There is boiling rage at health insurers among the public — for instance, over the fact that premiums for a family health plan can exceed $27,000 a year, even as patients routinely get their care denied. Such is the rage that when an insurance executive was murdered in 2024, one poll found that 41 percent…
I am growing tired of the endless bubble talk about all of the data center spending. It’s obvious from this quarter that the bubble talk has been proven wrong; try getting someone to say that, though. So, who do I think I am to go there? Just an observer. One who believes that this was…
For the past two years, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta have repeatedly set records for how much they are spending on artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, the four giants did it again. In the first three months of the year, the four companies reported in their financial results, they plowed a total of $130.65 billion into…
The ratcheting up of capital spending plans over the past few quarters has been mesmerising. But I think the bigger questions for this quarter are: Are these companies actually building all that promised AI capacity fast enough? Also: Are they finding ways to translate all that new computing power into higher revenues and sustainable margins?…
Humans have — presumably — always aspired to living longer, healthier lives. Now that might be more possible than ever before — especially if you have enough money. Think about the Fountain of Youth. Versions of the promise of a life-giving spring date to Ancient Greek philosophers, with variations through the centuries. But the basic…
VIENNA — Global military spending reached a new record of almost $2.9 trillion in 2025 − the 11th consecutive year of growth − even as the United States recorded its sharpest single-year decline in decades, according to new data published Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The main engine of growth was Europe,…
ROME — The Italian government is giving up a chance to grab an extra €12 billion ($14 billion) in defense spending as it shifts its focus to keeping energy bills down ahead of national elections next year. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been toying with the idea of triggering a European Union scheme to exempt…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off the company’s first-quarter earnings call with a monetary heads-up — or depending on the mindset of the investor, a warning. Tesla’s capital expenditures will skyrocket to $25 billion in 2026, far outpacing its previous annual spend as it races to stay ahead of the competition and transitions to an…
WASHINGTON — As the Pentagon plans to spend just shy of $12 billion in fiscal 2027 for its Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI), the top admiral overseeing operations there says the budget request zeroes out his need for a funding wishlist. When a lawmaker asked Commander of Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Samuel Paparo if he has everything…
Shorouk Express Increasing the threshold would make it easier for pricier drugs to reach patients, but would mean the NHS will pay more overall for medicines. The government is expected to brief U.K. pharmaceutical companies on the details later this week, the same two figures cited above said. One of the figures said the government…
