Nuggets of wisdom hit differently at 6AM, when you are reading the Berenstain Bears for the 863rd time. Papa Bear was on to something.

Most of my life, being Canadian was kind of easy. And yes, I recognize how privileged that sounds, but it’s true.

We didn’t have to think about our stability, our relationships, our alliance, or their durability. But things change.

I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately with students, colleagues, and aspiring politicians. There’s a seriousness about Canada that is not something I’ve experienced before. Serious concerns, yes, about our constitutional order, about our obsession with procedure, our hesitancy to act.

But also serious optimism that we have the resources, the ideas, the capital, and the talent to make things happen.

Sure, the good ol’ confirmation bias is kicking in, and I’m finding voices and sources and stories that affirm my point of view. But I find myself seeing a lot of builders out there: new voices, and ideas, and a determination to get things done.

This week’s Ten Things are all about people and their feelings, fears, views, and concerns. And the data might suggest that at least a few folks are willing to listen to Papa Bear and are ready to make things happen.

A survey is one thing. Turnout will be another.

Source: CBC

What explains the disparity? One possibility: housing.

Source: Canadian Survey Stuff

Fascinating differences between the US and Canada on this one.

Source: Canadian Survey Stuff

Only 11 conventional energy projects. Just sayin’.

Source: Katsuna Research

Whether Canadians actually share more with Europe is open to debate. But it’s how they feel.

Source: Canadian Polling

Is there a prediction market that would let me bet on shifts in these views?

Source: Semafor

America and China are competing for Australians’ distrust. Great power rivalry indeed.

Source: Semafor

One irony of the AfD: they are most popular where there are the fewest foreign nationals.

Source: Financial Times

That afternoon, after the second plane made clear what had happened, our instructors did not know what to do.

Somehow a course introduction, syllabus review, or instructions on where to find readings felt out of place.

I was part of a now-defunct program called “Foundations.” Offered by the Faculty of Arts, the vision was an interdisciplinary teams of scholars working to give us, well, a foundation.

Political scientists, scholars of religion, and economists worked together to craft courses that felt disconnected at first, but represented the messiness that is reality. The same class had you reading excerpts from the Old Testament, John Rawls’ theories of justice, and then getting into the nuances of a productivity frontier in economics.

In a time of crisis and unknowing, this diversity was a strength. Because the team understood, deeply, that something was happening. They tossed out the lesson plan, acknowledged the intensity of the moment, and provided us with perspective and wisdom.

We were forced into the torrent of history that day, aware that it would establish a clearly marked before and after. I’m grateful to those instructors for not buckling under pressure and helping us first-years make sense of the world.

Starting a journey of higher education on a day of rupture was probably useful. It established change – painful, sudden, sometimes evil, and often unwelcome – not as an outlier, but as the norm. And that’s a lesson we need to still be teaching.

Twenty-five years later, I still find value in looking across disciplines to make sense of a changing world. That’s part of what I’m doing with Ten Things each week.

This week is a look at how we’re all hopelessly addicted to our phones, how the old in Canada are happier than the young, and how demographics are poised to reshape everything… and more.

Until next week, friends.

Are the Boomers in denial? Or do they just use phones less?

Source: Gallup

Why are old people in Canada so much happier than the young? Other countries are the opposite.

Source: Hannah Ritchie

Since climate, AI, and geopolitics don’t represent enough crises… Why not demographics too!

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Canada needs to take a hard look at its long-term immigration strategy.

Source: RBC

You don’t often see so many Canadians all agree on something.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Carney’s approach has a broad base of support.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Canadians are constantly being told that Asia wants our gas. We need more long-term thinking.

Source: Carbon Brief

Market share of new EVs across key markets. As Razzouk says, “wires chew pipelines.”

Source: Assaad Razzouk

What once was cool no longer is. That’s not an easy thing to turn around.

Source: The Globe and Mail

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I yelped after stepping on a piece just earlier this morning (life with kids).Which is a strange thing to be doing in 2026, because the key patent on those ABS-molded bricks expired in 1978.

Anyone can legally make the identical brick and plenty do, although they’re banned in my household (imitation Lego is heretical). Lego still went from $1bn in revenue in 2004 to over $12bn last year. Because Lego actually sells something that’s fun, teaches, and keeps getting better.

De Beers has launched “Diamonds are Forever” in 1947. And then, in 2018, launched its own lab-grown line. They legitimized the substitute and taught the customer it existed. Today, a natural diamond retails at $7,570 and lab-grown at $870. Rings will never be the same.

Both companies charge a premium. One earned it, while the other extracted. Any bets on which lasts longer?

Anyways, that’s what I’m thinking about this week. Because record corporate profits, massive debt levels, and the endless cycle of anger in American politics is just a bit too much for the last week before school starts.

