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Donald <keyword id="19906203" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trump" source="keywords">Trump</keyword> and <keyword id="19903807" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Elon-Musk" source="keywords">Elon Musk</keyword> have apparently become great friends over recent months. Musk poured millions of dollars into Trump's successful election campaign and has been a vocal and visible supporter of the president-elect. In return, he's been given a new job, in joint charge of the new <keyword id="23593857" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Department-of-Government-Efficiency" source="keywords">Department of Government Efficiency</keyword> (Doge), where he will be tasked with streamlining government operations and reducing bureaucracy. This "department"—actually an advisory group—will aim to cut unnecessary spending and make the general functioning of the US government more efficient. The idea is that within a federal budget of over US$6 trillion, there are opportunities to make some big savings. Musk's appointment—like many things he's involved with—has sparked controversy. The richest man in the world has already said he wants to cut spending by US$2 trillion (£1.6 trillion) and mentioned setting up a "leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars.". Some are concerned about the impact he could have on public services. Others fear he will use his position to promote his own business interests. On the positive side, Musk has a very impressive CV when it comes to big organisations. He has created (or co-created) multi-billion-dollar businesses, including Paypal, <keyword id="19895433" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tesla" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Tesla" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Tesla">Tesla</keyword>, and <keyword id="19905255" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SpaceX" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="SpaceX" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="SpaceX">SpaceX</keyword>. He has founded startups involved in AI (xAI), tunnelling (the Boring Company), and medicine (<keyword id="19985233" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neuralink" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Neuralink" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Neuralink">Neuralink</keyword>). And research suggests that much of Musk's success comes down to a relentless focus on efficiency. He has also been praised for the depth of his analytical thinking and innovative problem solving. Tesla's factory in California went from being the least productive car manufacturing plant in the US when it was owned by General Motors to the most productive under Musk's ownership. SpaceX has vastly reduced costs in the space cargo business. So he has form. And Musk is not the first American business leader to offer private sector expertise to the world of politics. Back in the 1960s, Robert McNamara, former president of the Ford Motor Company, served as secretary of defence under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara brought significant innovations to <keyword id="22668770" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="government-efficiency" source="keywords">government efficiency</keyword> that drew on his corporate experience. He championed cost-benefit analysis and a data-driven approach to decision-making and was keen on reducing bureaucracy and promoting accountability in complex governmental processes. To achieve this, McNamara recruited a team of experts from the worlds of academia and business. Known as the "Whizz Kids," they brought new perspectives to the White House. In the UK now, the Labour government's minister of state for investment is Poppy Gustafsson, a former venture capitalist and tech founder. Its minister for prisons is James Timpson, former CEO of the Timpson Group, a family firm renowned for hiring ex-offenders. These people—and there are many other examples around the world—were brought into the political sphere because of the knowledge and vision they have demonstrated in the private sector. The hope is their talent and leadership will improve policy and practice. <h2>Data-driven reform</h2>The same must be hoped for Musk: that with his co-leader, Vivek Ramaswamy—a biotech entrepreneur and former Republican leadership candidate—he will bring expertise in cost-cutting and innovative strategies. This will probably include comprehensive audits and data-driven approaches to reform. Critics refer to prior examples of Musk's approach, such as the mass layoffs and aggressive cost-cutting measures at Twitter (now X), with concerns that there could be similarly drastic reductions in the federal workforce and public services. But big job cuts were happening across the tech sector at that time. They came in the wake of reduced revenues and a need to reduce bloated workforces and ineffective functions—not unlike the challenges faced by the US government. Nevertheless, while proponents see Musk as an experienced leader capable of streamlining bureaucracy, sceptics fear the advent of harmful austerity measures that risk disruption to essential public programs. Concerns have also been raised about potential conflicts of interest, as Musk's business empire benefits from government contracts. However, since Doge will operate as an advisory body, concerns over him gaining advantage through any self-dealing seem overblown. Besides, two of Musk's companies (SpaceX and Tesla) have been awarded US$15.4 billion (£12.3bn) in federal contracts in the last decade. Perhaps then, success precedes influence rather than the reverse? Doge will also be governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which maintains legal and ethical guardrails. And Congress will have the final say over any decisions. Fears of the worst possible outcome to Musk's appointment are a natural human response in the face of uncertainty. It is part of the reason that negative headlines get more clicks than positive ones. It is also true that Musk has aligned himself with a politician who divides opinion like few others. By leveraging his billions of dollars and 200 million followers on X to help Trump to victory, he made it clear which side he was on. And in a highly polarised US political landscape, the anguish about his governmental role may be little more than a knee-jerk reaction from the millions of people whose side he did not choose.

Love him or loathe him, Elon Musk is a champion of efficiency and could save the US government a fortune

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.</li><li>The aim of the department is to cut government spending.</li></ul>President-elect Donald Trump has chosen <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-government-efficiency-doge-2024-11">his picks to help cut government spending</a>. Areas like transportation and education could face heightened scrutiny.On Tuesday, Trump selected Tesla CEO <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-tesla-spacex-x-department-government-efficiency-jobs-2024-11">Elon Musk</a> and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/dogecoin-price-market-value-ford-crypto-boom-trump-elon-musk-2024-11">DOGE </a>— an acronym that matches a dog-themed meme that Musk has frequently referenced.The department does not currently exist as a government agency, so Musk and Ramaswamy's role would likely entail offering advice to Trump on areas to cut spending, which Congress would then need to approve.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/#spending-categories">Data</a> from the Treasury Department shows that the government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024, resulting in a deficit. The highest amounts of spending came from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, and the Treasury Department.Social Security accounted for $1.46 trillion of the spending, health accounted for $912 billion, and Medicare made up $874 billion of the government spending over the past year.Trump said in the announcement that the office would "provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management &amp; Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before."Every year, Congress has to approve discretionary spending through the annual appropriations process. That includes areas like the $305 billion spent on education and other social services and the $137 billion spent on transportation.Social Security and Medicare are forms of mandatory spending that do not require annual congressional approval and would require legislation to change.Musk said during a Trump rally prior to the election that he would identify at least $2 trillion in spending cuts, which would amount to nearly a third of total government spending, including the mandatory retirement security programs.Trump said that Musk and Ramaswamy's work will be concluded "no later than July 4, 2026." While it's unclear what the government efficiency department will advise, Trump has previously <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-under-trump-biden-debt-relief-efforts-stalled-2024-11">suggested</a> shutting down government agencies, like the Education Department, to reduce inefficiency. Ramaswamy has echoed that sentiment, voicing support for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/candidate-vivek-ramaswamy-wants-shut-down-fbi-replace-it-2023-4">shutting down a range of agencies</a>, including the IRS and the FBI.Trump alone could not close a federal agency — doing so would require congressional approval.Karoline Leavitt, a Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, said in a statement to Business Insider: "The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver." She did not elaborate on the areas the government efficiency commission would prioritize for spending cuts.Musk also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1856520760656797801">wrote</a> on X on Tuesday that all of the department's actions will be posted online "for maximum transparency" and that "anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!"

