Dark Kitchens Are Not the Dystopia You Think They Are
What’s scary about dark kitchens is not that they work badly, it’s that they work well. They are the path of least resistance in an economy whose workforce no longer has the time or inclination to cook.
Spot Markets Live Transcript: 12/12/22
Izabella Kaminska 11:00 … Hello and welcome to Spot Markets Live and the chaos that is a UK SNOW DAY. Today I’m joined by Anjuli Davies. Anjuli Davies 11:01 Howdy and happy snowballs. And good luck if you were on the M25 https://twitter.com/i/status/1602089639317278721 Izabella Kaminska 11:02 Whoa The UK always grinds to a halt because […]
What the MrBeast Burgers Phenomenon Tells us About Our Low-Trust Economy
It’s easy to be condescending about a market dominated by shaking rears that can attract more media coverage than statements by political or religious elites. The rise of influencers has left many non-social-media natives confused about the seemingly trivial nature of their success. Trivial they may be. But you’d be wrong to dismiss their power. […]
Is the West Quietly Initiating Russian Sanctions Theatre?
Well looky here. The United Kingdom imported around £200mn worth of Russian oil since March, according to the Sunday Times. Much of that sanctions-circumventing oil was transferred into British ports as a result of Russian ships carrying out ship-to-ship transfers at sea to conceal their port of origin. The cargoes were then declared as originating […]
The Israel-Lebanon Gas Deal Isn’t Over – But It’s In Danger
Another year, another Israeli election. This time, everyone’s favourite Israeli hard-right security freak Benjamin Netanyahu, a.k.a Bibi, is back. His Likud party and allied coalition members gained a solid majority of 64 in the most recent elections. Understandably, with Bibi’s election, much is at stake. But some say it’s the survival of the Israel-Lebanon gas […]
Rise of the Military Industrial Complex Influencers
It’s becoming clear that the influencer economy is not just transforming the art of marketing – it is transforming everything. Latest estimates from social media analytics firm Social Shepherd project that the influencer sector will grow to around $15bn by the end of 2022, versus a mere $1.7bn in 2016. This growth applies to far […]
UFOs as a Counterintelligence or Information Theory Problem
A note from the editor: UFOs might not seem an obvious area of interest for a finance-focused outlet. But the potential economic and societal implications of the phenomenon have never been more relevant. Since last year, government bodies across the world have chosen to treat the phenomenon increasingly seriously, dedicating ever greater budgetary resources to […]
Ignore Francafrique at your own peril
The French enjoy speaking about their country’s supposed decline. Complaints about the impoverished areas of Saint-Denis, poor job prospects, or the calamitous state of the RER metro line are typical. But France’s decline is most visible a few thousand kilometers to the south – in the slow downfall of Francafrique. The Sahel has been rocked […]
The Malian Prime Minister Has Accused France of Arming Terrorists – And He’s Not (Entirely) Wrong
On September 30, a coup rocked Burkina Faso for the second time this year. 34-year-old Captain Ibrahim Traore took the reins of the country, stating the former military leader Paul-Henri Damiba was unable to cope with a surge of armed uprisings across the West African country. This followed Damiba’s own coup on January 24 against then-PM […]
When Betting goes Right, and Investing Doesn’t
It was during the market closing hours of September 28 that Jake Freeman opened his portfolio and counted his losses; his holdings in the psychedelic biotech company, Mind Medical, had just dropped by 49%. Just weeks before, his face had been plastered over financial media because of his trade on then-meme stock favourite Bed, Bath, […]