Until next week friends.

How much profit is enough?

Source: Financial Times

With GPT-6 Astra rolling out, cybersecurity stocks seem like a smart bet.

Source: Semafor

Podcasts consumption is blurring boundaries. Are they becoming TV?

Source: Semafor

Over the decades, political speech in America has gotten much angrier.

Source: The Economist

Fortunately, there’s a strong bipartisan consensus about tackling this.

Source: The Economist

The Americans’ have a declining supply of easy-to-access horizontal wells.

Source: EIA

Offices in SF have never recovered from COVID.

Source: Semafor

Learn from my mistakes: don’t ask someone about the stone on their engagement ring. It’s a new faux pas.

Source: Bloomberg

The relentless march of Lego.

Source: Bloomberg

This also applies to humans living with cats….

But have we learned nothing from Hormuz? In war, having a willingness to fight and endure pain might be the most important ingredient.

To Americans, this trade escalation is just another headline in an endless flood of political noise. To Canadians, it is a direct and clear affront to our sense of sovereignty.

A willingness to suffer changes the calculus of asymmetrical conflicts. North of the border, I see a largely united Canada. South of the border is unrivalled dysfunction.

Until next week friends.

—

Canadians will be more inclined to suffer pain in this unfolding drama.

Source: New North America Initiative

Canada isn’t lacking in leverage.

Source: Bloomberg

Public support for data center construction has collapsed.

Source: Semafor

It’s helpful to put the impact of AI queries in context.

Source: Hannah Richie

China’s playing the long game. And the energy transition is core to that strategy.

Source: The Economist

The US (3.4%) vs. China (1.7%) is the most interesting comparison.

Source: China Power

Is this Xi’s biggest challenge?

Source: Semafor

Just in case you haven’t seen enough scary charts about the Treasury market lately.

Source: Financial Times

Over-reliance on fees from international students is a dangerous game.

Source: Semafor

Congrats on making it this far. Time for some reader engagement!

You may have noticed that all the charts match this week. Turns out some time in Claude can result in a skill (and various QA loops and codes and such) that lets you re-skin content to make it visually consistent. But I have a question…

One example? 3000 Americans were asked whether free-trade agreements are a good idea. The group most in favour? DSA-supporting Dems at 54%. The group most opposed? Republicans at 25%.

I’m old enough to remember the 1999 WTO riots in Seattle. An assembly of left-leaning groups largely opposed to globalization. 27 years later, their message seems to have landed… Just not in the place anyone expected.

Economic anxiety seems to scramble what people believe. But addressing that anxiety doesn’t guarantee popular support. Consider how both Trump and Starmer (RIP) addressed uncontrolled migration. Both promised to do so, and largely succeeded. Did they experience a popularity bump? Hardly. Trump is exploring historical depths of unpopularity and Starmer isn’t even in charge any more.

Perhaps the anxiety wasn’t really about migration, but something deeper. Antonio Gramsci’s framing, conjured up 100 years ago when imprisoned by Mussolini for his Marxist beliefs, feels particularly apt: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”

The DSA loves free trade. Wasn’t on my bingo card.

Source: The Argument

Trump can accomplish some things.

Source: Semafor

And so did Starmer (although not enough to keep No. 10).

Source: Semafor

Nobody is happy with Trump’s handling of the economy. And this is with buoyant stock markets.

Source: WSJ

This is a shift that markets might punish.

Source: Washington Post

The chart that terrifies educators. Teaching and learning must rapidly evolve.

Source: The Economist

Environmental shareholder proposals at Russell 3000 companies. Weak and waning.

Source: Trellis

More energy market chaos looms. Another pipeline to Canada’s West Coast would have a limited impact.

Source: Semafor

Good to see South Africa pivot to exports that are actually useful.

Source: The Economist

The chart that has me most befuddled is why across over 1.1 million comments in r/relationship_advice over 15 years, the likelihood of the Reddit hivemind suggesting to “End Relationship” (that is, break up, divorce, or go no contact) has gone from 31 to 49%.

This move to an either/or mindset is depressing. It’s like polarization is a vicious cycle. The more we see it in one place, the more likely we are to apply it elsewhere. Some evidence? The rapid and massive collapse in Canada’s trust of the USA year over year.

Also this week... The relentless march of solar, the staggering scale of wildfires in BC, and the decline of Bud Light (has HBR written that case study yet? It’ll be spicy...)

Until next week, friends.

The rich world is kind of sitting out the current energy revolution.

Source: BNEF

Solar in the Global South has hit escape velocity.

Source: BNEF

Panels (and their costs) aren’t the bottleneck. Grids, connections, permits and capital are.