Elon Musk is looking to cut government waste. Here's what the US spends money on right now.

New Delhi: <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> has demonstrated a largely successful inflation targeting regime compared to advanced economies such as the USA, Germany, and France, according to a research report by the <keyword id="19934368" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india" source="keywords">State Bank of India</keyword> (SBI). The report credits government initiatives, the <keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="keywords">RBI</keyword>, and banks for addressing these issues over the past decade, allowing for better policy transmission and improved inflation management. "The success of Inflation Targeting in India is largely a byproduct of a vibrant financial ecosystem where <keyword id="23140158" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi-government" source="keywords">RBI, Government</keyword> and the Banks are working closely in unison in ushering in market reforms" said the report The report highlighted that India experienced minimal deviations from its inflation targets between 2021 and 2024, setting it apart from other global economies facing greater inflationary challenges. It added that during 2021-2024, India recorded one of the lowest deviations from its inflation targets, highlighting the effectiveness of its inflation control measures. This success, the report points out, is largely a result of coordinated efforts between the <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (RBI) and the central government. "India had a largely successful inflation targeting regime. Compared to advanced economies like the USA, Germany" said the report. As per the report the synchronization of monetary and fiscal policies, particularly during the pandemic, played a key role in maintaining price stability. It also emphasized that India's pre-inflation targeting regime faced several challenges that hindered the effective transmission of monetary policy. These challenges included sustained fiscal dominance, the presence of a large informal sector, significant informal financing, and inefficiencies in how banks priced their loan products. "Effectiveness of monetary policy in India's pre-Inflation Targeting regime was constrained by several India specific factors that affected transmission of the policy impulses through the interest rate channel" the report added. However, one of the key arguments in the report is that the RBI's inflation targeting has anchored inflationary expectations, even as food inflation remains high. The notion that headline inflation should exclude food prices was dismissed as counterfactual by the report. According to the study, the RBI's success in targeting inflation, despite food price volatility, has prevented a spill-over from food inflation to core inflation. The report stressed that the RBI's consistent communication of its inflation target--set at 4 per cent--has been crucial in successfully anchoring inflation expectations. By reinforcing its commitment to this target, the RBI has helped stabilize inflationary trends across the broader economy. The SBI report reinforces India's effective monetary policy framework, particularly in light of the global inflationary pressures seen in advanced economies like the US and Germany.

India handled inflation much better than US, Germany and France: SBI Report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk's X is the least trusted Big Tech company, a survey found.</li><li>Only 28% of respondents trusted X, which is about how many trusted the US government.</li></ul>Americans think <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter">Elon Musk's X</a> is as trustworthy as the US government. And that's not a compliment.A May survey published by All About Cookies, a company promoting digital security and online privacy, asked 1,000 US adults how much they trusted Big Tech and media companies compared to their government. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/more-adults-trust-big-tech-media-companies-than-us-government?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=cotd+9.20.2024&amp;utm_id=cotd+9.20.2024&amp;utm_content=cotd+9.20.2024&amp;jid=134074&amp;sid=24104937">EMARKETER</a>, a market research company owned by Business Insider's parent company, shared the survey data on Friday.While companies like Amazon and Google topped the list, Musk's platform came in dead last.The survey's data showed that 70% of respondents trust Amazon, 65% trust Google, and 64% trust Netflix. Only 29% trusted <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-short-videos-perfect-platform-for-misinformation-about-ukraine-2022-3">TikTok</a>, which ByteDance, a Chinese company, owns. US officials worry that ByteDance shares data with the Chinese government and have demanded it divest TikTok to an American-owned company or face a nationwide ban.Even fewer — only 28% of respondents — however, trusted X, the same percentage that trusted the US government. The survey showed that 43% of respondents distrusted the US government, while 44% distrusted X.Although the survey didn't clarify why respondents ranked X last on the list, the platform has been a magnet for controversy since Musk <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter">purchased Twitter</a> in 2022 for $44 billion, rebranded it, and overhauled how it moderates content.<div type="image" title="Graph shows which Big Tech companies Americans trust more than Elon Musk's X." height="862" width="1048" msid="113558134" hostid="261" sizebytes="30572"></div><h2 id="c7d2940e-0051-4b1d-8599-2c5bf5bfbb9a">Musk's approach to content moderation</h2>Musk <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/read-blunt-email-telling-twitter-staff-jobs-axed-layoffs-2022-11">conducted mass layoffs</a> after taking control of Twitter, particularly among its <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/x-social-media-misinformation-swamping-fake-news-trust-safety-2023-10">trust and safety team</a>, whose numbers dwindled from about 230 employees to about 20. More trust and safety staffers were <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-twitter-layoffs-hit-trust-and-safety-workers-again-2023-9">laid off</a> the following year.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-executives-fired-quit-takeover-agrawal-segal-edgett-2022-11">Yoel Roth</a>, once the head of the trust and safety team, resigned from the company soon after Musk's arrival.Concerns about misinformation on the social media app grew quickly after Musk's purchase, so he launched <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-renames-birdwatch-community-notes-touts-improving-accuracy-2022-11">Community Notes in 2022</a>. A 2023 Bloomberg report said it <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-community-notes-delay-in-flagging-fake-news-2023-11">analyzed almost 400 X posts</a> that contained false information about the ongoing conflict between <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-fed-up-massive-protest-strike-demanding-gaza-deal-hostages-2024-9">Israel and Gaza</a>, however, and found that it typically took more than seven hours for a Community Note to appear, and some took 70 hours.Musk himself has faced backlash for his own questionable posts, including in 2023 when <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-faces-consequences-for-calling-antisemitic-tweet-actual-truth-2023-11">business leaders criticized him</a> for amplifying an antisemitic post on X. He backtracked in January during a conference hosted by the European Jewish Association, saying he was "naive" about antisemitism and is <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-jewish-by-association-after-auschwitz-tour-2024-1">"Jewish by association."</a><div type="image" title="Elon Musk with his hands together in front of his mouth." height="2891" width="3848" msid="113558135" hostid="261" sizebytes="338584"></div>Musk is now dealing with the fallout from another X post this month after former President Donald Trump survived a <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-kamala-harris-post-x-twitter-advertiser-mess-2024-9">second apparent assassination attempt</a>. Musk asked in the post why President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris haven't also faced similar threats.Musk's post immediately drew backlash for promoting political violence, prompting him to delete it and defend himself, calling it a "joke." The <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/secret-service-elon-musk-investigation-tweet-biden-kamala-assassination-2024-9">US Secret Service</a> told Bloomberg News it is "aware" of Musk's post and is investigating the matter.Musk's X has also run afoul of multiple foreign governments, most recently in Brazil, where X lawyers on Friday <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-brazil-free-speech-battle-over-2024-9">finally capitulated to demands</a> for stricter content moderation months after the country's Supreme Court ordered a nationwide ban of the platform.Representatives for X did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Elon Musk's X is the least-trusted Big Tech company, according to a survey — on par with the US government

