Written By: Stefan Venceljovski

It is no secret that Taylor Swift is one of, if not the most successful artists to date. Her recent Eras tour has domineered headlines across the world as economists, policymakers, and Swifties alike try to comprehend the massive tyrant of money being injected into local economies and taken out of the pockets of spenders at a time when the geo-economic state of the world is shaky at best. Dubbed Swiftonomics or Swiftian Economics, the phenomenon of the Eras wave has rocked American cities and is expected to rock Toronto to its core. But what is the actual impact of her tour? Moreover, is her success pandemic resurgence, or is there a deeper trend in the history of mega stars propping up economies?

Continue reading…

Written By: Finn O’Connor

I’ve found it difficult, recently, to avoid hearing the term “Artificial Intelligence” as it seems the craze over sophisticated prediction models has infected every newsletter in my inbox. Every time I log into LinkedIn, I am bombarded with entrepreneurs developing vague “AI based solutions” that they reckon might change the world. At the same time, it seems like every occupation is a risk of being replaced by artificial humans that can perform any task better, and cheaper, than any lowly meat-bag. Though these fears are understandable, AI threatens the once untouchable domain of human thought upon which the information age was built. Of course, on the other hand, there is the age-old argument that while old jobs become obsolete, new ones we cannot even conceive of will replace them (I just recently learned my roommate works as an “AI prompt writer”). But while we can all look to the future to imagine what careers we might see in the next decade; it might also help to look to the past.

Continue reading…

Written By: Benjamin Pipicelli

The patient suffers from abdominal pain, along with symptoms in atypical locations, making diagnosis tricky. An astute examination reveals the cause: an unusual form of appendicitis. However, credit doesn’t go to the radiologist. Instead, an imagery machine built with artificial intelligence technology, which can draw on knowledge of tens of millions of similar scans, recognizes the anomaly and makes the diagnosis.

This scenario, once considered science fiction, is now a reality. To reduce costs and increase productivity, both medical equipment manufacturers and technology companies are investing significantly in AI. Several systems already exist, and the growth in this field, particularly in diagnostic imaging, is expected to accelerate in the coming years.

In a recent report, Deloitte discovered that although there are obstacles to overcome in the development and deployment of AI in medical technology (MedTech), such as regulatory and patient data privacy concerns, successful implementation of AI could enhance productivity, reduce treatment costs, and drive growth throughout the healthcare value chain¹.

The biotech startup sector is projected to continue expanding and evolving in the forthcoming years. Key trends that will shape the industry include personalized medicine, bioprinting and tissue engineering, orphan drugs, drug discovery, and gene editing along with CRISPR diagnostics. Moreover, the combination of Generative AI with biotech offers additional opportunities for groundbreaking advancements in medicine. Generative AI is now utilized to create novel drugs and treatments that were previously unattainable.

Continue reading…

Written By: Jay Mistry

31.46 trillion dollars. You may be wondering what this figure is, one thing is for certain that this is a significant amount of money. This figure is the amount of money that the United States of America owes to its creditors. In recent history, the USA has been the biggest economy in the world, with a GDP of 23.32 trillion dollars (1). Along with being the biggest economy in the world, it also carries the most debt. In 1917, the United States came up with a measure to control the amount of debt the nation can surmount called the debt ceiling (2). In theory, this should keep a nation’s finance in line, but this can have some significant consequences on both the USA and the global economy.

Continue reading…

Written By: Gurkomal Gill 

While the market was fixated on the interest rate hikes, March 2023 began with a string of 4 back-to-back bank failures in the United States. After Washington Mutual’s fall in 2008, First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapses were the second, third and fourth largest banking collapses in US, respectively (1). Bank runs and liquidity troubles were the start of woes for these banks. The panic among investors and swift withdrawals exposed the underlying liquidity crisis. This article dives into the developments unique to each bank and explores the commonalities that led to the crises.

Continue reading…