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Here’s a special bonus for you all. An extra Chart of the Week drop as we approach the sixth anniversary of Exponential View. We know how much you love this mid-week edition and we’d love you to share the love so this bonus is open-access.

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Azeem

Living through an emission crisis

This is the percentage of global fossil-fuel CO2 emissions that have taken place since 1751. If you are 50 years old today, 75% of these emissions have taken place in your lifetime. If you are 85, that number is 90%. Via Neil Kaye

The batteries keep getting cheaper

Encouraging news from Goldman Sachs. The company is lowering its automotive battery price forecasts to $75 per kWH for 2030 and $58 per kWh for 2040. These estimates are ten dollars cheaper than previous calculations. Via Reilly Brennan

Dutch renewables

Great news from the Netherlands. Renewable electricity production grew by 40% last year and now covers 25% of the national electricity demand. Renewable electricity is delivering 30 TWh for the country. Via Kees van der Leun

A dying industry

Despite Donald Trump’s promise to revive the coal industry in America, coal jobs are disappearing faster than ever. If recent trends continue, the US coal industry could end Biden’s term with less than 30,000 employees, or a third the number in employ when Obama took the reins. Via S&P Global

Can’t kick a bad habit

The US Energy Information Administration forecasts coal use for electricity generation rising over the next two years. I’ll hazard they’ve got that wrong. Via EIA

Coal is shown the door in the UK

The coal picture is different in the UK. Usage has collapsed in the last decade with only two coal plants generating roughly 2% of the country’s total power. In a couple of years, coal usage might be a thing of the past. Via UK Government

The hidden killer

Globally about 47m-50m people die every year as a result of fossil fuels. That’s about 20% of all deaths. Via Science Direct 

Why pay for in-person learning? 

US university enrollment dropped nearly 3% in the fall of 2020. This drop is most noticeably in public two-year colleges and will continue to have reverberations in the US labour market for some time to come.  Via St Louis Fed

The small business pandemic hit

New data from Xero outlines the revenue hit to small businesses in the UK. Via Gary Turner

Flu flees 

The number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths in the US this year: One. Compared with 195 deaths last year. Incredible. Via Michael Clemens

Image is everything

What does your income really mean in relation to others? This graph shows that most people actually believe that others are closer to their income than they really are. It’s all a matter of perception. Via Erik Brynjolfsson

Inequality and policy

Before Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, the UK was about as egalitarian as Germany. In 1980, as her premiership took hold, the nation’s level of inequality rose towards American levels. Via John Handley

State protection

Attitudes towards welfare in the UK are changing rapidly. In the run-up to the Brexit vote, where a part of the discourse revolved around Eastern European’s claiming benefits, the plurality thought benefit levels were too high. That switched, rather before the pandemic. Yet today, those who think benefits are too high are outnumbered by more than two-to-one by those who think they are too low. Via John Rentoul

Fewer risks, greater rewards? 

Players are taking less risky shots in the NBA over the last decade. The focus is on three-pointers and what look like slam dunks. Where is the fun in that? Via Kirk Goldsberry

Endnote

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Cheers,

Azeem