What we’re reading (12/30)
“US Treasury Says Chinese Hackers Stole Documents In ‘Major Incident’” (Reuters). “Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the U.S. Treasury Department's computer security guardrails this month and stole documents in what Treasury called a ‘major incident,’ according to a letter to lawmakers that Treasury officials provided to Reuters on Monday. The hackers compromised third-party cybersecurity service provider BeyondTrust and were able to access unclassified documents, the letter said.”
“A Record-Shattering $1 Trillion Poured Into ETFs This Year” (Wall Street Journal). “Investors plowed more than $1 trillion into U.S.-based exchange-traded funds in 2024, shattering the previous record set three years ago and raising Wall Street hopes for an even bigger year ahead.”
“Last Madoff Victim Fund Payout Brings Recovery To Nearly 94% Of Ponzi Scheme Losses, DOJ Says” (CNBC). “When Madoff’s fraud first became publicly known, prosecutors estimated the total loss at $65 billion. But that estimate sharply dropped once authorities subtracted the amount of phantom investment gains and interest that Madoff’s customers were duped into believing existed.”
“Britannica Didn’t Just Survive. It’s An A.I. Company Now.” (DealBook). “For nearly 250 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica was a bookshelf-busting series of gilt-lettered tomes, often purchased to show that its owners cared about knowledge. It was the sort of physical media expected to die in the internet era, and indeed, the encyclopedia’s publisher announced that it was ending the print edition in 2012. Skeptics wondered how Britannica the company could survive in the age of Wikipedia. The answer was to adapt to the times.”
“The Case For More H1B Visas” (Greg Mankiw’s Blog). “From the standpoint of economic efficiency, allowing a highly skilled immigrant to work at a U.S. firm is, for standard reasons, beneficial. The transaction is voluntary, so both the employee and employer are better off. And there are no obvious negative externalities (not counting, of course, pecuniary externalities). In addition, the U.S. government collects more revenue in the form of payroll and income taxes. From the standpoint of economic equality, allowing a highly skilled immigrant is again beneficial. The relative wage of skilled versus unskilled workers depends on, among other things, the relative supply of the two types of worker. When highly skilled workers immigrate into the United States, the demand for less skilled workers rises.”
