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August’s Chart of the Month shows the number of Santander cycles hired from 2015, when Santander began sponsoring the scheme in London, to 2023. It shows long term growth, culminating in 2022’s record-breaking year of 11,506,889 hires. However, more recently, usage has been low and recovery has been slow. The Santander Cycle hire scheme is owned by the Transport For London (TFL), a government body … Continue reading Chart of the Month – August 2023
July’s chart of the month shows how Japanese stocks have performed since COVID. In 2023 alone, the Nikkei 225 has grown by 30%, triple that of the S&P 500, and far exceeding the growth of most European indexes. The Nikkei is now only 20% off its peak in 1990, growing 6% in June. Investors must ask: have Japanese stocks at last recovered from a 30-year … Continue reading Chart of the Month – July 2023
June’s Chart of the Month highlights the stagnation in China’s manufacturing output after the pandemic. When China unexpectedly reopened at the beginning of 2023, many analysts expected an immense recovery. However, their forecasts have been disproven, particularly regarding China’s manufacturing activity, which has fallen after a slight increase (an index score below 50 indicates a contraction). This is not because of a stunted reopening, but a … Continue reading Chart of the Month – June 2023
Today, China is an economic powerhouse with the second highest nominal GDP (after the USA) and the highest GDP PPP (when GDP is adjusted for prices in a country) in the world. Yet just over 40 years ago, in 1981, it had a nominal GDP lower than that of Canada, a country that had a population 40 times smaller than it. The nominal GDP per … Continue reading Chinese Economic Growth, Against All Odds
“An economic recovery, like a rising tide, will lift all boats. For many, maybe even most, it will lift by painful inches. Some boats, however, may be lifted faster and higher.” So spoke President Ronald Reagan during his 1982 State of the Union address. He promised growth for all, stimulated by tax cuts for the top earning bracket, allowing for money to “trickle” down socio-economic levels … Continue reading Trickle Down Economics
The Korea of the early 20th century is unrecognisable compared to the South Korea we know today. During the first half of the 1900s the Korean economy was underdeveloped, lacking proper infrastructure, had limited industry, and was still an economy that was largely dependent on agriculture. The majority of the population was involved in farming, but they generally used outdated equipment resulting in low farming … Continue reading South Korea – Miracle on the Han River
‘My name is Walter Hartwell White. I live at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane Albuquerque New Mexico 87104. This is my confession.’ That’s perhaps the most iconic line from the award-winning show ‘Breaking Bad’. Breaking Bad was filmed from 2008 to 2013 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Initially, director Vince Gilligan wanted to shoot in California, but after Sony bought the series, they requested a change of … Continue reading The Impact of Breaking Bad on Albuquerque
In 1976, Venezuela’s economy was booming amid an oil crisis, and Caracas (its capital) was one of only four destinations to which Concorde, the fastest and most expensive aircraft of its time, alighted. However, the Venezuela of 1976 is a world away from the Venezuela that is currently under the dictatorship of President Nicolas Maduro. In fact, from the 1950s to the early 1980s, Venezuela … Continue reading Venezuela: A Petrostate’s Fall from Grace and The Exodus of Its People
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS A few weeks ago, I watched a great film called Puss in Boots. In the movie, Puss teams up with the infamous feline burglar Kitty Softpaws and his childhood frenemy Humpty Dumpty to steal the golden goose and save their hometown, San Ricardo, to make their foster mother proud. They eventually succeed, and the villagers of San Ricardo get … Continue reading Economic implications of having a real-life golden goose
This Chart of the Month revisits the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). An explanation as to how it works can be found in the July 2021 Chart. In that article, we asked whether the EU ETS could hold its value, and whether the increase in costs of pollution would prove too great a burden for firms and the poorest households. Now, we can try to answer … Continue reading Chart of the Month – May 2023
