International

The early 2020s are shaping up to be the worst economic stretch globally in 30 years

The world economy hasn’t been doing too hot over the past few years, and the early 2020’s are shaping up to be one of the worst times in history. The World Bank said yesterday that the early 2020s are projected to be the worst half-decade for global economic growth in over 30 years.

Despite the US doing well and major economies thwarting inflation without sending the world into a recession, World Bank Chief Economist Indermit S. Gill claims the big-picture outlook remains “dismal.”

• He projects that global GDP will expand at a meager 2.4% this year, below last year’s 2.6% and the 2010s’ annual average of 3.1%.

• Meanwhile, per capita investment growth in 2024 is expected to slow to 3.7%, less than half the annual average in the previous 20 years.

Poor countries are expected to suffer the most

High borrowing costs and slowing global trade growth will limit economic progress in low-income countries, the World Bank is expecting the mitigated growth to slow down or even halt global objectives.

This means the UN’s goals of stomping out extreme poverty and slashing greenhouse gas emissions ahead of 2030 are looking dire. It also predicts that by the end of this year, 25% of people in low-income countries will be poorer than they were before the pandemic.

The 2020s will be “a decade of wasted opportunity”, unless low-income countries boost investment and promote international trade, according to Gill. The US economy already doing better than expected can be another boon, World Bank Deputy Chief Economist Ayhan Kose told Axios.

This country finally banned its citizens from selling dog meat

The centuries old practice of eating dog meat will come to an end in South Korea. After almost four decades of South Korean legislators promising to end the dog meat industry, the country’s Parliament voted almost unanimously to make it illegal to breed, sell, and kill dogs for human consumption.

The bill’s passage mirrors the quickly evolving public opinion towards the traditional dish. Eating dog meat dates back centuries in South Korea, but younger generations are quickly moving away from it.

• Only 8% of South Koreans in a 2022 survey said they had eaten dog meat in the previous year compared to 27% in 2015, according to Gallup Korea.

Animal rights advocates credit the change in attitude to the growing number of pet dogs in South Korea.

• That number rocketed to over 3 million dogs in 2022 from 1.3 million in 2018, according to the country’s Agriculture Ministry.

To help ease the transition, there’s a three-year grace period before the law takes effect.

However, there has been some pushback

An association of dog farmers protested the bill in the months before it passed, arguing that eating dog meat was a matter of individual choice, and demanding more compensation for farmers who would lose their businesses as a result of a ban.

As compensation, the law will also offer financial incentives for dog farmers and owners of restaurants that serve dog meat to switch jobs, requiring each to submit a “phaseout plan” to a local government.

The US targets Houthi rebels as they continue to disrupt global trade

The US made its intentions known after striking multiple Houthi controlled military targets. The US and UK were at the head of a coalition which recently struck over 70 military targets controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea joined the US and UK in issuing a statement saying that while their main goal is to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, the allies will not hesitate to defend shipping freights and protect trade in the crucial body of water.

The rebel group claims they’re supporting Hamas by attacking passing ships. In the past three months, they’ve fired at dozens of commercial vessels on the route that connects Asia to markets in Europe and the US East Coast, which accounts for $1 trillion in global trade every year.

What exactly was carried out?

It was the most decisive action yet regarding concerns about the Iran-backed group disrupting global trade in the Red Sea. The Houthis then promised to strike back, bringing up new fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East beyond the Israel–Hamas war.

The strikes in Yemen conducted in what was called a “nonoperational collaboration” with Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands followed a strict ultimatum for the attacks to stop made by the US. It also came after the Houthis launched a barrage of drones at American ships earlier in the week.

The Pentagon said it has left the Houthis with “degraded capability.” But Yemen scholar Farea Al-Muslimi told the Wall Street Journal that the response might’ve been mostly symbolic given the Houthis’ sizable resources.

Economic consequences

The strikes on the Houthis are already having an economic impact:

• Oil prices rose 1% the day of the attack and remain around the same point. However, gold rallied as international concerns sparked haven demand.

