In October of last year, The Biden administration passed a sweeping executive order on artificial intelligence. The order signaled a new era of oversight for a technology that, since its initial public emergence in the fourth quarter of 2022, operated with minimal guardrails. The wide-ranging directive tasks federal agencies with crafting regulations and voluntary guidance to manage risks from advancing AI systems, the most prominent of which are offered by firms including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. Though the executive order does not introduce new laws, instead directing federal agencies to employ existing statutory authorities, the President’s directive demonstrates that a laissez-faire approach to AI governance is over.
The Future of Global Supply Chains: How Increased Digitization Can Revitalize Global Supply Chains
Microchips, oil, and everyday goods’ prices are rising, and interest rates are increasing at the fastest rate since 1981. Until recently, it has never been cheaper, easier, and faster to ship goods across the world — so why has this changed? Since the first COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, shipping has been anything but straightforward. The once-efficient “just-in-time” shipping method is faltering in the face of disruptions and supply chain executives around the world are scrambling for answers.
The Paywalled Truth: Why Our Online News Industry Needs to Change
Imagine searching the internet for updates on a global event, information on a candidate in an election, or some historical account you need for a school paper. You stumble across the perfect headline under your Google search results—from a reliable source like the New York Times or the Washington Post—you go for the click, and suddenly, your access is denied by a paywall. We’ve all been there: being blocked from reading the perfect piece just because you reached your monthly free article limit on that publication. That is, unless, you subscribe.
When Being First (and Best) Fails: Inside Rdio's Puzzling Failure & What We Can Learn From It
Rdio - a now virtually defunct company - was once a streaming music service provider offering an expansive catalog of 7M+ songs. Launched in 2010, it enjoyed a first mover advantage in the then-nascent media streaming market. Rdio is a curious yet compelling case study vis-à-vis its eventual Chapter 11 bankruptcy and subsequent intellectual property sale to Pandora in 2015. Rdio, despite a superior product offering and first mover advantage, was afflicted by flaws in its business model due to missteps in leveraging the attractive qualities of information goods, lack of a sound pricing model, and poor execution in building network effects to gain market dominance – the sum effect of which was responsible for its drastic, albeit puzzling, failure.
Battle of The Giants: Winner Take All Dynamics in Music Streaming
Spotify’s share price has plummeted to less than $100 a share (as of May 2022), down from a February 2021 high of $365, despite beating earnings and growth projections in April. Of course, rising rates tend to hit growth stocks the hardest, but Spotify’s slide is particularly devastating considering its sluggish pre-pandemic performance. To understand Spotify’s slide, we should consider two key factors: “winner take all” dynamics in two-sided marketplaces as well as the changing competitive landscape of the music streaming industry.
Why Has the United States Lost Its Taste for Bold Geoeconomic Solutions?
In the face of widespread economic and political uncertainty in Latin America and Africa, the United States has withdrawn from the international community in favor of isolationist policies. Over the past 40 years, the international community has condemned the United States on multiple accounts for corporate and territorial over-extensions and other neocolonial tendencies. Consequently, the United States has reacted by gradually receding from its spheres of influence, with recent manifestations in former President Trump’s withdrawals from NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as President Biden’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
An Exclusive Interview with Michael Polk
Michael Polk is currently an Advisory Director at Berkshire Partners, a private equity firm, and the Chief Executive Officer of Implus LLC. He was previously the CEO for Newell Brands, President and COO of Unilever, President of Nabisco at Kraft, and a member of the board of directors of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Enactus, The Yankee Candle Company. He is also currently on the board of directors for both Logitech and Colgate-Palmolive. Mr. Polk holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University where he studied operations research and industrial engineering. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Mr. Polk enjoys ice hockey and acapella, and was a member of the Glee Club during his time at Cornell.
Between Profit and Royalties: Spotify has Backed Itself into a Corner
By Anya Gert
In today’s ever-changing music ecosystem, music streaming services have become the most efficient method of audio distribution, discovery, and connection. Many, especially the younger generation of listeners, are easily attracted to Spotify; for a reasonable subscription price, Spotify provides a platform for accessible music streaming and organizing. Self-starting artists are granted the ability to publicize their music and develop a small following. However, monetarily supporting your favorite artists on Spotify is not nearly as easy as consuming their content.
Digitization In Frame: Bright Spots in a Bleak Industry
By Maria Alexander
The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges to many, but also fostered creativity, resilience, and innovation. Many industries, including the art industry, have become more reliant on digitalization to recover markets once dependent on in-person experience and interaction.
Fast Fashion Breeds Deceit
By Isabella Picillo
Sustainability is one of the most prominent trends in designer fashion, trumping statement-making trousers and voluminous dresses season after season. Although sustainability in fashion has been a conversation for decades, it gained momentum towards the end of the 20th century when fashion became cheaper and more accessible, largely due to globalized manufacturing. In the 1990s, several companies, such as Nike, were exposed for their environmentally harmful practices, which gave rise to “eco-fashion.” Yet the start of sustainable fashion as we know it today began in the early 2010s. Consumer sensitivity, particularly to forced labor, combined with ecological concern as the conditions of fast fashion workers became apparent, such as in the 2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse.
