Charted: Gen Z Job Attitudes Compared with Other Generations

​Charted: Gen Z Job Attitudes Compared with Other Generations
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Young working adults from Gen Z—born between 1997-2012—so far have a different relationship with their employers than other generations.

Gone are the days of sticking with one company for an entire 40-year career. According to Oliver Wyman, Gen Z workers shop around when it comes to work: 62% of them are actively or passively looking for new jobs.

This chart uses data from Oliver Wyman’s Gen-Z Report (2023) to showcase the generational divides of survey respondents who said they were either actively or passively looking for new work. The survey assessed 10,000 adults in the United States and United Kingdom.

The Survey Results
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As of 2023, Gen Z already makes up approximately 15% of the workforce in the U.S. and UK. By 2031, that share is predicted to climb to 31%, second only to millennials.

And many in this young, up-and-coming labor force are more open about seeking alternative employment compared to their older counterparts:

While millennials follow closely behind, far fewer Gen Xers and baby boomers are seeking new roles. Part of this, however, could simply be that those in older generations are far more established in their roles or careers, and are less actively looking for change.

Regardless, Gen Z is incredibly flexible. When compared to other generations, they are also more than twice as likely to have an additional job on the side of their main role.

Shifting Approach to Work
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One of the biggest reasons Gen Z actively scours available job postings is because of economic disparities between generations.

Of Gen Z workers, 37% feel underpaid for the amount of hours they work, compared to 29% of non-Gen Z workers. Gen Z women in particular were found to be almost 60% more likely than Gen Z men to leave a job in search of better compensation.

On top of consistently seeking better pay, Gen Z also wants to retire earlier. Looking at average U.S. and UK data, Gen Z’s ideal retirement age is astoundingly young at 54 years old, but most don’t realistically expect to be retired until 60.

Gen Z is important to watch as they are the most diverse, most educated, and most technological savvy generation in history.

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Ranked: The World’s Largest Cities By Population

​Ranked: The World’s Largest Cities By Population
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The world has experienced rapid urbanization over the last century.

Today, more than 4.3 billion people live in urban settings, or 55% of the world’s population.

But what is the world’s largest city? Answers to that question will vary greatly depending on which lines are being used to demarcate city boundaries and measure their populations.

The graphic above uses data taken from the latest official censuses and projections to rank the top cities based on the three most common metrics.

The Largest Cities by City Proper
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Our first metric is based on the city proper, meaning the administrative boundaries.

According to the United Nations, a city proper is “the single political jurisdiction which contains the historical city center.”

The Chinese city of Chongqing leads the ranks by this metric and has an administrative boundary the size of Austria, with an urban population of 32.1 million.

The city’s monorail system holds records for being the world’s longest and busiest, boasting 70 stations. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, is among the world’s top 50 busiest airports. Additionally, the city ranks among the globe’s top 50 hubs for scientific research.

Other Chinese cities dominate the ranking by this metric:

The first non-Chinese city, Delhi, has been experiencing one of the fastest urban expansions in the world.

The United Nations projects India will add over 400 million urban dwellers by 2050, compared to 250 million people in China and 190 million in Nigeria.

The Largest Cities by Urban Area
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This measurement largely ignores territorial boundaries and considers a city a contiguous, connected built-up area.

Demographia describes urban areas as functioning as an integrated economic unit, linked by commuting flows, social, and economic interactions.

By this metric, Tokyo leads the ranking:

The city proper houses about 10% of Japan’s population. If the greater Tokyo metro area is considered, including cities like Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, then Tokyo’s total population surpasses 37 million—about 30% of the country total.

Consequently, even with one of the world’s largest railway systems, trains in Tokyo are incredibly crowded, with a boarding rate of 200% during peak time in the most overcrowded areas.

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Charted: The Rise and Fall of WeWork

​Charted: The Rise and Fall of WeWork
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Despite its recommitment to core business fundamentals in the last few years, WeWork’s management—which saw a shakeup in May 2023 when CEO Sandeep Mathrani departed—is setting off a signal flare about the company’s future.

“Our losses and negative cash flows from operating activities raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.” — WeWork, SEC filing, August 8th, 2023.

But how did the once-poster child of Silicon Valley end up seeing its valuation collapse more than 99% from its peak?

Pulling together data from Business Insider, YCharts, SEC Filings, and Crunchbase we follow the rise and fall of WeWork since 2011.

The Rise of WeWork: 2010–2019
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WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey with the primary objective of providing shared workspaces catered to freelancers, startups, and companies seeking “flexible office solutions.”

The business model, which rested on renting space from developers long-term, renovating and parceling the property, and subsequently leasing it out to short-term clients, thrived in a decade of low interest rates.

Its valuation surpassed $1 billion in 2014, earning the coveted “unicorn” status. In 2017, SoftBank Group made the first of its total $18.5 billion investment in the company. Two years later, WeWork hit a peak valuation of $47 billion with SoftBank’s continued investments, raising expectations for an imminent IPO.

