Quote of the Day (Gillian Tett, on Why Voters Should Pay Attention to the Latest Census News)

“Worrying about the state of America's statistics might not seem that urgent, given all the other explosive political rows swirling in Washington. But voters should pay attention. For at the heart of this story are three key questions: can anyone paint an accurate portrait of what America is today? If so, how should this shape voting processes? And can this data be trusted in an era of manipulation, cyber hacks and artificial intelligence?”— British columnist and editor Gillian Tett, “Who Counts?”, The Financial Times, Aug. 22-23, 2026

Quote of the Day (Gillian Tett, on Investors and ‘Once-Unimaginable Disasters’)

“Investors need to get better at imagining — and pricing — once-unimaginable disasters. This is hard. No business school teaches students how to model something like a presidential threat to wipe out a civilisation. And the success of the recent TACO trade will undoubtedly make many even more reluctant to do this. But the grim reality is that even if a ceasefire holds in Iran—a big ‘if’—peace looks elusive.”—British columnist and editor Gillian Tett, “Finance: Six Lessons for Investors on Pricing Disaster,” The Financial Times, Apr. 11-12, 2026

Quote of the Day (Gillian Tett, on Quantum Computing and Looming ‘Encryptogeddon’)

“Quantum computing [the use of quantum mechanics to run multi-processing calculations] is still nascent to be sure. But one message from the WEF [World Economic Forum] discussion was crystal clear: when quantum computing takes off, it will be able to break current encryption systems. Yes, you read that right. Our bank accounts, emails and other transactions will be vulnerable to hackers. So will digital assets, such as bitcoin, since most blockchains rely on similar encryption techniques.”—British columnist and editor Gillian Tett, “Notebook: Encryptogeddon Is Coming for Us All,” The Financial Times, June 4-5, 2022

Hmmm…hacks…you mean it can get worse than it is already?

Great. Just what we need…