Hello, hello. Let's do numbers. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Yes, we have great numbers. Today on the show, we'll take the temperature on global wealth.

We'll talk trade loopholes for Chinese steel and a country bucking the trend towards a shorter workweek. We'll have those indicators after the break.

Indicators of the Week. Adrian Ma, you are first.

My indicator comes from a company called UBS, a giant global financial services firm based in Switzerland, that every year puts out this annual report on global wealth.

And wealth is basically defined as everything from stocks and bonds to tangible stuff, like a house or a car.

And this year's report estimates that 43% of the world's population have somewhere between 10 and $100,000 in wealth.

And what's interesting about this stat is that it's more than double what it was in the year 2000.

So some of that is because people have gotten richer. Some of that is obviously because of inflation.

But the numbers here are definitely higher than they used to be. OK. So what is driving this increase in wealth beyond just, like, inflation?

Well, they give a number of reasons. It depends on the country, but they cite globalization. They talk about the growth in emerging markets.

They also cite rising real estate prices and the tech industry boom. And what about people on the higher and lower ends of the spectrum?

Similar story. So over the same period, from the year 2000 to about 2023, they say that the share of adults with less than 10,000 bucks in wealth has actually fallen by half, and the share of millionaires around the world has tripled.

Because some of that is driven by inflation, I guess. A millionaire ain't what it used to be. Darian, it's still a million. It's still a million dollars.

It's still a million, yes, but it may buy you less than it used to. What's also interesting from this report is what it says about wealth inequality around the world.

It found that wealth inequality over the past decade and a half has really increased a lot in places like Brazil, South Africa, Spain and Finland. Interestingly, though, wealth inequality in the U.S. has actually decreased during that time.

All right. So from global inequality to globalization. Darian, what have you got for us? So speaking of globalization. Well, the opposite of that is tariffs, these trade barriers.

My indicator is about tightening tariffs for foreign steel. Right now, the tariff on steel is 25%, and that's been in place for a while since President Trump.

The target was realistically China here, but you've got Canada and Mexico with this exception. So, in other words, a loophole.

Yes, indeed. So let's say you bring steel from China to Mexico. You could then send it up to the U.S. tariff-free. That definitely sounds like a loophole.

In case you were a budding steel trader, that's my advice. Although that advice is out of date because this Wednesday, the Biden administration and Mexico's president made a joint announcement on steel and aluminium - or aluminum to you guys.

They made this new rule that the metals needed to be poured and actually cast in Mexico, the U.S. or Canada to avoid being subject to tariffs. Yeah. That makes sense.

Yeah. I mean, if you're going to make a law, you should probably look out for the obvious ways around it, like sending stuff through Mexico.

But that said, a lot of trade economists question whether these Trump-era tariffs should even be there in the first place.

These tariffs are a really expensive way to protect jobs - $650,000 per job, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. And it makes business more costly for downstream companies that use steel.

So my understanding is that, sure, a lot of this is about politics, and, you know, politicians always want to look like they're supporting steelworkers.

But there's maybe also, like, a national security component to this. Like, if we had a big war, the argument is it would be helpful to have a domestic steel industry that would make, like, ships and planes and arms and stuff like that.

Yeah. You know what? I searched for the term national security in the press release this week, and it came up 19 times. So national security is the justification.

Yeah. Whether or not you buy that, it is another question. You know, that is the way that they're justifying it. So from China to Mexico and Canada. Now we're on to Greece, right, Erika?

Right. So we're going to Greece. Now, we have been hearing for a little while about how all these different countries and different companies have been trying out the four-day workweek and saying, hey, this is great.

You know, it's working for us. But Greece has decided to not just buck this trend, but the country is leaning in in the other direction.

And may I introduce to all of you the six-day workweek? Yes. Just saying those words make me tired. It sounds attractive. Yeah.

To who? So Greece set up this new law that allows private companies that operate 24/7 to decide whether workers should either work, like, two extra hours a day or work a whole other day, a sixth day.

Essentially, extending the whole 40-hour workweek to 48 hours. The Greek government says this new policy is an exceptional measure that's only to be used in special circumstances.

What's the reason behind this kind of out-of-fashion step? Well, the prime minister of Greece says this is necessary because, like in a lot of places, the population has been shrinking.

In Greece's case, young educated workers left the country in the aftermath of its economic crisis 15 years ago. Now, Greece, of course, you know, has turned that crisis around.

Right. It's seeing some of the healthiest growth in Europe right now. But it still does not have enough skilled workers.

And the government has also said that having this kind of regulation is actually going to benefit workers.

Some of them may already be working all those extra hours, but now they'll actually be on the books, so they will get paid for them, and they will get paid for them at an overtime rate as well.

So people are actually on board with this? Of course not. I mean, who wants to be told they have to work more? When this was first announced, there were all these protests.

And there's already data that shows that, on average, workers in Greece are actually already working longer hours than workers in the EU and the U.S. And this is just going to add to that.

Welcome to long workweeks, Greeks. Let us know how it goes. It makes one almost thankful for the five-day workweek.