ENTREPRENEURSHIP Why Did Signature Bank Fail? Key Takeaway: The failures of SVB and Signature Bank were caused by two major risks: interest rate risk and liquidity risk. Interest rate risk caused the market value of previously issued debt to plunge, especially for longer-dated debt. Liquidity risk is the risk that a bank won’t be able to meet its obligations without incurring […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY The Future Of Taste Key Takeaway: In the past decade dining out has become a cultural touchstone and an essential form of entertainment. Gastronomy tourism continues to rise each year as people travel the world to seek out new dining experiences. After World War II, big shifts in transportation led to the emergence of new types of restaurants. TV, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY Does A.I. Mean The End Of Creativity? Key Takeaway: To what extent does this technology interfere with creativity? We argue that AI art devalues the act of creation for both the artist and the public. The focus on the idea and framing of the artistic task amounts to the fetishization of the creative moment. ChatGPT and DALL-E aim to make the process […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK The Origin Of Christmas Trees Key Takeaways: The humble Christmas tree is emblematic of the growth of market economics and world trade. Who would have imagined that fir trees would be grown in Denmark especially for the export market, or that factories in China would produce plastic replicas? So, let’s climb on the sleigh and take a ride around this […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Can Science Solve Poverty? Key Takeaways: The fight against poverty and inequality is resuming with tools and programs that are more effective than ever before, thanks to a quiet revolt against business as usual. The evidence-based policy movement is increasingly being embraced by researchers, activists and government officials. The use of randomized controlled trials to assess social programs is […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY What Is Mastodon & Why It Won’t Be The Next Twitter Key Takeaways: In the wake of Elon Musk’s noisy takeover of Twitter, people have turned to Mastodon. Mastodon allows users to post, follow people and like and repost others’ posts. While Mastodon supports many of the same social networking features as Twitter, it is not a single platform. Each Mastodon server is governed by rules […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Is Twitter’s Blue Tick A Status Symbol? What Will Happen If Everyone Can Buy One? Key Takeaways: Elon Musk proposed a range of controversial changes to the Twitter platform. One of the ideas was to charge US$8 a month to obtain a verified status. The paid verification change has already been rolled out in several countries, including Australia, under the Twitter Blue subscription service. Musk’s proposal is not only misguided […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY The Biggest Lessons From Social Psychology Last spring, I took a class on social psychology. It was one of the most useful classes I’ve ever taken, so I figured I’d share some of the more interesting findings. Each paragraph has a citation to its right so you can get more information or read the original study. 1. Reciprocity has a strong […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK FINANCE The Global Debt Crisis & How We Can Solve It Key Takeaways: Countries across the world are drifting towards a debt crisis. Unfortunately for many emerging economies, the reserves they hold are simply not enough to cover all of these demands – especially after energy prices soared when Russia invaded Ukraine. Other countries are turning to some of the oil-rich gulf states currently profiting from […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK STRATEGY The Strategies Of Tech Giants For Economic Downturn Key Takeaways: Rising inflation and looming recessions are squeezing household finances, but businesses also worry about an economic downturn. With the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock market index down 17% in the year to date, and the Nasdaq 100 tech sector index down 33%, market uncertainties can affect a company’s ability or willingness to spend […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Unlocking The Secret Language Of Honeybees Key Takeaway: Honeybees use a physical “waggle dance” to communicate the direction, distance and quality of resources to their nestmates. Bees are born with some knowledge of how to dance, but can learn how to dance even better by following experienced bees. This is the first known example of such complex social learning of communication […] Written by James C. Nieh March 10, 2023March 10, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Web3 A Fad? Key Takeaway: Web3 is an alternative vision of the web where the services are purely algorithmic things hosted by everybody, and has been called “the hyperfinancialization of all human existence”. Data is no longer easily accessible, making it difficult for entrepreneurs to acquire more users, leading to a stagnant cycle. Web3 startups have focused on […] Written by Eric Feng March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Art Of Receiving Feedback Good feedback, whether you are on the receiving or giving end, requires an attitude of curiosity and openness. Intentionally creating space for feedbackcan help, but even with the right space, receiving feedback can be really scary. Many organizations have formal systems of feedback in the style of mid-year and annual reviews. And it’s not uncommon for informal continuous […] Written by Andrea Mignolo February 27, 2023February 27, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The World After Oil Key Takeaway: The production and consumption of fossil fuels is on the rise, and expected to peak within the next decade. To consider alternatives to oil, we need to be aware of the scale of its integration into our lives. Caleb Wellum, an assistant professor of U.S. history at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada, […] Written by Nehal El-Hadi February 24, 2023February 24, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Secret Chemistry Of Chocolates Key Takeaways: Chocolate has been around for at least 4,000 years, and is now a trillion-dollar global industry. It starts out as a dull-tasting bean, packed into a pod that grows on a cacao tree, and requires two key steps: fermentation and roasting. Roasting is an art form, with different temperatures and times producing different […] Written by Sheryl Barringer February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Making Sense Of UFOs In The Modern Era Key Takeaway: UFOs are the term used to describe aircraft that aren’t easily identified or explained, and have been around since the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 2020, the U.S. Navy released multiple videos of unidentified aerial phenomena, sparking interest in the public and government. UAPs are more likely to be human-made, rather than […] Written by Wendy Cobb February 17, 2023February 17, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
What Is Effective Altruism? Key Takeaway: Effective altruism is an intellectual and charitable movement that seeks to find the best ways to help others. It was inspired by the philosopher Peter Singer and has gained traction due to its popularity among some extremely wealthy donors, such as Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded Facebook and the Asana digital work management platform. […] Written by Jacob Bauer February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Rethinking Education Key Takeaways: The Industrial model of education that fueled the modern era and its dizzying reach did its job incredibly well. In his writing, Flynn illustrates study after study, spanning nations and decades, in which modern educational gift of abstraction — a transcendent sign of intelligence, as we saw in Raven’s Matrices — has been […] Written by Anthony Fieldman March 2, 2022October 19, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How China Is Transforming Its Economy Through Learning I highly recommend reading the McKinsey Global Institute’s new report, “Reskilling China: Transforming The World’s Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learners”, which focuses on the country’s biggest employment challenge, re-training its workforce and the adoption of practices such as lifelong learning to address the growing digital transformation of its productive fabric. How to transform the country […] Written by Enrique Dans February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Why You’re Not Seeing Success With Influencer Marketing With the new year around the corner, now is a good time to re-evaluate your past marketing strategies and gear up for the year ahead. For some businesses, influencer marketing has simply not seemed to live up to its lofty promises of genuine engagement, credibility, and transparency. Some have claimed that it has been failing […] Written by Michael Tan January 14, 2021January 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
A New Philosophy of Business I’m about to ask you to take a mental leap. For the next 8 minutes, suspend your notions of what a business is, and I’ll propose a new lens for you to look through. There are a lot of questions asked around what “community” means for business. “Where should community fit in my organization?” and […] Written by Empirics Asia September 5, 2018September 5, 2018 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
