Friday, December 20, 2024
The share of adults reading news articles online in the US has fallen from 70 to 50 per cent since 2013. The share of Britons and Americans now consuming no conventional news media at all has ballooned from 8 to around 30 per cent... "Why the TikTok era spells trouble for the establishment,” Financial Times, Dec. 20, 2024. (Paywalled.)Thursday, December 19, 2024
"Bible sales are up 22% in the U.S. through the end of October, compared with the same period last year, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. By contrast, total U.S. print book sales were up less than 1% in that period."> Via “Top Links 585 Mexico’s laborious economy. VW exits Xinjiang. Bibles are booming. Joan Robinson on time & history,” Adam Tooze, Chartbook, Dec. 18, 2024.Thursday, December 12, 2024
Mr. Boulos has been profiled as a tycoon by the world’s media, telling a reporter in October that his company is worth billions. Mr. Trump called him a “highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the international scene.” The president-elect even lavished what may be his highest praise: a “dealmaker.” In fact, records show that Mr. Boulos has spent the past two decades selling trucks and heavy machinery in Nigeria for a company his father-in-law controls.Saturday, December 7, 2024
The pandemic also solidified the shift toward takeout and delivery: Nearly three-quarters of restaurant meals are now consumed offsite, according to data shared with me by the National Restaurant Association, up from about 60 percent in 2019. “How America Lost Its Taste for the Middle,” The Atlantic, Dec. 5.Friday, December 6, 2024
The “low-altitude economy” is a big trend in China at the moment. XPeng, one of China’s leading EV manufacturers, recently released a low-altitude flying car for instance. Drone deliveries are becoming increasingly common in Chinese cities, and various regions are actively developing low-altitude transportation networks. Shanghai, for instance, plans to establish 400 low-altitude flight routes by 2027. “China Markets in Everything,” Marginal Revolution, Dec. 4. Even in China, youth unemployment hovers around 20 percent.Thursday, December 5, 2024
In the year 2000, the United States and its allies in Asia, Europe, and Latin America accounted for the overwhelming majority of global industrial production, with China at just 6% even after two decades of rapid growth. Just thirty year later, UNIDO projects that China will account for 45% of all global manufacturing, singlehandedly matching or outmatching the U.S. and all of its allies. This is a level of manufacturing dominance by a single country seen only twice before in world history — by the UK at the start of the Industrial Revolution, and by the U.