Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “There are an amazing number of good ideas and interesting points made in Unintended Consequences. The thinking underlying it, and the obvious depth of understanding of the author, are very impressive.” - Steven Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics; 2004 John Bates Clark Medal
  • “Unintended Consequences provides a provocative interpretation of the causes of the global financial crisis and the policies needed to return to rapid growth. Whether you agree or not, this analysis is well worth reading.” - Nouriel Roubini, New York University; Chairman, Roubini Global Economics
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “Unintended Consequences represents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the Financial Crisis to date.” - Andrei Shleifer, 1999 John Bates Clark Medal Winner
  • “A full-throated defense of economic dynamism.” - The Wall Street Journal
  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “Unintended Consequences should be read by anyone who takes for granted the superiority of progressive taxation and has not thought carefully about the trade-offs involved.” - The New Republic
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “Unintended Consequences offers deep and well-argued analyses on almost every issue.” - The New York Times
  • “Unintended Consequences is full of substance, it is one of the must-read books of the year, and once I finish it I will be giving it a second read through right away.” - Tyler Cowen, Professor, George Mason University
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US National Security Agency Using Anthropic’s Mythos For Cyber Attacks

AI Summary. Anthropic has embedded engineers inside a US intelligence agency to deploy and customize its AI model for offensive cyber operations.

Cristina Criddle and Demetri Sevastopulo Financial Times
Date Posted:
June 5, 2026

The National Security Agency is using Mythos in offensive cyber operations despite Anthropic’s ongoing legal battle with the Pentagon.

The National Security Agency is using Mythos in offensive cyber operations despite Anthropic’s ongoing legal battle...

Is artificial intelligence becoming a tool for offensive government operations?

Core argument: I cannot generate the requested takeaways because the provided text contains no quantifiable economic data, financial metrics, or macroeconomic indicators.

Anthropic is helping the US National Security Agency deploy its powerful Mythos AI model for offensive cyber operations, embedding engineers inside the agency despite an ongoing legal battle with the Pentagon. The San Francisco-based company had installed about half a dozen staff within the NSA as so-called forward-deployed engineers to guide the use of the technology and customize models for specific applications, two people familiar with the arrangement said. It remains unclear whether Anthropic’s engineers are assisting the NSA in active operations.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. I cannot generate the requested takeaways because the provided text contains no quantifiable economic data, financial metrics, or macroeconomic indicators.
  2. The summary describes a corporate arrangement and legal matter but includes no: percentages, dollar amounts, growth rates, comparative benchmarks, time-series.
  3. To proceed, please provide an article with economic data (revenue, GDP impact, market share, employment figures, cost savings, productivity metrics.

Related Articles:

  • Misanthropic: On Mythos, Bad Human Behaviors and Systems Vulnerabilities — Mythos, an AI system, autonomously detects thousands of high-severity cyber vulnerabilities by chaining obscure software weaknesses together — a capability that emerged without being explicitly designed for it. In controlled tests with modern security patches applied, the system found no novel exploits, indicating that up-to-date configurations limit its attack potential.
  • China’s Own Mythos Is Coming — America Must Prepare — Closing gaps in export controls on AI chips, manufacturing equipment, and cloud access is necessary to preserve and extend the current US lead in artificial intelligence over China.
  • White House Opposes Anthropic’s Plan to Expand Access to Mythos Model — Government opposition to expanding access to a powerful AI model capable of cyberattacks centers on security risks and insufficient computing capacity to serve a larger user base without degrading performance for existing users.
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    • Innovation/Research
Previous articleJune 5, 2026In a First, Scientists Precisely Edit Human Embryo GenesScientists at Columbia University successfully edited the DNA of early human embryos via a process called “base editing,” which has “unprecedented accuracy” relative to techniques like CRISPR.Next articleJune 5, 2026The China-US Tech Truce Is FragileChris Miller argues that Beijing believes its lead in advanced manufacturing advantages China vis-a-vis the US. Washington, in turn, believes the US edge in AI will dramatically increase US power relative to Beijing.
Showing 9 database articles primarily about Security

Defense Spending: Macroeconomic Consequences and Trade-Offs

AI Summary. Defense spending booms raise real economic output, lift inflation briefly, and widen trade deficits as import demand rises, while boosting both public and private investment and improving long-run productivity through innovation spillovers and private research crowding-in.

Hippolyte Balima, Jared Bebee, Colombe Ladreit, Andresa Lagerborg, et al. International Monetary Fund
Date Posted:
April 8, 2026
Is Database:
Database

An IMF report notes defense spending booms are associated with an increase in TFP “over longer horizons, consistent with evidence showing that the R&D component of defense spending can boost innovation and crowd in private R&D spending.”

Core argument: Defense stimulus widens trade deficits as imports surge while exports remain flat, creating external imbalances despite stronger overall demand.

