Geopolitical Risks Are Climbing: Interstate Conflict is Highest Risk in 2015 Every year, the World Economic Forum publishes an annual report on global risks that covers the factors and underlying drivers that could most likely disrupt global economic activity. Most of the time over the last decade, the survey of 900 global experts finds the top risks to revolve between potential economic events such as collapsing asset prices and underemployment, or potential environmental challenges such as flooding or water supply crises....

What is the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect? On November 17th, the long awaited Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect launched, connecting Mainland China’s capital markets with Hong Kong in a way never seen before. Before the new investment channel link, individual investors could only participate indirectly in financial securities in the Mainland, such as specific funds and ETFs. The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, however, now allows investors to trade securities in a range of listed stocks in each both markets through their respective securities companies....

With an additional billion internet users projected to come online in the coming years, it’s possible that the social media universe could expand even further. How the Networks Stack Up To begin, let’s take a look at how social networks compare in terms of monthly active users (MAUs)—an industry metric widely used to gauge the success of these platforms. Here’s a closer look at individual social platforms, and their trials and tribulations:...

Many people think of crude oil as a thick, black liquid that is used to source our unquenchable thirst for gasoline. However, the reality is that each barrel of oil is refined to be used in a variety of applications that includes fuel, cosmetics, plastics, rubber, and candle wax. What’s in one barrel of oil? Today’s infographic comes from JWN Energy, an oil and gas news site. Using Chevron as a source, it shows 17 different things that can be made from each barrel of oil....

To understand why, this infographic from Castrol identifies the five critical challenges that EVs will need to overcome. All findings are based on a 2020 survey of 10,000 consumers, fleet managers, and industry specialists across eight significant EV markets. The Five Challenges to EV Adoption Cars have relied on the internal combustion engine (ICE) since the early 1900s, and as a result, the ownership experience of an EV can be much more nuanced....

The United States is a vast place, and every region is markedly different. Usually we look at these differences through lenses like geography, population density, preferences, wealth, and culture – but age is another interesting one to think about, and age is a significant factor in predicting future economic health and growth for almost any society. The Age Factor As the French philosopher Auguste Comte wrote, “Demography is destiny”. If you know a person’s age, you’re usually able to guess other things about them....

The visualization above looks to give people a different frame of reference to think about the country’s massive population figures. The Population Breakdown Similar to other big countries, the gap between India’s largest and smallest states is quite wide. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous country subdivision in the world at 232 million people, while Sikkim, in the northeast of the country, is the least populated state in India (0....

The United States is the third largest country in the world, with a vast territory extending beyond the borders of the contiguous states. To be exact, the United States is made up of 50 states, nine uninhabited territories, five self-governing territories, one incorporated territory, and one federal district (Washington D.C.). The boundaries of the country haven’t changed much in recent years, but the lines on the map have shifted numerous times in history, through both negotiation and bloodshed....

Protests are a regular feature of democratic society, but they can occasionally cross over from non-violent demonstrations into civil unrest. Even protests that are largely peaceful can still result in arrests, violence, police aggression, and property damage. Our animated map above looks at the last two decades of civil unrest in the United States using lists compiled on Wikipedia. Instances of civil unrest eventually leave the news cycle, and we rarely have the chance to examine the bigger picture or see where they fit within a nation-wide pattern....

Pistol Bay Mining Inc. (TSX-V:PST) is a diversified junior Canadian mineral exploration company with a focus on precious and base metal properties in North America. Pistol Bay has a past-producing graphite project in Ontario along with projects in the Red Chris copper/gold and Athabasca Basin uranium camps. on Man has relied on copper since prehistoric times. It is a major industrial metal with many applications due to its high ductility, malleability, and electrical conductivity....

Using data from the annual ranking done by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) using a poll of 1,600 global innovation professionals, this graphic ranks the top 50 most innovative companies in 2021. We’ll dig into a few of the leading companies, along with their innovative practices, below. Most Innovative Companies: A Breakdown of the Leaderboard To create the top 50 innovative company ranking, BCG uses four variables: Global “Mindshare”: The number of votes from all innovation executives....

Tugging on the heartstrings with nostalgic stories can be a powerful tool. Yet, even the most world-renowned storytellers like Disney face pressure to constantly innovate. Today’s infographic from TitleMax illustrates the highest-grossing media franchises, and dives into how they generate their revenue and adapt to new mediums in changing times. The Supreme Storytellers According to the infographic, the majority of franchise revenue comes from merchandising. Video games, comic books, and Japanese manga are also significant drivers of income....

At the time the term was coined, unicorns were indeed rare. Aileen Lee’s data from 2003-2013 showed that just four unicorns were born a year, and that only 39 existed as of November 2013. However, while actual unicorns continue to be (very) difficult to find, the ones of the tech variety have been proliferating like bunnies. By the count of VentureBeat, there are now 229 of them with a cumulative $1....

For example, a survey of small-business owners found that 51% did not believe they could survive the pandemic for longer than three months. At the same time, the S&P 500 posted its worst first-quarter on record. In response to this havoc, the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) is taking unprecedented steps to try and stabilize the economy. This includes a return to quantitative easing (QE), a controversial policy which involves adding more money into the banking system....

That since has shifted dramatically. By 2050, a whopping 70% of people will live in urban areas – some of which will be megacities housing tens of millions of people. This trend of urbanization has been a boon to global growth and the economy. In fact, it is estimated today by McKinsey that the 600 top urban centers contribute a whopping 60% to the world’s total GDP. Seven Types of Global Cities With so many people moving to urban metropolitan areas, the complexion of cities and their economies change each day....

Unfortunately, billions of people around the world have a skewed perception of the true size of countries thanks to a cartographic technique called the Mercator projection. Used just about everywhere, from classroom wall maps to navigation apps, the Mercator projection is the way most of humanity recognizes the position and size of Earth’s continents. The Mercator Projection In 1569, the great cartographer, Gerardus Mercator, created a revolutionary new map based on a cylindrical projection....

This is according to the Founder Institute, a launch program for startups, which has worked with top social scientists to test over 30,000 entrepreneurs in correlating their working styles with the real-world results of thousands of companies. See whether you fit the profile of a Visionary, Hustler, or Strategist below: Breaking down these types of entrepreneurs further: The Hustler The Hustler is an enthusiastic go-getter who can sell just about anything....

To show its tremendous size, we previously published a visualization of the global economy that carved the world’s economic production into slices based on each country’s contribution to GDP. While this visualization helps to show how large the U.S. economy is in comparison to other nations, it still doesn’t seem to tell the full story. After all, the United States is geographically vast and diverse, and population is spread out and unevenly distributed....

Where is the most expensive real estate in the United States? It depends on how you look at it. Using home sale prices and data from the state-level, the answer is Hawaii with a median price of $547,600 per home. However, at a neighborhood level, the answer could be very different. For example, the most expensive neighborhood by median housing price is Presidio Heights in San Francisco ($7 million+ homes in January 2017), and the most expensive neighborhood for rent is West Village in New York City ($6,030 per month for a 1,000 sq....

A statement that is as profound as it is banal. In other words, when we do history, we’re a bit like tourists. If we really want to understand the past, we have to think like a local. The infographic above, Aspects of Principal Exports of Chinese Goods to Foreign Countries, is the first in a series that we’re calling Vintage Viz, which presents a historical visualization along with the background and analytical tools to make sense of it....