#1 Invest more or be ready to face inflation
“Factories across the globe warned they are finding it increasingly hard to keep up with demand, potentially forcing them to raise prices as the world economy looks set to enjoy its strongest year since 2011.”
#2 U.S. employers are reluctant to raise wages. Corporate tax cuts don’t change that.
Bonus time - will the same be true in the UK?
#3 A new "colourful" way to measure UK confidence?
As worries about Brexit rise, drivers have gone back to buying cars in dark colours.
#4 Trading with the US, the 33 billion hole
Statisticians are struggling to reconcile differing trade figures either side of the Atlantic
#5 How to interpret a market plunge
#6 Robot density rises globally - 2016 data
The automation of production is accelerating around the world: 74 robot units per 10,000 employees is the new average of global robot density in the manufacturing industries.
#7 The UK’s specialism in services does not mean it’s entered a “post-geography trading world”
Topical – but it seems some commentators have still had enough of experts.
#8 Spotting Fake News
“The case for everyday practical numeracy has never been more urgent. Statistical claims fill our newspapers and social media feeds, unfiltered by expert judgment and often designed as a political weapon.”
Tim Harford sets out his guide to statistics in a misleading age.
And here is the original that inspired Tim’s postcard - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Money (But Were Afraid to Ask)
#9 A weak dollar equals good news? Well, as always, it depends…
#10 Data and technology are going to revolutionize the health and pharma sector
#11 Why Microsoft Office is a bigger productivity drain than Candy Crush
Should the government try to maximise happiness?
#12 Four stories of automation
“Cotton pickers. Shelf-scanners at Walmart. Quality control at building sites. Radiologists. These are just four examples of jobs that are being transformed and even sometime eliminated by the newest wave of automated and programmable machinery. Here are four short stories from various sources, which of course represent a much broader transformation happening across the global economy.”
#13 The difference between Europe’s “customs union” and “single market”
Because people still don’t know the difference.