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From the Editor's Desk
Visualizing Gold Consumption vs. Domestic Supply China ranks second, with demand driven primarily by gold’s role as a store of value, especially by the People’s Bank of China. Central banks seek gold as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation. Since 2022, the People’s Bank of China has increased its gold reserves by 316 tonnes.
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WorkThe centrality of stupidity in mathematics - Math For LoveThe Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research – published in 2008 in the Journal of Cell Science – is one of those wonderful essays that turns your understanding of “being smart” on its head. There are enough implications for education here that it’s worth reading the entire thing. WorkLithium gets a charge, but oversupply still looms - WSJ (No paywall) Lithium, which is used to make batteries for both gadgets and electric vehicles, has been on a roller-coaster ride in recent years. Its price skyrocketed in 2021 and 2022, only for a subsequent plunge to wipe out all those gains. Lithium prices are now down nearly 90% from their peak in 2022.
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WorkResearch: Flat Hierarchies Can Discourage Women Applicants - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)Many firms struggle to attract a diverse talent pool, particularly women. To stand out, companies often tout flatter organizational structures in their recruitment materials, assuming these unique features will appeal to a more diverse group of prospective employees. However, new research uncovers a surprising finding: highlighting a flatter hierarchy may, instead, diminish women’s representation in the applicant pool. Additional findings suggest that women tend to perceive flatter organizations as more difficult to fit into, burdening them with a heavier workload, and offering fewer career advancement opportunities. This research indicates that companies should carefully consider how they present their organizational structure to job seekers to avoid unintentionally discouraging women from applying. Work
WorkWorkThe Age of ScamsEarlier that day, she had received a call from a phone number with the same area code as Cotelingham’s father in Louisiana. When she answered, someone identifying themselves as a U.S. customs officer said the government had found a package addressed to Cotelingham that contained stolen passports and driver’s licenses. She was in a lot of trouble; law enforcement was going to call her back. When Cotelingham’s phone rang next, the number that came up was from local police, who told her the FBI would be in touch. Minutes later, she got a call from a number that matched the bureau’s. The person on the line told Cotelingham that she could get out of the mess by depositing $18,000 into a Bitcoin machine.
WorkWhy Trump's lies about Haitians are differentAs I’ve been thinking about Donald Trump and JD Vance’s reckless lies about Haitians eating cats in Ohio, I keep coming back to one question: What makes this different from all the other things they’ve said about immigrants? Work WorkWorkHow Biden let Europe slip away - WSJ (No paywall) The Biden administration hasn’t been good for the trans-Atlantic alliance. This might seem a surprising claim, given that Joe Biden’s team and Kamala Harris’s campaign have touted improved U.S.-European ties as their greatest foreign-policy achievement. To be sure, the administration has devoted greater attention to Europe than any other region and shifted U.S. policy toward European Union preferences on a range of issues, from the Iran nuclear deal to the Paris climate accord. But after 3½ years, there is surprisingly little to show in tangible benefits for the U.S. WorkWorkWorkMusk Finds a Way Around Brazil's X BanDays later, a separate company controlled by Mr. Musk, the satellite-internet provider Starlink, told Brazilian regulators it would continue to deliver X directly to Brazilians from satellites in space. Starlink later backed down after regulators made clear the company would lose its license in Brazil. WorkTyson Faces Lawsuit Over Labeling of 'Climate-Smart' BeefAccording to its website, Tyson produces about 20 percent of the beef, pork and chicken in the United States, as well as other foods under brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm, and is one of the world’s largest food companies. The company detailed its plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 in a 2022 sustainability report. WorkPowell downplays impact of rate cut on Trump-Harris presidential raceIn the wake of the pandemic, inflation shot up to a 40-year high, making grocery bills, housing, gas and other day-to-day living costs more expensive for American consumers. To cool down the economy, the Fed began hiking interest rates in March 2022, further squeezing consumer budgets. WorkWorkReport: Google offered to sell AdX to end EU antitrust suitThe European Commission began this push against the company's ad arm last June. The UK's competition watchdog also raised the alarm over a possible Google ad monopoly earlier this month. Google is also currently being sued by the Department of Justice over the same topic in the US. WorkNeuralink says the FDA designated its Blindsight implant as a 'breakthrough device'Those are lofty claims and Neuralink is some way off from being able to fully restore sight to someone who has lost it, if it’s ever actually able to do that. It's not the first company or research team to work on vision-restoring implants either. Meanwhile, as TechCrunch points out, it's unlikely that Blindsight or similar tech can help people who have been blind since birth, given that such people have not "developed the biological capacity for seeing through their eyes." WorkGM electric vehicles can finally recharge at Tesla Supercharger stationsEarlier this year, Ford EV owners started being able to charge their vehicles at Tesla’s Superchargers. Subaru, Hyundai