War in Iran, AI, Ozempic: It’s All Connected, Says Scott Galloway

He believes Ozempic will have a more transformative impact on the economy and society than AI—and that many layoffs attributed to technology are actually a cover for poor management.

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Artificial intelligence. War in Iran. Debt in countries of the Global South. Stock markets. Ozempic. It may not seem like it, but all of these forces are interconnected, influencing one another. The person drawing these connections was Scott Galloway, professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University, in a sharp conversation about business, politics, geopolitics, and Ozempic with journalist Ed Elson.

Regarding the war, Galloway argued that the biggest geopolitical winner of the conflict in Iran is Russia, which gains more capital to finance the war in Ukraine and benefits from the distraction of the Western world. Among the economic beneficiaries are major oil producers such as Canada, Norway, and Saudi Arabia. The losers, on the other hand, include countries like Japan and South Korea, whose dependence on oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz makes them extremely vulnerable.

For Galloway, the real systemic risk lies somewhere else entirely. Countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines hold large amounts of dollar-denominated debt and are highly dependent on energy imports. With currencies under pressure, a potential default could trigger a cascading effect across major banks.

He also argued that much of America’s success is not merit, but geography and luck. Two oceans providing protection, relatively harmless neighbors, energy and food self-sufficiency, and abundant natural resources are key factors behind the country’s prosperity.

AI and layoffs

Many layoffs attributed to AI are, in reality, a disguise for poor management and inaccurate demand forecasting. Firing people while citing AI tends to boost stock prices; firing people due to declining demand usually pushes them down. In addition, Galloway suggested that the catastrophic narratives promoted by some AI leaders are a mix of narcissism and marketing.

According to him, the lack of regulation of big tech is not an accident—it is the result of a system in which companies discovered that the highest return on investment comes from financing political campaigns.

GLP-1 more important than AI

Galloway believes that GLP-1 drugs—such as Ozempic—will have a more transformative impact on the economy and society than artificial intelligence. Another striking point in his talk concerned the importance of higher education. In his view, people who say college doesn’t matter almost always hold postgraduate degrees from elite universities. The real scandal, he argued, is not who gets admitted, but how few people do.

The indices that matter

Using stock market indices as a thermometer of America’s economic health is a dangerous distortion: they measure the performance of the wealthiest 1%, not the broader population. Galloway believes the indicators that truly matter are different: 70% of Americans are overweight, one in three teenagers has experienced suicidal ideation, and only one in ten young people feels optimistic about the country’s future.