The digital divide is going into reverse. Until recently, it was all about access to technology; but now, it’s about limiting access to technology. Among those who know most about tech, the worry about the impact that digital devices have on their children is such that they are moving toward a complete or partial ban. In Silicon Valley, elite schools now eschew most digital devices…
MONTHLY BAROMETER It is often said that technology destroys jobs but not work. True indeed. But many new jobs are being created beyond tech. “Pet wellness”—a fast-growing business—is one such example. Although why some of us (in increasing numbers) treat our animals as if they were humans is not easy to explain, the investment case of anthropomorphism is incontrovertible. This year, pet spending in the…
By Thierry Malleret, economist The Big Tech companies, such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, are now using data and augmented reality to enter the retail beauty market, aiming to disrupt the bricks-and-mortar stores that currently dominate this massive industry. What’s happening? Amazon already owns 20 percent of the online retail beauty market but is aiming to expand further with the recent launch of a line…
MONTHLY BAROMETER The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the current state of climate makes for grim reading. Its overarching conclusion is that every fraction of a degree of warming matters; and that if we want to limit global warming to 1.5˚ C (2.7˚ F) in the hope of averting catastrophe, we have as little as 12 years to act, which requires…
By Thierry Malleret, economist Monthly Barometer Recent history shows us that economic growth can’t be truly green, so what are the broad consequences for investors? (1) Any industry or company seen as being particularly damaging to ecology will suffer; (2) Any profitable business perceived as minimizing ecologically bad outcomes while maximizing socially good ones will prosper; (3) Militant environmentalism will radicalize in the future, wreaking…
A book that just came out (Heart: A History, from Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist) sheds some fascinating light on the connection between wellbeing and cardiac issues. Put in the simplest possible terms: Stress can kill. As the author explains, the connection between our physical heart and our emotions is an intimate one. Sentiments, such as fear and grief, can cause cardiac injury by causing blood…