Source: BNEF

I believe this is called an own goal.

Source: JP Morgan

Some perspective on the current fire sizes in BC

Source: The Globe and Mail

I blame Gen Z, Dylan Mulvaney, and people realizing Bud tastes terrible.

Source: Financial Times

Does anyone even care about this anymore? Ron Paul is weeping.

Source: Financial Times

Reddit thinks breaking up is easy (and the right thing) to do. Why the stark change?

Source: Reddit

Will Canadians learn to trust again?

Source: Semafor

Jobs!

Chief Strategy and Impact Officer | Green Climate Fund

Verified Carbon Markets+ Program Project Manager | The Nature Conservancy

Board Director | Sasuchan Development Corporation

Associate/Sr. Associate, Investment Operations | UBC Investment Management

Climate Reporting Analyst Intern, Environment, Social & Governance | Concert Properties

Yes, they have deep roots. Glorious history. And many of the companies have governance models that give labour a meaningful seat at the table.

But they got greedy.

When times were good, and the luxury market in China was booming, EU-based firms were massively profitable. Did they use these windfalls to increase capex and R&D? Nope. Dividends, share buy-backs, and building big financial reserves.

Now they’re in dire straits; Chinese consumers moved on, and Chinese manufacturers are quickly moving into the EU (their share of new sales went from 3 to 6 percent in the last 12 months).

Beyond that lament, Ten Things checks in on Argentina’s public finances, why the wage gap between Canada and the US isn’t that straightforward, and whether musicians will survive AI (spoiler: they will).

Until next week friends.

Not long ago, EU car companies were the most profitable on earth.

Source: SOMO

But they also cut investment the fastest. Are they deserving of a bailout?

Source: SOMO

Public finances can be turned around. But it is not pleasant.

Source: Semafor

Wage discrepancies between Canada and the USA are a problem of the top 10%.

Source: The Globe and Mail

When it comes to tokens, good is the enemy of frontier.

Source: Prof G Media

American employers are missing out on international talent.

Source: Bloomberg

In the new space race, Russia isn’t even relevant. Will China catch up with the Americans once again?

Source: Bloomberg

Want to anger the American electorate? Start with expensive hamburgers.

Source: Financial Times

The radio, CD, or streamer didn’t kill “musician” as a job. AI won’t either.

Source: Economic Innovation Group

Is that a ragebait headline? Sure. But the charts back it up.

There’s a lot of chatter about a sustainability recession. When executives were asked which “sustainability” initiatives are getting rolled back, 44% pointed to DEI clawbacks. Compare this to only 10% who expecting a slow down in climate transition investment.

Meanwhile, the masters of the universe on Wall Street put out a bevy of research notes pegging SpaceX between $205 (Goldman Sachs) and $300 (Morgan Stanley). The price as of July 24? $113. Whoops.

Finally, it has taken four years, but Ukraine has succeeded in making the average Russian feel this war. Consumer confidence is collapsing, and the pivot from oil infrastructure to shipping to online retailers is why…. turns out being agile isn’t just a good strategy for software development.

Until next week, friends.

Why are CPC votes such an outlier on this? Sad to see climate so polarized.

Source: Angus Reid Institute

Canadians’ response to misinformation. And ineffective climate communication.

Source: Angus Reid Institute

Drone warfare has turned fossil fuels into weakness.

Source: Financial Times

Russian consumer confidence is collapsing. The attacks on Wildberries are not going to help.

Source: Gallup

Speaking of collapsing confidence… Higher Ed has its work cut out.

Source: Gallup

The sustainability recession is not evenly distributed. Can’t say I’m surprised.

Source: GlobeScan

What Wall Street told clients about the SpaceX IPO….

Source: Financial Times

… And how that is working out.

Source: Financial Times

Trump II has no faith in career diplomats. Rebuilding this function will take more than an election.

Source: Financial Times

Jobs!

Internships - National Online Forensics

Technical Recruiter - Tundra

Senior Power and Philanthropy Reporter - Future of Good

Program Coordinator- Canucks Autism Network

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Is anyone actually losing their job to AI?

Why are Canadians and Americans much more pessimistic about AI than the rest of the world?

Why are political lefties twice as likely as the right to consider day-to-day challenges a mental health problem?

Is shareholder primacy a good idea when 1% of earners own 50% of capital markets?

What’s the value of collecting and curating and distributing charts? I’ll take a stab at this. It’s not that charts answer anything, but they help sharpen the quality of your questions.

Until next week, friends.

So, not a bubble?

Source: Bloomberg

Do you know anyone who’s actually lost their job to AI?

Source: Semafor

What accounts for these differences? A fascinating puzzle.