Defense spending booms [periods when the two-year moving average of defense spending increases 1pp of GDP] in peacetime are followed by a sizable increase in real GDP and by a short-lived rise in inflation. Consistent with a large share of the stimulus being allocated to personnel and operating expenses, government consumption rises by about 9% within three years. Total investment shows a comparable positive response, reflecting both higher public investment in defense equipment and infrastructure and increased private investment, particularly in defense-related industries. Turning to the external sector, stimulus-driven demand leads to wider external imbalances, as both the current account and trade balance deteriorate. Imports accelerate—reflecting leakages from defense spending and stronger demand for foreign goods—while exports remain broadly unchanged. Defense spending booms are associated with a subsequent increase in the stock of capital, in line with the documented boost to investment, and an increase in total factor productivity, which may be explained by changes in capacity utilization and learning by necessity, as firms adapt to surging demand by improving productivity when facing capacity constraints. Total factor productivity [loses] its statistical significance once capacity utilization is controlled for. However, defense spending booms are followed by greater total factor productivity over longer horizons, consistent with evidence showing that the R&D component of defense spending can boost innovation and crowd in private R&D spending.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. Defense stimulus widens trade deficits as imports surge while exports remain flat, creating external imbalances despite stronger overall demand.
  2. Long-term productivity gains from defense spending reflect innovation spillovers and private sector research development crowding, beyond short-term capacity utilization effects.

Related Articles:

  • The Intellectual Spoils of War? Defense RD, Productivity and International Spillovers — Government-funded R&D, particularly in defense, significantly influences private sector R&D and productivity growth. A 10% increase in…
  • The Cold War and the U.S. Labor Market — Defense spending played a major role in sustaining tight labor markets for low-skill workers following the Second World War. Drops in procurement spending…
  • Will Higher Defence Spending Boost The European Economy? — As the short-run fiscal multiplier for defence spending is likely <1, the EU’s increased defense budget will have large effects on GDP only if focused on…
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    • Investment

The Cold War and the U.S. Labor Market

Ilyana Kuziemko, Donato Onorato and Suresh Naidu National Bureau of Economic Research
Date Posted:
March 31, 2026
Is Database:
Database

Defense spending played a major role in sustaining tight labor markets for low-skill workers following the Second World War. Drops in procurement spending between the 1950s and the 1990s explain between 18 and 30% of the decline in manufacturing employment.

We have shown that in the decades immediately following World War II, the Cold War was a major factor sustaining tight labor markets. On the labor demand side, military procurement increased demand for manufacturing workers and put downward pressure on the share of income flowing to the richest households. We can explain roughly between 18 and 30% of the decline in manufacturing and just under ten percent of the rise in top-ten inequality by the 1950s to 1990s decline in procurement spending. We thus conclude that Cold War procurement—while under-studied in the modern, quantitative economics literature on inequality—played a major role in sustaining tight labor markets for low-skill workers in the decades immediately after World War II and creating political coalitions in support of hawkish foreign policy and military expenditure. Figure 8 panel (a) shows that manufacturing employment is highly sensitive to defense spending, consistent with our state-year evidence. As is well known, manufacturing booms during World War II, but, less discussed, plummets in the years between World War II and Korea. After bouncing back during Korea, it slowly declines alongside the declining defense share of GDP until both series experience an uptick during Vietnam. Overall, the relationship remains highly significant even after taking out a linear time trend and dropping the World War II period.

Related Articles:

  • The Intellectual Spoils of War? Defense RD, Productivity and International Spillovers — Government-funded R&D, particularly in defense, significantly influences private sector R&D and productivity growth. A 10% increase in…
  • The Old Economy Begins To Take Its Revenge — Since October 2025, equities tied to energy and infrastructure are up 30–50%, while technology related stocks are down 5–10%. Jeff Currie argues we are in a…
  • Capital Is Making a Comeback — Btw 1985-2021 the capital intensity of the American economy was relatively flat as a rise in intangible investment was offset by a decline in tangible…
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The First 36 Hours of War Consumed Over 3,000 U.S.-Israeli Munitions

Macdonald Amoah, Morgan Bazilian, and Jahara Matisek Foreign Policy
Date Posted:
March 6, 2026
Is Database:
Database

A Colorado School of Mines analysis of the munitions used in the first 36 hours of the war estimates the “mineral bill” and highlights the current and target timelines to replenish these systems, noting critical minerals “cannot be surged.”

Beyond the sheer volume of munitions, the loss of high-value assets introduces another layer of complexity. The destruction of two advanced U.S. radars, the AN/FPS-132 in Qatar and the AN/TPS-59 in Bahrain, highlights a problem where the total weight of the “mineral bill” is less of a concern than the extreme fragility of the supply chain and the extensive timelines for replacement. Per our analysis, for the AN/FPS-132, it will take five to eight years for Raytheon to build a new radar at a cost of $1.1 billion. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin will require at least 12 to 24 months and an estimated $50 million to $75 million to replace the AN/TPS-59, based on the original Bahrain Foreign Military Sales contract adjusted for inflation. The biggest issue for the defense industrial base will be sourcing the 77.3 kilograms of gallium needed for both systems, a material for which China controls 98% of the global supply. This is not to mention the 30,610 kilograms of copper that will also be needed, a commodity facing surging demand from the technology sector.