Footnote: *SoftBank valuation is based on discounted cash flow method.

The Fall of WeWork: 2019–2023
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Intensive scrutiny fueled by the impending IPO raised several questions for the company. These included concerns around Neumann’s leadership style, excessive spending, creative accounting, and conflicts of interest leading to Neumann’s resignation and delay of the IPO.

In October 2019, SoftBank Group acquired 80% of the company with $5 billion of additional funding. A month later WeWork laid off 2,400 employees, nearly one-fifth of its workforce.

Real estate veteran Sandeep Mathrani was made CEO in 2020, tasked with turning the company around by eliminating recurring costs and restructuring its debt.

That same year the COVID-19 pandemic forced a significant shift to remote work, causing a decline in office space demand.

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The Most-Viewed YouTube Videos of All Time

​The Most-Viewed YouTube Videos of All Time
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YouTube has been the dominant force in video streaming for well over a decade, with music being a huge driver of the platform’s growth.

However, there seems to have been a demographic shift in YouTube’s audience over the years.

While commercial music videos once dominated the rankings of the most-viewed videos on YouTube, they have since faced stiff competition from an unlikely source: nursery rhymes and children’s educational videos.

This graphic pulls up the 20 most viewed videos on YouTube, revealing the rising demand for kid-focused content and videos as of August 2023.

Now Streaming for Children
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Launched in 2016 by Korean education brand Pinkfong, the catchy “Baby Shark (do-do, do-do-do-do)” dance video became the first music video ever to cross 10 billion views in January 2021.

Nine of the top 20 most-viewed YouTube videos today offer content geared toward children:

With total views of 13 billion today, “Baby Shark” surpasses the music video for Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” (previously the most-viewed YouTube video) by almost five billion views.

And other popular child-focused music videos are close behind. “Johny Johny Yes Papa” (#3) and Cocomelon’s “Bath Song” (#4) nudged Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” and Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” down to the fifth and sixth rank in the list of most-viewed YouTube videos.

Catchy or Educational?
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While many attribute the popularity of kid-focused videos to repetitive lyrics, familiar nursery rhymes, or otherwise catchy music that can’t get out of your head, research says otherwise.

A study by the Pew Research Center found that YouTube plays a key role in providing content for children. 81% of parents of kids aged 11 and younger allow their children to watch YouTube, with 35% of these kids using the platform regularly.

And this has become a lucrative business too. In 2021, the company behind Cocomelon and other popular kids channels was acquired for around $3 billion.

If these trends keep up, we may see more kid-focused content climb up this Top 20 list in the future as well.

The post The Most-Viewed YouTube Videos of All Time appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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Digital Transformation: 4 Essential Strategies for Businesses

​4 Digital Strategies to Transform a Business
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Digital technology can have a profound impact on the success of a business, so it’s no surprise that a whopping 93% of organizations are either operating with a digital-first business strategy or plan to in the future.

But what does digital transformation involve? 

In this graphic, sponsored by Airwallex, we explore four strategies that are essential for digital transformation. Let’s dive in.

1. Embrace Embedded Finance
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Embedded finance weaves financial products such as payment plans or insurance into non-financial products, creating symbiotic financial ecosystems with a variety of benefits for both the business and their consumers.

For example, Uber created a financial ecosystem using embedded finance by allowing customers to pay for their rides without the need for cash or cards, providing safety and security while securing payment in real time. 

2. Optimize the Payment Experience
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Businesses of all shapes and sizes can operate without borders because of the evolution of eCommerce. However they need to support the right payment solutions to reflect the changing behaviors of consumers.

In 2022, digital wallets were the most used eCommerce payment method globally, representing 49% of transaction value—significantly higher than credit cards (20%) and debit cards (12%).

According to the Global Payments Report, businesses must also consider regional payment trends that are local to their customers. In the Australian market for example, almost 25% of eCommerce transactional value comes from payment types like buy now pay later (BNPL) or direct transfers using Account-to-Account (A2A) payments.

Moreover, Australia will continue to lead the digital wallet charge with an estimated CAGR of 16% to 2026 according to the same report.

3. Leverage Software Integration
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Integrated and cloud-based software systems have become indispensable tools in digital transformation. These systems provide enhanced databases, advanced analytics, and provide valuable business intelligence.

In a 2023 survey, PwC found 78% of executives had adopted cloud technology in most or all parts of the business, and that this was unlocking significant value in many areas.

4.

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Visualizing $156 Trillion in U.S. Assets, by Generation

​Visualizing U.S. Wealth by Generation
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The distribution of wealth is an important measure of the economic power of each generation.

In the U.S., for example, baby boomers own half of the nation’s $156 trillion in assets despite making up 21% of the country’s population.

To learn more about U.S. wealth by generation, we’ve created two visualizations using Q4 2022 data from the Federal Reserve that break down both the assets and liabilities held by each American generation.

