Sean Mullin

Is the Flurry of Circular AI Deals a Win-Win—or Sign of a Bubble? How round-trip deals could echo history and hit a wall.

A flurry of circular deals in the AI sector have uncomfortable similarities to the dot-com bubble era. 🤔 www.wsj.com/tech/ai/is-t...

U.S. Stakes Taxpayer Money on Big Argentina Bet

George Soros has the opportunity to do the funniest thing.... :) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

Everything is computer

www.slowboring.com/p/the-ai-boo...

a graph of Canadian jobs data

NEW CANADIAN JOBS DATA:

Employment Growth: +60k
Unemployment Rate: 7.1% (+0%)
Prime Age (25-54) Employment Rate: 83.3% (+0.6%)
Employment Level: 21.0M

The Tariff Exemption Behind the AI Boom Data Centers get Tariff-Free Imports. Why Shouldn't we All?

NEW from me:

In his 2nd term, Trump has pursued the largest trade war in modern US history—with 1 glaring omission. Computer imports are almost entirely exempt from tariffs

It's a special carveout that AI companies are now reliant on for their data center buildout🧵
www.apricitas.io/p/the-tariff...

Join me at Canada 2020 Conference in Ottawa tomorrow, where I'll be speaking on the "Economics of the AI Boom"

Heading to Halifax this week for the 2025 IPAC Conference (Sept 11–12)!

Excited to join the panel “Reframing Social Spending: Investing in Canada’s Future” with Karen Myers, Tracey Barbrick & Aaron Stauch.

Looking forward to the discussions & new connections!

👉 www.ipac.ca/en/ac2025

For new director of Mila, scientific discovery is the primary mission Hugo Larochelle begins appointment to succeed Yoshua Bengio at non-profit AI institute

For new director of Mila, scientific discovery is the primary mission /via @globeandmail www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Latest PBO analysis shows that after accounting for 2024 immigration policy changes, the size of Canada’s “housing gap” is much smaller than comparable studies by CMHC and others. Housing completions need to increase by 69,000 / year: a much more attainable target. www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/publicati...

Artificial intelligence is profoundly limiting some young Americans’ employment prospects, new research shows

The economic promise – and peril – of higher defence spending Economists expect higher defence spending will give the economy a short-term boost. The long-term effect is another question

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/eco...

Statement by the Prime Minister on CAN-U.S. trade These negotiations have been taking place as the United States has been fundamentally transforming all its trading relationships.

www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/stat...

A Tech Anti-Monopoly and Accountability Agenda for Canada | TechPolicy.Press Amid a shifting relationship with the US and new geopolitical realities, Keldon Bester urges Canada to rethink its tech policy to defend national sovereignty.

For @techpolicypress.bsky.social this week I wrote about how Canada's tech accountability efforts should be squarely focused on protecting Canadian sovereignty in an unstable geopolitical environment. www.techpolicy.press/a-tech-antim...

Canada holds firm in Trump’s tariff war after no-deal outcome Trump’s tariffs hit Canada hardest. Ottawa must hold firm, diversify trade, and resist caving to U.S. demands.

Inu Manak & Victoria Fenton: Why no trade deal with Trump might be good for Canada policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/au...

@inumanak.bsky.social @policyoptions.irpp.org

The U.S. Alcohol Industry Is Reeling From Canada’s Booze Boycott The trade fight is prompting a pullback in purchases by the biggest export market for U.S.-made wines, costing American brands tens of millions in sales.

Canada’s prohibition on U.S. alcohol is creating a headache for American liquor and winemakers

www.wsj.com/business/us-...

Exclusive | Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome In mounting an unsolicited bid for Google’s browser, the AI startup seeks to take advantage of uncertainty over a pending antitrust ruling.

Fascinating. Unlikely to happen, but this is nonetheless a big swing for Perplexity.

www.wsj.com/tech/perplex...

U.S. and Japan Reach Trade Deal President Trump says Tokyo will face 15% reciprocal tariffs instead of the 25% he had threatened while the nation invests $550 billion into the U.S.

Details not yet released, but looks like Japan has agreed to a 15% baseline tariff rate… www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

Announcing Our New $120M Abundance And Growth Fund | Open Philanthropy We are excited to announce the launch of our new Abundance and Growth Fund, which will spend at least $120 million over the next three years to accelerate economic growth and boost scientific and tech...

The Abundance and Growth Fund at Open Philanthropy is hiring! We’re looking for 2-4 people to help expand this new $120+ million program to accelerate economic growth and reduce the cost of living through strategic grantmaking and research. (1/4) www.openphilanthropy.org/research/ann...

How Michael Sabia can make Ottawa move fast and build things Canada’s top bureaucrat is expected to light a fire under a federal public service accustomed to moving more slowly than the moment demands

Great article by @aradwanski.bsky.social that is ostensibly about Michael Sabia, but is really about the case for broader public sector reform. We need a serious effort to renew our state capacity if we truly want to get things done in Canada. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Over the last free months Canada has upped its border security, agreed to participate in the Golden Dome, and spend 5% of GDP on defence and it basically all means nothing. No agreement will be stable or secure, even if we can eventually reach one. The new normal in Canada-US relations.

a timeline graph of Trump's 2nd-Term tariffs

The court ruling against many of Trump's tariffs today would lower US overall tariff rates by roughly 10%, only leaving the tariffs on cars, steel, & aluminum

If it holds (a very big if) tariffs would drop to the lowest rate since March & importers would get retroactive relief

A US deficit of $2.3 trillion is about 7.5% of expected US GDP in 2026. Canada is in the range of 2% defict/GDP.

Their 10 year bond is about 4.5%; ours is about 3.5%.

Comparing Canada's two employment surveys Introduction

If you are interested in Canadian employment statistics, I have a new piece on Substack (free) comparing LFS and SEPH here: philip635.substack.com/p/comparing-...

U.S. Loses Last Triple-A Credit Rating Moody’s Ratings downgraded the U.S. government, citing large fiscal deficits and rising interest costs.

US loses its AAA credit rating…

www.wsj.com/economy/cent...

A Potential Path to Safer AI Development Yoshua Bengio warns that the current approach to developing AI models carries potentially catastrophic risks.

Fascinating piece from Yoshua Bengio on an alternate (and safer) path for developing “superhuman” AI. time.com/7283507/safe...

"These aren't deals. Britain didn't get a deal... Every country is getting a 10% tariff, and if you wanna turn up for a photo opportunity, you're allowed to get an asterisk next to that 10%."

It's a "deal," not a deal:
"This document serves to define the general terms for the EPD that set forth the shared desires of the US and the UK... Both the US and the UK recognize that this document does not constitute a legally binding agreement."

ustr.gov/sites/defaul...