global explosion in the cocaine industry, a trade that is far bigger and more geographically diverse than at any point in history.”
“Many Digital Health Startups Are Quietly Raising Down Rounds And Closing Up Shop. Here’s Why.” (Business Insider). “Many more startups are quietly struggling — cutting their valuations, selling off assets, or closing their doors without any announcement, investors told Business Insider. While in 2021 there were a record 729 healthcare-startup deals, amounting to an eye-popping $29.1 billion, the first three quarters of 2024 brought in only about half of those deals, with much smaller checks: Startups had raised $8.2 billion through September in 379 deals, per Rock Health.”
