What we’re reading (2/19)
“Consumers Are ‘Tapped Out' On Further Price Hikes: Fed’s Bostic” (Yahoo! Finance). “‘So in our surveys and in our conversations with leaders, we've asked them ‘What are they likely to do?’ And, what they've all said is that our first best choice would be to pass on this to the final price,’ Bostic says, while also citing how there's already been a period of intense inflation. ‘Consumers may not have an appetite to do that.’”
“Microsoft Claims Quantum Computing Breakthrough By Creating New State Of Matter” (Wall Street Journal). “Microsoft researchers say they created a chip that leverages a new state of matter that could underpin quantum computers more powerful than the world has ever seen. The chip employs a so-called topological superconductor—a material that isn’t a solid, liquid or gas—to produce building blocks that can be scaled up into a powerful quantum computer, Microsoft said.”
“Elon Musk Debuts Grok 3, An AI Model That He Says Outperforms ChatGPT And DeepSeek” (CNN Business). “In an event livestreamed on Musk’s X, leaders at the startup claimed Grok 3 performs better across math, science and coding benchmarks than Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 and DeepSeek’s V3 model, although it’s not clear how it compares to other top reasoning models such as OpenAI o3-mini and DeepSeek R1. The company also described the tool’s new features, such as advanced web searching with ‘deep search,’ the ability to code online games and a ‘big brain’ mode to reason through more complex problems.”
“Concierge Medicine Is Booming — And Some New Yorkers Are Willing To Pay Almost Anything For The Privilege” (New York Post). “The doctor will see you — whenever you want. More and more wealthy New Yorkers are spending big for concierge medical care that goes way above and beyond annual check-ups. ‘I’m 70% doctor, 15% psychologist, 10% rabbi, 4% hairdresser and 1% friend,’ Dr. Jordan Shlain told NYNext. His team is also on call pretty much 24/7, with clients able to reach them via email, text or phone at all hours.”
“America Is About To Enter An Apartment Crunch” (Business Insider). “Renters have quietly enjoyed a nice run over the past two years. A historic wave of apartment construction has tamped down rents from their pandemic-era peak — last year developers finished the most units nationwide since 1974. With so many shiny high-rises hitting the market, landlords are fighting to fill their spaces, offering major discounts and perks to lure tenants. One housing economist even declared 2025 ‘the year of the resident.’ But as the cost of building has increased, the number of cranes on the horizon has dwindled. Formerly eager developers are cutting back on fresh construction plans, laying the groundwork for another apartment squeeze. In other words, the good times for renters are running out.”
