Errolson Hugh
Acronym Designer Errolson Hugh Sees the Future | GQ – “People often use the word ‘dystopia’ or the phrase ‘cyberpunk’ in relation to us,” Errolson says. “But really, our whole thing is, Acronym is really about agency. It’s about enabling somebody to do something they couldn’t otherwise. It’s inherently optimistic.” – Errolson Hugh and the design team at Acronym cross a number of different areas or disciplines. You could look backwards and see Hugh and Co. as materials innovators with martial influences walking in the footsteps of Massimo Osti who founded C.P. Company and Stone Island.
There is also a clear connective thread in terms of style between Errolson Hugh’s Acronym, Yoon Ahn & Verbal (Ryu Yeong-gi) of Ambush and also Paul Nicholson of Number 3.
Consumer behaviour
Despite Long Odds, Rural Chinese Continue to Bet on Education | The Sixth Tone – part of this is down to the Confucian system where centuries of civil service exams allowed families to elevate themselves if there was a bright kid in the family
Economics
Challenging the narrative about China’s rise. As with most things the truth is decidedly more complex in nature.
China’s coronavirus test providers hit by payments crunch | Financial Times – I heard that COVID kits accounted for about 1.5 per cent of GDP, the collapse in the housing market meant that the local government finances have been battered
How will the world pay to support its aging population? – economic growth will falter, since working-age populations will shrink. In the US, real potential GDP growth is projected to drop from 2.4% currently to 1.5% in 2043. Some of this can be offset. “If inflation starts eating into savings, people will want to come back to work,” Pradhan said—something that’s happening even now in the US. Any official move to raise the retirement age will not go down well with people who have been used to thinking of stopping work at 60 or thereabouts, Pradhan said. “Even in Russia, at a time when Vladimir Putin had a lot of popularity, he found it hard to push the retirement age up,” he said. But even if, de facto, people retire later, Pradhan is unsure of “how much this can be juiced. Already, by reducing pension benefits, we’ve made people aware of this.” In the EU, for instance, the labor force participation rate for people between the ages of 55-64 rose from around 43% in 2005 to around 64% in 2019. “I’m not sure how much higher we can drag that,” Pradhan said. – in some economies this can blunted through women’s increased participation in the workplace.
Finance
China circles El Salvador’s economy as country edges toward crypto plunge | The Guardian
Hong Kong
MPs and peers urge Sunak to sanction pro-Beijing Hong Kong officials
Criminal records checks of lion dance performers necessary, Hong Kong security chief says – Hong Kong Free Press HKFP – “Given the unique nature of lion dance activities and attendant martial arts displays, it is necessary for the Government to ensure that public order is not disturbed and that public safety is not affected when such sport activities are conducted in public places,” he said. As of last month, the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Dragon and Lion Dance Association had around 190 organisation members. In the year of 2018-2019, the association organised five dragon and lion dance competitions with funding from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The competition saw more than 200 participating teams and more than 2,100 participants in total. – National security implications given the lion dance’s close association with kung fu practitioners? There is also the subversive history of the lion dance.
Lion dancing gained its greatest fame during the Ching Dynasty. The Manchu reign at that time was an oppressive, inhumane government. Thousands of Chinese were massacres without any known cause until, it is said, “their blood literally reddened the rivers.” Ming loyalists attempting to foment rebellion against the Manchu warlords, expressed their hatred by inventing the green-faced lion. With brows made of twin steel swords, each measuring 1 foot 6 inches in length, the green lion represented the Manchu Government during the Ching Dynasty. Fighting the lion meant combating the Manchus.
Since lion dancing was performed in villages all over the country for the purpose of celebrations, the rebels would use the opportunity to exchange information and to collect money for the revolution. As part of the dance, the lion would eat lettuce — which is where the money would be hidden. The lead dancer would cry, “Choi ching!” (“get the Ching!”) to signal that he was a fellow revolutionary and, therefore, it was safe to pass information to him. However, informers soon figured out the battlecry. So, since chiang (meaning “green”) sounds very much like ching, the revolutionary passcode was changed to “Choi chiang!” (“get the green”). To this day, this revolutionary cry is used when the lion “eats” the symbolic lettuce and good luck money.
Qin, S. Lion Dancing. Ancient Worlds (Orient)
How to
3 things you need to do now, before Revue gets shut down | AWeber – shutting down at the end of the year. Its a casualty of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.
Innovation
Luxury
Estée Lauder acquires Tom Ford in $2.8 billion deal | Vogue Business – Estée Lauder has confirmed it is the new owner of Tom Ford, bringing its successful beauty licence in-house. Ermenegildo Zegna Group will produce the brand’s fashion.
2023 Porsche 911 Dakar: Lifted Rally Car Right From the Factory | Jalopnik
Media
Search Ad Spends Declined by 20% in Q3 2022
Media, marketing, communications and PR list of Mastodon users – Google Sheets
Game over for Warcraft in China, as NetEase and Blizzard end their 14-year deal from January 2023 | South China Morning Post – part of a wider decoupling of media and entertainment between the west and China
Online
Tencent to ‘distribute’ most of its $22bn Meituan stake in dividend | Financial Times
Retailing
Fashion firm Joules falls into administration putting 1,600 jobs at risk | The Guardian
Security
U.S. FBI director says TikTok poses national security concerns | Reuters
US court sentences Chinese spy to 20 years for stealing trade secrets | The Guardian
Hostile states are targeting you, Speaker warns MPs – BBC News
China playing ‘long game’ as it co-opts UK assets, warns MI5 chief | Financial Times
Taiwan
ASML expands in Taiwan and Korea to capture opportunities | DigiTimes