Source: Semafor

Here’s another puzzle. What’s your hypothesis?

Source: Financial Times

Do we re-think shareholder primacy in lightof this? Should we?

Source: Reuters

Carney giveth, Carney taketh away.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Can’t wait to read another hype piece about an SMR that’s over budget and delayed.

Source: Semafor

2050 isn’t that far off. The scale of opportunity (and challenges) in Africa is extraordinary.

Source: The Economist

The s-curve transition strikes again.

Jobs!

Technology Transfer Officer | UBC

BioProcess Intern | Tydra Labs

Manager, Digital Learning Support | UBC Sauder

Manager, Development Operations and Donor Engagement | UBC Sauder

Manager, Global Learning | UBC Sauder

Senior Economist | Vancity

There are 7 upcoming by-elections in Canada, but Lewis has declined to run in any of them. Smart strategy to focus on party building at the NDP? Or even smarter to avoid the current (almost staggering) popularity of the Carney juggernaut?

Speaking of by-elections, what’s unfolding in the UK is the peak of the British electorate being gloriously unserious. Nigel Farage trigged a by-election for August 13th to help stave off accusations of financial impropriety. All the other major parties have declined to run against him, and now Count Binface is ahead in the polls.

Elsewhere this week: anchovies rattle the global food system, the Mag7 makes a bet on everyone else, and twenty years of social progress unravels in three.

Until next week friends…

Your farmed fish is about to get a lot more expensive.

Source: Bloomberg

The last strong El Niño was a turning-point for global fisheries and aquaculture.

Source: Bloomberg

The profits of the Mag7 are a bet that future profits of the S&P493 will increase.

Source: Appollo

Normally by-elections aren’t this riveting. August 13^th is looming…

Source: Ipsos

12% of voters know who Avi Lewis is.

Source: Pollara

Pierre has got to be happy with 57%. (Sadlythe poll didn’t measure familiarity of Carney…)

Source: Pollara

Twenty years of progress has unraveled.

Source: Gallup

More LGBTQ+ adults are in opposite-sex marriages than same-sex.

Source: Gallup

This week in good news…

Source: Semafor

Jobs!

Program Steward, Building Seven Generations | Light House

Project Manager, Climate and Decarbonization | JLL

Energy and Economic Policy Research Analyst | Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions

Assistant Vice-President, Indigenous Initiatives | York University

Vice President, Strategic Investment | Invest Vancouver

A lot of token spend is an absolute waste. And, hopefully, we can put the era of tokenmaxxing behind us. But what’s also a waste? Having no sense of what your token budget should be. If your CFO hasn’t started penciling that in, you haven’t begun to model out the ROI of AI. That’s a lot of missed opportunity.

And in the midst of this FIFA mania, I’d like to point out how accessible joy seems to be to my Mexican neighbours. Their open window lets me listen in to Spanish-language broadcasts of matches. Even the possibility of a goal elicits more excitement than the average Canadian ever experiences. Something exceptional is going on in Latin America, and the data around life satisfaction relative to GDP has something to teach the rest of the world. I’ll have what they're having.

Until next week friends.

Should every organization have a token budget, with both a ceiling and a floor?

Source: SemiAnalysis

Will token costs drive folks to different models?

Source: JP Morgan

The US energy system hasn’t really felt the looming AI energy demand crunch yet.

Source: SemiAnalysis

Does the stock market have the appetite for all the pending equity issuances?

Source: Bloomberg

Car factories make for great photo ops, but are a small piece of the Canadian economic pie.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Now let’s add China to the mix…

Source: The Globe and Mail

Prediction markets aren’t expecting normalcy any time soon.

Source: Bloomberg

Latin American exceptionalism… the good news.

Source: The Atlas

Latin American exceptionalism… the bad.

Source: The Atlas

Jobs!

Venture Manager Healthcare Robotics | CDL London (Go work for Ben; he’s awesome).

Voyage Delivery Coordinator | CSIRO (Please… someone I know apply for this).

AI Fluency & Innovation Teacher | Mulgrave School (This is a position every secondary school should have).

Program Manager | Lighthouse

Regional Director, Western Canada | Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC)

Manager, Policy and Research | HAVAN (Homebuilders Association Vancouver)

Project Engineer | Metro Vancouver

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A few months ago I was at a conference in Oslo, speaking with a former Chief of Staff from NATO. We were chatting about what the world was learning from the crisis in the Ukraine, and whether this would influence how to plan for a conflict in the Asia-Pacific theatre. The man was smart and accomplished. But he had a blind spot - China.

I won’t re-hash the entire conversation here, but it was clear that he was more interested in where China has stumbled than where it has excelled. This a major risk of Western business and policy leaders. They consistently and structurally underestimate the PRC. Or at least, they just aren’t sufficiently curious.

