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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway
@edconway.bsky.social
23K followers 120 following 520 posts
Did I mention I wrote a book...?
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Nov 13
That’s me in the hard hat, in front of the bucket of a terrifyingly enormous digger.
What you can’t really tell from the picture is that my head was spinning.
I’d just had one of those moments that change your life forever.
It would set me off on a journey around the world…!🧵
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Reposted by Ed Conway
anisa.bsky.social
Anisa Khalifa @anisa.bsky.social · 20d
today on The Broadside: how a rock from western NC is key to making basically every semiconductor in the world…and why it’s important to know where all the raw materials we need for our stuff actually comes from. featuring @edconway.bsky.social

www.wunc.org/podcast/the-...
The rock that runs the world
Arguably the most important mine in the world is located in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. And we don’t have a backup.
www.wunc.org
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Reposted by Ed Conway
tomheap.bsky.social
Tom Heap @tomheap.bsky.social · 26d
If its not built of it its probably built by it but can #steel ever be green? Rare Earth @bbcsounds.bsky.social with @helenczerski.bsky.social @edconway.bsky.social @steelwatch.bsky.social @willarnoldengineer.bsky.social Also BBC R4 today midday
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Reposted by Ed Conway
marcdefaoite.bsky.social
Marc de Faoite @marcdefaoite.bsky.social · 28d
Last week, trying to find arguments to convince my colleagues to stop binning paper clips, I went on a deep dive about what it takes to make one. There was a lot of crossover with this thread. Also - paperclips are reusable almost to infinity.
edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Nov 13
That’s me in the hard hat, in front of the bucket of a terrifyingly enormous digger.
What you can’t really tell from the picture is that my head was spinning.
I’d just had one of those moments that change your life forever.
It would set me off on a journey around the world…!🧵
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · 28d
The Hong Kong/Ukraine numbers are counted separately to the normal asylum numbers (which includes Afghanistan asylum seekers). They are the "safe and legal routes" categories in the breakdown chart I included.
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · 28d
Anyone fancy ten-plus minutes of non-emotive charts on what's really going on with immigration in the UK?
Well, either way, here you go👇 youtu.be/zTs3PDEkB2w?...
UK immigration: What the numbers really show
YouTube video by Sky News
youtu.be
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Aug 16
Great news 🤓
isoutar.bsky.social
Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · Aug 14
Happy to report that since this book was published, this Mining Engineering degree at @exeter.ac.uk has been reinstated.
"But at the time of writing there was such a dearth of young people wanting to study mining that the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, one of the world's pre-eminent metallurgy institutions, had suspended new intakes for its mining engineer-ing degree. If there is no one left who knows how to procure the minerals we need, what hope have we then?"
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Aug 4
📖A few years ago I wrote a book about the materials that make the world go round.
It was pretty relevant then. I think it's still pretty relevant (maybe even more relevant) today.
Anyway it's on offer TODAY ONLY👇
Have a read & let me know what you think shorturl.at/ONyBZ
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Aug 4
Thanks Paul! Nice to hear from you 👍
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Reposted by Ed Conway
timleunig.bsky.social
Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · Aug 4
If you have not already bought @edconway.bsky.social Material world then do so today - one day kindle offer, £1.99 - a steal www.amazon.co.uk/Material-Wor...
Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future
Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future eBook : Conway, Ed: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
www.amazon.co.uk
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Reposted by Ed Conway
ianmck.ee
Ian McKee @ianmck.ee · Jul 29
We already knew about the scale of waste from these kinds of retailers, this is eye opening about the environmental impact of the shipping. All that stuff from Chinese e-commerce is getting *flown*.
edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jul 29
📽️What ACTUALLY happens when you buy an item - some cheap clothes or a trinket - from an e-commerce site like Shein or Temu?
Our deep dive into the fascinating way e-commerce is changing trade. Raising ENORMOUS questions along the way. Feat @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtqw...
