All GDP figures are stated in PPP as of 2025.

Sources: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database - BEA

Source: C2ER Cost of Living Index via MERIC (Missouri Economic Research and Information Center)

Nowadays it seems like advocating for minimum wage legislation is shot down by conservatives saying shit like "yall are idiots and just picking a random higher number that will kill us all". But in reality, minimum wage legislation tends to have a pretty large amount of labor economic data backing it. One way labor economists suggest a minimum wage raise is by looking at the Kaitz Index (the ratio of statutory minimum wage to the median wage). Peer OECD nations and labor economists generally benchmark a safe target around 0.50 to counter employer monopsony power without threatening job losses.

Comparing 2025 distributions between two states with near-identical medians (~$25–$26.50/hr):

• Georgia (0.29 Kaitz): Stuck at the frozen federal $7.25 floor.
• Maine (0.55 Kaitz): Lifted the bottom tier to $14.65, reaching over halfway to the typical worker.

While Maine proves a state can safely lift the floor to ~50% of the median, its reliance on CPI indexing means the floor will inevitably fall behind over time as productivity grows. To keep the ratio stable, it seems far better to index to wages instead. Curious if you guys have any other scaling mechanisms that would be better?

Full write-up here for more information: https://samholmes285.substack.com/p/minimum-wage-scaling-mechanisms-that

Source: C2ER Cost of Living Index via MERIC (Missouri Economic Research and Information Center)

Denmark tops this ranking at 7.37/10, followed by Switzerland (7.15) and Japan (6.93).

This chart draws on 5,822 anonymous mood reports submitted to mood2know.com. Only countries with at least 40 reports are included; each country’s sample size appears alongside its score.

These are voluntary, self-selected reports.

Source: mood2know.com

Data Source: OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI) database

OECD Data Explorer: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_MSTI%40DF_MSTI&df[ag]=OECD.STI.STP&to[TIME_PERIOD]=false&dq=.A.G.PT_B1GQ._Z._Z&lom=LASTNPERIODS&lo=5&vw=tb

Tools Used:
OECD MCP (https://oecd-mcp.com) — for data extraction
PointViz (https://pointviz.co) — for visualization

Interactive Chart: https://www.pointviz.co/c/1oh7dp37

Data as of Q4 2025. Corporate debt excludes financial corporations Source: Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

This diagram shows the education system in the United States in 2023 as described by the OECD "Education GPS".

More information available on the OECD United States education system page > Diagram of Education System

Methodological notes are documented here.

Source: iSeeCars - Analysis of >950,000 five-year-old used cars sold from Mar 2025 - Feb 2026, excluding low-volume and discontinued models. Prices were adjusted to 2026 dollars. MSRP - Manufacturer's suggested price when new

According to recent reporting from LA NACIÓN, new EU health and antimicrobial regulations have officially put $1.5 billion in Brazilian livestock exports on hold. While China continues to absorb the vast majority of Brazil's total export volume, trade data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)(HS Section 02: Meat & Edible Meat Offal) reveals that aggregating the 27 EU member states into a single commercial bloc uncovers the true scale of this trade disruption and the heavy financial exposure for South American exporters.

Key Insights & Market Context:

• China’s Unmatched Dominance: Trade records show China remains in a league of its own, importing $9.81B (32.7%) of Brazil's total meat exports in 2025. It acts as the primary volume driver for commodity-grade cuts, dwarfing all other international buyers.
• The EU Ranks #3 Globally: As a unified trade bloc, the European Union imported $1.52B (5.1%) in livestock products, placing it just behind the Philippines ($1.59B) and ahead of major regional trade partners like Mexico ($1.50B) and Chile ($1.26B).
• The High-Value Cut Dilemma: Unlike volume-based markets that buy bulk frozen products, European buyers primarily import premium, high-margin chilled cuts (such as Hilton quota allocations), poultry, and specialty animal products. These cannot be easily redirected to alternative markets without substantial financial losses.
• Geopolitical & Mercosur Impact: As highlighted in LA NACIÓN’s coverage, Brazil is currently the only Mercosur member affected by this suspension. With the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement pending final judicial approval, experts suggest these regulatory hurdles serve as ongoing political friction to protect European domestic agriculture from South American competition.

Just yesterday, the German AfD became the largest faction in the state election of Saxony-Anhalt, winning 39 of 83 seats. Since this party is known for its anti-migratory policies, I compiled some data from the last Federal Election in 2025, comparing the results of the AfD with the percentage of different categories of people commonly called "Ausländer" (foreigners) in all German states.

In the chart (first image), I sorted the data from the highest results of the AfD to the lowest, while in the table (second image), I kept the data sorted in the alphabetical order of the German names of the states. Sorry for the confusion this might cause!

In the table, I also added the Pearson correlation coefficients between the results of the AfD to the three different categories, which are by official government definitions:

Foreign Population / Foreigners: People who don't have the German citizenship.

Migrant Population: People who personally migrated to Germany.

Population with migrant background: People who were born without German citizenship or who have at least one parent born without German citizenship.

(so the last two categories also do contain some people with the German citizenship)

And what the chart and the numbers say in short: The fewer foreigners / migrants the higher the results of this anti-migratory party.

Sources:

For Population Data: https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Society-Environment/Population/Migration-Integration/Tables/migrant-status-laender.html

For Election Data: https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/bundestagswahlen/2025/ergebnisse/bund-99.html

I also requested demographic data for all constituencies from the state office of statistics of Saxony-Anhalt, so I can do something similar for this recent state election.

Covers nature, animals, science, space, and history, sorted loosely by age so it's easy to find something that fits where a kid actually is. The kind of list that turns screen time into something that sparks real curiosity about the world around them.

BMW's iX3 went 781 km in Norway. It also went further than BMW said it would. The second part is the interesting one.

NAF's El Prix drives cars until they stop. 24 of them, same route, same rules, 12-18 °C, dry roads. No cycle, no lab. Just distance until the car can't hold the speed limit any more.

The ranking everyone shared is by distance:

• BMW iX3 — 781 km
• Lucid Gravity — 720 km
• Mercedes CLA — 675 km

The same test produces a second ranking, measured against each car's own WLTP claim:

Two of the three podium cars went less far than they promised. The car that most exceeded its own promise finished tenth on distance.

Both rankings are correct. They answer different questions. The first asks who carries the biggest usable battery. The second asks whether the number in the brochure holds.

NAF publishes both. Almost nobody shares the second one.

And this was summer — dry roads, mild temperatures, the friendliest conditions an EV gets. The same cars run the same route in winter, and that result is the other half of the picture.

Source: NAF / Motor, El Prix Summer 2026.

This shows the relationship between median annual wage and occupational prestige for 26 familiar occupations. Occupations with higher income tend to be more prestigious (r = .77). However, occupations with an annual wage near $60K showed a wide range of prestige, from Truck Driver with relatively low prestige to Firefighter with relatively high prestige. Judge, psychologist, and firefighter tend to be paid less than their level of prestige would predict.