Top Links 940 China's export surge. Baby Lenin, involution & Accenture the mega consultancy.
Great links, images, and reading from Chartbook Newsletter by Adam Tooze
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MARIO SIRONI Bozzetto manifesto Fiat Balilla
Since Covid Chinese exports and imports have decoupled.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese exports and imports tended to move in tandem. Since then, however, a clear decoupling has taken place: goods exports have risen well above their pre-pandemic trend, while goods imports have stagnated below their 2021 level.
Source: European Central Bank
Since winding down the Chinese coal industry is one of the key challenges facing global decarbonization, it is very good news that rationalization and closures have already halved the Chinese coal mining workforce.
Source: China Statistical Yearbook
Foreign holdings of dollar and euro assets.
Source: European Central Bank
Involution in China
Notorious practices such as the “996” work system, long criticized in public discourse, also saw no improvement this year.[1] In January, the well-known short video platform Kuaishou was exposed for implementing an “11.5-hour work system,” requiring employees to work at least 11.5 hours after clocking in before they could clock out. In May, Qu Jing, head of Baidu’s public relations department, sparked public outrage with statements on Douyin such as “when employees threaten to resign over a break-up, I immediately approve it,” and noting that employees are expected to keep their phones on 24 hours a day. This led to widespread disgust with Baidu’s corporate culture and a temporary drop in its stock price, ultimately ending with Qu Jing leaving the company. In June, CATL exhorted its employees to “strive for 100 days” under a “896” work system [8.am. to 9 p.m. six days a week]. The issue of excessive overtime in the automotive industry also drew attention. According to explosive allegations made by industry insiders, Tesla factories have long operated on a 12-hour system, reducing pay for anyone working shorter hours, while NIO employees reported working 500 hours of overtime in six months without receiving any overtime pay. Digital work saw similar trends. On June 27th, a female livestream host suddenly fainted during a broadcast on a channel for the brand Chicecream, drawing public concern. Follow-up reports stated that she had already been feeling unwell due to her menstrual cycle and was working while sick. The company later stated that the host had sought medical attention. This incident reflects the severe conditions of overwork still prevalent among livestream hosts.
NIO calls on its employees to “strive for 100 days”
Source: Chuang
Consultancy Accenture has almost 800,000 employees in 2025!
Consultancy Accenture has a history of creating its own corporate language. Its name, intended as a derivative of “accent on the future”, was ridiculed when it was adopted in 2001 after the business, Andersen Consulting, broke ties with accounting group Arthur Andersen and was forced to change its name. The rebrand was reported to have cost $100mn. Accenture’s market capitalisation surged to more than $260bn during a boom in demand for consulting services following the Covid-19 pandemic, but has since fallen to about $150bn as the sector faces a growth slowdown.
Source: Financial Times
Tilkedromes
Hermann Hugo Tilke (born 31 December 1954) is a German engineer, racing driver and circuit designer, who has designed numerous Formula One motor racing circuits. After completing his civil engineering degree with specialization in transport and traffic management at Fachhochschule Aachen, Tilke established Tilke Engineering in 1984, combining skills in architecture, civil engineering and electronic engineering to provide complete solutions for motor racing and waste disposal projects. Tilke is one of four designers recognised by the FIA but has, with the exception of the Silverstone redesign in 2010, been the only one to be commissioned to design Formula One tracks.
… His first major job was the transformation of the fast Österreichring to the much shorter A1-Ring in Austria, in the 1990s.Tilke was involved in the radical overhauls of European circuits, such as the Hockenheimring, Circuit de Catalunya and Nürburgring, as well as Fuji Speedway in Japan.
Tilke secured the contracts to design many high-profile new world circuits from scratch, mainly in Asia but also in eastern Europe. He designed Sepang International Circuit, Bahrain International Circuit, Shanghai International Circuit, Istanbul Park Racing Circuit, Valencia Street Circuit, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Yas Marina Circuit, Korea International Circuit and the Buddh International Circuit. Tilke also designed the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where F1 made its return to the United States in 2012. Tilke’s latest designs include Sochi Autodrom which hosted its first race in 2014 with the debut of Russia in F1, Kuwait Motor Town (Kuwait) which opened officially in 2019, and the Hanoi Street Circuit which was set for an inaugural race in April 2020 but got cancelled due to COVID-19. Tilke has designed every track with several other engineers from Tilke Engineering, as well as F1’s former commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone. After viewing the track site and “once factors such as topography, wind direction, infrastructure and soil quality are known” the design work can begin. Tilke focuses on “conceiving dramatic architecture that reflects the host country, like Sepang’s lotus-leaf grandstands in Malaysia”, while also aiming for spectator comfort and clear viewing. He “build[s] corners that promise a fast and interesting race but avoid pulling the field apart”.
Tilke’s track designs have been the subject of criticism. A 2009 profile in The Guardian noted that Tilke “has been accused of penning boring tracks and, even worse, of butchering legendary ones like Hockenheim.” Russian Formula One commentator Alexey Popov coined the term “Tilkedrome” to emphasize the characteristic ennui of tracks designed by Tilke. Former driver and team owner Jackie Stewart was critical of Tilke in a 2011 piece in The Daily Telegraph, blaming his designs for the lack of overtaking and excitement at many Formula One races, saying they “are largely carbon copies of each other”. Stewart, while praising the vast improvement the designs have brought to the sport’s safety as well as “bringing fantastic amenities and luxuries to the sport”, argued that the tracks have “gone too far the other way” in terms of safety. His primary complaint was that the large tarmac run-off areas fail to “penalise mistakes”; he cited the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Mark Webber was unable to pass Fernando Alonso, despite the latter running wide on four occasions, because the track’s run-off areas did not impede him. Stewart suggested that the run-offs be made of a substance that slowed the cars down and thus punished drivers’ mistakes. Webber echoed Stewart’s views, stating that he was “spot on”. 1980 world champion Alan Jones described Tilke’s designs as “just one constant-radius corner after another” and “boring”. Others have defended him. Driver and commentator Anthony Davidson said that Tilke “understands the demands of the modern cars...he gives us run-off areas and it’s all well thought out. They are enjoyable to race on because they suit modern F1 cars. At a track like Silverstone you do not get as much overtaking because it was designed for cars that were slower and did not depend on downforce for speed. But the circuits designed in recent years have a long straight and bigger braking zone.” He particularly praised Turn Eight of Istanbul Park.
Lenin (left) at the age of three with his sister, Olga