• The US told ships to steer clear of the Red Sea for three days, though most companies, including Danish shipping giant Maersk, have already been rerouting around the horn Africa.

Disruptions caused by the Houthis have driven up shipping costs and times, and it’s being felt around the globe.

• Tesla said shipping delays for car parts have caused them to pause production at its biggest European plant in Germany until the middle of next month.

• Ikea and British chain Marks & Spencer said that some of their spring collection items might arrive in stores late this year.

Intelligence expert Christopher Long told the WSJ the long term future of shipping in the Red Sea ultimately depends on decisions the Houthis make and whether Iran keeps sending them weapons.

Business

Microsoft was briefly the world's most valuable public company

Microsoft was recently crowned king of publicly traded companies, and then gave the throne right back to Apple. The AI-led stock rally that Microsoft has enjoyed for months boosted the software company’s market cap to $2.9 trillion Thursday morning, briefly edging past Apple’s $2.89 trillion.

Apple had been the most valuable company in the world for a year and a half, and off and on for more than 10 years. Apple took back its seat by the afternoon, but Microsoft’s momentary reign (the fourth time it’s briefly overtaken Apple in five years) indicates that the tables may be turning between the two tech giants.

These two have a long history

Microsoft and Apple were inseparable in the early days of tech giants, when computers created by Steve Jobs used software developed by Bill Gates. But, peace couldn’t last forever.

Their relationship worsened in the 80s, when Apple sued Microsoft for allegedly ripping off its Macintosh software (Apple lost), and in the 90s when Jobs publicly dragged Microsoft’s products.

But then, Microsoft saved Apple. In 1997, Apple was nearly bankrupt when Microsoft invested $150 million to keep the company alive and well. Jobs called Gates and thanked him personally for the saving grace.

Looking to today…

Microsoft and Apple account for about 14% of the S&P 500. In the past year alone:

• Microsoft’s early investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI came to fruition with its new Office AI tool, Copilot, for Microsoft 365, which could generate $10 billion annually by 2026.

• Shares in Microsoft increased by 63%, compared with 39% for Apple, per the Wall Street Journal.

Why is Apple getting less demand? The main reason is it’s facing slower demand for its iPhones, especially in China. While Microsoft boosts its business with AI, Apple will soon find out if it can do the same with augmented reality devices when the company releases its Vision Pro in February.

Tech companies are still laying off their employees

Tech companies must’ve made a resolution to cut some of their workforce, because they’re following through with it. The first two weeks of the year came with astounding numbers regarding layoff announcements, and there are probably more to come.

Just 14 days into the New Year, 46 tech companies had laid off around 7,500 employees, per layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi.

• Google confirmed it was cutting about 1,000 employees last Wednesday across its Google Assistant, core engineering, and hardware teams that work on Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit.

• Amazon cut hundreds of people working in its Audible, Twitch, MGM Studios, and Prime Video units.

• Discord, the messaging app with a possible IPO around the corner, shaved off almost 20% of its staff.

• Apple, which dodged the huge tech layoff wave last year, is shutting down a 121-person team working on AI in San Diego, Bloomberg reported.

And it’s not just tech companies that are cutting down their numbers… In finance, Citigroup said it will cut 10% of its global workforce (20,000 employees) over the next two years, and BlackRock plans to lay off 600 workers, or about 3% of the total.

But it can’t be as bad as 2023? Right?

Last year, tech companies cut nearly 263,000 jobs after acknowledging that the massive growth they experienced during Covid was an anomaly fueled by low interest rates and the pandemic.

Despite the wave of layoffs so far this year, experts told Wired these job cuts are for different (and less jarring) reasons than those in past years. Rather than all encompassing cost-cutting efforts, many of the early 2024 layoffs reflect relatively healthy tech companies shuffling their priorities as the generative AI craze only gets even crazier.

That may not be reassuring to anxious employees, but it’s not atypical. Layoffs have historically risen through the end of the fiscal year in December and January, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, hiring across the US economy remains steady: The unemployment rate declined to 3.7% in December.

