By Lily Zhang Mar. 31, 2025 Advertising once sold images; now, it manufactures them. In 2025, the line between authentic and synthetic content in commerce has nearly vanished. AI-generated influencers, product endorsements, and even full commercial campaigns—built entirely from deepfake technology—have entered the mainstream economy. The World Economic Forum (WEF Synthetic Media Outlook, 2025)  estimates that 42 percent  of all digital ad impressions now feature at least one

By Shohei Kobayashi Apr. 3, 2025 The cloud was supposed to dissolve borders. Instead, it has redrawn them in fiber optics. Behind every Netflix stream, ChatGPT query, or Google Drive upload lies a vast and unequal infrastructure of undersea cables, data centers, and energy-hungry cooling towers—most of which remain physically rooted in the Global South but economically owned by the North. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU Global Connectivity Atlas, 2

By Emily Carter Apr. 5, 2025 For centuries, capitalism has been powered by productivity. Today, it runs on distraction. The modern economy no longer competes for labor or even money—it competes for seconds of attention. TikTok videos, Instagram reels, YouTube Shorts, and AI-personalized feeds have compressed global culture into fragments of dopamine. The World Advertising Federation (WAF Digital Economy Report, 2025)  estimates that short-form content now absorbs 54 percent  

By Aarush Singh Apr. 7, 2025 When COVID-19 forced the world online, remote work seemed to herald a new economic utopia—more flexibility, less commuting, higher output, and a fairer balance between life and labor. By 2025, more than 32 percent  of global white-collar workers operate remotely at least three days per week ( International Labour Organization [ILO] Global Workforce Report, 2025 ). Yet beneath the veneer of efficiency, a subtler truth has emerged: the productivity

By Jacob Petersen Apr. 9, 2025 Sustainable investing promised a moral revolution in finance—a world where profit aligned with planetary health. Yet as trillions of dollars have flowed into Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) funds, evidence increasingly shows that many of these products are less “green finance” than green theater . Behind glossy annual reports and verdant branding, ESG portfolios continue to channel vast capital into high-emission industries under the

By Jack Anderson Apr. 10, 2025 Information was once the great equalizer. But in the age of artificial intelligence, it has quietly become a product behind a gate. As major tech companies integrate large language models (LLMs) into search, publishing, and education, the economics of access are being rewritten. What used to be an open internet is fragmenting into tiers of algorithmic privilege—where intelligence itself has a subscription fee. The OECD Digital Knowledge Index (2

By Ananya Menon Apr. 12, 2025 For decades, development aid was measured in grants and good intentions. But in the 2020s, as climate disasters intensified, a new economic instrument emerged from the fine print of “green finance”: climate adaptation debt.  What began as support for vulnerable nations has evolved into a sophisticated lending system—where the cost of survival is monetized. According to the World Bank Climate Finance Tracker (2025) , 62 percent  of all climate-rel

By Haruka Shimizu Apr. 14, 2025 Electric vehicles (EVs) were supposed to break the world’s oil addiction. Instead, they have created a new dependency—on lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite. These metals, essential to battery production, have transformed the geopolitics of energy into the geopolitics of mining. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA Global Battery Outlook, 2025) , global lithium demand has increased 540 percent  since 2018, while cobalt demand has

By Krish Gupta Apr. 16, 2025 Artificial intelligence was marketed as the path to climate efficiency—optimizing grids, forecasting emissions, and enabling smarter resource use. But the more intelligent our systems become, the dumber our carbon math looks. Behind every chatbot, image generator, and algorithmic recommender lies an expanding industrial footprint of energy, water, and hardware waste. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA 2025) , global AI infrastructur

By Alice Taylor Apr. 18, 2025 E-commerce promised frictionless capitalism—click, buy, return. But behind the convenience lies an unsustainable arithmetic: a trillion-dollar logistics system propped up by free returns. According to the World Trade Organization E-Commerce Logistics Index (2025) , global product returns exceeded US$1.2 trillion  in 2024—more than the GDP of Indonesia. Each “free” return costs an average of US$33  in shipping, repackaging, and disposal. Yet consu