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Department of Government Efficiency wouldn't be a department, but an outside advisory group.</li><li>Under current law, Congress needs to approve most budget changes, limiting the DOGE's power.</li></ul>President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a new effort to slash what he sees as federal inefficiency, with Elon Musk as cost-cutter-in-chief.Trump <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-cabinet-election-x-2024-9">made good on a campaign promise</a> when he tapped Musk to co-lead the proposed "Department of Government Efficiency," or DOGE, alongside former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.Musk says he wants to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget to make it more efficient and effective. Beyond that, though, little is known about how the DOGE will function and how much power it — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-adopts-elon-musk-plan-cut-government-spending-efficiency-reform-2024-9">and Musk</a> — will have.Musk did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment for this article. A representative for Ramaswamy declined to comment.<h2 id="2dc0c03e-9977-4403-9201-3d55e844524d">What do we know about the DOGE?</h2>Despite its name, the DOGE will <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-doge-gets-a-government-checkmark-on-x-2024-11">not actually be a government department</a>, as departments are permanent and can only be created by Congress. Instead, it will function "outside of the government" and disband by July 4, 2026, Trump said in a statement.<div type="image" title="Trump and Musk at a rally" height="2584" width="4184" msid="115360794" hostid="261" sizebytes="161264"></div>The name DOGE is an homage to Musk's preferred cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, which shot up in value after Trump won the election. Under current law, the DOGE might not be able to accomplish much, since Congress controls federal spending."They have no power. No power at all," Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institute who led efforts to reform the federal government under former President Bill Clinton, told Business Insider. "They do make recommendations, and once they make recommendations, the expectation is that the government will act on them."There's no guarantee that a recommendation will turn into a policy, especially given that many of the DOGE's suggestions will likely require congressional approval, Kamarck said.<h2 id="0f11a880-6c1f-4025-a722-a860ae33d16c">The DOGE's $2 trillion goal is something of a pipe dream.</h2>Federal spending <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-government-efficiency-doge-2024-11">reached $6.75 trillion in 2024</a>. Multiple experts told BI that it's unlikely Musk will be able to cut his desired $2 trillion without sacrificing programs that have wide bipartisan support or fall under federal mandatory spending, like Medicare and Social Security. Kamarck called the $2 trillion goal the "most unrealistic" part of the whole DOGE plan.Trump has long been preoccupied with cutting what he sees as Washington's waste and fraud."The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will ultimately be staffed and dedicated to this mission," Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for Trump's transition team, told BI in a statement.Quoting former Rep. Barney Frank, Kamarck said that excess federal spending is "marbled" <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-government-efficiency-what-us-spends-2024-11">throughout the budget</a>, like fat throughout a steak, making the DOGE's desired $2 trillion in cuts tricky."It just doesn't work, unless you decide to start cutting Social Security benefits or Medicare, at which point all hell breaks loose," she told BI. "And you know, the bromance between Trump and Musk will end very quickly."Known for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-efficiency-companies-tesla-spacex-x-2024-11">streamlining efficiency at his companies</a>, Musk says he wants to cut bureaucracy, shrink the federal workforce, and trim the number of federal agencies down to no more than 99 (there are currently <a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies">more than 440</a>).Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office, told BI that he doubted that the loosely defined group would be able to accomplish much given its sprawling $2 trillion target."It is hard for me to get seriously ginned up about it until there's a real structure there that suggests that this makes some sense and has a purpose," he said. "If something is designed to do everything, it will do nothing."<h2 id="6bcaf431-1be5-4839-9b83-d0f24a7146cf">The DOGE will exist "outside of government."</h2>In one scenario, the DOGE could function as an advisory committee, which Trump can create through an executive order. The president-elect said the DOGE will work with the Office of Management and Budget, which prepares the president's budget request for Congress."They have made clear that this is a non-governmental department, which is not a familiar term, and so it's not really clear how the organization will operate because of that," Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the progressive nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen, told BI. "It might be an advisory committee of non-governmental actors, but even from that posture, it won't have the authority to alter budgets or fire employees or rescind regulations."<div type="image" title="Donald Trump and Elon Musk" height="1910" width="2707" msid="115360796" hostid="261" sizebytes="118134"></div>Kamarck said that there are specific rules laying out how much interaction external committees can have with the government, but it's not clear how Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy envision the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-doge-hiring-staff-how-to-apply-2024-11">internal infrastructure of the DOGE</a>."How are they going to talk to each other? How are they going to meet with each other? Are they going to go talk to anybody in the government, or are they just going to make up things from 50 miles away?" she said.On November 14, the DOGE <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/DOGE/status/1857076831104434289">said in a post on X</a> that it is seeking "super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ per week on unglamorous cost-cutting." Musk said on his <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1857112441529700671">personal X account</a> that the positions will not be paid.<h2 id="4c25da3e-39de-44e2-a1c5-c7249f9fc728">Trump has talked about changing a key law that limits his federal spending power.</h2>Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy may try to circumvent the congressional obstacles standing in the way of their cost-cutting agenda. Last year, Trump expressed interest in going after the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 provision that requires the president spend funds that Congress has appropriated."Bringing back Impoundment will give us a crucial tool with which to obliterate the Deep State, Drain the Swamp, and starve the Warmongers," the president-elect <a target="_blank" href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/agenda47/agenda47-using-impoundment-to-cut-waste-stop-inflation-and-crush-the-deep-state">said in a video</a> in June 2023.Holtz-Eakin said attempting to skirt the impoundment act would be like rewriting history, and Kamarck told BI that any attempt to not spend money that Congress has appropriated poses big Constitutional questions."If he tries to change the law so that he can impound funds, my guess is there'll be a fight in the Congress and he'll lose," she said.<h2 id="4956dc95-91da-4028-b1b3-d843a1509397">Musk could bump up against many conflicts of interest but likely wouldn't have to divest from his companies.</h2>If the DOGE is a federal advisory committee, Musk and Ramaswamy would likely be "special government employees," who are experts or consultants that can work for a federal agency or the White House for up to 130 days. They do not get paid and, crucially, would not have to divest from their companies."They've been clear also that they're staying in their roles as the heads of companies and in other places," Gilbert said. "Not being a part of government means they don't have to deconflict themselves."In a press release for Public Citizen, Gilbert said that Musk's "own businesses have regularly run afoul of the very rules he will be in position to attack" as the DOGE co-lead.<div type="image" title="Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy" height="5504" width="8256" msid="115360795" hostid="261" sizebytes="4296554"></div>In the role, Musk and Ramaswamy would still be bound to federal ethics laws and have to recuse themselves from conversations that affect them personally, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-14/doge-what-can-musk-do-with-the-department-of-government-efficiency?srnd=homepage-americas">Bloomberg</a> reported. With his companies under investigation from at least 20 federal regulatory agencies and SpaceX having more than $15 billion in federal contracts, Musk could face many such conflicts.Kamarck said that there's no "firm line" about when employees need to take themselves out of discussions, but that lawyers address questions on a case-by-case basis.Musk has expressed public frustration with what he views as overbearing federal oversight, which he said has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/12/us/politics/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-trump.html">slowed down his pace of business</a>.By law, meetings of advisory committees, like the kind the DOGE could be, need to be open, and Musk has no problem with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-doge-leaderboard-federal-government-spending-trump-2024-11">transparency</a> — in fact, he seems to invite it. In a post on X, the billionaire promised to post all of the group's actions online <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-leaderboard-government-spending-marketing-genius-doge-donald-trump-2024-11">"for maximum transparency</a>" and said the public should chime in with their opinions.It's also possible the group might intentionally avoid becoming a federal committee because of the increased oversight and scrutiny, Holtz-Eakin said."It's not a federal committee as far as I can tell," he said. "I think that's deliberate. If you do that, then you're subject to lots of things like a conflict of interest you have to sign off on, and I think that would be a nightmare for Mr. Musk. And so they're not going to let it tiptoe toward federal jurisdiction."Until Trump actually forms the DOGE, if he ever does, the legal and bureaucratic details remain murky, and the experts BI spoke with aren't convinced that it will work well."It sounds a little screwy, frankly," Kamarck said.

How Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency could actually work

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk has proposed a crowd-sourced leaderboard to crack down on government wastefulness.</li><li>It taps into our natural drive for competition and play, psychologists say.</li></ul>It was perhaps inevitable that Elon Musk — a tech titan and a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-video-games-grand-theft-auto-elden-ring-2023-12">prolific gamer</a> — would try to turn <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-leaderboard-government-spending-marketing-genius-doge-donald-trump-2024-11">government spending</a> into a game.As soon as Musk became co-leader of a newly-minted <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-doge-leaderboard-federal-government-spending-trump-2024-11">Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE for short)</a>, he proposed a crowd-sourced leaderboard for the dumbest uses of tax dollars. It's a natural move for Musk, who came up in the tech world in the early 2000s, as "gamification" took hold. The concept — using gaming features like points and leaderboards to optimize real-world scenarios — was <a target="_blank" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=vDxTBgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA31#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">first described</a> by software engineers in 2008. The gamification movement in business and tech was born from the central idea that "reality is broken," as futurist Jane McGonigal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reality_Is_Broken/yiOtN_kDJZgC?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;pg=PT11&amp;printsec=frontcover">wrote</a> in her 2011 bestseller. "Game developers know better than anyone else how to inspire extreme effort and reward hard work," McGonigal wrote.Fundamentally, these features — real-time updates and comparisons — tap into our natural appetite for control, Adrian Hon, cofounder of the gaming studio Six to Start and author of "You've Been Played" on the dark side of gamification, told Business Insider."Most common forms of gamification are based around ideas of reward and punishment. That's basically behaviorism that's 100 years old," Hon said. "It's very easy to do. It's very easy to understand."These days, gaming features are baked into the fabric of much of modern life, particularly social. Millions of people "like" opinions on X, down-vote news on Reddit, and earn badges on DuoLingo. We chase steps, close rings, and compete with strangers to spin the fastest.The question is how to add context to make complex goals understandable, exciting, and achievable.Urging someone with a sprained ankle to hit <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walking-10000-steps-for-health-not-science-based-in-marketing-2021-7">10,000 steps a day</a> regardless could do more harm than good. In government, pointing to a simple metric that captures "efficiency" is a tall order — on paper, slashing budgets could look good but bring unintended consequences, according to Richard Landers, a psychology professor at University of Minnesota who specializes in gamification."The number one most efficient way to have a firefighting department in a small town is don't have one, because then they never fail," he said. "That's that kind of logic that you end up having if you're not really cautious about how it's designed."<h2 id="7b471489-75c6-444a-b6f2-8827e89f261e">Why comparing scores is hardwired into our psychology</h2>A game undeniably makes tasks more digestible — something Musk has been talking about for years. He <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz3A6AtX27c">argued</a> at SXSW in 2014 that education should be "as close to a video game as possible." "You do not need to tell your kid to play video games. They will play video games on autopilot all day. So if you can make it interactive and engaging, then you can make education far more compelling and far easier to do," Musk told the audience.Throw in other players, and you've got a race.Humans have a natural competitive streak. Going head-to-head with a rival can help boost our focus, enhance our attention, and motivate us to stick to a task, <a target="_blank" href="https://academic.oup.com/book/45435/chapter-abstract/389436570?redirectedFrom=fulltext">research</a> suggests, but it can also backfire if the pressure gets too intense.A leaderboard works psychologically by incentivizing behavior with a reward like public recognition, maybe a prize, or a sense of accomplishment at winning a competition.It's often used for behaviors people already want to do, but need an extra nudge, according to Landers. Think taking a spin class when you're tempted to watch Netflix, or walking more so you can get the highest step count in the group chat."Good gamification is hypothetically the same way, so that when you achieve well on the Nike app, you're like, 'yeah, I really did do something for myself this week. That was great,'" he said."There's no question that it motivates people," said Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, professor of history at the New School and author of "Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession.""You're in the gym running next to someone on the treadmill, you see them speed up, and you want to speed up. Take that experience and multiply it by however many people you're ranking."<h2 id="ac2e7636-bdbf-425b-8204-07cd0abd6bbe">Politicians love leaderboards</h2>Leaderboards zero in on a specific, measurable goal, like your step count for fitness.That's not so straightforward in politics, but it's incredibly alluring. "Politicians like them because it makes them feel like they have more knowledge and real-time knowledge than they might get otherwise," Hon said, referring to rankings of programs like schools, hospitals, and fire departments.Take healthcare. Increasing productivity in an emergency department is complicated — more complicated than any hospital ranking can communicate. In the real world, that sometimes translates to doctors turning down tricky cases in favor of easy ones to pump up their success metrics, according to Landers.This is one of the biggest unanswered questions facing gamification — can boiling down complex issues into crunchable numbers miss the point?Landers said leaderboard systems generally require one precise, agreed-upon goal in order to work. If a metric is oversimplified, it can risk losing sight of the original goal as participants start to value the game for its own sake."Empowering individuals to call out true waste is not inherently a bad idea," Landers said. "The challenge would be in defining that. How do you know when something is legitimately wasteful?"For the government, that might hinge on what counts as waste and whether Musk's leaderboard can get people to agree."You can't just call it waste because you're like, wow, I don't think Jill over there is a good use of money. You should fire her. It's not a productive approach. Trying to figure out how to create a system like that would be incredibly complicated," Landers said. "They would have to do that investment in really understanding the problems deeply and then creating a system to reward what actually should be rewarded."<h2 id="7d6f8bf4-31df-4ff6-8c83-b288ff90ae8b">Gaming the system can backfire</h2>At the height of Peloton's popularity, the home fitness brand's competitive leaderboard quickly became overrun by people <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peloton-bike-tablets-rooted-watch-netflix-spotify-hacked-cheat-leaderboards-2019-9">hacking their Pelotons</a> to artificially boost their scores.As a result, some users felt less motivated instead of more."The demotivating power of being low on a leaderboard is well understood," Landers said. "If you're like 500,000th, nobody cares. You're like, why even try?"Petrzela said that even if people play by the rules, overgamifying might mean missing out on valuable but hard-to-quantify things."If your only goal in Peloton is to be at the top of the leaderboard, you completely sacrifice a lot of the things that might slow you down but make your ride injury-free or something you really enjoy," she said. "Musk's proposed leaderboard is a much higher stakes version of that."In terms of government services, a goal like reducing wait times for doctors' visits might translate well to a leaderboard, since they're easy to compare. But more complicated variables — like whether a cancer program can treat a patient's specific diagnosis — might fall through the cracks, particularly when people without healthcare expertise are doing the ranking without the full context.To create a leaderboard that can make meaningful change, it's crucial to understand what context matters. Otherwise, Hon said gamification might have short-term benefits but backfire in the long term as important, less-tangible factors are crowded out by overemphasizing one metric.Case in point: Hon said he's currently hooked on a popular puzzle game. The online leaderboard keeps him logging in long after the game itself stopped bringing much joy to his routine."It's just like, what's the point of this really? Am I just playing this game to maintain my position? Do I even really enjoy it anymore?" he said. "I probably would play it less if actually that leaderboard didn't exist. So that is really for the benefit of the site. It's not for the benefit of me."

