Nonrival

May 29, 2026

Human experts + AI summaries - on public policy, economics, and technology.

AI Economy Grew 2,500 Percent in 2024 and 2025, New Economic Framework Shows

peterson

• Economists created a new way to measure the AI economy as a unified sector, finding quality-adjusted AI output grew over 2,000 percent per year in 2024 and 2025
• This explosive growth comes from three compounding factors: expanding data center capacity, improved chip efficiency, and rapid algorithmic progress
• The researchers developed an "AI GDP" framework to track this fast-moving sector, which is currently scattered across traditional industry classifications and hard to measure

Europe's Economy Is More Vulnerable to Geopolitical Shocks Than Standard Risk Measures Suggest

voxeu

• Researchers created a Europe-specific geopolitical risk index using local newspapers and found it diverges significantly from US-based global measures, especially since Russia's invasion of Ukraine
• The Ukraine war alone cost the eurozone 1.3% of industrial production and added 0.6% to inflation by mid-2022, with supply shortages being the main transmission channel rather than sanctions
• Current Middle East conflicts could swing eurozone industrial production by 0.7% in either direction depending on whether tensions escalate or de-escalate quickly

Europe Is Building Its Own Version of America's Aggressive China Trade Tool

atlantic_council

• The EU's trade deficit with China has ballooned to nearly €400 billion as Chinese goods flood European markets while Europe's exports to China decline
• Five EU member states are pushing for more aggressive action against Chinese overcapacity, with Brussels considering new tools including diversified procurement rules and potentially sector-wide tariffs
• The EU is moving toward creating its own version of the US Section 301 trade statute, which could enable broader tariff authority against China and open new possibilities for transatlantic coordination

In the News

Trump's Approval Ratings Hit Historic Lows as Economic Concerns Mount

hoover

• President Trump's disapproval rating has reached 58.3 percent, higher than any point in his first term, including after January 6, 2021
• All major polls show disapproval at 55 percent or higher, driven primarily by concerns over the economy and cost of living
• Support is eroding even among Republicans, with GOP disapproval of Trump's economic handling reaching 37 percent ahead of the 2026 midterms

Analysis

Patent Examiners Are Making Costly Mistakes, but Not the Ones You'd Expect

voxeu

• Patent examiners correctly reject most invalid applications, but about a third of abandoned patent applications contain at least one valid innovation that should have been protected
• These "invisible" errors receive little public attention because rejected patents don't make headlines, unlike obviously bad patents like the notorious "swing" patent
• The research used AI to analyze one million patent applications over eight years, finding that while the system works reasonably well overall, missed innovations may be undermining incentives for future research

Also Worth a Look

• Data Centers and AI Are Driving Natural Gas Power Generation to Record Highs Despite Green Energy Growth (eia)
• Ukraine's War-Damaged Grid Could Help Solve Europe's AI-Driven Energy Crisis (atlantic_council)
• Scientists Map Cancer-Fighting Immune Structures Across 20 Types of Tumors to Improve Treatment (science)
• What Barn Owl Feathers Reveal About the Future of Silent Flight Technology (mit_press_reader)
• Strong Neighborhoods Give Americans More Control Over Their Lives, New Study Finds (gallup)
• A Rare Brain Disease Is Revealing How We Decide Who Matters to Us (knowable)
• Heat waves are making animals dumber and more aggressive, threatening entire ecosystems (knowable)