Finance

Panama Crisis Unveils Finance Firms’ Role in U.S.-China Rivalry

After weeks of Donald Trump threatening to "take back" the Panama Canal, the White House has instructed the military to develop a range of plans to make the president’s imperial vision a reality. According to NBC News, which first reported on the directive, the proposals vary from strengthening military cooperation with Panama to forcibly taking control of the canal.

This development came just days after Trump made a boastful statement to Congress on March 4, declaring, “My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it.” He further bragged, “Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal.”

That "large American company" is BlackRock, arguably the most powerful firm on Wall Street.

TECH

Tech Leaders Warn: AI Is Set to Displace Coders

The debate over AI replacing jobs has intensified as advanced AI tools from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Salesforce have become more prevalent in the past year. While the future remains uncertain, many AI proponents argue that AI will enhance workers' productivity rather than replace them entirely.

However, this may not hold true for software developers. A recent report from Fortune highlights statements from leaders at Anthropic, IBM, and Meta, suggesting that AI is poised to take over developers' jobs in the near future—and possibly sooner than expected. Even if your company isn't directly involved in software, this is a trend worth watching.

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, made bold predictions at the Council on Foreign Relations this week. According to Fortune, Amodei stated that in just 12 months, AI could be writing nearly all of the code. More aggressively, he suggested that within three to six months—by the end of the summer—AI could be responsible for 90 percent of all new code being written. While developers may still be needed initially to guide AI in crafting precise, application-specific code, Amodei believes this role may eventually be taken over by another AI.

On the other hand, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, speaking at SXSW this week, expressed a more cautious view. He disagreed with Amodei, estimating that AI could account for only 20-30 percent of code creation, rather than 90 percent. While he acknowledged that AI could be useful for simpler coding tasks, he emphasized that programmers would still be necessary for complex or specialized coding tasks. Ultimately, Krishna sees AI as a tool to handle the mundane aspects of coding, allowing developers to focus on more productive work.

CRYPTO

Ethics Memo Details David Sacks’ $200 Million Crypto Sale Prior to White House Job

David Sacks, the Trump administration’s AI and crypto czar, sold over $200 million in digital asset-related investments, both personally and through his firm, Craft Ventures, prior to assuming the role, according to a memo from the White House.

The memo reveals that at least $85 million of these assets are "directly attributable to Sacks." White House counsel David Warrington’s memo also noted that Craft Ventures continues to hold investments in other funds with digital assets in their portfolios.

The disclosure, dated March 5, spans 11 pages, in contrast to the two-page document from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the newly appointed secretary of Health and Human Services. Sacks' divestments stand in sharp contrast to the behavior of other administration officials and follow a pattern from the first Trump term, where conflicts of interest were often overlooked.

President Trump, alongside his numerous real estate holdings, maintains a significant stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, the publicly traded parent of Truth Social. He has also launched several crypto projects that could fluctuate based on government policies. Similarly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also controls SpaceX, social media platform X, and AI startup xAI, is in a position to influence regulations in ways that may benefit his businesses.

Three days before his inauguration, President Trump introduced a meme token, $TRUMP, through his company CIC Digital LLC, which owns 80% of the token’s supply. Additionally, the Trump family receives 75% of the proceeds from World Liberty Financial, a crypto bank launched last year.

Musk, who is leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), relies heavily on government contracts, particularly at SpaceX, which holds a $1.8 billion contract with the National Reconnaissance Office to build a network of spy satellites.

Beyond Trump and Musk, reports suggest that several cabinet members have significant investments in various cryptocurrencies. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who recently left his role at Cantor Fitzgerald, has reportedly earned hundreds of millions of dollars from its connection to Tether.