What we’re reading (4/16)
“The End of Faking It in Silicon Valley” (New York Times). “Not only has funding dried up for cash-burning start-ups over the last year, but now, fraud is also in the air, as investors scrutinize start-up claims more closely and a tech downturn reveals who has been taking the industry’s ‘fake it till you make it’ ethos too far.”
“Tech Bros Are Destroying Weird Austin” (UnHerd). “Not so long ago, Silicon Valley was a magical land where unicorns flourished; anybody with an idea, seed capital and a little luck could become richer than all the kings of folklore. These days, things aren’t so rosy. Silicon Valley’s own bank recently collapsed, some unicorns have turned out to be donkeys, and, depending on your point of view, the Valley is now either Ground Zero for a plague of disinformation or the epicentre of a sinister private-public surveillance regime.”
“Yellen Says U.S. Banks May Tighten Lending And Negate Need For More Fed Rate Hikes” (CNBC). “U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said banks are likely to become more cautious and may tighten lending further in the wake of recent bank failures, possibly negating the need for further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.”
“With The Odds On Their Side, They Still Couldn’t Beat The Market” (New York Times). “It’s awfully hard to beat the stock market consistently. In 2022, despite many advantages, most mutual funds couldn’t do it. There are important lessons in that failure for this year and beyond.”
“Christine Lagarde Says She Has ‘Huge Confidence’ That The US Won’t Default On Its Own Debt” (CNN Business). “Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, said she has “huge confidence” the US will not allow the country to default on its own debt during an interview on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday.”