This week, it’s an info dump about Chinese momentum, resources, dynamics, and challenges.

One leader who does seem to get it is Ray Dalio. Here’s his take on the emerging world order. It’s worth the read.

Until next week friends.

Transition skeptics love to point to China’s coal dependence. But it’s a nuanced story.

Source: Ember

Another look at the story of thermal energy generation in China.

Source: Rhodium Group

Here’s a more dramatic look, putting the transition into perspective.

Source: Rhodium Group

A snapshot of China’s trade patterns.

Source: Rand

Revenue sources of various levels ofgovernment in China.

Source: Rand

Note where the spending has shifted over time.

Source: Rand

China’s two-track economy.

Source: Semafor

Who will re-awaken the Chinese consumer? And how?

Source: Semafor

Is this China’s biggest risk?

Source: Semafor

Jobs!

Silviculture Supervisor | Canfor

Project Coordinator | Cape Breton University

Mechanical Designer (EIT) | BPA

Communications Specialist | Nch’ḵay̓ Development Corporation

Area Manager II | Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services

Project Planning & Insights Specialist | Fortis BC

Senior Financial Analyst | Canada Land’s Company

Manager, Sustainability & Climate Innovation | PSP

Manager, Governance and Corporate Secretary | BC Dental Association

Manager, Clinical Informatics, BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services | PHSA

Director of Development, Principal Gifts | UBC

Partner & Director, Head of Portfolio Operations | TELUS Global Ventures

Head of Ventures – Maternity cover | King’s College London

Board Director | Pollution Probe

The Atlas

Why South America Is So Good at Football

There’s a scene that repeats itself every four years. A country from the periphery walks onto the pitch against a power far richer than itself. On the other side there is more money, better stadiums, stronger leagues, modern training centres with data analysts, sports psychologists, doctors, nutritionists. Before the ball is even kicked, the field alrea…

Read more

3 months ago · 25 likes · 6 comments · Daniel Schteingart

By contrast, the potential in Africa, is wildly untapped. There’s so much work to be done building out educational and energy infrastructure. And there’s so much upside in thinking about how to leverage markets and technology to turn this potential into impact. For a deep dive on the energy side, see this piece from Hannah Ritchie:

By the Numbers

Will Africa still be energy-poor in 2050?

Last month, I published an article on Our World in Data — Four minutes of air conditioning — that compared residential electricity consumption per person across various countries, to how much power is needed for cooling technologies…

Read more

6 months ago · 165 likes · 30 comments · Hannah Ritchie

Also, watching the enthusiasm of DRC fans in Houston (go find some reels; they’re incredible), I’d say the world just needs more Africa.

Until next week friends.

Despite Trump — and because of increasing demand — renewables march on in the USA.

Source: Semafor

As generation capacity grows, Africa is being left further behind.

Source: Hannah Ritchie

600+ million people in Africa lack access to electricity. Here’s something worth working on.

Source: Hannah Ritchie

There’s so much untapped potential in Africa. (African countries are in blue on the chart).

Source: One Data

More evidence of untapped potential (African countries are in blue on the chart).

Source: One Data

The World Cup reflects human migration patterns in fascinating ways.

Source: Semafor

South America’s football clubs have deep roots.

Source: The Atlas

It’s rare to see both the USA and China at the very bottom of a list.

Source: The Atlas

In Canada’s auto industry, Honda and Toyota are sticking around.

Source: Trillium

Jobs!

Early-Stage Roles

Co-op Student, Portfolio Strategy | Zymeworks Inc.

R&D Engineering Internship | Arca

Mid-Level Roles

Retail Sales Manager | Little Sesame

Conservation & Energy Management Program Specialist (Conservation Assistance)

Associate Director, Development | UBC Sauder School of Business

Build Canada Fellow | The Line

Senior Project Manager, Commissioning and Closeout | TransLink

Senior Manager, Strategic and Operational Projects | Providence Health Care

Public Sector Business Development and Public Policy Director | WorkDay Canada

Senior Leadership and Governance Roles

Regional Directors, SE and South Asia | IKEA Foundation

Director, Environmental and Regulatory Affairs | FPX Nickel

Global Sustainability Director, Logistics | LEGO

_{*And by academics… I mean just some. And these quotes are real, anonymized, and out of context. But they’re certainly illustrative.}

Academia is more prone to disruption from AI than almost any other industry. It attacks our core value proposition directly. How we teach and assess student comprehension (and our effectiveness as teachers) has ruptured. And (some… maybe even a lot of) academic research is also in a precarious place (see this post from Vincent Grégoire for a fascinating example).

