What I wrote last week
5 tactics to control spending & save money
Business
The 2023 U.S. economy, in a dozen charts. Some good macro trends and charts.
The Woman Shaking Up the $50 Billion Instant-Ramen Industry. “Today, packages of the company’s “Buldak” noodles—literally “fire chicken” in Korean—have landed on the American shelves of Costco, Walmart and Albertsons. They will soon arrive in Kroger supermarkets, too. The worldwide instant-noodle market hit roughly $50 billion in 2023, a 52% jump from five years ago, according to estimates from Euromonitor International. One major driver is growth in the relatively untapped U.S. market, where eaters have historically viewed instant ramen more as a cheap snack. The rise of more cautious consumer spending, as well as the popularity of restaurant versions of ramen, have helped elevate interest in making ramen as a meal at home. Walmart said Buldak noodles now rank among its top-selling premium ramen. After testing out Buldak’s sales in select West Coast stores, Costco is considering a national rollout in the U.S. starting this year, Samyang said. Jennifer Saenz, chief merchandising officer at Albertsons, lauded Samyang’s bright packaging—from pink to purple to lime green—which helps grab consumers’ attention.”
Amazon customers have scored 1 billion packages from U.S. Same-Day sites. It’s in Amazon’s interest to accustom shoppers to speedy delivery. To build the infrastructure to support same-day delivery is not easy nor cheap. Very few retailers or even companies on Earth can do what Amazon has amazingly built. The more shoppers are accustomed to fast delivery, the bigger Amazon’s moat. I wonder what that would mean for the likes of Uber, Instacart and DoorDash. These platforms can provide an alternative to Amazon for same-day delivery. They will take a piece out of the pie, but so will Amazon if you want to do business with them.
The Power Grid Is Changing. What It Means for Utility Stocks—and Your Electricity Bill. An interesting piece on the outlook of utilities in the US. There will be significant changes in not only how electricity is generated, but also how it is distributed. “All told, publicly traded electric utilities have spent some $134 billion a year on average maintaining their $2 trillion asset base, according to the Edison Electric Institute, with few dollars going to drive the modest growth. Such complacency won’t cut it in the years ahead. Data centers are growing as more data move to the cloud. What’s more, AI computers are power hungry, needing five or six times more power compared with their less-sophisticated computing ancestors. Heat pumps, which are replacing conventional heating and air conditioning, shift demand from natural gas and heating oil to the grid. While the transition away from internal combustion engines to EVs hasn’t happened as quickly as some imagined, it’s still happening—and powering all of those cars will take a lot of electricity. Right now, EVs account for less than 1% of total electricity demand. That could be anywhere from 5% to 15% by 2050, depending on how fast EVs get adopted.”
Live Oak: The Small Business Bank. An excellent episode on Live Oak Bank, the downsides of neobanks and the banking industry in general.
Inside Gucci’s Quest For Older, Richer Customers. An interesting piece on the current transformation of Gucci under the new CEO. From product strategy, to store presentation and marketing, Gucci is trying a new strategy to reach richer customers and be agnostic of economic conditions. One concern I see is that the new CEO is 62 years old. A plan of this magnitude takes at least several years. Will Gucci have stability at the top to see it through? “The restrained renovation is part of a dramatic makeover by the once-florid brand aimed at reaching older and more conservative customers. Or, to put it another way, richer ones. After several years of slowing growth, Gucci is trying a reset. In an effort to close the gap with its luxury rivals, the brand that long strived to be at the cutting edge of fashion is trying to go more upmarket. The shifts mean Gucci could risk becoming just another expensive brand that has lost touch with the attributes that made it great. If the plan works, Gucci will join the small group of megabrands that seem to mint money whatever the ups and downs of the world economy. “
Other stuff I find interesting
How Oulu became the winter cycling capital of the world. “The city encourages cycling by clearing the paths every day during the winter, using a fleet of heavy-duty snow ploughs. One of the most impactful changes is also one of the simplest: clear the roads of snow only when the cycle paths are done. One key challenge for winter cycling is safety. Oulu uses several interventions to address this. The paths are well-lit during the dark winter months, and there are 320 underpasses so that children, in particular, don’t have to cross roads, notes Vaarala. There is also a system of projector-based signs that are illuminated from lamp posts onto the snowy surfaces. Residents of Oulu were among the most satisfied in Finland with safety of city transport, including cycling infrastructure, according to a national survey.”
How humans have changed the Earth’s surface in 2023. A very interesting list of how humans changed the Earth’s surface in 2023. The long-term impact remains to be seen, but in the short run, I don’t think our excessive intervention or unintentional influence is positive.
The reality of the Danish fairytale. I am not a fan of DHH, but he wrote a great post here on the pros and cons of having a society like Denmark. I spent almost 3 years in Europe before coming to America. I used to be strongly favorable to how it works in Europe compared to what we have in the US. Gradually, I came to admit that there are things that Europe has to compromise a lot on and things that only a multiculturalistic society like the US can do. I think which society works best for us depends on what life stages each of us is in and our specific situation.
Earning the trust of a 40-stone silverback gorilla. It’s a shame that gorillas are now an engandered species in Congo. God bless to the people who are trying to protect the 170 gorillas left and raise awareness regarding the declining population of the animal that is closest to us humans.
The tricky problem of banning Canadian work experience requirements. I used to think that I should have gone to Canada years ago, instead of the US. It would be much easier to get permanent residence and settle down. My thinking has changed recently. I realized that it was much harder to get a good paying job in Canada and it was equally challenging to buy an affordable home. This article bolstered the recent change in my view towards Canada. What’s the point of attracting immigrant talents when you require them to have Canadian experience?
Stats
U.S. payrolls increased by 216,000 in December
“Throughout 2023, consumers spent $75 billion online via BNPL payment platforms, up 14.3% from 2022”
“An estimated 4.5 percent of US households were unbanked”
“A staggering 19.6% of office space in major U.S. cities wasn’t leased as of the fourth quarter”
Minh Quang Duong 
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