Assets by Generation
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Assets by generation are listed in the table below. All figures are as of Q4 2022 and in USD trillions.

Baby boomers’ biggest category of assets is Equities & Mutual Funds, where they own 56% of the national total. Millennials, on the other hand, represent just 2%.

Where millennials do have more wealth is Real Estate, with 12% of the national total. This suggests that millennials have, for the most part, foregone investing in financial assets in order to purchase a home.

Liabilities by Generation
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The following charts show a breakdown of liabilities by generation. Not surprisingly, Mortgages make up the largest component of liabilities for all generations.

Something to highlight is that millennials are carrying the largest amount of Consumer Credit, at $2 trillion (representing about 43% of total consumer credit). As of 2022, millennials accounted for 22% of the U.S. population.

U.S. Wealth by Generation
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Finally, we subtract liabilities from assets to arrive at total wealth by generation in the United States. Figures again are USD and in trillions.

As a final note, it’s worth highlighting that Gen Z is still too young to be included as a separate demographic in datasets like these. Born between 1997 and 2012, these individuals are currently between 11 and 26 years old. Interestingly, the Federal Reserve currently considers all U.S. adults born after 1981 as millennials.

The post Visualizing $156 Trillion in U.S. Assets, by Generation appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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Ranked: World’s Biggest Wine Producers by Country

​Ranked: World’s Biggest Wine Producers By Country
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“Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied”—Homer, The Iliad

Wine has been in our cups, in our thoughts, and in our poems for many a millennia, from the antics of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, to its symbolism in the Last Supper. But breaking down the biggest wine producers by country in the modern era leads to some interesting surprises.

This infographic by Alberto Rojo Moro uses data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) to visualize where wine production is concentrated in the world.

We take a quick look below.

The Top Wine Producers By Country in 2022
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At the top of the list, Italy produced nearly 50 million hectoliters—or about 1,994 Olympic-sized swimming pools—of wine in 2022, accounting for nearly one-fifth of total production in the year. Less than half of that wine was sent to overseas markets, also making Italy the biggest exporter of the beverage by volume.

One hectoliter is equal to 100 liters and is used as a unit of measure for wine, beer, and other agricultural produce.The country’s long coastline results in a moderate climate, allowing winemaking to occur in 20 different regions in Italy, with Veneto, Apulia, Emilia-Romagna, and Sicily leading in production.

Other known wine connoisseur countries—France (45.6 hectoliters) and Spain (35.8 million hectoliters)—rank second and third in wine production respectively. Together these three countries make up half of the world’s wine supply.

Here’s a full list of the world’s biggest wine producers by country.

Note: Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

The U.S., ranked 4th, is the top wine producer from the Americas, beating out other wine-producing countries like Chile (8th) and Argentina (9th).

South Africa, ranked 10th, is one of only four African countries in the dataset as winemaking isn’t as widespread on the continent as other regions in the world.

Meanwhile, China (ranked 14th) is the top wine producer from Asia. The region’s preference for other distilled spirits helps explain why the next two biggest Asian wine producers, Japan (25th) and Türkiye (31st) occupy the middle ranks.

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The 50 Most Valuable Companies in the World in 2023

​The 50 Most Valuable Companies in the World
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Market capitalization, or market cap, is one measure of a company’s value as determined by the stock market. It is easily calculated by multiplying the company’s outstanding shares by its current share price.

In this graphic, we present a treemap chart that visualizes the world’s top 50 publicly-traded companies by market cap, using data as of Aug. 16, 2023.

Editor’s note: While market capitalization is a simple way to compare publicly-traded companies, it does have some limitations. Most importantly, it does not include debt or cash in the calculation.

Data and Highlights
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All of the data we used to create this graphic is included in the table below. 


From this data, we can see that there are only a handful of trillion dollar companies in the world, including Apple, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco, Amazon, Alphabet, and Nvidia.

Two former members of the trillion dollar club are Meta and Tesla, but both companies currently hover around the $700 billion range in terms of market capitalization. In 2022, Meta lost significant value as its earnings fell, while Tesla suffered from demand concerns.

Altogether, the 50 most valuable companies represent over $26.5 trillion in shareholder value. At a sector level, Information Technology is the most represented in the top 50, with $9.3 trillion in combined market cap. The next biggest sectors are Consumer Discretionary ($4.0 trillion) and Health Care ($3.3 trillion).

Geographical Breakdown
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At a geographical level, the majority of the 50 most valuable companies are American. The following chart shows each country’s tally.

After the U.S., the three most represented countries are Switzerland, France, and China, with three companies apiece.

From Switzerland are companies such as Nestlé, Roche, and Novartis. The latter two are major players in the healthcare industry.

France’s companies in the top 50 list all belong to the Consumer Discretionary sector, and include fashion giants LVMH and Hermès, as well as L’Oréal, a global leader in cosmetics. Earlier this year, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault was officially the richest person in the world with a fortune of $215 billion.

