Sound More Interesting at Cocktails Memo | February 14

Here are 25 talking points for better conversation at cocktails from news of the past week.

1.30,000: The number of troops mobilized by Ukraine every month over the past year, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

2. King Charles + Queen Camilla are planning a Royal Tour of Canada in Spring 2026 before traveling to the United States.

3. Paris AI summit: The United States and the United Kingdom were the only nations out of 60 not to sign a joint agreement promoting ethics and safety in AI.

4. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, data centers already consume more than 4 percent of all US electricity.

5. QOTW: “The majority of the US GDP will be created or attributable to AI agents in the next decade. That’s my prediction.” -- George Sivulka, founder of Hebbia.

6. EU + AI: The European Commission commits €200 billion for AI investments in Europe.

7. FRA + AI: French President Emanuel Macron pledges €109B in investments for French AI in the coming years.

8. Elon Musk-led group makes a $97.4 billion bid to control OpenAI.

9. Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robotic form factors.

10. Apple expanded the TV+ video service to Android phones for the first time, aiming to boost its streaming subscribers.

11. 1.9 billion: The number of TikTok users worldwide.

12. There are about 582 million entrepreneurs on Earth.

13. According to the World Bank, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the world economy. SMEs account for 90% of global businesses and provide 50% of jobs worldwide.

14. NYSE launched NYSE Texas in Dallas.

15. According to Statista, the estimated number of companies worldwide will be approximately 358.7 million in 2024. This is a marginal increase from 2023 when there were 314.21 million.

16. An LA home destroyed in the Palisades Fire has drawn more than 60 offers. Until the January Palisades Fire, the house was valued at $2.7 million.

17. 140%: The increase in the average price of a dozen eggs in America from one year ago.

18. Gulf of Mexico: A new Marquette University poll found that 71% of respondents opposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico, with only 29% saying they favored the change.

19. Issa Rae canceled her event at the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump was announced as chairman.

20. Chili’s teams up with Lifetime for a made-for-TV holiday movie.

21. Joann is closing 500 fabric and craft stores in 49 states

22. Celtics City, a new HBO Original Documentary Series, premieres March 3 on Max.

23. The Jets have informed Aaron Rodgers that they will move in a different direction at quarterback.

24. Fox’s Super Bowl drew a record $800 million in advertising sales.

25. The 2025 MLS season kicks off with the MLS is Back weekend on Saturday, February 22, and Sunday, February 23.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

This headline is useless for understanding a nation's economy

The WSJ ran this headline and story a few years back:

China reports biggest-ever annual trade surplus with the US: WSJ reports that China reported its largest-ever yearly trade surplus with the US last year while its overall imbalance with the world shrank, potentially strengthening the Trump administration's case for tougher penalties and other trade actions against Beijing.

The metric is helpful for lazy politicians but is useless otherwise.

A trade surplus is a useless metric to gauge the accurate state of a nation's economy, but it is a helpful tool for pandering campaign rhetoric.

You need to remember that, at its core, China is an assembly economy.

Thus, China's economy is a prime example of the obvious statement that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Most Chinese companies import components and materials worldwide and assemble them into valuable products for sale globally.

No R&D. No branding. No marketing. No finance. No software. No logistics.

Consider the iPhone. China assembles components into a finished smartphone and ships an iPhone to customers in the United States.

However, Apple in California does all the heavy lifting to make the iPhone the iPhone. Apple handles the R&D, the branding, the marketing, the financing, the software, and the logistics.

Current trade surplus formulations do not measure all the activities executed by Apple listed above.

There is more to a nation's trade and economy than whether or not a nation has a trade surplus or deficit.

There is more to the state of a nation's economy than unloading boxes of assembled products at a port.

-Marc

Sound More Interesting at Cocktails Memo | February 7

Here are 25 talking points for better conversation at cocktails from news of the past week.

1. Greece declared a state of emergency in Santorini after a 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday, the strongest in days of near-constant tremors.

2. France + UAE could spend "€30 to €50 billion" ($31 to 52 billion at current exchange rates) to build an AI campus.

3. Australia bans DeepSeek on government devices.

4. Norway is nearing 100% of the goal for all-electric cars.

5. JD Vance will attend the AI Action Summit in France and the Munich Security Conference next week on their first trip abroad as Vice President.

6. Donald Trump offers to build a $100m ballroom at the White House.

7. Lara Trump will host a new primetime show on Fox News called 'My View with Lara Trump.'

8. QOTW 1: @NancyMace: Let’s turn Gaza into Mar-A-Lago

9. The Palisades + Eaton fires are officially over.

10. In Naples in 1781, one in every 37 people was a monk.

11. Tesla's sales plummet across Europe: Registrations in Germany fall 59% amid a consumer backlash against Elon Musk's political activism.

12. QOTW 2: "Don't be a dick." -- Elon Musk, responding to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) for saying he would subpoena Musk to testify before Congress.

13. California State University is becoming the first AI-powered university system, with ChatGPT Edu being rolled out to 460,000 students and over 63,000 staff and faculty.

14. The NHS will use artificial intelligence to screen 700,000 women for breast cancer as part of a world-leading trial this year.

15. SoftBank + OpenAI to set up AI joint venture in Japan:

16. Ford lost $5 billion on its EV business in 2024.

17. The proposed Nissan + Honda merger collapsed.

18. Billabong + Roxy + Volcom are among 120 stores closing as Liberated Brands files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

19. Eggs: The Waffle House has added a temporary surcharge of 50 cents per egg amid rising egg prices caused by the bird flu outbreak.

20. HOTW: The Times: Suffering from 'Zoom fatigue'? You may be sick of your own face

21. Spotify's monthly active users rose to 675 million in the fourth quarter.

22. Juliette Binoche will preside over the 2025 Cannes Film Festival jury.

23. NFL proposes an 18-game season.

24. Super Trump: Donald Trump will become the first sitting US president to attend the Super Bowl.

25. Major League Baseball fired umpire Pat Hoberg for sports gambling violations.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc