The AI Awakening

November 30, 2023--Generative AI has introduced tantalizing new possibilities. Yet the initial excitement surrounding AI has given way to genuine and growing concerns. This issue is an early attempt to understand AI's implications for growth, jobs, inequality, and finance.
Full disclosure: This issue of Finance & Development was produced entirely with human intelligence.

But someday soon at least parts of this magazine may be assisted by artificial intelligence-a topic that has dominated global discourse since ChatGPT's introduction one year ago.

Generative AI has introduced tantalizing new possibilities in both the public and private spheres. Think how these "machines of the mind" can improve health care diagnoses, close education gaps, tackle food insecurity with more efficient farming, drive planetary exploration-not to mention eliminate the drudgery of work.

Yet the initial excitement surrounding AI has given way to genuine and growing concerns-including about the spread of misinformation that disrupts democracy and destabilizes economies, threats to jobs across the skills spectrum, a widening of the gulf separating the haves and have-nots, and the proliferation of biases, both human and computational.

Mapping the global quantum ecosystem

December 17, 2025-A comprehensive analysis based on innovation, firm, investment, skills, trade and policy data.
Abstract
Quantum technologies are moving from the lab to real-world impact, promising advances in computing, secure communications, and ultra-precise measurement. But who is driving this progress, and how is the global landscape evolving?

Bybit & Block Scholes Report: Market Sentiment Shows Early Signs of Recovery

December 5, 2025-Bybit, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume has released its latest Crypto Derivatives Analytics Report in collaboration with Block Scholes, revealing cautiously optimistic signals in cryptocurrency markets following a volatile start to December.

Is the world ageing out of interest rates?

December 3, 2025-Interest rates are a key monetary policy tool used by central banks around the world to encourage changes in economic activity.
But as the global population continues to skew older, traditional monetary policy tools such as rate-setting may become less effective.
Central banks need to find ways to keep interest rates relevant, but also develop alternative tools to navigate an uncertain global economy.

Global X: Investing Outlook Complicated by Contradictions in U.S. Economy and Evolving Geopolitical Order

December 3, 2025-Despite challenges, there are ample reasons for broad optimism, including AI-driven cost savings
Despite an outlook that is complicated by contradictions in the U.S. economy and an evolving geopolitical order, Global X Management Company LLC ("Global X"), the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), believes there are ample reasons for broad optimism on the U.S. economy as well as certain international markets heading into the new year.