Goliath vs. Goliath: Amazon and Reliance’s Battle Over Indian E-Commerce
By Saurin Desai
Amazon is no stranger to dominating. Using its near-monopolistic market position, vendor exclusivity contracts, expansive distribution network, and low-cost differentiation strategy, Amazon frequently out-competes rivals—which has led to a staggeringly high 50% market share in the US and nearly $400bn in annual revenues. However, for a company the size of Amazon, there is limited scope for additional domestic expansion, underscoring the need for foreign market entry to sustain returns to shareholders.
Miami: The Next Silicon Valley
By Philip Matteini
In the mid-1950s, the semiconductor industry was run primarily in East Coast cities such as Boston and New York. Seeing an opportunity, a recent Harvard MBA named Arthur Rock convinced former employees of the failed Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory to form their own company in Palo Alto. With the financial backing of New York entrepreneur Sherman Fairchild, the group formed Fairchild Semiconductor in October of 1957.
The Smokeshow: Everyone wants a piece of the cannabis action
By Nick Weising
Cannabis, whether recreational or medicinal, is now legal in 36 states. On March 31st, the state of New York legalized recreational marijuana, adding the Empire State to the large list of states with legal cannabis. Likewise, the Biden Administration and Democratic Congress may further loosen federal enforcement. This is a dramatic turn from the state of legalization just a few years ago, largely because of changing public perception. Once seen as a hard narcotic, marijuana is now largely viewed more mildly, with state governments seeking to tap into marijuana-related tax revenues.
SPAC at Sea: Shunned by the media, opportunities are sizeable
By Davis Donley
SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, have become one of the hottest trends in the financial markets as they offer a unique alternative to traditional IPOs. A SPAC is a blank check company formed solely to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) and acquire an existing company. After their IPO, a SPAC places the money raised in an interest-bearing trust account. Investors with expertise in a particular industry or business sector generally form SPACs and prioritize pursuing deals within their circle of competence. SPACs generally have two years to complete an acquisition or must return funds to investors. Essentially, SPACs are publicly traded companies with no commercial operations and provide retail investors with early access to privately held companies, which have historically only been available to institutional investors.
Systemic Risk in China: The Harmless Debt Crisis
By Raghav Madhukar
Systemic risk (SRISK) is the quantum of externality that a firm-level failure can impose on the broader financial sector. Perhaps the most impactful instance of SRISK in recent history was the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, which led to severe repercussions across financial institutions and securities markets. In today’s global context, Chinese companies collectively carry approximately 30% of the world’s systemic risk, compared to US companies, which account for a mere 7%. This gargantuan concentration of SRISK in China warrants a serious investigation into its various causes and implications.
The East African Federation: An Optimistic Future
By Dilan Minutello
Tanzania houses within its borders the city of Arusha, the capital of the newly proposed East African Federation (EAF). The EAF would be Africa’s second political union in modern history and the greatest border change on the planet since the fall of the Soviet Union. Such a drastic upheaval of the political status quo in Africa holds the potential to shift the power dynamics of the region and the world for decades to come.
The Perpetual Startup: Nonprofits Fail (Because They Can’t Measure Success)
By Emily Xiao
You’ve heard it before--bad things happen to good people. But the power of human innovation means that people organize to serve the less fortunate and to create public benefit. This rings true now more than ever—the nonprofit sector has grown by 20% over the past 10 years. The for-profit sector pales in comparison, with only 2-3% growth in the same timespan.
Vegas in Transition: The Sands Corporation is Betting on Asia
By Wally Chang
The formal gambling industry, dating back to the 17th century, long beckoned the spirited to wager their valuables for the small chance to win big. In more recent years, gambling has become a circumscribed industry, confined to massive casinos in cities built for entertainment and leisure, such as the notorious “Sin City” of Las Vegas, Nevada, the former gambling capital of the world.
Who Trains the AI: AI Is Built on India's Back
By Yoon Jae Seo
A clutter of languages and overlapping voices echo through the floor of a typical call center in Noida, India. Employees continuously work, answering queries and solving issues until their timer hits for a short lunch break. Agencies like Innova Communications, one of the estimated 350,000 call centers in the country, manage customer service for a multitude of clients. Call centers like the one in Noida and its employees benefit from multinational corporations’ need to optimize cost and quality of customer service.
An Exclusive Interview with Jane Jiang
Jane Jiang works at Morgan Stanley in global cybersecurity, fraud, and insider threat risk. Previously, she was a cyber big data scientist and engineer in threat hunting at Citigroup. She holds a bachelor’s from Cornell University in civil engineering and a master’s from Stanford University in management science and engineering. She volunteers as an alumni mentor for both institutions and raises funds for Restore NYC, which works to end sex trafficking in New York and restore the independence and well-being of foreign-national survivors. Jane enjoys writing and writing music, lifting and running, and reading about anthropology, business, history, self-improvement, and theology.