Assorted Links Wednesday

Metropolitan areas ranked by 2020 exports:

The surprising benefits of talking to strangers: So many of us have been raised to see strangers as dangerous and scary. What would happen if we instead saw them as potential sources of comfort and belonging?

Supply chain issues could put your family in a back-to-school crunch: Due to nationwide shortages, the longer you wait, the more you may risk not being able to find everything on your list.

A genius plan for Amtrak: What the beleaguered operator should do with $66 billion from Congress.

Good news for buyers, bad for sellers: new home inventory is rising.

The costs of starting a business in every country, compared:

Some of the least affordable countries lie in the Middle-East and Central America. Haiti and Suriname have startup costs that are 1,403% and 1,114% of monthly income, while Yemen has affordability rates of 1,070%.

How we spent our time in 2020 versus 2019: To slow the spread of Covid-19, we shifted our everyday activities.