Every week, the partners and advisors at Meredith Boessenkool & Phillips will give clients a taste of what we’re reading, listening to and watching that we think is worth your attention and should get you thinking:

  1. The AI Pioneer Who Wants to Replace Teachers With Algorithms (Bloomberg)

Meredith: We know that generative AI is going to transform and possibly replace many jobs. But what about teachers? The implications here are potentially huge especially if highly educated societies like Canada ignore how other countries may be using an AI teacher to close gaps in mass education. This should be on Evan Solomon’s reading list. And yours. 

  1. America Alone Can’t Match China, but With Our Allies, It’s No Contest (New York Times)

Woodfinden: An excellent read for a few reasons. First, it lays out the scale of China and Chinese growth, and why on many technological and research fronts China has already overtaken the United States. Second, it makes clear why any western attempt to balance and compete with China requires an allied approach. Third, the obvious implication of this is that if the Trump administration is serious about its great power competition with China, the constant antagonizing of America’s allies is quite possibly the biggest geostrategic blunder of the last 50 years. 

  1. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection (Site)

Phillips: I realized recently, when one of our clients talked about the federal government’s inability to deliver on the goals they’ve set out in their own eradication strategy, that I don’t know anything about tuberculosis. So I ordered this book and read it on the weekend. It contains a line I loved - so much of history is actually what is done TO us.

  1. Is Separatism Mainstream in Alberta? (Common Ground)

Boessenkool: This is a great deep dive on separatist sentiment in Alberta. I think this is driving more of Carney’s agenda than he would admit, so it matters.

  1. Trade Is Among People—And Retaliation Can Be, Too (The Dispatch)

Boessenkool: Trade is between people, not countries. And the decisions those people make are what really matters. Not going to the US for a holiday is a good example. This piece discusses that in the context of Trump’s tariffs. 

  1. The Right Move at the Right Time: A new Canadian industrial strategy (Commission on Carbon Competitiveness and the Transition Accelerator)

Woodfinden: An excellent paper making the case for a renewed industrial policy strategy. Of course there are plenty of papers that have been written along these lines over the last few years, but what’s especially good about this one is its targeted sectoral suggestions, the acknowledgement of the limitations, and examination of past industrial policy failures and not just successes. The role of industrial policy in developing our canola industry and oil sands are also important case studies and a reminder that plenty of innovations that generate wealth and prosperity are not just created by markets alone.

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