WSJ publishes ‘The Future of Everything’

The future holds dozens of new projects that will allow devices to provide money for needy causes, automatically taken care of by innovative systems.

Every few months, the Wall Street Journal devotes a special section to “The Future of Everything,” publishing advances that will be available in a perhaps a few months.

On Friday, the edition provided news on “When machines do the shopping.”

The subhead reports that “As everything from trucks to toasters go online, the next step for connected devices is the ability to buy and sell goods and services for their human users.”

It’s reported that “An autonomous truck might one day be able to process payments upon delivery of goods, generate its own tax declaration and pitch its services on freight platforms.”

The article explains that the projected number of connected devices worldwide by 2035, could be one trillion, according to British chip designer Arm Holdings.

The newspaper reports that the day might soon come when a car, itself, pays for parking, using funds it earned by sharing data collected as it drives.

Or a cat’s bowl orders the appropriate pet food after analyzing the feline’s nutritional needs.

Already, smart toothbrushes can order new brush heads when the bristles wear out. Air filters can detect when a replacement is needed and order one online.

With some 45 million Americans owing roughly $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, more lenders can use rewards programs that would allow credit card holders to put 2% cash back.

Credit card firms are working to increase card acceptance for merchants to offer payments on social issues.

One firm is setting up a program to have the cards redeem their points toward newly planted trees.

The US Treasury has accelerated pandemic-related payments to recipients from months to overnight delivery.

Europeans can take advantage of their desire to somewhat control climate change with this acronym, DNSH, which stands for Do No Significant Harm.

Billions of investment dollars are flowing into projects that tout themselves as “sustainable finance,” covering everything from wind farms to housing, vehicles and factories.

The European Union recently began requiring all fund managers that raise money in the 27-country bloc and claim a socially conscious aspect in their offerings to disclose exactly how they address environmental, social and governance considerations, known as ESG.

VISA and Mastercard are working on initiatives that they hope will increase card acceptance for merchants on social issues.

Those are just a few programs that are in motion now, with an expectation of many more to come.