Finally, from the Chinese side are two globally-recognized names in Tencent and Alibaba.

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Visualized: U.S. Corporate Bankruptcies On the Rise

​Visualized: U.S. Corporate Bankruptcies on the Rise
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In March, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, plunging its parent company SVB Financial Group into bankruptcy a week later.

While many expected a wave of bank failures to follow, much of this has since been averted—but cracks have begun to emerge with Moody’s recent downgrading of 10 small and mid-sized banks.

Across the wider corporate landscape, bankruptcies have begun to tick higher. Overstretched balance sheets coupled with 11 interest rate hikes since last year have added to mounting challenges for companies across many sectors.

This graphic shows the surge in corporate bankruptcies in 2023 based on data from S&P Global.

U.S. Corporate Bankruptcies Grow
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So far in 2023, over 400 corporations have gone under. Corporate bankruptcies are rising at the fastest pace since 2010 (barring the pandemic), and are double the level seen this time last year.

Below, we show trends in corporate casualties with data as of July 31, 2023:

Represents public or private companies with public debt where either assets or liabilities are greater than or equal to $2 million, or private companies where assets or liabilities are greater than or equal to $10 million at time of bankruptcy.

Firms in the consumer discretionary and industrial sectors have seen the most bankruptcies, based on available data. Historically, both sectors carry significant debt on their balance sheets compared to other sectors, putting them at higher risk in a rising rate environment.

Overall, U.S. corporate interest costs have increased 22% annually compared to the first quarter of 2021. These additional costs, combined with higher wages, energy, and materials, among others, mean that companies may be under greater pressure to cut costs, restructure their debt, or in the worst case, fold.

Billion-Dollar Bankruptcies
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This year, 16 companies with over $1 billion in liabilities have filed for bankruptcy. Among the most notable are retail chain Bed Bath & Beyond and the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank.

Mattress giant Serta Simmons filed for bankruptcy early this year. It once made up nearly 20% of bedding sales in America. With a vast share of debt coming due this year, the company was unable to make payments due to higher borrowing costs.

What Comes Next?

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Visualizing the Impact of the G20’s Corporate Subsidies

​Visualizing the Impact of the G20’s Corporate Subsidies
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Corporate subsidies refer to financial incentives provided by governments to domestic businesses. 

These incentives aim to promote economic growth within a specific industry, and can take various forms such as direct crash grants, tax breaks, low-interest loans, or favorable regulations. While corporate subsidies can have positive effects on a country’s economy, they can also create an uneven playing field in the global market. 

This graphic from the Hinrich Foundation visualizes the impact of the G20’s use of corporate subsidies, from 2008 to Q1 2023. 

Number of Subsidy Distortions by Implementing Country
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The following table includes all of the data we used to create the first chart in this graphic, which was sourced from Global Trade Alert’s Corporate Subsidy Inventory. 

A key point to understand is that this data does not represent the number of subsidies implemented by each country. Rather, it shows the number of market distortions that resulted as a consequence of those subsidies.

As we can see, China and the U.S. account for a massive chunk of the G20’s subsidy-related market distortions between 2008 and Q1 2023. According to CSIS, China spent more on corporate subsidies than it did on defense in 2019. Of the country’s 176,479 market distortions, approximately 95% have stemmed from the use of financial grants. 

China has a long history of providing substantial financial aid to its major companies. This includes Huawei, which became a global leader in 5G networks despite being founded just 35 years ago in 1987. A 2019 story from The Wall Street Journal found that Huawei had benefited from as much as $75 billion in government aid.

Turning focus to the U.S., the largest sources of its market distortions were financial grants (16%), state loans (15%), and production subsidies (14%). 

A recent example of American subsidies is Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act, which provides $39 billion in aid to boost domestic chip making, as well as billions more to support the semiconductor industry as a whole.

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Visualizing the Future Global Economy by GDP in 2050

​Visualizing the Future Global Economy by GDP in 2050
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According to a recent report from Goldman Sachs, the balance of global economic power is projected to shift dramatically in the coming decades.

More specifically, analysts believe that Asia could soon become the largest regional contributor to world GDP, surpassing the traditional economic powerhouses grouped together in the Developed Markets (DM) category.

In the graphic above, we’ve visualized Goldman Sachs’ real GDP forecasts for the year 2050 using a voronoi diagram.

Data and Highlights
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The following table includes a regional breakdown of expected real GDP in 2050. All figures are based on 2021 USD.

Based on these projections, Asia (ex DM) will represent 40% of global GDP, slightly ahead of Developed Markets’ expected share of 36%. This would mark a massive shift from 50 years ago (2000), when DMs represented over 77% of global GDP.

AsiaFocusing on Asia, China and India will account for the majority of the region’s expected GDP in 2050, though growth in China will have tapered off significantly. In fact, Goldman Sachs expects annual real GDP growth in the country to average 1.1% through the 2050s. This is surprisingly slower than America’s expected 1.4% annual growth during the same decade.

