U.S. GDP increased at a ‌faster-than-expected 4.3% annualized rate in Q3. But - Much of ‌the consumer spending acceleration resulted from a rush to buy electric vehicles before the Sept 30 expiration of tax credits. Consumer spending driven by higher-income households, thanks to a stock market boom that has inflated household wealth. Large corporations mostly managed to withstand ⁠the blow from tariffs and are investing in AI. Not so smaller businesses.

Yahoo Finance

US economic growth accelerates in third quarter

WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The U. economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, driven by robust consumer spending, but momentum appe...

#Economy

December 23, 1947 - Walter Brattain and John Bardeen of Bell Labs, under the direction of William B. Shockley, demonstrated the world's first transistor. The point-contact transistor was made of two gold foil contacts sitting on a germanium crystal. The New York Herald Tribune predicted that this invention would be a revolution in the electronics industry. 78 years later, we have chips with over 200 billion transistors and over 1.3E+23 transistors built to date.

ETHW

Milestones:Invention of the First Transistor at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., 1947

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Statement by Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Prime Minister of Greenland, this morning, after trump renewed calls for the annexation of Greenland and appointed a special envoy, Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, to "lead the charge." It appeared to be the first time the United States had appointed a special envoy to Greenland. Details at

Angering Denmark, Trump Appoints Special Envoy to Greenland

President Trump, who has long said he wants to “get” the semiautonomous Danish territory, tapped Louisiana’s governor for the new position. O...

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Wishing a Happy Birthday to the extraordinary Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (22 Dec 1887 – 26 Apr 1920). "Despite having almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems then considered unsolvable."

Srinivasa Ramanujan - Wikipedia

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"The New York Times traced a large portion of the funds raised — more than half a billion dollars’ worth — back to 346 donors who each gave at least $250,000. It also found that more than half of them have benefited, or are involved in an industry that has benefited, from the actions or statements of Mr. Trump, the White House or federal agencies." Corruption? Kleptocracy? Criminal? Pick your descriptive noun.

Hundreds of Big Post-Election Donors Have Benefited From Trump’s Return to Office

Well into his second term, the president and his allies have continued aggressively raising money. Many donors have interests before his administra...

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