Elon Musk's 'gamification' of government spending taps into our natural competitive instinct

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President-elect Donald Trump has tasked Elon Musk with slashing government spending.</li><li>Defense could be a prime target: It's the largest discretionary spending category in the federal budget.</li></ul>President-elect Donald Trump has tapped <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-ceo-elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> to help spearhead cuts to government spending, and the defense sector could be a prime target.The Defense Department's budget for the 2024 fiscal year is $841 billion, roughly 12.5% of the total federal budget, and the Pentagon has struggled with cost overruns and waste.Musk plans to review federal spending as part of a newly created "Department of Government Efficiency" — or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-government-efficiency-doge-2024-11">DOGE</a>. It's not an official agency, and Congress controls budgets for federal agencies. DOGE's role may be limited to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-government-efficiency-what-us-spends-2024-11">offering advice to Trump</a>.There are still a lot of unknowns around DOGE as it solicits direction from X, formerly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter">Twitter</a>, including where and how it'll find up to $2 trillion in promised cuts.But Musk's past comments hint at one area he could target: defense contracts.Musk has criticized government contracts with top defense companies that put the government on the hook for overages in the construction of warships, aircraft, and combat vehicles. And his company, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a>, has won some government contracts by bearing higher risks of cost overruns.<h2 id="83ac3479-807f-4415-a020-96d80c7f3594">Musk's way of doing business</h2>Before Musk founded SpaceX in 2001, NASA and the Pentagon often used "cost-plus" contracts, which reimbursed contractors for their expenses and provided a set profit margin.<div type="image" title="President-elect Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last month." height="2365" width="3541" msid="115359364" hostid="261" sizebytes="435768"></div>The contracts allowed for cost overruns and placed much of the risk on the US government, Clayton Swope, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, told Business Insider.Musk compared the contracts to "gravy trains" in journalist Walter Isaacson's biography of the billionaire. "You just can't get to Mars with that system," Musk said. "They have an incentive never to finish. If you never finish a cost-plus contract, then you suckle on the tit of the government forever."Musk built SpaceX's business model around fixed-price contracts. This means the government and contractors set a price for the project at the onset, and the company is paid predetermined amounts once it hits certain milestones.SpaceX has had several fixed-price contracts with NASA, including a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/first-contracted-spacex-resupply-mission-launches-with-nasa-cargo-to-space-station/">$1.6 billion contract</a> in 2008 for 12 missions under the agency's Commercial Resupply Services program and a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/spacex_nasa_crs-5_presskit-105.pdf">$2.6 billion contract</a> in 2014 that covered six crewed missions to the International Space Station.The US government previously reserved fixed-price contracts for off-the-shelf products that did not need to be specially made for the government, but SpaceX demonstrated that it could fund missions more efficiently, Swope said.Without the processes and tracking required for cost-plus contracts, companies like SpaceX "can be more agile to changes in the market and iterate on their products faster," Swope said. "When it's done right, it can be beneficial to both the government and the company."<div type="image" title="A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in October." height="2969" width="4453" msid="115359363" hostid="261" sizebytes="315044"></div><h2 id="b3b24f6e-1253-4bfb-9623-5ba146b04d68">Overspending and delays</h2>The Pentagon has often been criticized for mismanagement, delays, and ballooning costs on expensive systems. Earlier this year, for instance, a government watchdog found that the F-35 stealth fighter program has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-f-35-stealth-fighters-to-fly-less-costs-soar-2024-4">become more expensive</a>, with expected lifetime costs topping $2 trillion, even with the aircraft flying less often than in the past.The defense industry, like the military, has also been called to account. Major shipbuilding projects, for example, are severely delayed. Coming off problems with the Zumwalt-class destroyers, first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford, and the Littoral Combat Ship, new constructions like the next Ford-class carrier, Constellation-class frigate, and Columbia-class submarine are, in some cases, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-grappling-with-another-ford-class-supercarrier-delay-2024-4">years behind schedule</a>. This is a concern as the US military aims to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/america-not-ready-china-war-military-economy-2023-5">maintain its edge</a> against its "pacing challenge" China.Separately, DoD has faced criticism over use-it-or-lose-it spending toward the end of the fiscal year, overpayment for common products, and seven consecutive failed audits of the department's $4.1 trillion in assets and $4.3 trillion