Posts of 2021

Shein and Faster Fashion's Emergence

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in China,Marketing,Supply Chain at 12/21/2021 01:19:00 PM

Much has already been written about the emergence of "fast fashion": clothing retailers that are able to translate trends seen on the world's fashion runways... to a store near you in a matter of weeks. The success stories of Sweden's H&M and Spain's Mango have become the stuff of business legend in upending the fashion industry in recent decades. It was probably only a matter of time that onetime suppliers in China would become the firms at the cutting edge of evolving to customer's whims and desires that move so quickly. Younger women should be familiar with China-based online retailer Shein. Reflecting the democratization...

2021's Miseries: The Great Creatine Shortage

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in China,Supply Chain at 11/20/2021 08:56:00 AM

By now, it should be obvious to just about everyone that goods whose availability we once took for granted are in short supply. Blame COVID-19 lockdowns affecting countries where these goods are being produced, a breakdown in air/sea/land transport logistics, and so on. The pre-COVID-19 world was built on distributing manufacturing facilities where things could be made most efficiently, assuming fairly inexpensive shipping even across vast distances. Is that world now gone? We'll have to wait and see if and when the pandemic subsides. In the meantime, here's another not-quite-amusing example for those encountering these shortages:...

Oil Crisis? Bah. UK’s Fake Tan Shortage

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Supply Chain at 11/09/2021 03:11:00 AM

There are all sorts of unexpected but fairly amusing shortages occurring worldwide given supply chain snarls that are happening as the world deals with the ongoing pandemic. It seems that spreading out manufacturing and sourcing locations to far-flung areas of the globe makes less sense when logistical hurdles arise due to lockdowns as COVID-19 surges pop up again and again in various key countries. Take, for instance, ethoxydiglycol. This chemical sourced from places like (surprise!) China are in short supply in Europe. Without it, a lot of formulations for cosmetics cannot function properly. Ever wonder how UK celebrities...

Bitcoin's Astounding Environmental Cost

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Energy at 11/01/2021 03:58:00 PM

There's an interesting article in Fortune on the true environmental costs of using Bitcoin as a medium of exchange to replace cash, debit cards, credit cards, and other commonly-used payment methods. Given the enormous amounts of electricity needed for bitcoin mining, it is perhaps no surprise that estimates on the high end find it to be an unsustainable proposition. So much for using Bitcoin for everyday transactions?The [MoneySuperMarket] report states that each Bitcoin transaction consumes 1,173 kilowatt hours of electricity. That's the volume of energy that could "power the typical American home for six weeks,"...

Next in the PRC Firing Line: Hermes, Gucci?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in China,Marketing at 8/30/2021 04:36:00 PM

Unless you've been hiding under a rock these past few months, headlines about how the PRC is cracking down on its most lucrative companies--Internet-based services, video games, online education, and the rest--have dominated business news. This crackdown is ostensibly in the name of maintaining social order--not letting inequality get out of hand, not getting young people hooked on mindless games, and so forth. This social engineering is most evident in new rules aiming to restrict hours spent by those under 18 on video games to no more than three. So far, the largest victims of this erstwhile Xi Jinping-organized socialist...

Is Childbearing Immoral Amid Climate Change?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Environment,Religion at 8/12/2021 06:11:00 PM

Be fruitful and multiply during the age of climate change? Think again. One of the most fascinating existential questions has been posed on the business news channel CNBC, of all places, as would-be parents consider the wisdom of having children. While there are climate deniers like most of the US Republican Party and other reality-challenged individuals, most reasonable people accept the premise that global temperatures are rising due to human activity. The recent IPCC report leaves us in no doubt that things are getting worse in this regard. Already, we are witnessing severe climate change negatively affecting human...

Falling Births? US Needs to Actually be Livable

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Americana,Migration at 6/27/2021 05:07:00 PM

Ever consider that the US birthrate is dropping precipitously since it's a rather s--tty place to live? Like most developed countries, the United States is experiencing cratering birth rates. If the replacement rate is 2.1 birth per woman, its current reported rate of 1.6 is well below that. In other words, depopulation will set in for America just as it has for the likes of Japan and others if births continue to crater and anti-immigrant sentiment scares off would-be migrants. Fewer birth and nobody being welcomed inevitably spells depopulation. Although the United States likes to portray itself in all sorts of self-aggrandizing...

Happiest Country, Finland, Has Few Migrants

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Europe,Migration at 6/22/2021 01:27:00 PM

The Finnish far-right scares away many migrants... but how welcoming are ordinary Finns? There's this interesting conundrum in international migration of countries that, on paper at least, should be among the world's most attractive destinations having problems finding migrant workers. The rationale for this migration are well-known: Developed (and mostly Western) nations with high standards of living are aging, and generous state-provided benefits cannot continue when those being supported (retirees) are promised far greater resources than those being put into the system by current employees. The logical solution in...

Highly Subsidized US Industries: Horse Racing

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Americana,Sports at 5/23/2021 07:44:00 PM

Addled horses may be the least of horse racing's worries if the sport's subsidies take a hit.As a casual follower of horse racing, I was intrigued by the legendary horse trainer Bob Baffert being barred from participating in the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, due to doping. Baffert has already been cited for doping a number of times, but this time is the most noteworthy, just coming off a Kentucky Derby victory in the sport's most prestigious event. As it turns out, horse racing--in the United States at least--is a dying sport. if the pot of money being contested over keeps shrinking, well, that would help...

