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The WC is a selection of five useful, interesting & notable insights, handpicked by our CIO Wyatt Cavalier and pumped into your inbox every Wednesday.
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Table of Contents
The rise and rise of electric vehicles
The recent uplift in electric vehicles is remarkable.
Two years ago, 2% of cars in Europe and China were electric; this year it’s set to top 25%.
And Tesla is no longer king of the EV hill — Chinese manufacturer BYD (“Build Your Dreams”) claimed that title earlier this year. It’s forecast to sell ±2m electric vehicles this year, for a 400% annual increase.
Traditional OEMs are heating up their EV production as well, with VW, GM, and Hyundai all in the top six.
With renewable energy getting cheaper and calls for reduced carbon emissions getting louder, it seems inevitable that electric vehicles will be the standard soon.
But there’s just one problem.
Rare earth metals , which are essential to the production of electric vehicles, are found pretty much only in China. That’s a lot of eggs in one basket, and that’s a lot of leverage to give one country.
It seems clear to me that other technologies will have to advance if EVs are to become the ubiquitous — and sustainable — option policymakers are hoping for.
BTW, if you’re someone who knows a lot about rare earth metal use in EVs, please get in touch. We’re working on something here.
This week’s sign the apocalypse is upon us
Coming soon to parents’ basements everywhere:
McDonalds has developed a grease-proof gaming chair.
It includes a drink holder, fries holder, hot box for your burger, dip holders, and stain-proof fabric treatment (ostensibly to repel grease but probably works for all gamer-friendly fluids).
No worries if you’re left-handed — the armrests are modular, so you can swap the burger box to the other side. Phew!
Using search volume to predict recession
In America, search volume for topics like “ SNAP eligibility” (up 52% year over year), “food stamps” (up 10%), and “Food Bank” (up 33%) is getting higher and higher.
Perhaps also an indicator — search volume for low-level remote work is way up as well. Check it out:
People *really* don’t want to go back to the office.
— Wyatt Cavalier (@itiswyatt) November 23, 2022
search volume trends via @meetglimpse pic.twitter.com/rLaYeCCdUl
Of course, this could just be the former Twitter employees looking for work they’re qualified for.
How to get a day off
Yesterday, Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the World Cup’s long history.
The country is celebrating its 2:1 win in the match with Argentina with a day off — king Salman announced a public holiday for workers in the public and private sectors, as well as students in the kingdom, in celebration of the win.
That’s not the first time this has happened — in 1990, Cameroon beat Argentina (get your shit together, Argentina) and also declared a public holiday. The African country made it out of the group and beat Belgium in the round of sixteen before losing to former colonizers England in the quarterfinals.
In unrelated news, Lionel Messi, the Argentinian star, was paid tens of millions of dollars to become Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambassador ahead of its 2022 World Cup bid.
Finally, some turkey-day trivia
Both Stefan’s and mine Thanksgiving celebrations have been cancelled due to various forms of illness, but I won’t let that spoil the festivities.
Here are some fun Thanksgiving facts, courtesy of the always-excellent International Intrigue :
- The first ‘Thanksgiving meal’ took place in 1621 and lasted three days.
- President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a permanent national holiday in 1863.
- Americans eat ±50 million pumpkin pies on Thanksgiving.
- Jingle Bells was allegedly originally written as a Thanksgiving song.
- Norfolk Island in Australia is one of the few places outside America that celebrates Thanksgiving — a custom dating back to when American whaling ships made port calls there in the 19th century.
- Americans consume ±4,500 calories per person on Thanksgiving.
- Black Friday is the busiest day of the year for plumbers in the US (they say it’s because of clogged garbage disposals and not… 🚽).
Enjoy!
What caught your eye this week?
Cheers,
Wyatt
