Economists

Photo: Ascannio (Shutterstock)Is AI Moving Too Fast? | Future TechOn November 30 2022, OpenAI launched the AI chatbot ChatGPT, making the latest generation of AI technologies widely available. In the few months since then, we have seen Italy ban ChatGTP over privacy concerns, leading technology luminaries calling for a pause on AI systems development, and even prominent researchers saying we should be prepared to launch airstrikes on data centres associated with rogue AI.The rapid deployment of AI and its potential…

Credit: Shutterstock On November 30 2022, OpenAI launched the AI chatbot ChatGTP, making the latest generation of AI technologies widely available. In the few months since then, we have seen Italy ban ChatGTP over privacy concerns, leading technology luminaries calling for a pause on AI systems development, and even prominent researchers saying we should be prepared to launch airstrikes on data centres associated with rogue…

The economy is proving more resilient and inflation more stubborn than economists expected a few months ago, and as a result the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high for longer, according to The Wall Street Journal’s latest survey of economists. On average, economists expect inflation, as measured by the annual increase in the consumer-price index, to end this year at 3.53%, up from 3.1% in the January survey. Inflation in March was 5%, the Labor Department reported this past week, the lowest…

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Capitol Hill this week confirmed the central bank remains committed to bringing inflation down to its 2% target, even as markets and some economists worry about the toll more interest-rate increases could take on the economy and jobs. Some lawmakers have expressed concern as well. During Mr. Powell’s congressional testimony Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) warned of big layoffs—perhaps two million job cuts—if the Fed cranks up interest rates this year to reach…

January’s surge in hiring caught economists off guard.The Labor Department reported Friday that employers added 517,000 jobs to payrolls in January, after accounting for seasonal movement, driven by increases in most industries, including restaurants and healthcare.The gains were far more than economists expected. Forecasters surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had estimated 187,000 jobs would be added last month, which would have extended a cooling trend in the labor market. Monthly estimates often don’t line up exactly…

In studies, forecasts and recommendations to governments, markets are seen as capable of processing so-called rational information. Economists claim that firms' market prices result from rational expectation about their future monetary flows and intangible assets not accounted by bookkeeping, which, however, would enable those future monetary flows to occur. It is quite difficult to find evidence corroborating…

Deeper layoffs are coming in 2023 as most business economists have predicted that their companies will cut payrolls in the coming months, media reports said.According to a report in CNN citing a new survey, only 12 percent of economists -- surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) -- anticipate employment will increase at their firms over the next three months, "down from 22 percent this fall."This is the first time since early days of the Covid pandemic that more business leaders anticipate jobs…

China's reopening has been one of the most discussed topics at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesDAVOS, Switzerland — China's economic reopening might boost global growth, but the business leaders and policymakers at the World Economic Forum this week are also a little anxious on its potential inflationary impact.China's decision to welcome tourists again as well as to make it easier for those in the country to travel abroad has been one of the most discussed topics at the Davos…

Financial experts at the summit in Switzerland also say high inflation will slap Europe with 57 percent. World leaders, policy makers and activists are gathering every year at the World Economic Forum (AA)…

Despite signs that inflation has started to recede, economists still expect higher interest rates to push the U.S. economy into a recession in the coming year, according to The Wall Street Journal’s latest quarterly survey.On average, business and academic economists polled by the Journal put the probability of a recession in the next 12 months at 61%, little changed from 63% in October’s survey. Both figures are historically high outside actual recessions.  The Federal Reserve had initially hoped it could bring down…