China-Oz Trade War: Higher Ed Next?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in China,Education at 5/12/2021 06:00:00 PM

Will PRC students soon be an increasingly rare sight on Aussie campuses?Just when you thought China-Australia relations could get no worse, it seems they find something new to quarrel about. Perhaps the last golden goose Australia has left is its higher education sector, which still (rather amazingly) attracts scores of PRC students. That said, there appears movement afoot in China for recruiters to not promote Australia as a higher education. Anticipating matters may get worse (which is likely given how things are going between these two), Aussie universities are setting their sights on diversifying their international student...

Greed is Good: UK COVID-19 Vaccine Edition

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Europe,Health at 3/24/2021 01:31:00 PM

Is the UK topping this table due to "greed" at the EU's expense? The height of 80s money worship is symbolized by the 1987 film Wall Street whereGordon Gekko, Michael Douglas' memorable character, reasoned that "greed is good." As a person who came of age during that decade, all I can say those were the days, my friends, even if I do not necessarily agree with the sentiment. Or has "greed is good" logic been consigned to the dustbin of history? Of all the darndest places, we are now being refamiliarized with the phrase in the age of COVID-19. Supposedly we're in this enlightened age where getting everyone vaccinated is...

Hong Kong Booted From 'Economic Freedom' Rankings

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in China at 3/09/2021 04:19:00 PM

Is Hong Kong circa 2021 ideologically closer to Mao Zedong than Milton Friedman? Hong Kong used to be regarded as the world's shining example of the merits of free markets. No less than Milton Friedman--the most prominent libertarian thinker of his generation--lauded Hong Kong for its economic success due to following laissez-faire policies. Once upon a time, and for quite a long time, Hong Kong led the world in the ease of setting up and closing a business, allowing entrepreneurs manifold opportunities to come up with a formula to make it big. Government rarely made its presence felt back in the day.Like all good things,...

After Qatar, Belligerent Saudi Takes on the UAE

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Middle East,Trade at 2/17/2021 10:07:00 AM

Will the world go to Riyadh if coerced to do so by the Saudi government? With friends like Saudi Arabia, who needs enemies? Upon taking power, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was seen as a reformist, market-friendly leader able to take Saudi Arabia forward into a post-fossil fuel future. This impression has taken a big hit in recent years with the 2017 embargo on Qatar as well as the still-unresolved 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia's Turkish consulate. Taking endless potshots at its fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members doesn't seem to be the way to signal that Saudi Arabia is open for...

The West's WTO Hypocrisy on COVID-19 Meds?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Health,Intellectual Property,Trade at 2/16/2021 12:37:00 PM

Should intellectual property laws upheld by the WTO be waived during a COVID-19 pandemic? I almost forgot to post this one, but it's better late than never, I guess. There have been endless allusions to the idea that, rich or poor, the countries of the world are all in this fight against COVID-19 together. However, when push comes to shove, it appears the reality of the matter is rather different: A few weeks ago, large developing countries put forth the idea at the WTO that intellectual property rights on COVID-19 medicines should be abrogated while a global pandemic is going on. Perhaps unsurprisingly if regrettably,...

Biden's War on Coal @ World Bank

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Bretton Woods Twins,China,Environment at 2/14/2021 11:00:00 AM

There's an interesting article on Politico about how the Biden administration's pledge to limit emissions from fossil fuels will be implemented on the global stage. Sure, reducing subsidies for fossil fuel extraction and consumption at home to set an example for the rest of the world is one thing. However, there are also things the United States can do internationally to help ensure fossil fuels are kept in the ground. In an executive order issued last month, Biden tasked the United States' agencies involved in foreign assistance and development financing--the International Development Finance Corporation (formed in 2019...

Buy American: Biden More Protectionist Than Trump?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Americana,Trade at 1/25/2021 01:18:00 PM

Is Biden a worse protectionist than Trump? Prove it isn't so, Joe.I've been engaged with a lot of real-world work, so I haven't been able to post that much as of late (apologies). Still, here's my initial take on events of 2021 with Joe Biden assuming the US presidency. Although the rest of the world breathed a sigh of relief that the isolationist Donald Trump has literally departed the White House with little fanfare, the question remains: How much of an improvement will Biden be for international economic relations? A new article makes me question whether he will be much of an improvement since Biden is indicating more...

PRC Cities Go Dark Without Aussie Coal

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in China,Energy,Trade at 1/05/2021 04:42:00 AM

While the US-China trade war occupies most of the headlines for obvious reasons--it's the geopolitical rivalry that matters--don't assume there are any number of others going on. Arguably the most notable among these is the deterioration in almost all respects of Australia-China trade relations, which have been accelerated by the Morrison government wanting to investigate China's role in the spread of COVID-19 worldwide seemingly at the outgoing Trump administration's behest. This not-so-genius move is precisely biting the hand that feeds in terms of Australia losing significant access to its largest export market:Australia’s...