By Leo Wang Apr. 20, 2025 For much of history, ownership defined security—homes, stocks, property. But in the 2020s, the meaning of ownership itself has fractured. A new wave of financial platforms now allows consumers to buy fractional shares of everything from skyscrapers to sneakers, art, farmland, even music royalties. The Financial Stability Board (FSB 2025)  estimates that global assets under “micro-ownership” models surpassed US$540 billion  in 2024—up from just US$28

By Riya Patel Apr. 22, 2025 For centuries, capitalism has thrived on abundance—mass production, efficiency, and scale. But in the 2020s, a quieter revolution has taken place. The world’s most profitable companies no longer maximize supply; they strategically constrain  it. From semiconductor manufacturers to luxury fashion houses, scarcity has become not a challenge to overcome but a business model to perfect. The OECD Market Concentration Report (2025)  finds that industries

By Ayaka Mori Apr. 24, 2025 Innovation once meant creation. Today, it often means ownership. From app stores to cloud infrastructure, the digital economy is increasingly defined not by productive enterprise but by rent-seeking —earning income through control over digital access points rather than genuine invention. The World Bank Digital Markets Report (2025)  finds that just 1 percent  of global technology firms capture 75 percent  of total digital service revenue. What was

By Ethan Smith Apr. 26, 2025 Economic sanctions were once the sharpest tool of modern diplomacy—designed to punish aggression without war. But in the post-2022 geopolitical order, sanctions have evolved from instruments of restraint to engines of reinvention. A vast “shadow supply chain” now circumvents restrictions through intermediaries, shell companies, and transshipment hubs. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO 2025) , nearly 12 percent  of global trade in dual

By Olivia Chen Apr. 27, 2025 The world is electrifying—but not equally. While Western nations boast record renewable investments and carbon pledges, the minerals, labor, and environmental costs that make the “green transition” possible are overwhelmingly borne by the Global South. The International Energy Agency (IEA 2025)  estimates that demand for lithium, cobalt, and nickel will rise sixfold by 2040 , driven by electric vehicles, solar batteries, and wind turbines. Yet 70

By Aarav Kapoor Apr. 29, 2025 On paper, corporate America has never looked richer. In 2024, S&P 500 companies spent a record US$1.25 trillion  on stock buybacks—more than the combined GDP of Denmark and Singapore. Yet beneath this capital bonanza lies a paradox: while shareholders enjoy soaring valuations, real investment in innovation, wages, and productivity is stagnating. According to the Federal Reserve’s Financial Accounts (2025) , business investment as a share of GDP h

By Kohei Yamazaki May 3, 2025 For decades, economists believed automation would displace routine jobs but raise overall productivity, creating new industries and higher wages. That belief is collapsing. The OECD Labour Outlook (2025)  shows that AI-driven automation has decoupled productivity from wages for the first time in modern history. Between 2010 and 2024, labor productivity in advanced economies grew 1.4 percent annually , but median real wages grew only 0.4 percent .

By Jonathan Brown May 5, 2025 Every pharmaceutical empire eventually hits a wall—the patent cliff . When a drug’s 20-year patent expires, its once-exclusive manufacturer faces immediate competition from generics, triggering price collapses of up to 90 percent . The next five years will bring one of the steepest cliffs in history: by 2030, drugs generating US$250 billion  in annual sales will lose patent protection ( EvaluatePharma 2025 ). Behind this cliff lies a silent globa

By Emma Zhang May 7, 2025 In 2025, the average box of cereal in the United States costs the same as in 2020—but it contains 15 percent less  cereal. Toilet paper rolls have lost nearly 30 percent  of their sheets. Ice cream tubs, chocolate bars, detergent bottles, even paper towels—all shrinking, but not their prices. This stealth price increase, known as shrinkflation , has become the defining tactic of modern consumer economics. According to NielsenIQ (2024) , over 52 perce

By Priya Nair May 10, 2025 In the public imagination, the internet is weightless—an invisible network of data, algorithms, and cloud storage. In reality, it’s a physical infrastructure consuming staggering amounts of water and electricity. The International Energy Agency (IEA 2024)  reports that global data centers now use 3 percent  of total electricity and an estimated 4.5 trillion liters of water  annually—more than the combined consumption of London, Tokyo, and New York.