📊 EV’s Charts of the Week #79

Hi, I’m Azeem Azhar. I convene Exponential View to help us understand how our societies and political economy will change under the force of rapidly accelerating technologies. Every Wednesday, I do this in Charts of the Week.

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DEPT OF BURSTING BUBBLES

Layoffs rising
There has been a sharp rise in layoffs by tech firms, with more seemingly announced daily.

Source: layoffs.fyi 

Gigless
Sarah O’Connor argues that the gig economy may be collapsing. A combination of high inflation, reticence to invest, low unemployment and improved worker protection is backing companies like Uber into a corner.

Source: Financial Times via Sarah O’Connor

Perhaps not peeking at the trough
With the Nasdaq about 33% off its peak, it is worth remembering that during the dotcom bubble, the trough occurred about 78% below the March 2000 peak. And it took until October 2002 to get there. Recovery took a further 13 years. But we got there.

Source: Exponential View

DEPT OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY

State-sponsored development
China’s industrial spending is higher than its defence spending, which is estimated at $240 billion at nominal exchange rates.