economy

Economy and the area of production, distribution, trade, and consumption of goods and services.

The Rosary Is Not a Background Prayer
The Rosary is not a background prayer. It is not a string of beads you keep in a drawer for emergencies. It is not a Catholic version of a short verse you can scroll past and still claim you prayed. The Rosary is a full way of walking through the life of Jesus with Mary. Each decade asks you to stay with one scene long enough for the story to do its work. That is why it still teaches the Gospel better than a line on a screen.
By Overdrive Records10 days ago in Journal
China Is Walking Into Japan’s 20-Year-Old Future
China is nearing where Japan stood 20 years ago. Smaller packages are only the surface. The deeper change is the outsourcing of household labor.
By Jin11 days ago in Journal
Japan’s Bankruptcy Wave: 5,373 Companies Failed in Six Months
On October 8, Tokyo Shoko Research released a set of figures. In the first half of fiscal 2026, from April to September, 5,373 Japanese companies with liabilities of 10 million yen or more went bankrupt. That was up 3.8% year on year, the highest in 13 years.
By Jin11 days ago in Journal
The Coupon That Ate November
Li Wenjing keeps a notebook in her warehouse office, and for eight Novembers it was the most important object in her life. She sells storage baskets and bathroom organizers out of a 400-square-meter unit in Foshan, twenty minutes from the ceramics markets where her father sold tiles before the housing slowdown. The notebook has columns. Deposit expansion on the left. Cross-store full-reduction in the middle. Store coupons, category coupons, coin redemption on the right. Every October she sat with her operations manager and worked out which combination of coupons would let her list a 79-yuan basket at a price that looked cheap without actually being cheap.
By Jin11 days ago in Journal
The Day Humanity Broke the Malthusian Trap
In 1700, a farmer in the English Midlands had traveled no farther than 20 miles to a market in his entire life. He had seen no more than a few hundred people. He ate almost everything from his own village. He lit his evenings with tallow candles. He got his news from church sermons and tavern talk. In 2024, a middle school student in Shanghai uses a phone to check copper prices in New York, opens a University of London lecture, and eats Chilean cherries and Norwegian salmon for dinner. The difference is not in the brain. People of the two eras are almost genetically identical. The difference is in the system.
By Jin12 days ago in Journal
The Day Humanity Broke the Malthusian Trap
In 1700, a farmer in the English Midlands had traveled no farther than 20 miles to a market in his entire life. He had seen no more than a few hundred people. He ate almost everything from his own village. He lit his evenings with tallow candles. He got his news from church sermons and tavern talk. In 2024, a middle school student in Shanghai uses a phone to check copper prices in New York, opens a University of London lecture, and eats Chilean cherries and Norwegian salmon for dinner. The difference is not in the brain. People of the two eras are almost genetically identical. The difference is in the system.
By Jin12 days ago in Journal
Minimum Wage Decision and Public Safety Funding Take Centre Stage Ahead of Budget 2027
As Malaysia moves toward the tabling of Budget 2027, two major policy priorities have come sharply into focus: the future of the national minimum wage and a significant investment in police infrastructure nationwide. Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir confirmed on September 28 that any decision regarding a potential increase in the minimum wage to RM2,000 will be announced directly by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, following a thorough review of how such an adjustment would ripple through the economy, particularly among micro, small, and medium enterprises, which employ the vast majority of the workforce and operate on some of the tightest margins. In a separate but equally significant announcement, the minister outlined a total allocation of RM127 million under the First Rolling Plan of the 13th Malaysia Plan for the repair, maintenance, and upgrading of police stations and personnel quarters across the country, with targeted funding set aside for the Kluang District Police Headquarters in Johor.
By Mark Lim 13 days ago in Journal
Singapore and China Chart New Era of Cooperation in AI and Green Economy
Singapore and China are preparing to write the next major chapter in their long and productive economic partnership, moving beyond the landmark infrastructure projects that have defined bilateral cooperation for more than thirty years to centre future collaboration on the technologies and industries that will shape the global economy of the mid-twenty-first century. Speaking at the FutureChina Global Forum, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong laid out a compelling vision for this new phase, one rooted in the proven success of the past but oriented decisively toward the opportunities of the future. He emphasised that the relationship between the two nations has never been static; rather, each generation of major initiatives has reflected the needs, aspirations, and possibilities of its time. Today, as artificial intelligence transforms productivity across every sector and the transition to a low-carbon economy reshapes energy systems, manufacturing, urban planning, and trade patterns, the partnership is evolving once again, and the focus is shifting toward innovation, sustainability, and shared technological leadership.
By Mark Lim 13 days ago in Journal
Stop Paying for Tax Software: Free Filing Is Right There. AI-Generated.
Every tax season, millions of people pay $50 to $120 for tax software to file a return that the IRS would have let them file for free. The tax prep industry is a masterclass in manufacturing anxiety: convince people that taxes are terrifyingly complicated, then sell them the "simple" solution. For most filers, the free option was sitting there the whole time.
By Kody Clegg13 days ago in Journal
Refinancing Student Loans: When It Saves Real Money and When It Burns You. AI-Generated.
Student loan refinancing ads make it sound like free money: "Lower your rate! Lower your payment! Save thousands!" And sometimes it's true — refinancing can genuinely save you thousands. But it's also one of the few financial moves that's completely irreversible, and the catch isn't in the rate. It's in what you give up to get it.
By Kody Clegg13 days ago in Journal
Prepaid Debit Cards: The Fees Nobody Mentions. AI-Generated.
For a lot of people, a prepaid debit card feels like freedom: no bank, no credit check, no overdraft. You load money onto a plastic card and spend it like a bank account without the bank. For anyone who's been burned by overdraft fees or can't open a checking account, that sounds like a lifeline.
By Kody Clegg13 days ago in Journal
The Down Payment Trap: The Lease Math Dealerships Hope You Skip. AI-Generated.
Walk into a dealership and the lease pitch sounds like a magic trick: drive a brand-new car for $299 a month, keep your payments low, and trade up to a newer model in three years. Buying the same car would cost $550 a month. Why would anyone buy?
By Kody Clegg13 days ago in Journal