Given the disruptive potential, we’re panicking. A lot of that panic takes the form of the “stochastic parrot” argument. It suggests there’s no reasoning, no creativity, no deeper capability - just a fancier version of a calculator. As a result, all the hype around AI is just like the hype around crypto, VR/AR, or the metaverse. But what I’m worried about is that academic panic is morphing into denial.

This week, Rutger Bregman dropped a fantastic essay that put words to these intuitions. There’s a new form of denial playing out. This time it’s on the political left (a place where a good chunk of academia resides). And it denies that AI is actually all that important - they see bubbles, hype, hoaxes, and costs without benefits.

Rutger Bregman

An Inconvenient Truth About AI

Hey everyone! I don’t say this often, but I think this is the most important thing I’ve published in quite some time. Watch it as a video essay or read it below. I think we're sleepwalking through the most important shift of our lifetimes, and the people who should be sounding the alarm are looking the other way. If you agree, please share it widely…

Read more

4 months ago · 766 likes · 180 comments · Rutger Bregman

What’s being ignored? AI’s remarkable progress around math problems, passing bar exams, generating novel hypotheses, clinical supports, and winning awards in “easy to detect” areas like art and writing.

Yes, AI-boosterism is dominated by voices from the techno-libertarian right. Marc Andreessen’s essay on Techno-Optimism is a perfect encapsulation of this (and in my view is based on some wild premises that don’t stand up well).

But conflating a distaste for the new techno-libertarian-right with a distaste for all that AI can be and do is dangerous and naive.

Read Bregman’s whole piece. Agree or disagree - there are some sound arguments being made, and they shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. And if he’s right, those in panic or denial are going to ensure that future applications of AI are shaped without their input.

The world is awash in apps no one wants.

Source: Financial Times

Will FIFA’s greed be its downfall?

Source: Economist

BNEF has scenarios that see oil demand peaking soon(ish).

Source: BNEF

Per capita hides as much as it reveals. Interesting nonetheless.

Source: Semafor

Parsing out India’s fertility rate by select regions. Fascinating divergences.

Source: Economist

Is China winning the global trade war?

Source: Semafor

Russia has certainly stopped winning. How long can the stalemate last?

Source: Semafor

A Rorschach Test for how you feel about geopolitics and history.

Source: Semafor

The 14^th oil shock in 60 years. Is volatile better than variable?

Source: BNEF

Jobs!

Early-Stage Roles

Coordinator of Events & Special Initiatives | BC Council for International Education

Intern, Energy Management | Seaspan

Project Management Assistant (Energy and Utilities) | City of Vancouver

Coordinator, Social Media (Part-Time) | Vancouver Rise

Community & Communications Coordinator | Indigenous Tech Circle

Strategic Communications Coordinator | UBC

Coordinator, Communications | Elk Valley Resources

Mid-Level Roles

Associate, Decarbonization Partners | BlackRock

Sustainability Specialist | Nintendo

Senior Climate Action Planner | City of New Westminster

Manager, Process Engineering | Creation Technologies

Content Marketing Manager | Forestry Innovation Investment

Associate Project Manager, Sustainable Buildings | JLL

Senior Consultant, Strategy Decision Support

Director, Human Resources Business Partnering | STEMCELL Technologies

Manager, Business Transformation Strategy & Portfolio Governance | BC Ferries

Environmental Management Specialist | BC Energy Regulator

Senior Leadership and Governance Roles

CEO | Cheam Enterprises Inc.

CAO | Tla’amin Nation

Board Director | Doig River First Nation

Senior Director, Valuations | BCI

Managing Director, China | Trade and Invest BC

In the last few weeks, I’ve noticed a trend. Former MBA students spinning up AI enablement practices. Folks like Jessica, Victoria, Jill and Njamba. Each is taking their own approach, but ultimately, it’s about providing small and growing companies with more for less. AI not for the big and dominant to squeeze more margins, but for the small and agile to build more resilient businesses.

I see this showing up in communities I’m a part of. I’m supporting the local pre-school with marketing, recruitment, and operations so that the teachers there can spend more time teaching, and less time on busy work. And I’m endlessly noodling over how economic development organizations could benefit from an on-prem AI Chief of Staff to help with compliance and good governance. We’re just scratching the surface there.

So while the zeitgeist paints with a broad brush, we’re missing incredible opportunities to help traditional small businesses focus more on what they do best. Nobody needs another SaaS platform or app. They don’t need advice or slick consulting reports. They need results and implementation. The tools do that have never been more abundant or effective.

This week’s Ten Things tries to put this all in context…

Ask any early-adopter of Claude; this is not at all surprising.

Source: Financial Times

Is being anxious about AI an advantage or hindrance?

Source: DailyCal

Evidence of over-reliance on AI?

