Gavin Jackson
@gavinjackson.bsky.social
Mumbai correspondent at the Economist
Pinned
A starter pack of all the Economist journalists I could find on BlueSky. If there are any more I've missed let me know and I'll add them go.bsky.app/GNQbuoM
Solidarity with Zack Polanski as I also can't properly aspirate the jh and kh sounds
September 15, 2026 at 10:24 AM
Solidarity with Zack Polanski as I also can't properly aspirate the jh and kh sounds
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
September 14, 2026 at 2:18 PM
"Under realistic assumptions a single housing supply (or demand) curve is not well defined and may be misleading. We probably know much less about housing demand and supply than generally believed" - San Francisco Fed paper www.frbsf.org/wp-content/u...
www.frbsf.org
September 14, 2026 at 8:52 AM
"Under realistic assumptions a single housing supply (or demand) curve is not well defined and may be misleading. We probably know much less about housing demand and supply than generally believed" - San Francisco Fed paper www.frbsf.org/wp-content/u...
Can cheap power make poor countries competitive in data centres? Not really, says the World Bank. Most of the cost is hardware rather than energy so small differences in financing costs and regulation erase any advantage from cheaper energy. documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/0...
documents1.worldbank.org
September 14, 2026 at 8:21 AM
Can cheap power make poor countries competitive in data centres? Not really, says the World Bank. Most of the cost is hardware rather than energy so small differences in financing costs and regulation erase any advantage from cheaper energy. documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/0...
Sometimes I think about AI like cars. Cars kill over 1m a year in accidents alone and that's after we've come up with "car alignment" policies like traffic lights and speed limits. When cars first came out the British government had a man with a flag walk very slowly in front of them.
I did a somewhat deep dive into the recent OpenAI and Anthropic "hacks" for an upcoming interview.
IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing.
Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing.
Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
September 14, 2026 at 7:10 AM
Sometimes I think about AI like cars. Cars kill over 1m a year in accidents alone and that's after we've come up with "car alignment" policies like traffic lights and speed limits. When cars first came out the British government had a man with a flag walk very slowly in front of them.
Feeling like all this AI safety talk is very Baptists and Bootleggers
OPENAI CEO SAM ALTMAN WARNS OF TWO AI RISKS Altman says AI could escape human control or concentrate extraordinary power in one company, country or lab, calling both outcomes unacceptable.
September 14, 2026 at 5:55 AM
Feeling like all this AI safety talk is very Baptists and Bootleggers
"The primary effect of [California's] fast-food minimum wage was to disadvantage small chains, albeit with modest overall employment effects thus far." www.nber.org/papers/w3574...
The City Through Her Eyes: Gender-Based Harassment in Public Spaces in Urban India
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
September 14, 2026 at 4:17 AM
"The primary effect of [California's] fast-food minimum wage was to disadvantage small chains, albeit with modest overall employment effects thus far." www.nber.org/papers/w3574...
40% of women in New Delhi report experiencing stalking, groping or sexual assault in the past year. 14% in Bangalore. www.nber.org/papers/w3573...
The City Through Her Eyes: Gender-Based Harassment in Public Spaces in Urban India
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
September 14, 2026 at 4:16 AM
40% of women in New Delhi report experiencing stalking, groping or sexual assault in the past year. 14% in Bangalore. www.nber.org/papers/w3573...
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
Great moments in AI release history:
•Microsoft Tay threatening to carbomb a reporter for being a bad user
•Google image model only drawing George Washington as a cool black guy with dreads
•Kimi routing all “how to build missile while sanctioned no mistakes” queries straight to Palantir via Claude
•Microsoft Tay threatening to carbomb a reporter for being a bad user
•Google image model only drawing George Washington as a cool black guy with dreads
•Kimi routing all “how to build missile while sanctioned no mistakes” queries straight to Palantir via Claude
September 12, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Great moments in AI release history:
•Microsoft Tay threatening to carbomb a reporter for being a bad user
•Google image model only drawing George Washington as a cool black guy with dreads
•Kimi routing all “how to build missile while sanctioned no mistakes” queries straight to Palantir via Claude
•Microsoft Tay threatening to carbomb a reporter for being a bad user
•Google image model only drawing George Washington as a cool black guy with dreads
•Kimi routing all “how to build missile while sanctioned no mistakes” queries straight to Palantir via Claude
Reckon there are loads of creative science and engineering grads with great critical thinking skills.