in liabilities.To tackle the contracting conundrum and save money, Mike Gallagher, a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin and the current head of defense at Palantir Technologies, suggested in a Wall Street Journal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/two-years-to-prevent-world-war-iii-trump-sec-def-needs-to-overhaul-bureaucracy-cut-waste-c9a162d8?mod=opinion_lead_pos5">op-ed</a> this week that the incoming Pentagon leadership should enforce fixed-price contracting to put more burden on private contractors rather than the US government."The Defense Department's cost-plus contracting model has destroyed competition and innovation while exploding costs," Gallagher wrote, adding that the defense secretary should be required to sign off on cost-plus contracts.Musk's new initiative could recommend exactly this: a move away from cost-plus contracts toward fixed-price contracts.<div type="image" title="The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia in April 2016." height="2475" width="3841" msid="115359367" hostid="261" sizebytes="649290"></div>But fixed-price contracting may have its own set of problems. Bryan McGrath, a retired naval officer and the managing director of The FerryBridge Group LLC, responded to Gallagher's article <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/conswahoo/status/1857138300307624153?s=46">on social media</a>, saying private companies shouldn't have to face all the costs for systems that only the US government wants to buy.Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who focuses on defense strategy and budgeting, said switching from cost-plus to fixed-price contracting doesn't necessarily save the government money. It also doesn't necessarily produce more effective systems designed to withstand combat or decades of use."What it does is, by moving the risk to industry, it creates more stability for government and what they're going to pay for things," he told BI, adding that "it puts better incentives on industry, because if industry has a cost overrun, they pay for it — it's coming out of their profit. If they can deliver below cost that they expected, they can make more money. So it really just changes the incentives."Harrison said that there had already been a shift toward firm-fixed-price contracts, which tends to advantage smaller and newer defense companies — a trend he expects will accelerate during the Trump administration. But there are some areas where cost-plus contracts are sure to continue.Shipbuilding, especially for projects like aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines, is often arranged with large, multi-year contracts. This is because there may be only one company that can build the system, with one buyer (the Pentagon), and the product is unique to the US military.<div type="image" title="A digital rendering of the Constellation-class frigate." height="869" width="1876" msid="115359361" hostid="261" sizebytes="144122"></div>"In those areas of the defense-industrial base," Harrison said, "you have to manage it more like a public utility, where the free market does not exist, and free market principles do not work."<h2 id="719bae83-1982-40bc-bd4e-defb6b11920c">More efficient programs</h2>Mid-development changes to weapons systems designs are a major cost driver. To tackle this, the government could fix requirements for these systems early in the design process and enforce stricter rules around changes."One way that we know saves money is if you fix a design and don't add features," Michael Bohnert, a licensed engineer at the RAND Corporation, told BI.Today's F-35, for example, is "almost a different plane" than what was defined in its original requirements. Changes in scope have added costs. "You look at other programs that have been pretty narrowly defined — they've stayed in budget," he said.Archer Macy, a retired Navy admiral and missile defense expert at CSIS, told BI there's a history of abusing contracts where there's too much fluidity with requirements and specifications, making them vulnerable to changes.He said the government needs to find the "right type of contract for the right purpose (where you are in the development and acquisition cycle), stick to and don't abuse requirements and specs, and make people accountable."<div type="image" title="Aerial view of the Pentagon" height="3598" width="5396" msid="115359368" hostid="261" sizebytes="1410730"></div>Musk's new initiative may target other areas of Pentagon spending, as well.He could consider reducing the Pentagon's large civilian workforce and officer corps, for example, or crack down on instances like the US Air Force paying more than <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-wildly-overpaid-c-17-bathroom-soap-dispenser-2024-10">80 times the regular commercial value</a> for bathroom soap dispensers for its C-17 aircraft.Overall, experts warned against any changes that could harm US warfighting capabilities or compel companies to cut corners and deliver substandard weapons systems."However well-intentioned, the reach for efficiency could also undercut your military effectiveness, and you got to keep that in balance," John Harvey Jr., a retired Navy admiral, told BI.In fact, some members of Congress think the US should spend even more on defense. Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2024/5/senator-wicker-unveils-major-defense-investment-plan">warned earlier this year</a> that the country's defense investment is not sufficient to counter America's adversaries."Our defense industrial base is underfunded and unprepared for the wars of today, tomorrow, and the foreseeable future," his office said in May.

