Welcome to another edition of The Crunch! This week, we feature charts on football, soccer, and the beautiful game, along with data on Elon Musk and SpaceX, Australian house prices, ride-share bikes, and lawn care for football pitches.
How the US Is Shutting Out Climate Refugees
Donald Trump's immigration crackdown largely targets people from countries most vulnerable to climate-driven disasters, according to Guardian analysis. As the administration promotes policies that exacerbate global warming, millions flee storms, floods, and droughts worsened by the climate crisis. Of the 39 countries with full or partial US entry restrictions, 22 rank among the most climate-vulnerable quarter of nations, based on Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative data.
Four Charts from the Fortnight
1. Elon Musk Is Worth a Lot
To paraphrase Douglas Adams, Musk's fortune is immense. The ABC compares his wealth to other billionaires, government spending, and Taiwan's GDP. Mona Chalabi also contextualizes Musk's riches using everyday items like Toblerone.
2. SpaceX Drives That Wealth
A Reuters piece examines SpaceX's IPO, which shattered records. Notably, while SpaceX's market cap rivals other tech giants, its revenue remains much lower.
3. Australian Housing Still Expensive Despite Price Dip
Though interest rate hikes have slightly lowered prices, columnist Greg Jericho shows that homes remain unaffordable. If prices matched pre-Howard capital gains tax discount levels, the average home would cost $592,500 instead of $1.1 million.
4. Ride-Share Bikes and Public Space
The People's Republic of Couch calculates how much public space dockless bikes occupy in Sydney. After a recent stint in London, I (Nick) advocate for designated bike parking and geofencing.
Bookmarks
- Pulisic and Balogun combine as US beats Paraguay ($)
- Countries with more bird species win more matches? (X.com)
- One goal, many journeys: Why the World Cup produces an ugly version of the beautiful game ($)
- All-time greatest: Who is the highest goalscorer in World Cup history?
- What network science can tell us about the 2026 World Cup
- Non-World Cup: How good are you at eyeballing numbers? Cutting firewood feels weirdly soothing; Aunty Donna's Bandersketch!
Off the Charts
Reuters presents an excellent visual feature on creating a world-class World Cup pitch, complete with cross-section illustrations of the playing surface. If you had a dollar for every time this appeared in our newsletter, you'd be almost as rich as Elon Musk.
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