🐤 Run for the border

🏦 Markets: The economic news of the week continued to be overshadowed by concerns about the debt ceiling debate on Wednesday.

There’s still no resolution as America counts down the days to a possible default, and all three major indexes finished the day lower as a result.

Meanwhile, some quarterly earnings reports continued to come out this week, including positive data from companies such as Kohl’s and Abercrombie & Fitch.

⚡Too much power: While most of the world strives to find an abundant source of clean energy, Finland doesn’t seem to have that problem. Reports this week show that the average price of electricity was actually negative. The CEO of Fingrid, the nation’s power grid operator, called it a “historic” achievement caused by the combination of high production and low consumption.

👕 Amazon attire: It’s hard to think of any sector of the economy that Amazon hasn’t explored, and this week the online shopping giant made yet another big investment. This time, it sunk $20 million into the Indian kids' fashion company Hopscotch. As that nation faces an overall decline in such financing, Hopscotch’s founder said: “This investment allows us to invest in marketing, broaden our selection, and enable more customers to express their unique sense of style.”

💶 Money talks: There’s been plenty of discussion about the implementation of a digital currency endorsed by governments around the world in recent years, and the European Central Bank seems poised to take a big step in that direction. The ECB celebrated its 25th anniversary this week as President Christine Lagarde prepared the public for a proposal regarding digital currencies that should be released later this year.

🍼 Under investigation: Multiple companies that produce baby formula sold in the United States are targets of a Federal Trade Commission probe into allegations of collusion. The agency wants to know whether the companies worked together to secure bids on contracts, but attorneys for Abbott sent the FTC a letter asserting that they didn’t know where the claims came from and hadn’t seen any evidence of “even a hint of collusion or coordination.”

There are a few fast-food menu items that define entire brands. McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Burger King has its Whopper … and Taco Bell? Well, the argument can be made that the Crunchwrap deserves such a designation.

But it took more than a dozen years for this handheld meal to go from an abstract idea to a favorite on menus across the country.

A rigorous process

Before any new menu item can get the green light at Taco Bell (or any other major restaurant chain, for that matter), it must go through tons of research and development. In the case of the Crunchwrap, there were engineers, marketers, taste testers, and even psychologists involved.

Let’s take a quick look at the process that this and other new items must complete before ending up on a menu board.

• Between 4,000 and 5,000 new concepts are introduced each year
• Only a few dozen of them make it to the testing phase
• Roughly 8 to 12 of those ideas eventually become menu items

A team of 12 chef scientists and their support staff work at the Innovation Kitchen in California where all of this important work gets done.

Choosing the winners

Taco Bell looks at a few key criteria in determining which foods will get a chance to reach your mouth.

First, it must serve a specific need … and the Crunchwrap can be eaten with one hand.

Second, it needs to be sustainable … and the Crunchwrap uses ingredients common in other items.

Finally, it has to be distinctive … and the Crunchwrap provides a new form to familiar flavors.

If a product meets all of these benchmarks, it advances to a limited run in test markets. Most fail, making them only short-lived products. But the Crunchwrap became an icon.

Tokyo is one of the world’s cleanest major cities, and that’s by design. Communities around the world try to spread the message that cleaning up neighborhoods is important, but most of those efforts tend to fall on deaf ears.

Thanks to some clever marketing, however, Japan has been able to reach more of its population than you might suspect.

Fighting litter (literally)

The samurai culture is deeply ingrained into Japanese history, and the Gomi Hiroi group uses that to its advantage. The name translates to the “trash-collecting samurai,” and that’s exactly what the actors associated with this movement are.

Two of the group’s four members could be seen on the streets of Tokyo recently and took a moment to reflect on the importance of their mission.

Kaz Kobayashi and Ikki Goto were dressed head to toe like traditional samurai fighters — but instead of their katana swords, they brandished long tongs they used to pick up trash.

“We’re doing this as entertainment,” Kobayashi said. “But it can be tiring sometimes. It’s tough man.”

He added that the previous day, a Friday, saw many people “smoking and drinking around here, so there’s a lot of trash.”

Their act has gone viral

In the social media age, it’s not surprising that such a novelty demonstration has attracted a wide following across Tokyo and around the world. Since Goto created the group in 2009, its message has been spread far and wide.

Currently, Gomi Hiroi boasts more than 700,000 TikTok followers.

The four members stage performances three times a week and even when they’re not in uniform they’re working hard to help keep the city clean.

One local, Manaka Nishibiro, validated the group’s purpose, explaining: “Picking up trash is unpleasant for most people, but their performance makes it look so fun.”

I was kidnapped by mimes once.

They did unspeakable things to me.

While much of the world is already served effectively by fast internet service, many rural and remote regions of the planet continue to struggle.

But as the private-sector space industry continues to advance at a stunning speed, one startup company thinks satellites might be the answer.

Launching Arcturus

The company, Astranis, was particularly interested in getting internet service to people living across Alaska. And a team of specialists came up with a plan: the satellite it launched earlier this month aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.

It’s called Arcturus and is about the size of a typical kitchen stove. So far, Astranis is optimistic that it’ll achieve its fundamental goal.

Back on earth, a dedicated team has been sending commands to the satellite, which in turn communicated with an internet gateway stationed in Utah. From there, the information is set to Alaska to provide service through a provider called Pacific Dataport.

A long time coming

Astranis has been around since 2015, and its mission hasn’t really changed. From the beginning, founders John Gedmark and Ryan McLinko were determined to develop their own microsatellites in an effort to provide reliable and affordable internet connectivity.

But it was nearly a decade later before they were able to demonstrate that the technology is feasible and that the small satellites could stand up to the harsh conditions of space.

Gedmark is naturally taking a victory lap after showcasing his company’s hard work.

“It feels pretty amazing to see a big test like that and everything to go well,” he said.

Comparing it to “when Iron Man turns on his suit for the first time and powers up,” he said that “you know some pretty cool things are about to go down.”