84 | 🇺🇸 US Credit Downgrade, Trade Crime Chaos & AI Hype Bust — The Untold Truth! 🤖🚨

Host Neeta Bidwai returns to explore the recent downgrading of US credit by Moody's, systemic global debt issues, complications in trade policy leading to white-collar crime, the disparities between AI hype and economic impact, and the espionage economy.

This episode of Good Revenue covers:

- Historic Credit Downgrade Crisis: Moody’s downgrades US credit from AAA to AA1, and global AAA-rated debt collapses from 60% in 2008 to 8%, indicating major systemic challenges similar to World War II-level fiscal strain.

- Trade Policy Chaos Creates Crime Wave: Tariff negotiations spark daily market uncertainty while generating an underground economy of trade crimes. Companies are mislabeling & undervaluing goods and routing through third countries, and tourism data reveals double-digit booking declines from major trading partners—the hidden cost of policy chaos.

- AI Reality Checks?: A massive University of Chicago study tracking 25,000 workers finds AI investments deliver "statistically zero" economic impact despite billions in corporate spending. Meanwhile, the Copyright Office’s AI framework triggers immediate leadership changes and the House passes a controversial 10-year AI regulation ban opposed by 49 state attorneys general which we might regret down the road.

- The Espionage Economy Emerges: Treasury scrutinizes $75 million in US venture capital flowing to China-linked AI startups while Commerce orders chip software design firms to halt all China sales. As R&D funding faces unprecedented budget cuts, America confronts a strategic paradox: protecting today's IP while potentially sacrificing tomorrow's innovation pipeline.

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Where to find Neeta:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neetabidwai/

Where to find Good Revenue:

https://goodrevenue.io/goodrevenue

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHrhuWbpYnUwrR75H2Ip4yQ

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Highlights:

00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:20 Credit Downgrades: A Historic Shift

02:12 Trade Policy and White Collar Crime

05:01 AI Reality Check: Hype vs. Reality

07:48 The Espionage Economy: National Security Concerns

10:35 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Referenced:

• U.S. credit downgraded: https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/about-us/usrating.html

• Sovereign debt reaches record highs: https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/articles/250304-sovereign-debt-2025-commercial-debt-will-reach-a-new-record-high-of-77-trillion-13427943

• IMF warns of WW2 level debt: https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2025/04/23/rising-global-debt-requires-countries-to-put-their-fiscal-house-in-order

• Trivago: Tariffed tourists avoid US: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/27/tourists-from-countries-badly-hit-by-trump-tariffs-are-staying-away-from-us

• Trade wars cause crime: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/business/economy/trump-tariffs-trade-crime.html

• ITA: EU & Asian tourists avoid US: https://youtu.be/AAPd9U1jn-M

• AI economic impact study: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5219933

• Copyright office AI report: https://www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Part-3-Generative-AI-Training-Report-Pre-Publication-Version.pdf

• U.S. Treasury looking into Benchmark’s China ties:

https://www.semafor.com/article/05/09/2025/us-treasury-examining-benchmark-capitals-ties-to-chinese-startup-manus-ai

• CCP spying on Stanford: https://stanfordreview.org/investigation-uncovering-chinese-academic-espionage-at-stanford/

• FT: New restrictions on chips design exports to China: https://www.ft.com/content/2c0db765-03ac-4820-8a02-806469848bee

• Steve Blank on US R&D: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01146-4

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