How Good Are The Holidays For The Economy...

Hiya! Happy 1st of December… Yepp! Another 11 months just blew past us. It feels surreal that 2025 is just 31 days away, and I still haven’t completed everything I had planned for 2024. Luckily, most of my plans can be done in the next 31 days, but I would need to speed-run through them 😅 

What are your plans for the last month of 2024?

In Today’s (15th) Edition of “Element, by Arsh“ -

• The Effect Of The Holidays On A Country’s Economy…

• Will Google Have To Sell Chrome?

• Zoom Changes Its Name…

HOLIDAYS

The Effects of the Holiday Season On The Economy…

The Holiday Season. You may not think much about all the sales happening around the holiday season, but it basically keeps the economy going. Some research done a few years ago showed that the month of December is responsible for almost 20% of all retail sales in a year! It should make no sense for December to be the highest-grossing month of the year, especially in the US. Why? It gets cold and inconvenient to go out and shop this time of the year, yet we have seen consistent growth in retail sales (~3% every year) during this season for the longest time! It’s fascinating…

What Drives The Economy In This Season? Before reading a few sources (& going to 5th Avenue, Manhattan), the only thing I could think of was the magnitude of shopping that happens during this time. But, I soon realized that Travel, Charity & the boost to small businesses are massive factors too. Let me explain.

There are only two times in the year when 5th Avenue in Manhattan is as crowded as I saw it a few days ago - Summer Break and Thanksgiving/Christmas! These are two times in a year when A LOT of tourists come to New York City to travel. “Giving Tuesday“, which happens on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is also responsible for over $3 Billion in charitable donations in a single day every year! Lastly, the combination of holiday spirit and tourism allows small businesses to generate a lot more revenue than they would any other time. While this does promote small businesses, it is also great for people looking for employment because the increased workload during the Holiday Season is often too difficult to handle, which leads to a loss in the unemployment rate this time of the year!

GOOGLE

Google Might Have To Sell Chrome…

Google’s Antitrust Problems. Google just can’t seem to shake off its legal troubles. Earlier this year, a judge ruled Google to be a monopoly, and as punishment now, they are asking Google to sell off Chrome (the internet browser), sell off Android, and let go of its deals with other companies like Apple to be the primary search engine for all iOS users! There are a lot of people saying that Google doesn’t deserve all this, while others are in favor of these decisions made by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to “punish” Google.

Will Google Really Sell Chrome? It is impossible to predict what will come after all this legal stuff is sorted out, but it is certain that Google will fight this decision until the end and beyond. At this time, almost 75% of Google’s revenue comes from placing ads on websites and YouTube. While Chrome (as an internet browser) doesn’t generate any revenue by itself, it makes it easier for Google to place ads when people use Chrome.

Read More Here. This seems to be a very opinionated article, but I wanted to include it to show the diversity of opinions people have about the decision.

ZOOM

Zoom Drops “Video“ From Its Legal Name…

The Name Change Trend. It seems that whenever a company needs a change inside the company, they start off by changing the name of the company. Facebook changed its name to “Meta“ to explore the world of Metaverse, and now Zoom is dropping “Video“ from its legal name to focus on AI-first communication. It will now just be called Zoom Communications Inc.

Do you think this is just a gimmick, or could they be actually onto something here?

Read More Here