by Aseem Gupta | May 31, 2025 | Society, Culture & Demographics
South Korea’s fertility rate is rising. In almost any other context, that would sound like unambiguously good news. After reaching a record low of 0.72 children per woman in 2023, the country’s total fertility rate increased to 0.75 in 2024 and then to 0.80 in 2025....
by Aseem Gupta | May 28, 2025 | Economics, Markets & Money
On Christmas Eve in 1969, Norwegian authorities announced that Phillips Petroleum had discovered oil beneath the North Sea. The field, later named Ekofisk, was enormous. Commercial production began in 1971, followed by a succession of discoveries that transformed...
by Aseem Gupta | May 21, 2025 | Narrative, Media & Storytelling
Disney live-action remakes are easy to mock. They look like the safest possible products: familiar titles, familiar songs, familiar characters, familiar marketing hooks, and a built-in audience of parents who grew up with the originals. From the outside, the strategy...
by Aseem Gupta | May 17, 2025 | Economics, Markets & Money
In 2016, Saudi Arabia presented the world with an extraordinary picture of its future. A kingdom built on oil would become a center of technology, tourism, finance, culture, entertainment, and global business. New industries would employ a younger and more productive...
by Aseem Gupta | May 12, 2025 | Economics, Markets & Money
Governments are accumulating gold, settling more trade in local currencies and building payment systems designed to reduce their exposure to the United States. Russia conducts much of its trade with China in yuan. BRICS leaders regularly complain that the...
