free markets don’t really exist. The history of market regulation is often forgotten: if we had truely free markets everything would be up for sale including votes, humans, child labor, organs etc.
Example for free market failure: Albanian Pyramid Schemes. After the opening of the country after decades of isolation and no experience with a banking market, rampand Pyramid Schemes launched and collapsed within a few years due to non-existent regulation, that caused a state collapse.
Historically, rapid economic growth wasn’t the result of free markets and great innovation, but the state limiting liability for shareholdrs and investors. Before that, company owners as well as investors or shareholders were personally liable for everything. This also created a great imbalance regarding the interest of wellbeing of the company between employees, who usually can’t easily drop out (many reasons) and shareholders, who simply would have to sell their shares.
Capital has no nationality: International companies usually run critical core competencies in their home country, because it is very hard to move those due to cultural difference or established supply chains.
[…] the first purpose of statistical modeling is interpretation. It is one of the fundamental human nature that we want to know the reasonings and mechanisms of phenomena, and to acquire new knowledge. (p. 23)
The problem with these methods [machine learning algorithms] is that they cannot fully take advantage of domain knowledge or past experiences about a phenomenon. (p.23-24)
On 30th July 2022 Martin Mobarak allegedly burned a drawing from Frida Kahlo that was turned into ten thousand NFTs (cryptographically unique digital items) that can now be bought individually. Done purportely to raise child charity funds, while NFT market had been dropping. It’s yet unclear whether the drawing was original. Mexico’s National Museum which was said to receive part of the revenue hasn’t seen a donation yet (and I guess wouldn’t accept).
Does the destruction of original, irreplacable, highly valued art in pursuit of financial growth mark a point of perversion in a capitalistic society? It’s strickingly absurd to replace an already unique item by it’s digital version - something that could be copied without loss indefinitely at minimal cost - only to establish ownership by costly (because of blockchain) cryptography - for exactly one such copy.