Category Archives: Analysis

Affordable Housing: Is Modular The Answer?

Cities around the world are facing an affordable housing shortage – and the Covid-19 pandemic has only worsened the crisis. A 2021 report revealed 88 out of 92 major cities are considered unaffordable. The least affordable of them is Hong Kong, where the median house price is more than 20 times the annual median household income.  

But there is a potential solution that is garnering attention: factory-built homes. These houses – also known as modular homes – are constructed in controlled conditions and can take just a week or two to build.   

“We can build 27 Top Hat homes for every one brick and mortar traditionally built house,’ said Jordan Rosenhaus, who is the CEO of modular housing factory, TopHat.  “So, over the next week, we’ll finish approximately 10 houses, that’s just our production program for now. That can ramp up”.

So can this innovation solve the housing crisis? Watch the video above to learn more.  

Public Transit: Seattle’s $54 Billion Railway (Video)

This could be the most ambitious public transit project in America.

SEATTLE has become one of the most attractive cities in the United States.

The tech boom has helped bring in some 1,000 new residents every week. Of course, all those new Seattleites need a way to get around, and things are getting crowded.

In response, the city has been expanding its rail system, and fast. The latest project, Sound Transit 3, will invest $54BN over the next 25 years to expand the network five-fold.

With the passage of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, American cities are getting a chance to rethink their public transit systems with fresh infrastructure funding.

And Seattle’s expansion might be the country’s most ambitious project yet.

Analysis: Why Plastic Surgery Is On The Rise

Plastic surgery has been booming in the past decade. But it was the Covid-19 pandemic that catapulted the industry to new heights. Americans working from home spent hours watching themselves on camera, endlessly scrolling on social media and experiencing downtime from social events. This all but benefitted the plastic surgery industry, which saw a record number of patients as pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Consumers: What Is The True Price Of Food? (FT)

Food prices might be rising but many associated production costs are not currently included in the price we pay. How can we get closer to a system that reflects the true cost and what implication will this have on consumers and wider society?

Analysis: Will We Be Eating Insects Soon? (Economist)

By 2050 there could be 10 billion human mouths to feed. Eating insects could help solve the global food-supply problem.

Video timeline: 00:0000:47 How to feed our growing population 00:4703:23 The potential of insects 03:2305:31 Eating cricket powder in Madagascar 05:3106:30 Madagascar’s climate change famine 06:3008:00 Cricket farming in Africa 08:0011:30 Expanding insect production 11:3012:20 Insects: a green solution? 12:2013:12 Will insects become a staple?

Read more here: https://econ.st/3fTILxA

Analysis: British Political Parable, Tech Giants’ Big Plans, Vaccine Mandates

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the parable of Boris Johnson, and what it says about the country he governs. Also, America’s tech giants’ ambitious investments (10:05) and do vaccine mandates actually work? (19:10).

Sustainability: Fertilizers From Biomass In France

As the world’s population grows, the need to feed billions of mouths mean our use of synthetic fertilisers will almost certainly increase significantly. The FT’s Anna Gross explores two innovative French companies that could ultimately reduce our reliance on artificial fertilisers by offering less carbon-intensive options. But how viable are these alternatives?

Analysis: The ‘Bossy State’, Boris Johnson’s ‘Party’ Issues, U.S.-China Politics

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, beware the bossy stateBritain’s party-animal prime minister (11:45) and, why America and China are one military accident away from disaster (18:00)