Mordecai Kurz argues tech oligarchs erode democracy through monopolies – and predicts how the trend may end
The billionaires of today are unusually aggressive in their hoarding of cultural and technological influence, according to Mordecai Kurz, a Stanford economist whose research connects monopoly power with political and economic inequality. In his new book, Private Power and Democracy’s Decline, publishing 19 May, he argues the US is living through an extreme version of a pattern that has repeated itself since industrialization: technological power concentrating in the hands of a few, which is eroding democracy.
According to Kurz, technological moguls have long seen themselves as superior beings whose natural role is to shape society – so they have no problem disrupting the institution of democracy. During the first Gilded Age, in the late 19th century, as the US was enjoying its first ascent as an industrial powerhouse, wealthy industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller “invented all kinds of theories about human evolution”, twisting the logic of social Darwinism to convince themselves that their success was a sign they had been selected by nature to influence society, Kurz explained. Now, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has suggested his technology has a mystical potential to become a transcendent good. He’s also openly acknowledged it could lead to mass unemployment.
Continue reading...A run of immaculate albums ended in 2018 with an identity crisis and the producer becoming a kindergarten chef. Now he’s back with a blissed-out new record
When Axel Willner went to Stockholm’s Funky Chicken food truck last February, he only expected to leave with a burger. While waiting, Willner – AKA the Field, artisan of looping minimal techno masterpieces – noticed another Axel standing two places behind him. This was unlikely enough given the unpopularity of the grandpa-ish name amid 40-something Swedish men. “I was like, oh, how will they call our burgers now?” says Willner.
Unlikelier still, not least given how out of the way the spot is, the Axel was fellow Scandi club music pioneer Axel Boman, co-founder of the joyous dance label Studio Barnhus. They got chatting during the long wait. “He asked if I had any music, what am I doing, because I had been silent for a very long time,” says Willner. He left with an invitation to send Boman some tracks, which eventually resulted in a new label deal and his first record since 2018, Now You Exist.
Continue reading...BRUSSEL (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - De Europese Unie kijkt of nieuwe maatregelen nodig zijn om de economie te beschermen tegen Chinese producten. Dat meldt persbureau Bloomberg op basis van ingewijden. Brussel is in toenemende mate bezorgd over het groeiende handelstekort met China en de gevolgen daarvan voor Europese bedrijven.
Brussel wil vaststellen welke maatregelen lidstaten bereid zijn te nemen tegen de overcapaciteit aan Chinese goederen die op de Europese markt komen. De Europese Commissie voert eind mei een debat over het onderwerp en in juni komen EU-leiders bijeen in Brussel, melden bronnen aan Bloomberg. Daar wordt besproken of er een gezamenlijke aanpak moet komen tegen het handelen van China. Ook zal er gesproken worden over de inzet van het antidwanginstrument, de zogeheten handelsbazooka waar de EU eerder in de richting van de VS mee dreigde.
Chinese functionarissen lieten zich eerder negatief uit over initiatieven van Brussel om Europese producenten voorrang te geven bij overheidsopdrachten.