Alan Smith
@theboysmithy.ft.com
Head of Visual and Data Journalism @financialtimes.com; Honorary Prof @UCL Social Data Institute. Views expressed are my own. Reposts are not necessarily endorsements.
Reposted by Alan Smith
Reposted by Alan Smith
Looks like me and @eadehemingway.bsky.social are going to be running a workshop on data analysis with @pola.rs at NICAR in March. Maybe see some of you there!
February 1, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Looks like me and @eadehemingway.bsky.social are going to be running a workshop on data analysis with @pola.rs at NICAR in March. Maybe see some of you there!
Surprised I didn’t see you in Harajuku last summer!
January 17, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Surprised I didn’t see you in Harajuku last summer!
Reposted by Alan Smith
Regime change occurred in US stock markets back on October 29. The last are now first.
January 17, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Regime change occurred in US stock markets back on October 29. The last are now first.
Fun new toy - Waldorf Protein
January 17, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Fun new toy - Waldorf Protein
Reposted by Alan Smith
The most popular paid Apple Store download in China is ‘Are You Dead’. The app requires users to “check in” by pressing a button. If they fail to do so over two consecutive days, the app sends a message to an emergency contact nominated by the user
www.ft.com/content/e92d...
www.ft.com/content/e92d...
China’s ‘Are You Dead?’ app checks in on growing cohort of people living alone
Popularity among Chinese Apple users highlights concerns created by rapidly changing demographics
www.ft.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:22 AM
The most popular paid Apple Store download in China is ‘Are You Dead’. The app requires users to “check in” by pressing a button. If they fail to do so over two consecutive days, the app sends a message to an emergency contact nominated by the user
www.ft.com/content/e92d...
www.ft.com/content/e92d...
Reposted by Alan Smith
Keep Alphaville free* by investing in our Free** Jay Powell merch.
* without cost
** not under the control of another
as.ft.com/r/82db28aa-3...
* without cost
** not under the control of another
as.ft.com/r/82db28aa-3...
Get your ‘Free Jay Powell’ T-shirts here
[FREE TO READ] Street Fed
as.ft.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Keep Alphaville free* by investing in our Free** Jay Powell merch.
* without cost
** not under the control of another
as.ft.com/r/82db28aa-3...
* without cost
** not under the control of another
as.ft.com/r/82db28aa-3...
Reposted by Alan Smith
Where does all the Christmas cardboard go? ft.trib.al/Jh7W7P5
Where does all the Christmas cardboard go?
Typical UK household receives delivery boxes the height of a skyscraper each year
ft.trib.al
December 28, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Where does all the Christmas cardboard go? ft.trib.al/Jh7W7P5
Reposted by Alan Smith
NEW: We took a deep dive into ICE's data dragnet: the data brokers, biometrics tools, and license plate readers powering Trump's deportation effort. Some of the contracts are for tools previous administrations deemed too intrusive.
Trump’s immigration data dragnet
The US is pulling in vast amounts of personal information in its drive to deport 1mn people this year
ig.ft.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:37 AM
NEW: We took a deep dive into ICE's data dragnet: the data brokers, biometrics tools, and license plate readers powering Trump's deportation effort. Some of the contracts are for tools previous administrations deemed too intrusive.
Reposted by Alan Smith
Three-year temperature average set to exceed 1.5C for first time on.ft.com/3MnJ8nQ
Three-year temperature average set to exceed 1.5C for first time
Data shows 2025 is on track to be the third-warmest on record after November temperature rise of 1.54C
on.ft.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Three-year temperature average set to exceed 1.5C for first time on.ft.com/3MnJ8nQ
Reposted by Alan Smith
China’s trade surplus in goods has surpassed $1tn for the first time this year even as exports to the US have cratered. Shipments to other regions, especially south-east Asia, are booming. Analysts believe some of these later end up in the US.
Read the story on #FTEdit 👉 on.ft.com/3XGzf7a
Read the story on #FTEdit 👉 on.ft.com/3XGzf7a
December 8, 2025 at 10:34 AM
China’s trade surplus in goods has surpassed $1tn for the first time this year even as exports to the US have cratered. Shipments to other regions, especially south-east Asia, are booming. Analysts believe some of these later end up in the US.