Hey everyone,

We recently put together a FREE E-book to help you navigate the complex media landscape. Step by step, we outline how you can take control of your consumption of information in an objective and rational manner.

If this sounds like something you may like, click the link below for no cost.

We also offer a 75-page full version of the E-book that offers an even more comprehensive look into how you can take advantage of the information around us, for only $2.50.

Grab Bag

You’re probably drinking more plastic than you’d like

Those who drink from plastic bottled water beware, because a new study has some harrowing news. A study published this week found that the typical plastic bottle of water contains up to 100 times as many plastic fragments as scientists previously thought.

The new research is the first to look at water bottles for “nanoplastics,” which are even more tiny than microplastics and may account for the vast majority of plastic contamination. That’s extremely concerning because nanoplastics are small enough to enter the bloodstream, breach cell walls, and can pass into a fetus.

Researchers at Columbia University and Rutgers University found that after testing bottled water from three popular American brands…

• One-liter bottles of water contain anywhere from 110,000 to 370,000 plastic particles, 90% of which are nanoplastics.

• Much of that plastic comes from the bottles themselves, but particles are also present at every stage of water production, the researchers said.

We’re not only drinking plastic, we’re eating it, too. Consumer Reports recently found a “widespread” presence of plastic in foods, with plastic showing up in 84 of the 85 foods it tested, including in many popular items found at grocery stores. Gotta love it.

”Swatters” are increasingly targeting politicians

“Swatting” has has become a common problem for video game streamers and internet celebrities, but now it’s affecting politicians. Last week, swatters targeted Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge presiding over the case concerning Donald Trump’s alleged issurection attempts, claiming there was a shooting at her house.

She’s just the latest in a recent wave of swatting (a form of harassment that involves calling the police under false pretenses to send a SWAT team to someone’s home).

• Federal lawmakers including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, New York Rep. Brandon Williams, and Florida Sen. Rick Scott have been swatted in the past few months.

• Jack Smith, the special counsel who’s prosecuting former President Trump in two cases, was swatted on Christmas Day.

• A 911 caller pretended to have broken into the home of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows the day after she disqualified Trump from being on the state’s primary ballot.

This is a real issue

The falsified calls often claim a bomb threat, murder, or burglary, creating a dangerous situation as law enforcement arrives to the scene to subdue potentially armed criminals. In some cases, people have died.

And as election season begins with the Iowa caucuses, experts fear that the increase in swatting could affect how politicians conduct themselves, as violent threats have in the past.

Sadly, it’s not the only kind of harassment that’s seeing an increase in use:

• More than a dozen state capitols were closed or evacuated last week after election officials received fake bomb threats via email.

• Attorney General Merrick Garland said the threats of violence “threaten the fabric of our democracy.”

Is there anything being done about it? Multiple politicians have called for legislation that would make it easier to identify those responsible for swatting and levy stronger penalties.

For now, no arrests have been made in connection with the crimes mentioned, as the callers almost always use fake caller ID or phone software to call undetectable.

Fast Facts

Bass Pro Strip: A man was arrested after he crashed his car into an Alabama Bass Pro Shop, took off his clothes, and cannonballed into the store’s giant aquarium.

Song Selector: This site uses AI to generate songs in any style you choose, including the lyrics.

Super Screen: Apple’s Vision Pro headset will launch in the US on Feb. 2, with preorders opening Jan. 19. The headset costs $3.5k (prescription lenses can be added for an additional $149), runs on visionOS, and holds 256GB of storage.

Preventative Bra: Scientists developed an ultrasound bra that can send real-time breast screening data to a user’s phone to detect cancer earlier.

Unbearable Balm: Hidden Valley collaborated with Burt’s Bees to create four new lip balm flavors: Ranch, Buffalo Sauce, Crunchy Celery, and Fresh Carrot. Yummy?

If you enjoyed our newsletter even a little bit, please don’t hesitate to share, it would mean a lot! 😄 Also, if you’d like more snippets and critical analysis of the media please follow our X (Twitter) down below!