The trade loophole that's costing the UK economy billions
YouTube video by Sky News
www.youtube.com
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jul 29
The picture does not do justice to how very hot the room was
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jul 29
I can't speak for why, since these decisions are way above my pay grade, but, out of curiosity, what have you got against watching it on YouTube?
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jul 29
📽️What ACTUALLY happens when you buy an item - some cheap clothes or a trinket - from an e-commerce site like Shein or Temu?
Our deep dive into the fascinating way e-commerce is changing trade. Raising ENORMOUS questions along the way. Feat @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtqw...
The trade loophole that's costing the UK economy billions
YouTube video by Sky News
www.youtube.com
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 25
How on earth did one of the world's most cost-competitive chemicals plants become unsustainable in only a couple of decades? Here's what happened to the ethylene cracker at Wilton - and one or two wider lessons... edconway.substack.com/p/a-dying-in...
A dying industry dies a bit more
How did one of the world's most cost-competitive plants become unsustainable in only a couple of decades? Here's what happened to the ethylene cracker at Wilton - and one or two wider lessons
edconway.substack.com
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 20
Campbell's Soup, tin cans and tariffs.
Here's the story of the unexpected economic chain reaction that links the closure of a blast furnace in Wales with one of the most iconic American products in history... open.substack.com/pub/edconway...
Tinned Soup and Tariffs
A dive down the rabbit hole of what it actually takes to make a seemingly simple supermarket product - and what happens when that product gets embroiled in a trade war
open.substack.com
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
All of which is to say, while the conventional wisdom in economic circles is that inflation has been tamed, don't discount the fact that a) most people don't feel that way and b) it might not be tamed, in a very real macroeconomic sense, anyway
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
It's very possible that tariffs push prices higher - even if they're primarily imposed in the US. Most big consumer electronics firms are global players, and if they're raising prices in the US they may v well do likewise in Europe too. This stuff is v hard to model...
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
That brings me to the second key underlying story, which is that there are all sorts of hard-to-quantify forces which could push inflation higher.
Take the war between Israel & Iran. That's already lifted oil prices recently (albeit they're still lower than earlier in the year)
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
Most people feel changes in prices over a much longer horizon than the 1yr rate economists/politicians/the media focus on.
It's not to say either measure is the "right" one.
But if you're primarily looking at the annual rate it can delude you into thinking inflation is tamed
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
Look at the FOUR year CPI rate and it's higher in recent months than it has been since the early 90s👇
That folks STILL feel there's a cost of living problem isn't because they haven't read the latest inflation data. It's because they read inflation differently to economists
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
But when you go to the supermarket are you only thinking about prices over the past year?
Of course not. You're thinking over recent years. Say, the past FOUR years.
And over the past 4 yrs, the level of prices is up 25%.
This is another legitimate measure of cost of living! 👇
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
But, as I say, what that number is is simply looking at the difference in the LEVEL of prices over the past year. This chart is that level. (The actual consumer price index!).
And yes, look over the year to May and it's up 3.4%.
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
The key thing to remember here is that when economists talk about inflation what they're really talking about is the ANNUAL RATE at which a basket of goods and services changes price. And certainly, that rate is much lower than the 2022 peaks...
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · Jun 18
🧵Some thoughts re inflation.
Not the data today, but two deep issues we should prob spend more time thinking about.
1. While economists and policymakers may have convinced themselves that the cost of living squeeze is over, for millions of households, it doesn't feel that way.
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edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · May 28
Answer here bsky.app/profile/edco...
edconway.bsky.social
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · May 28
📽️Here's a film @aoifey.bsky.social and I have been working on for a while. About a slightly off piste topic (for me) - but one that matters.
It's about what happened to Leicester in the wake of all those "fast fashion" scandals a few years ago. In short: not good www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArF1...
How Leicester's 'sweatshop' scandal devastated the city's fashion industry
YouTube video by Sky News
www.youtube.com
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