The “city on a hill,” as pronounced by Puritan John Winthrop in 1630, is quickly lagging behind in terms of infrastructure. America has been the at the forefront of infrastructure innovation since the Reconstruction Period, but in recent years, America has seemingly ignored the more basic infrastructure that is used daily by its 325 million citizens every day.
Society is currently undergoing a paradigm shift involving technology. Within the last decade, corporations and individuals have begun utilizing the vast technological achievements of the 20th century to connect previously isolated populations and further blur the line between the physical and digital worlds – propelling humanity into the 4th Industrial Revolution. And while this period of rapid expansion and globalization is occuring, the world is seemingly shrinking to within the confines of a 5 inch screen.
Americans are overly bullish in that the general successes of the recent and ongoing economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis will continue uninterrupted into the future, thereby disregarding risk and making ill-advised decisions. This illusion is called short-termism, and is also known as the hot hand fallacy—In basketball, it is the idea that after a player has made many consecutive free-throws the next one is almost a guarantee. This misconception has infiltrated American financial and government systems and has caused many to believe during long runs of economic growth that there is only one way to go: up.
The Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC) has raised the idea of removing Tesla Inc. CEO, Elon Musk, from his current position following his August 7th tweet misleading investors into thinking he had funding to take the company private.
After Nike Inc. announced on September 3rd that Colin Kaepernick is the face of the “Just Do It” 30th anniversary marketing campaign, many customers set their sneakers aflame in protest of the company’s decision and proudly posted videos of the destruction on social media with “#boycottnike.” Many question Nike’s decision to partner with a controversial activist in Kaepernick, but frankly, this business decision is exactly what Nike needs.
Media companies are merging at the fastest pace since the dotcom bubble as the industry faces a major shake-up from technology startups. The recent merger of AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. has made consumers and politicians alike question whether or not the practice of merging international media giants is beneficial for the free market.
The Iranian rial has seen its value plummet against the dollar this past week amid rumors that the U.S. will impose a new round of economic sanctions in the coming days. Iranians have scrambled to exchange in their rials for dollars in recent months, not knowing what the future may hold for their economy. These transactions, along with the speculation of sanctions, have caused the currency to see a sharp decline in value year to date.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, tech entrepreneurs have redefined the traditional American business executive by seeking media attention and publicly, at least, being more socially conscious and politically correct.
