There are two trends that are bringing about this growth. First, more of our activities are taking place online, a trend that extends to betting as well. Second, is loosening regulation. The U.S. Supreme Court uplifted the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May of 2018 to legalize sports betting on a federal level. Since then, over two dozen (plus Nevada) have followed through, taking the state tally to 25....
Modern day media has reared its ugly head to make American politics more divisive than ever before. On the one hand, independent media has a more prominent presence which leads to new angles and ideas for those who actively seek them. The flipside is that the internet world is built to be an echo chamber of cognitive bias. Recent studies have shown that our pre-conceptions are not challenged on the web – rather, they get reinforced....
When we think of wealth today, we often think of the massive personal fortunes of business magnates like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Warren Buffett. However, it is only since the Industrial Revolution that measuring wealth by one’s bank account has been a norm for the world’s richest. For most of recorded human history, in fact, the lines around wealth were quite blurred. Leaders like Augustus Caesar or Emperor Shenzong had absolute control of their empires—while bankers like Jakob Fogger and Cosimo de Medici were often found pulling the strings from behind....
The U.S. Debt Ceiling has Risen No Matter Who is in Office Current lawmakers divided on current proposal for $19.6 trillion ceiling. The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. House Republican leaders were slated to propose a bill this week linking a debt ceiling increase to conservative issues. Under the new proposal, the debt ceiling would be increased from $18.1 trillion to $19.6 trillion, and would likely extend through 2018....
In 2020, a whopping 49% of U.S. consumers claim to have very little or no trust in TV news, compared to just 27% in 1994: Why Is TV News Losing Credibility? What’s causing this loss of trust? A recent report by Knight Foundation and Gallup surveyed 20,000 U.S. adults to find out. Based on the responses, the survey found that: Too Much Bias A majority of Americans see “a great deal” of political bias in news coverage (46%)....
TSX Venture Bear Market Now 1,000 Days and Counting [Chart] The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Last week, our friends at Palisade Capital, a merchant bank, sent us over a chart breaking up the S&P/TSX Venture Index into its booms and busts since the beginning of 2002. The index, which broadly represents the thousands of companies listed on the TSX Venture exchange, has reached a new ominous milestone....
It was only in the past decade however, that a wave of technological innovation transformed the entire industry from an underground niche into a billion-dollar mainstream phenomenon. Today, the nascent esports industry competes with some of the biggest sports leagues in the U.S., while global tech giants hastily invest billions of dollars to make their mark in what many consider to be the future of sports and entertainment. How did it evolve into the industry we know today—and more importantly, will it maintain its furious pace of growth?...
Today, there are seemingly countless benefits and applications of space technology. Satellites, for instance, are becoming critical for everything from internet connectivity and precision agriculture, to border security and archaeological study. Space is Open for Business Right now, there are nearly 6,000 satellites circling our tiny planet. About 60% of those are defunct satellites—space junk—and roughly 40% are operational. As highlighted in the chart above, The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), determined that 2,666 operational satellites circled the globe in April of 2020....
Just four countries—the U.S., China, Japan, and Germany—make up over half of the world’s economic output by gross domestic product (GDP) in nominal terms. In fact, the GDP of the U.S. alone is greater than the combined GDP of 170 countries. How do the different economies of the world compare? In this visualization we look at GDP by country in 2021, using data and estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)....
The above visualization sums up the global weapons trade during the Obama era, minus data from 2016. It was created by data scientist Hai Nguyen Mau, and each relationship plots the value of the weapons trade between two countries based on data from SIPRI. It’s important to note that while this data includes major weaponry transfers such as tanks, jets, missiles, and ships, it excludes guns and ammunition or military aid....
In fact, a recent survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism reveals that only 20% of Americans pay for digital news, and of those that do, the majority subscribe to only one brand. This begs the question—which news outlets are audiences willing to pay for? Using data from FIPP and CeleraOne, this graphic looks at the most popular news websites across the globe, based on their total number of paid subscriptions....
The Biggest Moves by Big Tech In today’s data visualization, we look at the financial contributions being made by Big Tech giants in response to the pandemic. The main categories that these actions fall into are: Small businesses: Grants and ad credits Media/News: Fact-checking and grants for local news Healthcare: COVID-19 research and frontline support Relief Efforts: Public safety and non-profit donations What is each company pledging in financial efforts to relieve the strain on those affected most by the ongoing crisis?...
But did you know there’s a way to get an even more out of Visual Capitalist, all while helping support the work we do? Coming Soon on VC+ VC+ is our newly launched members program that gives you exclusive access to extra visual content and insightful special features. It also gets you access to The Trendline, our new members-only graphic newsletter. So, what is getting sent to VC+ members in the coming days?...
The dynamic nature of society makes it difficult to decipher. However, despite the world’s complexity, there are some long-term trends that have emerged among the chaos. These help us make sense of the world today, and can give us an idea of what to expect in years ahead. Here’s a look at five long-term trends that are set to transform society as we know it. #1: Aging World With every successive year, our global population is skewing older....
In fact, with consumption for both medical and recreational products on the rise, 2020 was a record-breaking year for the industry. After years of investor uncertainty, analysts are predicting a continued bull market in 2021, with several new and exciting developments on the horizon. Here are nine things cannabis investors need to know. 1. Cannabis Stocks on the Rise While asset prices took a dip during the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in March, the cannabis sector recovered swiftly after reporting impressive numbers....
If the value of that cheese rises over time, the price may move beyond what the majority of people are willing to pay. This presents a problem as the store wants to continue selling cheese, and people still want to eat it. The obvious solution is to divide the cheese into smaller pieces. That way, more people can once again afford to buy portions of it, and those who want more can simply buy more of the smaller pieces....
Ultimately, the data suggests that the cloud business has been, and possibly will always remain, a higher margin business and consistent profit center in comparison to ecommerce and the physical distribution of goods. A Glance at AWS Here are some other notable entities and the monthly payments they’ve made towards AWS: Source: Continho (2020) Based on these monthly figures from 2020, AWS collects $1.3 billion in sales a year just from these 10 customers, while raking in $62 billion of revenue overall....
Back to the Basics: Useful Tips on Investing Sometimes, the most effective thing you can do is simply go back to the basics. A great opportunity mentioned in the infographic is emerging markets. The East is the clear choice of regions to look to when considering foreign investment. According to Bloomberg, China, South Korea and Malaysia are the top three emerging markets. These nations have all experienced noteworthy growth in their GDP, with China seeing a whopping 7....
Black Friday Visualizing the surge in U.S. consumer debt and spending The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Next week, Black Friday and Cyber Monday will kick off the start to the U.S. holiday shopping season, during which consumers are expected to spend a total of $655.8 billion this year. With the average bill coming in at $938.50 for holiday spending, where are people finding the extra cash?...
From lending to investment banking, and private equity to hedge funds, the graphic above by Wall Street Prep breaks down the key finance careers and paths that people can take. Let’s take a further look at the unique pieces of this finance ecosystem. The Lending Business Lending groups provide much needed capital to corporations, often in the form of term loans or revolvers. These can be part of short and long-term operations or for events less anticipated like the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in companies shoring up $222 billion in revolving lines of credit within the first month....
