ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN

ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN t1_iz4v4mj wrote

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ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN t1_iymc829 wrote

How are you defining "Europe"?

If you mean the EU it didn't exist back when this graph started although arguably it's predecessor did in a very different form. More countries have since joined and one, notably, has left.

If you mean the continent there are parts of it where we simply don't have records because the countries themselves have changed a lot, are generally unhelpful or flat out lie (cough Russia cough), and the boundaries themselves are open to interpretation.

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ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN t1_ixc78jl wrote

The issue for Royal Mail was privatisation.

For nearly half a millennia it was a public service. It was hamstrung by putting requirements on it which weren't necessary for competitors, and when, unsurprisingly, it struggled to compete it was sold off. It's since continued to struggle. It's shares still trade below the "low" price they were issued at.

Now, just like with Hermes, they're trying to rebrand and distance themselves away from the name.

500 years of history almost gone through short termism and mismanagement.

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