and basically every other major automaker in the US also made similar announcements last year. That GM took well over a year to release adapters could be due to Tesla firing its entire Supercharger team in April, according to a report from Forbes. WorkFamilies of Americans ensnared in DRC coup plot assert their innocenceMarcel Malanga, testifying last month, claimed he and Thompson had been “beaten and tortured” after they were captured. Others who were charged complained of inhumane treatment at the high-security military prison in Kinshasa in which they were held, and of being tortured by military police for confessions. WorkPoor NHS maternity care in danger of becoming normalised, regulator warns“The NHS may be in deep trouble right now from a UK perspective, but it is all relative. The US is worse on nearly all accounts,” said the report’s co-author Reginald Williams II. “While waitlists may be an issue and facilities need upgrades, the cost of health is not bankrupting individuals [as it is in the US].” WorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkVanguard Buys Dollars Saying Fed Rate-Cut Bets Gone Too FarKoutny said the market is probably underpricing the extent of rate cuts by the European Central Bank. He’s put on a relative trade using short-dated securities in the US and European markets that pays out if investors trim bets on Fed easing or boost wagers on ECB cuts. WorkApple Mobile Processors Are Now Made in the USA. By TSMCApple’s A16 SoC, which first debuted two years ago in the iPhone 14 Pro, is currently being manufactured at Phase 1 of TSMC’s Fab 21 in Arizona in small, but significant, numbers, my sources tell me. Volume will ramp up considerably when the second stage of the Phase 1 fab is completed and production is underway, putting the Arizona project on track to hit its target for production in the first-half of 2025. WorkWorkWorkWorkThe French Perfumer Behind the Internet's Favorite Fragrance - The New Yorker (No paywall)What does conspicuous consumption smell like? On a December afternoon in 2013, the Parisian perfumer Francis Kurkdjian was scheduled to meet with the renowned French crystal manufacturer Baccarat at the company's chandelier-crammed headquarters, near the Arc de Triomphe. The C.E.O. at the time, Daniela Riccardi, had commissioned Kurkdjian to create a limited-edition fragrance to mark the company's two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary. Baccarat planned to produce two hundred and fifty diamond-cut crystal flacons of the new perfume, priced at three thousand euros each, and wanted the scent to reflect the quality and opulence of its vessel. WorkHouse Defeats Johnson's Spending Plan With Shutdown LoomingIn the hours before the vote, Mr. Trump posted on social media that if Republicans did not get “every ounce” of the citizenship verification bill, they should not agree to a measure to keep government funding flowing “in any way, shape, or form.” He charged, baselessly, that Democrats were “registering Illegal Voters by the TENS OF THOUSANDS, as we speak,” adding, “They will be voting in the 2024 Presidential Election.” WorkOn 'Survivor,' Talking Politics Could Get You Voted Off the IslandOn Wednesday evening, in the thick of another heated election year with Mr. Trump on the ballot, the 47th season of “Survivor” will premiere on CBS. One of the contestants is uniquely known for his politics: Jon Lovett, a 42-year-old host of the popular liberal podcast “Pod Save America” and a former speechwriter for Barack Obama. But there is no indication that his presence on the island will lead to any more of a political season than usual. WorkVance Complains About Democrats Using 'Fascist.' Trump Uses It Often.“As President Trump correctly points out, Kamala Harris is a radical leftist, Marxist, communist and fascist because she is hell bent on destroying America by continuing her disastrous policies that have hurt people all across the country,” Mr. Cheung said. Mr. Trump has also called for Democrats to tone down their speech, using his own harsh language to do so. WorkFrederick Schauer, Scholar Who Scrutinized Free Speech, Dies at 78“That does not necessarily mean that the rest of the world is right and the United States wrong,” Professor Schauer was quoted as saying in a profile in the Virginia Journal, “but it does suggest that it is a mistake to assume that free speech does not compete with other legitimate concerns, and a mistake to fail to recognize that we protect speech not because it is harmless, but despite the harm it may cause.” WorkAmerica's Oil Country Increasingly Runs on Renewables“Every state is going to go through this. Texas just happens to be the farthest along because we are growing our energy usage first,” said Michael Lee, the chief executive of Octopus Energy U.S., a subsidiary of the British electricity provider. “We’re seeing this in every other state, and all over the world.” WorkFar From Ohio, Haitian Americans Feel the Sting of Threats in SpringfieldThe United States is home to about 1.2 million people of Haitian heritage, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Since Haitians began arriving in the 1950s amid political upheaval in their homeland, many of them, and many of their U.S.-born children, have climbed the socioeconomic ladder and integrated into American society. WorkAmazon will boost pay for thousands of warehouse workersIn July, Amazon said its latest Prime Day event shattered its own records, with over $14.2 billion in online sales driven by shoppers seeking deals on household essentials, including Amazon Fire TV Sticks, Glad trash bags, and snail serum. WorkDaniel Lubetzky will be Shark Tank's new full-time SharkI also think that in a time with so much division, it’s a show that unites all Americans and teaches us about one of the most powerful forces in society: the American enterprise system. It teaches us to be kind to each other and support one another and to build together. |
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