#Current Global Business

[mirrorreview]

In the dynamic year 2023, certain businesses have stood out for their significant profit generation, earning them the title of the year’s most profitable companies. In this analysis, we will thoroughly examine the revenue sources that have propelled these companies to exceptional financial success. We will also delve into their market positioning, and revenue trends, and identify the stock exchanges where their financial strength is evident. 

[iknowicanbutwhy]

Oh, so she's kind of trendy? Cool cool

[kitelovr113]

he would love competitive debate

[workersolidarity]

🇺🇲 🏦 🚨 U.S. RETAIL SALES DOWN 3.1 pct YEAR-ON-YEAR FROM 2022

U.S. retail sales, excluding consumer vehicles, grew 3.1% year-on-year for the period from Nov. 1st 2023 to Dec. 24th 2023, according to preliminary data from the MasterCard Spending pulse report issued on Tuesday.

Previously, the U.S. economy recorded a 7.6% year-on-year expansion, writes Xinhua News Agency.

In further detail, online retail sales grew by 6.3% year-on-year, while brick-and-mortar retail only grew by 2.2% year-on-year.

Restaurant sales saw a year-on-year expansion of 7.8% for the same period, while sales in Jewelry shrank by 2% and sales in electronics were down 0.4%.

Data was based on non-inflation adjusted aggregate sales activity from the MasterCard payments network in combination with survey-based estimates for certain payment forms including cash and check.

Further, the U.S. National Retail Foundation forecast for holiday spending for Nov. and Dec. 2023 expected growth of a projected 3-4% over 2022 to between $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion.

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[delcat177]

Ten years ago, I read an article that said it would be over in ten years.

Unless.

Well: Here is Unless.

We have already averted truly apocalyptic levels of global warming.

Yes, read that again. Let it sink in. This is what the science now says. We have already averted truly apocalyptic global warming.

To quote David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth, from his huge feature in the New York Times:

"Thanks to astonishing declines in the price of renewables, a truly global political mobilization, a clearer picture of the energy future and serious policy focus from world leaders, we have cut expected warming almost in half in just five years... The window of possible climate futures is narrowing, and as a result, we are getting a clearer sense of what’s to come: a new world, full of disruption but also billions of people, well past climate normal and yet mercifully short of true climate apocalypse." (New York Times, October 22, 2022. Unpaywalled here. Emphasis mine. And yes, this vision of the future is backed up by the current science on the issue, as he explains at length in the article.)

So we've already averted truly apocalyptic warming, and we've already cut expected warming IN HALF in just the past five years.

The pace of technology, of innovation, of prices, of feasibility, of discovery, of organizing, of grassroots movements, of movements in other countries around the world, have all picked up the pace so fast in the last five years.

Renewable technology and capacity are both increasing at an exponential rate. It's all S-curves, ones that look like this:

-via The Economist, June 20, 2024.

How much more will we manage in another five years? Another ten? Another twenty?

I know the US is about to fucking suck about the environment for the next four years. But the momentum of renewable energy is far too much to stop - both in the US (x) and around the world.

(Huge shoutouts to India, China, and Brazil for massive gains for the environment in renewables, and Brazil for massive progress against Amazon deforestation.)

We're going to get there.

Say it with me. We're going to get there.

[thenwethrowitonthefire]

Our previous-prime-minister-now-head-of-navo currently keeps saying that we should prepare for war which might break out between now and the next 5 years.

[marketprofessional]

High-Level Disinfection Services Market: Safeguarding Health with Advanced Cleaning

The Importance of High-Level Disinfection: The High-Level Disinfection Services Market has seen a surge in demand as the need for sterile environments becomes more critical in hospitals, clinics, and public spaces. These services use advanced technologies and protocols to eliminate pathogens and reduce the spread of infection. 🚫 Trends: Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, electrostatic sprayers, and automated cleaning systems. 🛡️ Impact: Boosting safety and hygiene standards, protecting patients and healthcare staff. #Disinfection #HygieneServices #HealthSafety

[head-post]

Consumer Reports discovered “widespread” evidence of plastic in food

Consumer Reports found that plastics remained “widespread” in food and urged regulators to re-assess the safety of plastics coming into contact with food during production, Reuters reported.

The non-profit consumer group claimed on Thursday that 84 out of 85 recently tested supermarket food and fast-food products contain “plasticisers” known as phthalates. This chemical is used to make plastic more durable.

It also stated that 79 per cent of the food samples in its study contained bisphenol A (BPA), another chemical found in plastic, as well as other bisphenols, although the levels were lower than in tests carried out in 2009.