Source: DailyCal

Anthropic’s own data shows a steady march towards recursive self-improvement in AI.

Source: Anthropic

Signs of an emerging bi-partisan consensus? Hating data centers.

Source: Semafor

Republicans are proud regardless of who’s President. Democrats are more fickle.

Source: Gallup

The lower these go, the more leverage Iran has.

Source: Semafor

With younger demos, Netflix has a YouTube problem.

Source: Semafor

Spotify listeners low-key agree: new music is kind of terrible.

Source: WSJ

Senior Roles

Assistant Vice-President, Innovation and Entrepreneurship | McGill

President | New Economy Canada

Director, Communications | Doctors of BC

Board Member | Jane Goodall Institute of Canada

Director of Policy and Research Impact | Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions

Mid-Career Roles

Senior Policy Lead |Vancouver Coastal Health

Senior Management Employee Communications | Central 1

Manager, Lands and Environmental Stewardship | Acho Dene Koe First Nation

Project Development Manager | Vestas

Senior Content Writer | GeoComply

Conservation Trust Fund (CTF) Specialist | The Nature Conservancy

Project Portfolio Manager | Global Container Terminals

Director of Public Engagement |World University Service of Canada

Director, Stewardship | BCI

Project Manager, Operations | Industrial Electric Manufacturing (IEM)

Electrical/Automation Engineer, Mangrove Lithium

Entry-Level Roles

Student, New Grad Positions | Export Development Canada (EDC)

Investment Associate | Sandpiper Ventures

Various Roles | Green Climate Fund

Content Office, Annual Giving | St. Paul’s Foundation

There’s a lot of handwringing about government spending in Canada. If you focus on indebtedness, credit rating, and head count, it’s a grim story. But government revenues as a percentage of GDP hasn’t moved much in 30 years. The Globe and Mail has a great piece unpacking it all suggesting the need for a “Big Bang” in Canada’s fiscal revolution. And if Carney’s proven anything, it’s that he’s not afraid of taking big swings.

Another area of handwringing: the impact of AI on jobs. Dire warnings from the frontier labs about job destruction were common a few months ago. Cynically, you could see these as fantastic marketing strategies in disguise. Now those claims are being walked back, as we realize the systems are wildly capable, but still a human in the loop. Dror Pelog offers a great framing of this:

Artificial intelligence promises to make intelligence cheap and abundant. This is a big deal. It will help us diagnose diseases, design materials, write code, manage logistics, tutor children, and automate many tasks that once required expensive human expertise.

But cheap intelligence does not solve humanity’s basic problem.

The basic problem is not a lack of intelligence. In many cases, we already know what to do. We know how to reduce traffic. We know how to improve public health. We know how to build more housing. We know how to make organizations more efficient. We know how to prevent many avoidable disasters.

The problem is that knowing what to do is not the same as getting people to do it.

Human civilization is not limited only by intelligence. It is limited by coordination, trust, legitimacy, incentives, and consent. AI may help with some of these. But in many cases, it will intensify the underlying challenge.

Maybe the builders making the most impact won’t be those building swarms, platforms, or apps. It will be those building communities, relationships and trust.

A useful perspective on aggregate Canadian government spending.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Personal income is doing the heavy lifting.Where should the burden shift?

Source: The Globe and Mail

Putting unaffordable rents in perspective(Canada is 13^th on this chart).

Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation

While Canada argues about the energy transition, the rest of the world is investing.

Source: Noah Brito

Time to move to Montreal?

Source: Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) via CTV

The impact of AI on jobs is playing out in curious ways.

Source: Bianco Research

BRB, checking in on my short positions onfast food companies...

Source: Semafor

A real sign of the times.

Source: Prof G Media

Maybe there’s some arbitrage play here…

Source: Bloomberg

Source: The Internet

Bonus: Jobs out there…

Since I argued that AI won’t in fact take your jobs, I’ve decided to start offering proof points. Every week I’ll be sharing a round-up of opportunities. If you have a posting, let me know and I’ll include it next time.

Board Director, Deshkan Ziibiing Investment Corporation.
Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary, FPX Nickel Corp
Prime Minister’s Office Tour Team – Advance and Media Advance
Head of Entrepreneurship, Imperial Enterprise Lab
Carbon Marketing Manager, Weyerhaeuser
Senior Program Manager, Innovate BC
Senior Media Relations Specialist, UBC
Investor Relations, Nations Royalty

China has work to do in holding the rice bowl firmly in hand...

Source: China Power

Key crops are driving the import dynamics.

Source: Hannah Richie

The Hormuz Boom for solar exports.

Source: BNEF

Baseload is great, but variable has proven it can scale quickly.