Elon Musk is looking for trillions in government waste, and defense is a massive potential target

The United States government isn’t holding back when it comes to Big Tech, and <keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> is squarely in its sights. After years of concern over the tech giant’s grip on the digital world, the US Justice Department (DOJ) has made a bold demand: sell your Chrome browser. The move comes amid two high-stakes antitrust trials that accuse Google of monopolistic practices. So, what’s at the heart of the government’s case, and why is Chrome a key piece of the puzzle? Let’s break it down. <h3 style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">Search, Chrome, and monopoly madness</h3>In one corner, we have the DOJ versus Google in a trial in Washington, D.C., where a judge has already ruled that Google’s search business operates as an illegal monopoly. The DOJ argues that Google’s dominance in search, bolstered by its Chrome browser, gives the company an unfair advantage, effectively locking in users and advertisers. To remedy this, the DOJ has proposed that Google sell off Chrome entirely. This drastic move, they argue, could level the playing field and restore competition to a market where Google currently reigns supreme. <h3 style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">The ad tech tug-of-war</h3>Meanwhile, in Virginia, a second trial focuses on Google’s grip on the ad tech market — the engine behind the ads you see while browsing. The government alleges that Google’s trio of advertising software products effectively monopolises the ad tech ecosystem. Publishers like News Corp and Gannett claim they’re stuck using Google’s ad tools to survive. DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum summed it up bluntly: “Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist.” The DOJ accuses Google of using its financial clout to buy out rivals and control the auction systems that determine which ads appear online. This, they say, allows Google to charge advertisers more while paying publishers less. The government wants Google to divest parts of its ad tech business to dismantle this stranglehold. <h3 style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">Google fights back</h3>Unsurprisingly, Google has a different story. The tech giant calls the government’s arguments an attempt to pick “winners and losers” in an already competitive market. “The law simply does not support what the plaintiffs are arguing in this case,” said Google’s lawyer Karen Dunn. Google also argues that the ad tech market isn’t as straightforward as the DOJ claims. The company points out that ads appear across multiple platforms — search engines, social media, and apps — and Google doesn’t dominate all of them. In fact, it says rivals like Meta, Amazon, and TikTok are gaining ground. Dunn warned that forcing Google to sell parts of its business or work with competitors would essentially amount to government interference. “This is central planning,” she said, urging the court to reject the DOJ’s proposals. <h3 style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">What’s at stake?</h3>If the court rules against Google, the implications could be seismic. The DOJ’s proposals — selling Chrome or divesting parts of Google’s ad business — would fundamentally reshape how the company operates. But don’t expect a resolution anytime soon. Presiding Judge Leonie Brinkema is expected to issue her opinion swiftly, but any decision will almost certainly be appealed, dragging the case potentially to the US Supreme Court. Even then, the question of enforcement remains murky. While the Biden administration is eager to rein in Big Tech, future administrations could change course. Whether Google will ultimately be forced to sell Chrome or parts of its ad tech business is up to the courts — and potentially years of appeals. For now, the trials highlight a growing unease with the power of tech giants like Google. For Google, the stakes couldn’t be higher. For the rest of us, these decisions will shape the future of the internet as we know it. Stay tuned — this battle is far from over.

Why does the US want Google to sell its Chrome browser?

Rupee appreciated 7 paise to 84.22 against the US dollar in morning trade on Tuesday, on a sharp rebound in domestic equities amid improved investor risk appetite. Forex traders said the <keyword id="21663515" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="MSCI-equity-index" source="keywords">MSCI equity index</keyword> rebalancing significantly boosted sentiment for Indian equity markets as <keyword id="19932515" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="foreign-institutional-investors" source="keywords">foreign institutional investors</keyword> broke a 40-session streak of net selling by purchasing Rs 9,947 crores on Monday, lending robust support to the rupee. Moreover, the win by the incumbent government in Maharashtra, further fueled investor confidence in economic stability, sparking a rally in equity markets. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.27 and moved in a tight range and touched an early high of 84.22 against the greenback, registering a gain of 7 paise over its previous close. On Monday, the rupee appreciated 12 paise to close at 84.29 against US dollar. "While Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies loom large, the rupee's outlook remains cautiously optimistic. The <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reserve-Bank-of-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reserve Bank of India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Reserve Bank of India">Reserve Bank of India</keyword>'s projection of a GDP growth rebound to 7.6 per cent in Q3 has infused fresh confidence in India's economic trajectory. Additionally, a surge in capital inflows is likely to provide robust support," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said. Pabari further said that the RBI's vigilant stance will be critical in managing volatility, with interventions likely at key levels to maintain stability. "Given the factors, the USDINR pair appears to face resistance around the 84.50 level, with expectations of trading within a range of 83.80 to 84.50, leaning toward a downside bias," he said. On the global front, US Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent's fiscal deficit reduction agenda capped US Treasury yields, Pabari said. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.28 per cent at 107.11. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by 0.33 per cent to USD 73.25 per barrel in futures trade. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share equity benchmark Sensex jumped 167.76 points or 0.21 per cent to 80,277.61 points in early trade, while Nifty jumped 55.80 points or 0.23 per cent to 24,277.70 points. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the capital markets on Monday, purchasing shares worth Rs 9,947.55 crore, according to exchange data. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-open-oxygenos-15-update-now-rolling-out-with-flux-themes-improved-ai-features-and-more/articleshow/115657313.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-open-oxygenos-15-update-now-rolling-out-with-flux-themes-improved-ai-features-and-more/articleshow/115657313.cms" target="_blank">OnePlus Open OxygenOS 15 update now rolling out with Flux Themes, improved AI features and more</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/microsofts-ai-powered-recall-feature-is-now-rolling-out-to-copilot-pcs/articleshow/115654136.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/microsofts-ai-powered-recall-feature-is-now-rolling-out-to-copilot-pcs/articleshow/115654136.cms" target="_blank">Microsoft’s AI-powered Recall feature is now rolling out to Copilot+ PCs</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/jio-airtel-and-vi-lost-nearly-11-million-subscribers-in-september-2024/articleshow/115565541.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/jio-airtel-and-vi-lost-nearly-11-million-subscribers-in-september-2024/articleshow/115565541.cms" target="_blank">Jio, Airtel and Vi lost nearly 11 million subscribers in September 2024</a>