The group reports that none of the levels of phthalates detected exceeded the limits set by US and European regulators. However, this does not guarantee food safety. It also argues that there is no level of phthalates that scientists consider safe.

Phthalates and bisphenols are dangerous as they can interfere with the production and regulation of estrogen and other hormones, potentially increasing the risk of birth defects, cancer, diabetes, infertility, neurodevelopmental disorders, obesity and other health problems.

Read more HERE

[thebibliosphere]

Amazon keeps sending me “congratulations, you’ve been approved for our creator/influencer rewards program” emails and then because I don’t sign up, they send me more emails listing the benefits of upgrading to being an Amazon Influencer and it’s like Worstie, I know the price of doing business with you.

The only reason I use Amazon affiliate links for my published books at all is because I am currently making something depressing like a dollar from the sales of my paperbacks across global distributors (Audible sent me a check for 18 cents lmao) and the affiliate links help scrape up enough pennies every other month that I actually earn the full retail value of one whole paperback book.

Leave me alone!!! I don’t want to sell people shit they don’t need!!! I just want to sell my books. And even that I’m so bad at that someone in the notes is goin g to go “wait, you’re an author?” Aaaahh

[familyabolisher]

I've walked past the Barbie branded selfie booth, sat through the reel of old commercials that precede the previews, and watched Margot Robbie learn to cry, and I’m still not sure what “doing the thing and subverting the thing,” which Greta Gerwig claimed as the achievement of Barbie in a recent New York Times Magazine profile, could possibly mean. This was the second Gerwig profile the magazine has run. I wrote the first one, in 2017, which in hindsight appears like a warning shot in a publicity campaign that has cemented Gerwig’s reputation as so charming and pure of heart that any choice (we used to call them compromises) she makes is justified, a priori, by her innocence. This is a strange position for an adult to occupy, especially when the two-hour piece of branded content she is currently promoting hinges on a character who discovers that her own innocence is the false product of a fallen world. But—spoiler alert!—the point of Barbie’s “hero’s journey” is less to reconcile Barbie to death than to reconcile the viewer to culture in the age of IP.

“Doing the thing and subverting the thing”: I haven’t finished working out the details, but I think the rough translation would be Getting rich and not feeling feel bad about it. (Or, for the viewer: Having a good time and not feeling bad about it.) One must labor under a rather reduced sense of the word “subvert” to be impressed with poking loving fun at product misfires such as Midge (the pregnant Barbie), Tanner (the dog who poops), and the Ken with the earring, especially given that the value of all these collectors’ items has, presumably, not decreased since the film opened. Barbie may feature a sassy tween sternly informing Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie that the tiny-waisted top-heavy billion-dollar business she represents has made girls “feel bad” about themselves, but if anyone uttered the word “anorexia,” I missed it. (There was a reason Todd Haynes told the story of Karen Carpenter’s life and death with Barbies, and it wasn’t because an uncanny piece of molded plastic has the magical power to resolve the contradictions of girlhood and global capitalism.) There’s a bit about Robbie going back into a box in the Mattel boardroom, but Barbies aren’t made in an executive suite; they come from factories in China. On the one hand, it’s weird for a film about a real-world commodity to unfold wholly in the realm of ideas and feelings, but then again, that’s pretty much the definition of branding. Mattel doesn’t care if we buy Barbie dolls—they’re happy to put the word “Barbie” on sunglasses and T-shirts, or license clips from the movie for an ad for Google. OK, here’s my review: When Gerwig first visited Mattel HQ in October 2019, the company’s stock was trading at less than twelve dollars a share. Today the price is $21.40. 

Christine Smallwood, Who Was Barbie?

[newsbuck]

NewBuck's exceptional coverage of International Business News has positioned it as a trusted and respected platform in the industry. With their commitment to delivering the latest updates, insightful analysis, and comprehensive reporting.

[6-beez]

One facet of female solidarity that needs more discussion is anti consumerism and anti consumption. Our current western mindset is one of obtaining as much as possible, both as a show of wealth and for personal comfort. However, much of what we buy (for example, fast fashion) is produced in a non-transparent supply chain that frequently relies on female and Global South labor to make goods cheap and easily affordable, and thus more tempting for the consumer. These low wages that are paid to workers result in economic desperation and trap women in poorly paid, often abusive positions. Additionally, women and children are the most at risk from the negative effects of climate change, which is exacerbated by industrialization and over production.

By consuming less we reduce support for these predatory supply chains and their deleterious effects on the environment. Ideally if we buy goods, they are from female owned businesses whenever possible. Personally I also avoid spending money on items that enforce the beauty standard (this includes makeup, uncomfortable or impractical clothes or shoes, and cosmetic procedures). Essentially, what ways could you support female solidarity through consumption habits?