Three Random (and Resounding) Numbers From 2024

With many of us selecting 2024’s significant economic statistics, I chose three that are less recognizable. At $3.43 trillion, .78, and 120.5 million, my numbers represent the future, the past, and the present.

Random and Resounding Economic Numbers

#1: $3.43 trillion

We can start with a picture of two rats.

On the right you can see an AI powered rat while a real one is on the left. The AI version was so convincing that the two became friends:

Our two friends take us to Nvidia, the world’s top AI chip designer. On November 5, passing Apple, at $3.43 trillion, Nvidia became the most valuable publicly traded company. According to CNBC, its stock went up a gob smacking 2700% during the past 5 years. Most crucially, moving from video chip design after the firm started in 1993, it became an AI leader.

#2: .78

The pictured couple met through a government sponsored speed dating event:

Sufficiently alarmed to be sponsoring activities that will lead to more babies, South Korea has a (way less than replacement) .78 fertility rate. As you can see below, including the United States, the EU, China, and India, the worrisome trend is typical in many other countries. Without enough babies, the elderly need more caretakers, and the work force is too small to support everyone. However, reflecting the tradeoff, we have independent women deciding when to have children.

Shown in brown, a majority of the world’s countries will not maintain their current populations:

#3: 120.5 million

Social media companies have come and gone:

When we quantify downloaded apps, behind Facebook and Instagram, TikTok is the third most popular. But still, as of July 2024, the U.S. TikTok audience was a whopping 120.5 million people:

Our Bottom Line: Resounding Numbers

Because we “treasure what we measure,” $3.43 trillion, .78, and 120.5 million are among this year’s resounding numbers.

Reflecting the future and Nvidia, approximately $3.43 trillion was the company’s stock value. Meanwhile, I cared about plunging fertility rates because they displayed the past ascent of girl power (that I hope will continue.) And, as for the present, a major concern is the current impact of social media.

My sources and more: Always excellent, my GZero daily email had the AI image and story. Meanwhile, the BBC’s World Business Report and The Global Story detailed sinking fertility rates as did this article.  Then, I was inspired by Sherwood’s social media charts.