If you pull up a list of Europe’s most valuable companies, the names that rise to the top look very different from what you see in the United States.

Louis Vuitton. Hermès. L’Oréal. Novo Nordisk. Luxury. Fashion. Perfume. Pharmaceuticals. 

Not social media. Not AI labs. Not search engines. Not trillion-dollar software platforms.

And for a lot of people, that feels strange. Because Europe is rich. Europe is educated. Europe is technologically advanced. It has some of the best universities in the world. Some of the best engineers. Some of the best designers. Some of the best scientists.

So the obvious question is why: why isn't Europe dominating in some of the newest frontiers of technology? And why does Europe instead dominate the “old world” economy while the “new world” economy is overwhelmingly American and Chinese?

Did you know America is turning into a nation of degenerate gamblers?

Not long ago, ruining your financial future took effort. You had to drive to a casino, and hand your cash to a stranger across the table. There was friction, a pause just long enough to think, “This is a bad idea.”

Now there is no pause.

When you think of Switzerland, you think of wealth. You think of stability. You think of banks filled with gold and a population that is financially prudent, conservative, and incredibly rich.

But what if I told you that by one crucial metric, the Swiss are the most indebted households on the face of the earth?

When you think of the richest country on Earth, what comes to mind? The United States, right? Land of opportunity, home of the world's biggest companies, and the stomping ground of the centi-billionaires. And if you look at average wealth, you’d be right. Take all the money in America, divide it by the number of people, and the number is astronomical. But that average is heavily skewed by the super-rich at the very top.

In June 2019 the show Untamed became the most-watched series in Asian television history.It had over 10 billion views and as of today, it has over 79 billion views across all platforms.

Why are the Chinese so bad at team sports?Even with a population of 1.4B people, china is not ranked highly on any team sports Athletes from China are usually good at solo sports. But, they struggle at team sports.

There are even Dragon Ball Z parades in rural Mexico. They honored the series' creator, Akira Toriyama, when he passed in March of 2024. This is without a doubt one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. Everyone in Mexico knows Dragon Ball, from kids to grandpas. Even if you don't know anything about anime. It's like a cultural thing there. Ask anywhere on the internet, and you'll find it: Mexico has some of the biggest Dragon Ball fans in the world. They are very devoted.

In South Korea, beauty isn’t a bonus. It’s a baseline. It affects your job prospects, dating life, and even how much respect you get in daily interactions. And it’s powered a K-beauty industry worth over $10 billion.

I went around trying desserts near me and learned something wild.

Most of the fancy restaurant desserts you pay triple for are actually straight from the grocery store.

In South Korea, beauty isn’t a bonus. It’s a baseline. It affects your job prospects, dating life, and even how much respect you get in daily interactions. And it’s powered a K-beauty industry worth over $10 billion.