Income Decoded

Less hype. More clarity. Income, decoded.

You kept 100 in cash under the mattress in 2000. In 2025 it buys only this much 💶 🇨🇭 Switzerland 86.8 🇯🇵 Japan 86.7 🇫🇷 France 62.9 🇮🇹 Italy 59.8 🇩🇪 Germany 59.8 🇺🇸 United States 53.4 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 52.4 🇧🇷 Brazil 22.5 🇷🇺 Russia 10.9 🇹🇷 Turkey 1.12

Only 1.9% of US workers quit their job in August 2026, down from 3.0% in 2022, per BLS. People aren't loyal. They're scared.

Teen unemployment hit 14.5% in September 2026, per BLS. The first rung of the ladder is disappearing.

Who sells the most high-tech products to the world? 💻 2007–2024 2024: 🇨🇳 China $857B 🇭🇰 Hong Kong $422B (largely re-exports) 🇩🇪 Germany $247B Source: World Bank (TX.VAL.TECH.CD), high-technology exports, current US$. Latest year per country (Vietnam 2023).

Since 2000 in the US: TVs: -98% Computers: -93% Hospital services: +295% College tuition: +208% (BLS CPI) Things you want got cheaper. Things you need got expensive.

Turing asked in 1950: "Can machines think?" 76 years later, a better question: can call centers still hire? Global call-center jobs: down about 4% a year, 8 straight quarters. The first jobs AI takes aren't the creative ones. They're the scripted ones.

What cost $100 in January 2000 costs this much now in the US (Sep 2026) 💸 🏥 Hospital services: $395 🎓 College tuition: $308 👶 Childcare: $266 🏠 Rent: $249 Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI by category (not seasonally adjusted), Jan 2000 to Sep 2026.

Unemployment for Americans aged 16-24 was 9.9% in September 2026. In April 2023 it was 6.6%, per BLS. AI or the economy? 👇

College tuition and childcare prices are up 194% since 2000, per BLS. Overall prices: up 100%.

$100 a month into Amazon stock, every month since January 2000 📈 You put in: $32,200 Value now: about $2.21 million It included a dot-com crash of more than 90%. Monthly buying kept going through all of it.

$100 a month into Amazon since 2000 = $32,200 in, about $2.2M now. The hard part wasn't picking it. It was holding through a 90% crash in 2001. Boring monthly buying beat every clever market timer you know.

Every new machine gets the same headline. 1811: weavers smash looms. 1960s: 'automation will end work'. 2026: AI. Jobs changed every time. The people who lost them were never comforted by 'history says it's fine'.

The world's biggest economies, 1980 → 2025 📈 China went from outside the top 5 to #2. India climbed into the top 6. Italy slid from #6 in 1980 to #9 in 2025. GDP in current US$. Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, Oct 2025 (2025 = estimate).

For some countries, the biggest export is their own people 🌍 Remittances, % of GDP (2025): 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 57.7% 🇳🇵 Nepal 32.3% 🇭🇳 Honduras 30.1% 🇸🇻 El Salvador 27.5% 🇵🇭 Philippines 8.5% 🇲🇽 Mexico 3.6% 🇮🇹 Italy 0.5% Source: World Bank, personal remittances received, 2025.

New car prices are up 21% since January 2020, per BLS.

Electricity is up 43% since January 2020, per BLS. The AI data centers are hungry.

Who sells the most to the world? 📦 Exports of goods and services, 1970–2024 2024 top 3: 🇨🇳 China $3.83T 🇺🇸 United States $3.22T 🇩🇪 Germany $1.94T 🇨🇳 China went from #26 in 1970 to #1. Source: World Bank (NE.EXP.GNFS.CD), current US$.

$1,000 in Pfizer in 2000: about $2,341 today, dividends included. Same $1,000 in Novo Nordisk: about $51,000. Same industry. 22x apart. "Safe blue chip" describes the past, not the future.

Bitcoin is capped at 21 million. The dollar has no cap. Which one still exists in 100 years? A) Bitcoin B) US dollar C) Both D) Neither Reply with your pick.

Inflation in 2025: same year, same planet, completely different money 🌍 🇨🇳 China 0.0% 🇮🇹 Italy 1.6% 🇺🇸 United States 2.7% 🇹🇷 Turkey 34.9% 🇦🇷 Argentina 41.9% (219.9% in 2024) 🇮🇷 Iran 50.6% Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, Oct 2025 (average consumer prices, 2025 estimates).