Read the story on #FTEdit 👉 on.ft.com/3XGzf7a
Read the story on #FTEdit 👉 on.ft.com/3XGzf7a
Reposted by Alan Smith
NEW: The power crunch threatening America’s AI ambitions
Big tech is spending hundreds of billions on data centres in the US to fuel the development of artificial intelligence. Our latest visual story explores the main challenge that these grand plans face: access to power.
ig.ft.com/ai-power/
Big tech is spending hundreds of billions on data centres in the US to fuel the development of artificial intelligence. Our latest visual story explores the main challenge that these grand plans face: access to power.
ig.ft.com/ai-power/
December 8, 2025 at 10:56 AM
NEW: The power crunch threatening America’s AI ambitions
Big tech is spending hundreds of billions on data centres in the US to fuel the development of artificial intelligence. Our latest visual story explores the main challenge that these grand plans face: access to power.
ig.ft.com/ai-power/
Big tech is spending hundreds of billions on data centres in the US to fuel the development of artificial intelligence. Our latest visual story explores the main challenge that these grand plans face: access to power.
ig.ft.com/ai-power/
Reposted by Alan Smith
Introducing the FT ‘geopolitical mood’ index on.ft.com/4oAy4Rs
Introducing the FT ‘geopolitical mood’ index
Crunching 40-plus years of FT articles for a useful measure of geopolitical risk
on.ft.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Introducing the FT ‘geopolitical mood’ index on.ft.com/4oAy4Rs
Can always reprise for you Mike!
December 4, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Can always reprise for you Mike!
Reposted by Alan Smith
Reeves has shifted her focus from growth towards ‘fairness’ based on our analysis of her 2024 and 2025 Budget speeches
November 27, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reeves has shifted her focus from growth towards ‘fairness’ based on our analysis of her 2024 and 2025 Budget speeches
Reposted by Alan Smith
Don't want to jinx it, but my first day at the OBR seems to be going really well.
November 26, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Don't want to jinx it, but my first day at the OBR seems to be going really well.
Reposted by Alan Smith
try out the FT's fiscal drag calculator!
www.ft.com/content/54cb...
www.ft.com/content/54cb...
November 26, 2025 at 8:46 AM
try out the FT's fiscal drag calculator!
www.ft.com/content/54cb...
www.ft.com/content/54cb...
New: 'Shark's fin' chart reveals the uneven impact of 'fiscal drag', the stealth tax beloved of recent chancellors. Plus use our interactive calculator to see how fresh freezes announced by Rachel Reeves at todays Budget could affect you on.ft.com/3KqOYUL
November 26, 2025 at 8:37 AM
New: 'Shark's fin' chart reveals the uneven impact of 'fiscal drag', the stealth tax beloved of recent chancellors. Plus use our interactive calculator to see how fresh freezes announced by Rachel Reeves at todays Budget could affect you on.ft.com/3KqOYUL
Really proud to see the @financialtimes.com represented in this list courtesy of Eva Xiao
Congratulations to our 2025 SEAL Environmental Journalism Awards winners! Each honoree brings accountability to power, empathy to data, and urgency to the conversation on environmental policy.
Read more about this year's winners:
sealawards.com/twelve-journ...
Read more about this year's winners:
sealawards.com/twelve-journ...
2025 Environmental Journalism Award Winners Announced
Environmental journalism award honors top 12 writers globally. Winning outlets include Mongabay, Grist, DeSmog and Heatmap News.
sealawards.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Really proud to see the @financialtimes.com represented in this list courtesy of Eva Xiao
Reposted by Alan Smith
FT Budget quiz is LIVE! www.ft.com/content/d532...
Quiz: How well do you know your Budgets?
Test your knowledge of the set-piece political event with our questions on the financial statements of yesteryear
www.ft.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:34 AM
FT Budget quiz is LIVE! www.ft.com/content/d532...
New: A quiz - How well do you know your Budgets? Turns out you can learn a lot about the UK from these questions...
on.ft.com/4pijy1y
on.ft.com/4pijy1y
November 19, 2025 at 8:41 AM
New: A quiz - How well do you know your Budgets? Turns out you can learn a lot about the UK from these questions...
on.ft.com/4pijy1y
on.ft.com/4pijy1y
Reposted by Alan Smith
Very irritating quiz
I failed to get them all right
I failed to get them all right
November 19, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Very irritating quiz
I failed to get them all right
I failed to get them all right
Reposted by Alan Smith
The government doesn’t see UK data assets as priorities at all - includes ONS. Did the idea of a ‘National Data Library’ & data infrastructure in the AI Opps Action Plan just evaporate?
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:38 AM
The government doesn’t see UK data assets as priorities at all - includes ONS. Did the idea of a ‘National Data Library’ & data infrastructure in the AI Opps Action Plan just evaporate?