The fastest growing economies in Asia during the 2050s will be India (3.1% annually), Bangladesh (3.0% annually), and the Philippines (3.5% annually). These countries are expected to thrive thanks to their high population growth rates and relatively low median age, which translates into a larger work force.

Latin AmericaTurning our attention to Latin America, we can see that the region will account for a relatively small 7% of global GDP in 2050. According to Goldman Sachs’ previous projections from 2011, many Latin American countries have underperformed over the past decade. For example, Brazil’s real GDP shrank from $2.7 trillion in 2010, to $1.5 trillion in 2020.

Because of these setbacks, Goldman Sachs believes Indonesia will be able to overtake Brazil as the world’s largest emerging market before 2050.

That said, Brazil’s economic ranking is still expected to climb above France and Canada by then, if these projections prove to be accurate.

The post Visualizing the Future Global Economy by GDP in 2050 appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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Lessons from Recessions: Analyzing the TSX During Financial Crises

​Lessons from Recessions: The TSX During Financial Crises
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Since 2000, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has gone through three major downturns.

This infographic, sponsored by Fidelity Investments, explores the buildup, crash triggers, and subsequent recoveries from the three major downturns in the S&P/TSX Composite Index, the benchmark Canadian index.

The Three Downturns
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Following historical data from Yahoo Finance, here’s a closer look at the three financial crises that led to downturns, impacting the TSX Composite between 2000 and 2022.

### 1) The Dot-Com Bubble

The new millennium started with internet technology redefining businesses.

Buildup: The hype and speculation surrounding the internet’s vast potential formed a bubble, leading to inflated stock prices despite many companies lacking profits or revenue. 

Market Crash: As reality took hold, investor sentiment swiftly shifted, triggering rapid sell-offs. From September 2000 to October 2002, the TSX Composite fell by 50%.

Venture capitalist Fred Wilson said:

“Much of the capital invested was lost, but also much of it was invested in a very high throughput backbone for the Internet…All that stuff has allowed what we have today, which has changed our lives.”

Recovery: Investments were reevaluated, while new digital technologies were also emerging. This ignited a resurgence that laid the groundwork for a new bull market. However, it took over 1,000 trading days to recover.

### 2. Global Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis that started in 2007 brought this about.

Buildup: High-risk mortgage lending and inadequate regulatory oversight in the U.S. led to a chain reaction of bank failures, credit freezes, and economic contraction.

Market Crash: The implosion of subprime mortgages sent shockwaves through financial markets worldwide, including in Canada. From June 2008 to March 2009, the TSX fell by 50%.

Recovery: The index took more than 1,300 trading days to recover, but Canada’s export-oriented economy benefited from the resurgence of global commodity prices.

Interestingly, while Canada suffered an equally dramatic economic collapse as the U.S., none of its banks failed due to a well-regulated system of large financial institutions. In contrast, the U.S.

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Visualizing All of China’s Trade Partners

​Visualizing All of China’s Trade Partners
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China stands as a formidable player in the global trade arena, wielding its influence as the world’s largest goods exporter.

With a complex network of trade partnerships spanning more than 200 countries, regions, and territories, the world’s second-largest economy has significant economic relationships with both allies and adversaries.

By using 2022 trade data from China’s General Administration of Customs, this visualization from Truman Du breaks down the nation’s top trading partners through imports and exports by destination.

China’s Imports and Exports by Country in 2022
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Over the course of 2022, China saw exports totaling $3.57 trillion and imports totaling $2.71 trillion, giving it a massive trade surplus of $857 billion.

Note: For products manufactured in two or more countries, China records the place where the last substantial working or processing occurred as the place of origin, including China itself.China had individual trade surpluses with the overwhelming majority of its trade partners: 174 of the 234 countries and territories listed.

These trade surpluses are especially visible in China’s trade relationships with many of the world’s largest economies, including the U.S. and India, with $401.1 billion and $100.3 billion surpluses respectively.

Meanwhile, a good sum of the country’s trade deficits are with major Asian economies. Its largest deficit is with Taiwan, primarily coming from integrated circuit imports. China also has deficits with Japan (-$11.9 billion) and South Korea (-$37.8 billion), the region’s second and fourth-largest economies respectively, largely due to electronics and machinery imports.

The country’s other trade deficits stem from fulfilling strategic needs. For example, China has deficits with oil-producing countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia. It also has a trade deficit with Australia, a key supplier of raw goods such as iron, gold, lithium, and liquefied petroleum gas.

China’s Evolving Trade Partner Relationships
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China’s trade relationships extend far beyond just economic considerations; they reflect historical, geopolitical, and strategic factors as well.

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Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts

​Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts
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BRICS is an association of five major countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Distinguished by their emerging economies, the group has sought to improve diplomatic coordination, reform global financial institutions, and ultimately serve as a counterbalance to Western hegemony.