Source: Ember (via Stephen Porder)

The US is a reliable trade partner, right? Right?

Source: WSJ

Canada really needs to do better.

Source: Hannah Ritche

This is old data, but fascinating.

Source: Pew Research

More evidence of American Exceptionalism.

Source: Pew Research

Sign me up for the PPV.

Source: YouGov

Let’s start with Alberta. The renewables industry was booming. Variable energy was being added quickly, not as a replacement but a complement. But regulators had an almost ideological opposition to wind and solar, and squashed a viable, scalable path to economic diversification.

And then there’s American trade policy. Rather than bring allies to the table to negotiate, tariffs have brought about diversification at a speed and scale no one could have anticipated. Canada has led the pack, and with the next wave of major projects likely to benefit from a much friendlier regulatory environment, I suspect Carney is entering the CUSMA negotiations with quiet, clear-eyed confidence.

The thing about own goals is you can’t really them coming... they tend to come from ideology marching confidently in the wrong direction.

Global energy inequality is gobsmacking.

Source: Science

I believe this is called an “own goal”.

Source: YouGov

Economies in Latin America has lost a lot of ground.

Source: America’s Quarterly

Putting Trump’s tariffs in perspective.

Source: The Economist

Spain is leading job growth in the EU, with migrants doing most of the work.

Source: Financial Times

Living arrangements in Europe... this can’t be explained by costs alone.

Source: Financial Times

The US has dropped from 2^nd to 12^th in ten years.

Source: The Economist

The nature of injuries in the NBA has profoundly changed.

Source: The Ringer

Speed, style, intensity of play all play a factor. Solving this is worth billions.

Source: The Ringer

Canadian consumers… do your thing.

Canada and the United States have begun a great de-coupling. Both economies are growing (although at different rates) while keeping emissions flat or in decline. Does this mean we’ve solved climate change? No. But it also means that business-as-usual doesn’t mean growth in emissions.

If you really care about climate, yes you can try and save the world, warn about sea levels, existential risks, and all that important stuff. Or you can try and simply accelerate this decoupling. Find a technology, business model, or policy incentive and help it succeed.

If you want to really feel hopeful, look at how quickly India is decoupling. Projections had coal energy consumption growing for a very long time. And yet in 2025 and Q1 2026, solar - not coal - is doing all the growing. Know hope.

Speaking of misplaced panic: I recently was scolded in a teaching evaluation: apparently you can’t teach sustainability and also use GenAI. Nonsense, I say. A typical ChatGPT query is about as energy intensive as running a lightbulb for 2 minutes. Now, don’t get me wrong, if you are GenAIMaxxing massive swarms of agents to do everything, there’s a material energy footprint here. But putting global data center electricity demand in perspective is wildly helpful. Check out the full piece from Hannah Ritchie, linked in the comments below.

Until next week friends.

More evidence of a decoupling. And did Canada even really try that hard?

Source: RBC

More evidence of decoupling south of the border.

Source: Prof G Media

India’s embracing solar. Quickly. This is a big deal.

Source: CREA

Bad news for fossil fuel exporters positioning India as their next long-run bet.

Source: Ember

Does this even really count as ”venture”anymore?

Source: A16Z

America’s economic growth is essentially a big bet on AI.

Source: Prof G Media

AI’s energy demands are geographically dispersed.

Source: Hannah Richie

The footprint of different query types are not the same.

Source: Hannah Richie

What’s harder in Canada: grow the economy or reduce housing prices?

Source: The Globe and Mail

Perhaps the Anglosphere isn’t producing enough new Dad’s. As a result, we’re seeing major declines in happiness. I’m sure there’s a lot else going on: inflation, slowing economic mobility, anxiety about climate and what not. However, the difference between countries like Canada and Portugal are incredibly pronounced. What do you think explains it?

And while I exercised great restraint and did not include a single thing about energy, climate, or Hormuz this week… I did want to share two charts on Ukraine. The war has dragged on for over four years, impacted millions of lives and untold sums of money. And for what? At best, Putin seems to have achieved a stalemate. Hardly the hallmark of a Great Power.

On that happy note… Until next week friends.

Let’s check in on that other major global conflict..

Source: The Economist

So much death and destruction. For what?

Source: The Economist

Change in happiness from 2012 to 2025. This is endlessly fascinating.

Source: World Happiness Report

I’d call this unequivocally good.

Source: Home Economics

The changed sleep pattern here definitely checks out.

Source: Home Economics

It’s good to know I’m not alone with this achy back.

Source: Home Economics

American President’s seem to live in permanent winters of discontent.

Source: Reuters

“We’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning.” Trump, May 2016

What happens when they “flood the zone” and it’s too hard to pay attention.

Source: Politico