Juggling Dynamite

As a handful of tech giants have goosed the NASDAQ and market sentiment back to euphoric highs rivaling the 2000 tech bubble top, former Google design ethicist Tristan Harris helped delivered a dire warning this week to the advertising agencies, marketers, brands, tech companies, and social platforms gathered at a conference in the south of France:  mobile-app addiction is fueling a public health crisis leading to developmental challenges for the youth, mental illness, loneliness and increased suicide.  People are starting to ask “who paid for all this” harm? See Marketers risk a consumer backlash linked to mobile-tech addiction:

According to Harris, who went on to found the Center for Humane Technology, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google are caught in a zero-sum race for our finite attention. These platforms develop increasingly persuasive techniques using AI-driven news feeds, content, and notifications to continually learn how to hook us more deeply. And why are they doing it? Well, Google’s U.S. ad revenue is projected to hit almost $40 billion, while Facebook’s is expected to reach $21 billion.

Due to alarming statistics on the impact that mobile apps, particularly social networks, have on not just children and adolescents, but also adults, when it comes to addiction issues and even loneliness, Harris sees an impending public health crisis.

…brands could be faced with a massive backlash, impacting consumer trust and ultimately sales—which is what the ads are trying to boost in the first place.

Danielle was a guest with Kerry Lutz on The Financial Survival Network, talking about recent developments in the world economy and markets.

You can listen to an audio clip of the segment here.

Australian politicians like to boast that the country has not experienced a period of negative economic growth since 1992–an unprecedented 26 years.

Amazing and yet, trying to avoid recessions by continuing to expand credit, and never allowing necessary paydown periods, is like trying to avoid pumping out your septic tank.  Eventually the dung back-up is destined to be overwhelming.

This chart of Australian mortgage debt to GDP since 1860 tells the tale of how Australia has managed to perpetually increase domestic consumption the past 2 decades, why they now now have some of the least affordable housing on the planet, and why the paydown  period coming is likely to be extra long and challenging.  Speculator wipe-outs, debt write-offs, lower property prices and banking strife, are all part of the pump out needed to stabilize income and balance sheets from this historic episode of pretend and extend.