On Aug. 24, 2023, BRICS announced that it would formally accept six new members at the start of 2024: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In this graphic, we provide a data-driven overview of how the BRICS expansion will grow the group’s influence and reach.

Share of Global GDP
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Because most of the new BRICS members are considered to be developing economies, their addition to the group will not have a major impact on its overall share of GDP.

The following table includes GDP projections for 2023, courtesy of the IMF. 


The original six BRICS members are expected to have a combined GDP of $27.6 trillion in 2023, representing 26.3% of the global total. With the new members included, expected GDP climbs slightly to $30.8 trillion, enough for a 29.3% global share.

Share of Global Population
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BRICS has always represented a major chunk of global population thanks to China and India, which are the only countries with over 1 billion people.

The two biggest populations being added to BRICS are Ethiopia (126.5 million) and Egypt (112.7 million). See the following table for population data from World Population Review, which is dated as of 2023. 


It’s possible that BRICS could eventually surpass 50% of global population, as many more countries have expressed their desire to join.

Share of Oil Production
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Although the world is trying to move away from fossil fuels, the global oil market is still incredibly large—and BRICS is set to play a much bigger role in it. This is mostly due to the admission of Saudi Arabia, which alone accounts for 12.9% of global oil production.

Based on 2022 figures from the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, BRICS’ share of oil production will grow from 20.4% to 43.1%.

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Graphene’s Market Ascension in 3 Visuals

​Graphene’s Market Ascension in 3 Visuals
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Did you know that a two-dimensional single sheet of graphene can support the weight of an elephant?

This wonder material has captivated researchers, industries, and innovators alike, propelling it from a laboratory marvel to a game-changing force for technology and manufacturing.

Sponsored by HydroGraph, this infographic provides an in-depth exploration of graphene’s standout attributes, its diverse range of types and applications, along with the material’s promising commercial trajectory.

Best-Selling Features of Graphene
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Industry stakeholders highly value this 2D material’s unparalleled properties.

The Graphene Council conducted a survey asking respondents how important each of the following properties is to them. This is how they responded, with numbers rounded to the nearest five percent:

These exceptional properties provide the material with a competitive edge and contribute to its meteoric rise in demand.

Most In-Demand Types of Graphene
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Different products require different forms of graphene beyond just its single-layer sheet structure.

Graphene oxide: A form of graphene modified with oxygen to enhance its dispersibility and mixability. This type of graphene is used in things like conductive inks and drug delivery.Graphene nanoplatelets: Theses are structures composed of multiple layers of two-dimensional graphene sheets stacked together, and are commonly used in structural materials and sound transducers.Mono & bilayer graphene: These comprise of one or two layers of 2D graphene sheets and can be beneficial for flexible display screens, energy storage devices, and water filtration systems.Other types include nanoribbons (nano-sized strips), quantum dots (fragments with quantum effects), and nanotubes (rolled-up sheets).

Graphene oxide is expected to have the highest commercial demand by 2030. Here are the market shares of each major type, according to Global Market Insights.

These future demand projections help serve as a compass for potential investors.

Towards Commercialization
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Graphene’s path from discovery to commercialization brims with innovation, and further progress lies on the horizon. Here is a timeline to reflect that.

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The Anthropocene: A New Epoch in the Earth’s History

​The Anthropocene: A New Epoch in the Earth’s History
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Over the course of Earth’s history, there have been dramatic shifts in the landscape, climate, and biodiversity of the planet. And it is all archived underground.

Layers of the planet’s crust carry evidence of pivotal moments that changed the face of the Earth, such as the ice age and asteroid hits. And scientists have recently defined the next major epoch using this geological time scale—the Anthropocene.

In this infographic we dig deep into the Earth’s geological timeline to reveal the planet’s shift from one epoch to another, and the specific events that separate them.

Understanding the Geological Timeline
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The Earth’s geological history is divided into many distinct units, from eons to ages. The time span of each varies, since they’re dependent on major events like new species introduction, as well as how they fit into their parent units.

Note: Subepochs (between epochs and ages) have also been ratified for use in 2022, but are not yet clearly defined.

If we were to cut a mountain in half, we could notice layers representing these changing spans of time, marked by differences in chemical composition and accumulated sediment.

Some boundaries are so distinct and so widespread in the geologic record that they are known as “golden spikes.” Golden spikes can be climatic, magnetic, biological, or isotopic (chemical).

Earth’s Geological Timeline Leading Up to the Anthropocene
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The Earth has gone through many epochs leading up to the modern Anthropocene.

These include epochs like the Early Devonian, which saw the dawn of the first early shell organisms 400 million years ago, and the three Jurassic epochs, which saw dinosaurs become the dominant terrestrial vertebrates.

Over the last 11,700 years, we have been living in the Holocene epoch, a relatively stable period that enabled human civilization to flourish. But after millennia of human activity, this epoch is quickly making way for the Anthropocene.

