The Monocle Minute

It looked so good for the fledgling Tea Party back in 2010. Riding a wave of Republican voter disenchantment, their support peaked at 32 per cent of the American population, according to a Gallup poll. Fast-forward to this month and that backing is down to just 17 per cent, according to the same pollster. “We never know for sure why these things change but the data shows that the number of people with neither negative or positive perceptions is now at 54 per cent,” says Gallup editor in chief Frank Newport. “The Tea Party is less salient to Americans; fewer have an opinion.” And while the Tea Party may be licking its wounds, the support for Donald Trump and Ben Carson suggests Republicans’ anti-government distrust is far from over.

The problem facing millions of unmarried Chinese men has inspired some unusual solutions. A professor at Zhejiang University, Xie Zuoshi, has suggested that men on low incomes should share wives, a proposal that has been met with widespread condemnation. Yet according to Dr Tom McDonald of the University of Hong Kong, it is “a good thought exercise to induce us to rethink our social norms”. Professor Xie’s other idea might be more realistic. Encouraging single women from other countries to find a husband in China could help reverse a downward trend in the number of marriages between foreigners and Chinese; it could also address the gender imbalance in the lonely-hearts industry. China might become a popular travel destination for marriage-seeking single women.

Trying to decide on a logo for your latest business venture? The German imprint Taschen’s Logo Modernism – a supersized collection of 6,000 examples designed between 1940 and 1980 – could provide inspiration. From Olivetti’s angular corporate design that adorned its lauded typewriters to CBS’s simple open eye mascot, the book’s designs chart the rise of modernism and its popularity in business logos throughout the 20th century. “Companies started becoming international at the beginning of the last century,” says the book’s editor Julius Wiedemann. “So to roll out plans in other countries for the product they wanted to sell, they needed to have a consistent image.” It’s a problem some brands have trouble grasping to this day.

On the eastern side of Singapore, national postal service SingPost is turning its HQ into a shopping centre, promising to combine what it does best (delivering packages) with what residents love most (shopping). “The development rides on the strength of SingPost’s logistics network,” says retail journalist Debbie Yong. When it is completed in 2017, the SG$150m (€97m) project will comprise a bevy of retail and food options along with a cinema. After browsing what the shops have to offer in person, customers can then schedule home delivery online. No more hauling your bags from one shop to the next.

On the latest edition of The Entrepreneurs, Minneapolis-based Eric Dayton shares the story of his clothing brand Askov Finlayson, his award-winning restaurant Bachelor Farmer and the ever-popular Marvel Bar.

Marking the biggest shake-up in the survey’s nine-year history, Monocle’s 2015 Quality of Life survey awards Tokyo the number one city to call home. Rising from second place in 2014, the Japanese capital’s defining paradox – its heart-stopping size and concurrent feeling of peace and quiet – helped it claim the crown.