Rupee rises 7 paise to 84.22 against US dollar in early trade

<ul class="summary-list"><li>China has announced a local government debt rescue program days after Trump won the US election.</li><li>Trump has threatened tariffs of 60% on Chinese goods, complicating China's economic gloom.</li></ul>China announced a debt rescue program to the tune of $1.4 trillion to save heavily indebted local governments and boost its economy.China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress — its top legislative body — approved 6 trillion Chinese yuan to refinance local governments' hidden debt over three years, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2024/1108/c1001-40357125.html">Xinhua state news agency.</a>Hidden debt refers to off-balance sheet liabilities issued by local government financing vehicles, or LGFV, to finance infrastructure investment.The plan also allows local governments to tap 4 trillion yuan in special local bonds over five years.The announcement came after the legislative body met from Monday to Friday.China's local governments have been struggling to repay their LGFV debt, which the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2024/08/01/Peoples-Republic-of-China-2024-Article-IV-Consultation-Press-Release-Staff-Report-and-552803">International Monetary Fund</a> estimated to be around 60 trillion as of last year. It's another risk to China's economy, which has been struggling with a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-real-estate-property-market-speculation-debt-crackdown-xi-jinping-2023-8?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">property crisis,</a> deflation, and high youth unemployment.Reuters reported last week that China's top legislative body was considering a plan to raise $1.4 trillion in extra debt over the next few years to fund part of an economic rescue package.As early as Monday, Chinese Premier Li Kiang drummed up market expectations for more <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-li-qiang-fiscal-stimulus-market-sentiment-us-election-2024-11">economic stimulus</a>, saying Beijing has "ample space for fiscal policy and monetary policy."The bumper stimulus came on the heels of Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election earlier this week, which is likely to change Washington and Beijing's trade relationship.A China hawk, Trump has pledged to slap <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-us-economy-would-look-like-with-trump-biden-presidency-2024-5?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">a 10% to 20% tariff</a> on all imported goods. He has threatened tariffs of 60% on goods imported from China.This would put further pressure on China's economy, which is still trying to recover following nearly three years of pandemic curbs.In late September, China rolled out <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-aggressive-monetary-stimulus-interest-rate-rrr-2024-9?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">aggressive stimulus</a> that boosted sentiment and spurred a bull run in the stock markets. However, analysts say that Beijing still needs to do more to drive consumption.If Beijing's latest stimulus disappoints, it may be in part due to China's own policy conflicts between its socio-political and economic objectives and the constraints, Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho Bank's chief economist of Asia excluding Japan, wrote in a note a week before the debt rescue announcement.Notably, China may be still holding back to avoid one thing: "the optics of over-reacting to US elections," wrote Varathan.

China just announced an $1.4 trillion plan to rescue its local governments

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk says a leaderboard of "dumb" government spending will expose waste — and he wants your two cents.</li><li>Experts say the board "gamifies" the conversation — and it's likely going to get a lot of attention.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> wants to gamify the act of slashing government spending — and experts said it's a savvy strategy to get people to pay attention to a dry subject.The Tesla CEO said this week that he plans to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-doge-leaderboard-federal-government-spending-trump-2024-11">post a public "leaderboard</a> for the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars.""This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining," Musk posted, along with a promise to let the public weigh in on specific potential cuts.Musk would create the leaderboard as part of a new position in President-elect Donald Trump's administration: head of a new "Department of Government Efficiency," or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-government-efficiency-what-us-spends-2024-11">DOGE, which would be charged with cutting federal spending</a>.Musk said all the activities of DOGE — which he will lead alongside <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-government-efficiency-doge-2">businessman Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, and which is named after a Musk-linked cryptocurrency — would be published online in the name of transparency.While the effectiveness of Musk's leaderboard remains to be seen, experts told Business Insider that it revealed his marketing savvy — even if it could also encourage "gotcha" moments that need more context.The board promises entertainment, competition, and interactivity marketed to a group with skin in the game: the American public with an eye to their tax dollars.And it would turn an often wonky exercise — government budgeting — into a participatory game of winners and losers. In the process, it would also likely give Musk a valuable prize: our attention.<h2 id="ecf50696-d41c-44af-a191-d6e041165dae">A 'leaderboard' can gamify a wonky subject — and help it go viral</h2>Natalie Andreas, a communications studies professor at the University of Texas at Austin and digital strategy consultant, said Musk's leaderboard "has intriguing potential as a viral, high-impact marketing strategy."She said that, like a social media feed, the format "encourages frequent checking and sharing" and that public involvement through voting or sharing could fuel viral momentum.Ayelet Fishbach, a professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, said a leaderboard takes advantage of a "gamification" strategy.Such a strategy can be entertaining — which helps a prospective audience stay engaged. And an engaged audience can be more likely to pass on information to their friends and other social media contacts, disseminating a message.Or, as Musk himself said about the leaderboard: "The entertainment value will be <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1856524169338314838">epic</a>."<h2 id="419ad8c4-6323-4c1e-bac7-7bc5394716b5">Interactivity helps give an audience a feeling of control</h2>Musk has promised a virtual suggestion box where the public can give him tips on what to cut or protect. "Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" he wrote. Musk and Trump's representatives didn't return a request for comment.Especially in a dry realm like government spending, Musk's plans are bound to grab eyeballs — and perhaps make people feel more invested in the outcome. And in an environment with so many distractions — social media, streaming video, text messages — attention is a valuable commodity.Andreas said the leaderboard could strengthen Musk's brand "as a bold, transparency-driven disruptor," though she also cautioned that it also would need "careful handling" to let the people and organizations targeted by the board add context.She said allowing users to vote or contribute examples of perceived waste "could drive high engagement and user-generated content, making the leaderboard both interactive and addictive."Karen North, a clinical professor of communication at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said the venture also speaks to Trump's unique ability to spark an emotional investment — and sometimes encourage vilification — in American politics. North previously served in the Clinton administration's science and technology policy office.She said the leaderboard marks another example of how the president-elect turns politics "into a show.""There's nothing more boring than talking about reducing spending in government. It's worse than just doing math for the sake of math," North said.<h2 id="90bc8724-304c-43f5-b31a-17725260dea9">There are risks to the gamification strategy</h2>North said the gamification strategy comes with risks. "People will be so easily drawn into playing 'gotcha' and being outraged that they may get caught up in the outcome rather than the meaningful details," she said.But gamifying the subject makes it fun — and social media has created a "participatory society" where people feel even more involved and invested, she said.There is some precedent for Musk's leaderboard, North said, noting that former Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, began to issue the "Golden Fleece Award" for wasteful spending throughout the 1970s and '80s via monthly press releases.North said it is often considered one of the most successful PR campaigns in government history, though she cautioned that it did lead to some unforeseen consequences: Some research that was initially ridiculed as wasteful government spending — including the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.goldengooseaward.org/01awardees/screwworms">sexual behavior of screwworms</a> — later proved critical to the US livestock industry and significantly reduced beef costs for Americans.And Amy Jo Kim, a game designer who has a doctoral degree in behavioral neuroscience and who's taught game design at Stanford, said that a leaderboard can inherently contain a point of view: Who's to determine, for instance, what's "waste" and how that's defined.It's "a storytelling device," Kim said. "It's the opposite of transparency, but it'll be seen as transparency by people that don't realize that it all comes back to who defines waste."

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