The Anthropocene is distinguished by a myriad of imprints on the Earth including the proliferation of plastic particles and a noticeable increase in carbon dioxide levels in sediments.

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Tracking Antarctica Sea Ice Loss in 2023

​Tracking Antarctica Sea Ice Loss in 2023
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Scientists have been tracking the extent and concentrations of Antarctica’s sea ice for decades, and the last two years have raised global alarm bells.

As temperatures are breaking records around the world, the southernmost continent’s ice sheet is visibly smaller than it has been in decades past.

The above graphic uses tracking data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) to visualize sea ice extent in Antarctica as of August 2023

How Much Ice Has Antarctica Lost?
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According to satellite data tracked by the NSIDC, sea ice extent in Antarctica has shrunk to record lows.

When compared to previously charted data dating back to 1979, daily record lows in sea ice extent have been recorded for every day in 2023 so far.

Here is how daily Antarctic sea ice extent in 2023 compares to 2022 (which had many of the previous record lows), and the median from 1981 to 2010.

Antarctica’s sea ice extent on August 24, 2023 was 1.42 million square kilometers smaller than the year before. When compared to the median extent for that date from 1980 to 2010, it was 2.07 million square kilometers smaller.

Keep in mind that July and August are the coldest months in Antarctica. Its position on the South Pole gives it a very long winter ranging from the end of February to the end of September, with ice building up before melting temperatures arrive in October.

Antarctica Sea Ice and the Rest of the World
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Even though the continent is thousands of kilometers from most of Earth’s land and populace, its ice has an important impact on the rest of the planet.

Antarctica’s large ice sheet is able to reflect a lot of sunlight in sunnier months, reducing the amount absorbed by the ocean. The wider its extent builds up over the winter, the more sunlight and heat it is able to reflect.

It’s also important to consider that this ice comes from a regular pattern of freezing and melting ocean water. The more ice is lost to the oceans compared to what accumulates in a given year, the higher sea levels rise around the world.

The post Tracking Antarctica Sea Ice Loss in 2023 appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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AI vs. Humans: Which Performs Certain Skills Better?

​AI vs. Humans: Which Performs Certain Skills Better?
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With ChatGPT’s explosive rise, AI has been making its presence felt for the masses, especially in traditional bastions of human capabilities—reading comprehension, speech recognition and image identification.

In fact, in the chart above it’s clear that AI has surpassed human performance in quite a few areas, and looks set to overtake humans elsewhere.

How Performance Gets Tested
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Using data from Contextual AI, we visualize how quickly AI models have started to beat database benchmarks, as well as whether or not they’ve yet reached human levels of skill.

Each database is devised around a certain skill, like handwriting recognition, language understanding, or reading comprehension, while each percentage score contrasts with the following benchmarks:

0% or “maximally performing baseline” 
This is equal to the best-known performance by AI at the time of dataset creation.100% 
This mark is equal to human performance on the dataset.By creating a scale between these two points, the progress of AI models on each dataset could be tracked. Each point on a line signifies a best result and as the line trends upwards, AI models get closer and closer to matching human performance.

Below is a table of when AI started matching human performance across all eight skills:

A key observation from the chart is how much progress has been made since 2010. In fact many of these databases—like SQuAD, GLUE, and HellaSwag—didn’t exist before 2015.

In response to benchmarks being rendered obsolete, some of the newer databases are constantly being updated with new and relevant data points. This is why AI models technically haven’t matched human performance in some areas (grade school math and code generation) yet—though they are well on their way.

What’s Led to AI Outperforming Humans?
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But what has led to such speedy growth in AI’s abilities in the last few years?

Thanks to revolutions in computing power, data availability, and better algorithms, AI models are faster, have bigger datasets to learn from, and are optimized for efficiency compared to even a decade ago.

This is why headlines routinely talk about AI language models matching or beating human performance on standardized tests.

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Nvidia vs. AMD vs. Intel: Comparing AI Chip Sales

​Nvidia vs. AMD vs. Intel: Comparing AI Chip Sales
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Nvidia has become an early winner of the generative AI boom.

The company reported record revenue in its second quarter earnings report, with sales of AI chips playing a large role. If we compare to other American competitors, what do the AI chip sales of Nvidia vs. AMD vs. Intel look like?

In this graphic, we use earnings reports from each company to see their revenue over time.

A Clear Leader Emerges
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While the companies don’t report revenue for their AI chips specifically, they do share revenue for their Data Center segment.

The Data Center segment includes chips like Central Processing Units (CPUs), Data Processing Units (DPUs), and Graphic Processing Units (GPUs). The latter are preferred for AI because they can perform many simple tasks simultaneously and efficiently.

Below, we show how quarterly Data Center revenue has grown for Nvidia vs. AMD vs. Intel.

