And although computers and peripherals have been the fastest-growing component, suppliers of more mundane industrial equipment have also enjoyed booming demand.

ECONOMIST: Bear necessities

For medical critics of the product, that is precisely the problem: if firms selling herbal remedies are able to make dramatic, unsubstantiated claims with impunity, they have enormous power to generate demand for their products without having to worry about mundane details like safety or efficacy.

ECONOMIST: Herbal remedies

They'll be the ones smiling on demand and putting up with your incessant fawning over the colors and lighting of seemingly mundane objects.

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