600 million people voted 🙌🏻
This Week in Review☕️: This country braces for record tourists | The Best Diet revealed for weight loss and longevity | GenZ is obsessed with credit cards | India Election Results in landslide victory
Quick Bites:
Travel ✈️ : Venice, Tuscany, Portofino, Bellagio, Capri.. Italy braces for RECORD tourists this year, CNBC reports.
Italy.. the only country where doing nothing, or as they call it, "Dolce far niente" is not laziness; it's an effing LIFESTYLE 🙌🏻
Sitting in a piazza, sipping an Aperol Spritz, and people-watching is a national pastime. Stress? Umm NOT HERE 🖕🏻
The tourist overload is also happening because of famous celeb sightings from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at the 'Villa Sola Cabiati' in Tremezzo two weeks ago to George Clooney's favorite spot, 'Villa d'Este' in Lake Como.
Italians:💡 We may not have the luck of the Irish but we do have delicious food, excellent wine and extreme sexiness. And that's all that really matters.
Meanwhile💡: Dudes on Instagram after eating 1 garlic breadstick from Dominoes.
"Honey, I think I'm Italian" 🇮🇹
Key Highlights, reported by CNBC:
💡Post-pandemic, the crush of foreigners has gotten so bad that Italian authorities have had to take measures
💡Popular spots like Venice, with centuries old buildings, can't handle the influx without damaging ancient structures
💡Venice has been charging 5 euros to enter the city for day travelers not staying overnight, for example
💡In addition, there is a shortage of chefs and waiters in the beach areas
💡 In Sardinia, about 25,000 seasonal workers are needed, CNBC reports
💡However, the influx has also been of great advantage to Italy. 60 million tourists flooded the country last year, pumping an enormous amount of money into the economy
💡Travel accounted for 10.2% of Italy’s GDP in 2022, according to Statista
💡The sector employs approximately 4.4 million people, about 16% of total employment
Our Thoughts💡:
For those visiting this summer, here are some Italian people cliches that are actually true:
👠Casual Fridays? No such thing in Italy. Italians are born wearing Gucci suits and Prada shoes
🍝Italy is the only country where pasta is considered a suitable breakfast. The only debate more heated than politics is whether Spaghetti Carbonara should have cream (PS. It should NOT)
☕️Expresso is the equivalent of water. They drink it like it's a medical prescription 💊
👵 Nonna’s opinion is gospel: If you date an Italian dude, prepare to be interrogated by the entire family. No pressure ladies 🙄
🧍♂️Italian men are NOT mafia. We have been all over Italy and in no part is it anything like a Sopranos episode! 👋
Finance 💰: Gen Z loves plastic, despite debt soaring.
Gen Z is addicted to credit card rewards in a way that older generations haven't been, The Wall Street Journal reports.
PS. We made our coffee at home this morning and then charged bae $8 for a cup 😈
Follow us for more debt-management hacks 😉
According to American Express, not only have more young people become cardholders but their desire for free perks has prompted the company to spruce up its reward offerings.
These now go beyond travel to include things like streaming video services and food delivery, WSJ reports.
Just a few years ago, Gen Z was famously against racking up credit card debt. However, the recent study indicates that behavior has shifted.
Umm no shit it's shifted. Borrowing from the future to fund today's avocado toast? This is why GDP can NO longer be a reliable indicator of our economy 🤯
PS. Roses are red. Our bank account is redder. We only pay the minimum ☺️👇🏻
Key Highlights, reported by TransUnion:
💡Younger consumers want instant access and ease of use; 49% of Gen Z and 46% of millennial cardholders prefer receiving notifications through mobile apps
💡The percentage of cardholders who are 22-24 years old who hold plastic has climbed to 84%, compared with 61% of millennials at that age a decade ago
💡This brings it's own risks, with credit card complaints rising more than 70% since before the pandemic
💡In addition, Gen Z cardholders who are 60 days or more late with debt payments has risen significantly from 10 years ago
Our Thoughts💡: Some countries are pushing to get rid of the debt ceiling.
Hmm.. if AmEx got rid of the limit, we wonder how that would go..👇🏻
Health 🥗 : Mediterranean diet found to be best for weight-loss and longevity.
Women who closely followed a Mediterranean diet lived much longer than those who did not, according to a new study that followed 25,000 women for 25 years, CNN reports.
The world💡: Europeans live longer because of they consume a Mediterranean diet of olive oil, fish and fresh veggies
Us💡: Also, they can buy all the above and not go bankrupt
The 6 Stages of starting a new diet:
1. Saturday: Researches diet
2. Sunday: Spends $500 on organic groceries
3. Monday: Commits publicly to diet on Instagram
4. Tuesday-Thursday: Eats grilled salmon with broccoli
5. Friday: Orders pizza
6. Saturday: Dives head first into a cheesecake
Sunday: Find new diet.. Back to square one because being a skinny b*tch ain't everything, right ladies?! 🙌🏻🙌🏻👇🏻
According to the study, this diet has a long list of scientific benefits:
💡Best for healthy weight loss
💡Reduce the risk for breast cancer, dementia, depression, diabetes, high cholesterol and memory loss
💡Stronger bones, a healthier heart and longer life
So, what should you be eating on this diet specifically👇🏻
“We may be comfortable inferring that the diet, indeed does, ‘cause’ a lower risk of death.”
In addition, the study found it also lessened the risk of dying from cancer by 17% and dying from cardiovascular disease by 20%", CNN.
World News 🇮🇳 : India becomes “World’s fastest-growing economy”, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins 3rd term.
From being one among the “fragile five” to becoming no.1, India witnesses its third successive year of +7% GDP growth.
REPRESENT!!
GDP increased by 8.2%, even higher than the Modi government’s forecast of 7.6%.
“Just a trailer of things to come”-PM Modi
After 44 days of an election, counting over 600 million votes cast by Indians, the final results came out a few hours back.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won the general election, as the polls predicted.
Modi, 73, who has been in power since 2014, is now in office for a third term.
Food 🍫: Chocolate prices skyrocket.
Global chocolate manufacturers face the highest input costs since Johnny Depp played Willy Wonka.
This is because chocolate’s key ingredient, cocoa, has soared in commodities markets throughout 2024.
Key Highlights, according to CNBC:
💡In January, spot prices for cocoa began at $4,200 an ounce, then hit an all-time high of more than $12,000 by late April
💡Factors such as crop disease, El Niño and market speculation have played big roles in cocoa’s historic price run-up
💡 “If we’re looking from the angle of the consumer, certainly I would say the worst is still to come”, as companies pass on the cost to customers
💡Manufacturers are looking at cocoa-adjacent alternatives as a solution
Our Thoughts💡:
When you've been binging all day and you're not sure if you feel sick with yourself or want to finish off with something sweet 🍫☺️☺️
Quicker Bites:
Fashion giant, Shein, could make London IPO filing this week, valuing the company at $64 billion.
Mexico elects its 1st female president.
Trump joins TikTok, the app he once tried to ban.
Kylian Mbappe joins Real Madrid from PSG.
Spotify raises prices of premium subscription plans globally.
UN experts urge all countries to recognize Palestine statehood.
China maintains stance on disputed Gulf Islands despite Iran’s objections.