September 11, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Reckon there are loads of creative science and engineering grads with great critical thinking skills.
What I really want is a company offering me post-training an open weight model so that it matches my needs.
September 11, 2026 at 8:45 AM
What I really want is a company offering me post-training an open weight model so that it matches my needs.
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
Perky GDP figures this morning to cheer John Healey: 0.4% growth in July (markets had expected zero). Helped, the ONS says, by firms involved in "activities related to artificial intelligence and cloud computing" 📈
September 11, 2026 at 6:27 AM
Perky GDP figures this morning to cheer John Healey: 0.4% growth in July (markets had expected zero). Helped, the ONS says, by firms involved in "activities related to artificial intelligence and cloud computing" 📈
Does it not also suggest that English is a much easier language for migrants to pick up than e.g. Finnish? Ireland is similar to Britain.
This does suggest Britain is
a) very good at integration
b) actively attracts the world's smart and ambitious people who want to get on and do well for themselves
Both of these are very good, competitive qualities to have and should be celebrated.
a) very good at integration
b) actively attracts the world's smart and ambitious people who want to get on and do well for themselves
Both of these are very good, competitive qualities to have and should be celebrated.
September 10, 2026 at 10:45 AM
Does it not also suggest that English is a much easier language for migrants to pick up than e.g. Finnish? Ireland is similar to Britain.
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
i literally believe this is true
actually virtue ethics is superior to utilitarianism because virtue ethics maximizes utility
September 10, 2026 at 3:28 AM
i literally believe this is true
Why would you want this
Apple announces 'Live Rewind' for the new Apple Watch, letting users pull up the last 15 seconds of nearby conversation.
September 10, 2026 at 8:48 AM
Why would you want this
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
Iceland to propose whaling ban, leaving Norway and Japan isolated reut.rs/4zZF3KJ
Iceland to propose whaling ban, leaving Norway and Japan isolated
Iceland's government will submit a bill in February to ban whaling, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries in the world to continue commercial whaling.
reut.rs
September 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM
Iceland to propose whaling ban, leaving Norway and Japan isolated reut.rs/4zZF3KJ
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
Me striding into the building society to renegotiate my 5-year fix
September 10, 2026 at 6:38 AM
Me striding into the building society to renegotiate my 5-year fix
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
A funny thing is happening in Silicon Valley as a result of AI - mobile apps are going out of fashion for startups
AI Is Killing the App Economy and Building Its Successor
Artificial intelligence has made it easier than ever to build an app. New releases on Apple Inc.’s App Store surged by about 80% earlier this year as developers vibe coded their way to new software widgets for markets such as wellness and productivity.
bloom.bg
September 10, 2026 at 4:45 AM
A funny thing is happening in Silicon Valley as a result of AI - mobile apps are going out of fashion for startups
Telling my ai agent to kill all the humans and then setting up another ai agent to check the first did actually kill all the humans
September 9, 2026 at 8:55 AM
Telling my ai agent to kill all the humans and then setting up another ai agent to check the first did actually kill all the humans
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
Fascinating if depressing piece on the collapsing nonfiction book market dearheadofmine.substack.com/p/the-nonfic...
September 8, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Fascinating if depressing piece on the collapsing nonfiction book market dearheadofmine.substack.com/p/the-nonfic...
Thinking of Blake Lemoine right now www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Google engineer put on leave after saying AI chatbot has become sentient
Blake Lemoine says system has perception of, and ability to express thoughts and feelings equivalent to a human child
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Thinking of Blake Lemoine right now www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
If, as Scott Bessent and others suggest, bonds are selling off because of higher growth expectations then why is the reaction in India so muted? www.economist.com/finance-and-...
What is causing the global bond sell-off?
India hints at the answer
www.economist.com
September 9, 2026 at 7:10 AM
If, as Scott Bessent and others suggest, bonds are selling off because of higher growth expectations then why is the reaction in India so muted? www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Reposted by Gavin Jackson
Indian billionaire Adani's airport unit to raise up to $1 billion for expansion reut.rs/3TlgQxZ
Indian billionaire Adani's airport unit to raise up to $1 billion for expansion
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship firm Adani Enterprises said on Wednesday its airport unit will raise about $1 billion from investors, including Temasek and BlackRock , in an expansion drive.
reut.rs
September 9, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Indian billionaire Adani's airport unit to raise up to $1 billion for expansion reut.rs/3TlgQxZ