Related Articles:

  • Why China Keeps Winning The Trade War — Chris Miller argues that “at the very least,” Beijing’s rare earth export controls will “drive up prices and make non-Chinese manufacturing…
  • China Hatches Plan to Keep U.S. Military From Getting Its Rare-Earth Magnets — While China is planning on easing exports of rare earths, a “validated end-user” system will keep them out of the American defense supply chain…
  • How U.S. Defense Industry Dodged a Rare-Earth Shortage After China’s Curbs — A stash of samarium nitrate in France can provide a workaround of more than a year for the American defense industry in the face of Chinese export controls.
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How Russia’s Fatalities Compare With Ukraine’s

Economist Staff The Economist
Date Posted:
February 25, 2026
Is Database:
Database

The Economist estimates one in 25 Russian men btw the ages of 18 and 49 have been killed or wounded in Ukraine since 2022. CSIS estimates Ukrainian casualties at one in 16. Russian losses are escalating; today it is “losing more men than it can recruit.”

Our model suggests that Russian casualties are now between 1.1m and 1.4m, of whom 230,000-430,000 are dead. That would mean one in 25 Russian men between the ages of 18 and 49 may have been killed or severely wounded since the start of the full-scale war. There are too few reliable estimates of Ukrainian deaths to construct a similar meta-estimate. One single estimate, published on January 27th by CSIS, a think-tank, put total Ukrainian casualties at 600,000 as of December, including 100,000-140,000 dead. Though much lower than Russia’s casualties in absolute terms, as a share of its population it is higher—equivalent to about one in 16 Ukrainian men aged 18-49 before the war. These figures exclude civilian deaths, for which reliable data are scarcer still. Ukrainian losses appeared heaviest early in the war: American officials estimated that 70,000 soldiers had already been killed by August 2023. Russia’s campaign, by contrast, has only grown bloodier. Some estimates suggest that it is now losing roughly 1,000 soldiers a day. Our modelling shows that as many may have died in the past year as in the first three combined. It is losing more men than it can recruit.

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Drones Are Key to Winning Wars Now. The U.S. Makes Hardly Any.

Farah Stockman New York Times
Date Posted:
July 14, 2025
Is Database:
Database
Is Important:
Important

China’s DJI can manufacture millions of drones a year; about 500 American drone manufacturers are collectively building fewer than 100,000 drones annually.

China’s DJI can manufacture millions of drones a year; about 500 American drone manufacturers are collectively...
DJI accounts for about 70% of all commercial drones sold globally for hobby and industrial use, such as aerial photography, package delivery and weather research. The company declined to share market data, but industry experts estimate that DJI’s output far exceeds that of any other drone manufacturer. “No one even comes close,” said Bobby Sakaki, chief executive of UAS NEXUS, a drone industry consultant. “DJI can make millions of drones per year. That is a hundred times more than anybody in the United States can make.” About 500 companies manufacture drones in the United States, producing fewer than 100,000 a year, according to Ryan Carver, communications manager for the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, a nonprofit organization of industry professionals.

Related Articles:

  • China Made Millions of Drones. Now It Has to Find Uses For Them — China produces 70–80% of commercial drones and accounted for 79% of approved drone patents globally in 2024.
  • Ukraine Drone Strikes Hit Nuclear Bombers Deep Inside Russia — Drones released from trucks destroyed or damaged 40 Russian aircraft, including long-range bombers. Kiev claimed the Russian losses were over $2B.
  • A US Drone Maker Tries to Take Back the Country’s Skies — The leading US drone manufacturer Skydio has built a cumulative 45,000 drones, a quantity that Chinese drone leader DJI builds every few weeks. The production…
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Germany Backs Donald Trump Goal For Nato To Spend 5% Of GDP On Defence

Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and John Paul Rathbone Financial Times
Date Posted:
May 15, 2025
Is Database:
Database

Germany will aim to raise spending on defense to 5% of GDP by 2032 by increasing “hard military spending” from this year’s 2% to 3.5%, while adding 1.5% of GDP of “related spending, including infrastructure and cyber security.”

Speaking at a meeting in Antalya on Thursday, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said Berlin was “following” Trump on his demand that Nato allies reach a 5% goal. Currently the alliance has a 2% spending target. Wadephul also signalled that the way the country would meet the target would be by embracing a proposal by Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte. The Dutchman has called for Nato members to reach 3.5% of GDP on “hard military spending” by 2032, to which he has suggested adding 1.5% of GDP on “related spending” including infrastructure and cyber security.

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