?? Charts of the week: Stock market rides high, Arctic sea ice low; energy market, vaccines++

Charts of the week is a new weekly email in which I'll deliver some of the most important observations about our near future in a visual form.

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Global startup studio boom

Startup studios are growing in number. They appear to actually be able to create higher returning startups than traditional measures. (On average, but caution because most venture returns are made by a handful of total outperformers. So averages belie the power-law distribution.) via the GSSN

How advertising spend changed

How global ad spend changed since 1980. Print peaked in 2007, television in 2014. When I was at The Guardian in 1994, the group had already come to the conclusion that digital posed a significant threat. 

My enemy's enemy

Political sectarianism in America is surging. Out-party hate has emerged as a more compelling force than in-party-love. And the two-sides really don’t seem to understand each other. “For example, Republicans estimate that 32% of Democrats are LGBT when in reality it is 6%; Democrats estimate that 38% of Republicans earn over $250,000 per year when in reality it is 2%.” 

From Finkel, et al in Science.

Renewables smash fossils

After years of rapid price improvements, renewables are now on average cheaper than fossil fuels according to Lazard Brothers. The tony bankers’ Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis is the benchmark go-to-price book (it also charts price declines over the years.)

Whither our sea ice?

“Current sea ice extent in the Arctic is roughly equal to the summertime lows during the 1980s – two months after the typical start to the freeze-up season. There’s never been this little sea ice this late in the year, for at least a thousand years.” via Eric Holthaus.

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