Source: Nvidia, AMD, Intel. Quarters are based on the calendar year. In cases where revenue was revised at a later date, we have used the latest available revision. Intel integrated its Accelerated Computing Systems & Graphics (AXG) group into its Data Center Group in 2023. We have included revenue from the AXG group in the Data Center revenue for quarters prior to 2023 except for Q1 and Q2 2022, where revised Data Center revenue was provided by Intel.

 

Nvidia’s Data Center revenue has quadrupled over the last two years, and it’s estimated to have more than 70% of the market share for AI chips.

The company achieved dominance by recognizing the AI trend early, becoming a one-stop shop offering chips, software, and access to specialized computers. After hitting a $1 trillion market cap earlier in 2023, the stock continues to soar.

Competition Between Nvidia vs. AMD vs. Intel
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If we compare Nvidia vs. AMD, the latter company has seen slower growth and less revenue. Its MI250 chip was found to be 80% as fast as Nvidia’s A100 chip.

However, AMD has recently put a focus on AI, announcing a new MI300X chip with 192GB of memory compared to the 141GB that Nvidia’s new GH200 offers. More memory reduces the amount of GPUs needed, and could make AMD a stronger contender in the space.

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Visualizing the World’s Growing Millionaire Population (2012-2022)

​Visualizing the World’s Growing Millionaire Population
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Reaping the rewards of tech revolutions, market booms, and more, the last decade has seen a remarkable increase in the global number of millionaires.

In 2022, 1.1% of all of the world’s adults were millionaires, up from 0.6% in 2012.

In today’s visualization, we dive into the world’s growing millionaire population using data from this year’s Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse.

The Global Millionaire Population, Then and Now
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In 2022, total millionaire wealth stood at $208.3 trillion, accounting for 45.8% of global wealth. That represents a 138% increase from 2011, when millionaires held $87.5 trillion in wealth.

While the rise can be attributed to a number of factors, financial assets have accounted for most of the increase in total wealth since the 2008 Financial Crisis, according to Credit Suisse.

Here’s a look at the explosive growth in the number of millionaires from 2012 to 2022:

At the very apex of these pyramids, the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (all holding $50 million or more in wealth) has nearly tripled over the last decade.

Where are the world’s millionaires mostly found?

42%: North America27%: Europe16%: Asia-Pacific (ex. China and India)10%: China5%: Rest of the WorldIn total, the world’s millionaire population amounted to 59.4 million adults in 2022.

Despite inflation, interest rates, and current market conditions hampering wealth creation for many in 2022 and 2023, Credit Suisse forecasts that the number of millionaires will still grow to 86 million by 2027, a 45% increase from 2022.

The Outlook for Wealth Inequality
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Although wealth inequality fell slightly in 2022, a significant chunk of overall global wealth still belongs to the wealthiest parts of the population.

In stark contrast to millionaires, 52.5% of the world’s adults had less than $10,000 in wealth, and combined for just 1.2% of global wealth.

From a big picture perspective, however, worldwide wealth inequality has trended downward over the last two decades. That is, before the 2020–2021 period when the wealth gap was exacerbated due to the pandemic and the subsequent boom in share and house prices.

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Mapped: The Richest Billionaires in U.S. States

​Mapped: The Richest Billionaires in Every U.S. State
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The number of billionaires in the U.S. increased 5% compared to last year, going from 720 super wealthy individuals to 775. The richest of the rich are concentrated in states like Texas, California, and New York, but there is almost one billionaire in every single state.

This map uses data from Forbes to showcase the wealthiest billionaire in each state.

The State-by-State Breakdown
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According to Forbes, just four states are home to 61% of the country’s billionaires: California (179), New York (130), Florida (92), and Texas (73).

Here’s a closer look at the data on who takes the title of the richest in each state:

Many billionaires in the U.S. are extremely well-known, such as California’s Larry Page, New York’s Michael Bloomberg, or Washington state’s Jeff Bezos.

Interestingly, Bill Gates doesn’t take the top spot as the richest billionaire in Washington because Bezos has a higher net worth—$149 billion vs. Gates’ $104 billion—although they do live in the exact same town of Medina, WA.

Nearly every state is home to at least one billionaire, some far wealthier than others, like Nebraska’s Warren Buffett ($117 billion), compared to Alabama’s Jimmy Rane ($1.2 billion). Some new states, which gained billionaires this year include Alabama, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Billionaire Wealth
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The number of billionaires globally is following a different trend than the one in the U.S., declining year-over-year, and seeing billionaire wealth overall decrease by $500 billion.

The U.S. is home to almost 30% of all the world’s billionaires and while a few like Sam Bankman-Fried and Kanye West lost their billionaire status this year, many continue to get richer. In addition to Ron Corio, New Mexico’s first ever billionaire, eight other individuals on the U.S. list gained billionaire status in the last four years.

Finance and investments, food and beverage, fashion and retail, and technology are the top sources of wealth for U.S. billionaires, with almost 50% of them gaining their fortunes from these specific industries.

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