globalEDGE Blog Archive October 2018

The world is always looking for the next technological advancement that will bring in money and make everyday life easier. Right now, the fastest startup in the world to reach one billion dollars is Bird rentable scooters. Bird, along with its competitors, Lyme, and Skip, have taken advantage of people's newfound love for easy and fast modes of transportation in crowded cities and around college campuses. This is especially popular with younger people as most of the users are college students or young adults that live and work in cities and have little use for cars. Bird has combined the incredible ability of smartphones with the need for more public transportation and has created apps that allow people to locate scooters everywhere and give them a cheap and easy way to get places quick. This works because of its ubiquitous accessibility. Whenever someone needs one, it is a click away, and when they did, they simply put the kickstand up and continue with their day.

In today's fast-paced society, people are constantly on-the-go. As a result, more people are choosing the alternative form of dining, food delivered straight to their doorsteps. It dramatically lessens meal-prepping time without sacrificing food quality. Imagine having the option of anything within your city delivered to you within thirty minutes, who would turn that down?  More apps are surfacing in order to meet the demand for better and faster food delivery services.

Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, wouldn’t be complete without one of its most distinguishing symbols—the pumpkin.  Each year, people from countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ireland purchase, pick, carve, and/or display these bright orange gourds in celebration of Halloween.  Pumpkins also mark an essential decoration, food staple, and representation of the fall season, and consequently have a significant place in the global economy.

Since 1912, hostels have been a centerpiece for teenagers and young adults traveling. They are overwhelmingly popular throughout the European continent, but also have a presence in most tourist-friendly countries around the world. They are a low-cost option for housing, eating, and provide an opportunity for social interaction. In an age where freelance work is becoming more common, hostels are playing an increasingly important role in travel and work abroad.

In the 2000’s it was the internet, in the 2010’s it was social tech companies, the next big market disruptor of our generation is Agri-Tech. With the world population expected to reach 8.5 billion people by the mid-2030’s, and the continued degradation of the environment due to pollution, the need for more and better food is increasing.

Autonomous transportation is the next big leap for the auto industry. It is universal knowledge that autonomous driving will change transportation drastically, and when enforced, will not only lead to an improvement in transportation, but it will also improve the economy and the environment. The only problem that remains is, who will be the company to perfect autonomous driving.

Last week the World Economic Forum released their annual publication titled The Global Competitiveness Report. The comprehensive report assesses the competitiveness of 140 countries using 98 distinct indicators that are organized into twelve pillars of competitiveness. The twelve pillars are as follows: institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, product market, labor market, financial system, market size, business dynamism, and innovation capability.

E-commerce sales have been growing over the past decade at a rapid rate and the online retail economy is booming. According to the US Census Bureau, 9.6% of all retail sales were from e-commerce sales during the second quarter of 2018. This percentage was only 4.4% in the second quarter of 2010. This post will discuss the reasons behind the shift from brick-and-mortar businesses to online retail stores.

Regardless of the country's size or geographical location, tourism has always contributed to its economic growth and GDP. Governments tend to invest heavily because it brings in profit while increasing the country's reputation. Especially for developing and island countries, tourism dependency is common because other industries, such as manufacturing, may be less developed due to area, resource, or population limitations.

At the heels of the United Nation’s groundbreaking report detailing the necessity for “unprecedented changes in the next decade” to avoid permanent damage to the Earth’s environment, sustainability and waste management in the business world, and beyond, have become essential factors of commerce across the globe.  The concept of creating products and services that are sustainable in the long-run is integrating itself as a key driver of companies’ operations and value chains, and innovation is necessary to achieve substantial results.  While efforts to keep our planet living intensify, so too will the call for businesses to operate environmentally safe processes.

Shrinking supplies from Iran, along with strong global growth has led to a bullish sentiment in future oil prices. Crude oil has rallied for four straight weeks and speculators are purchasing bullish oil options as a result. A reason for the speculation revolves around OPEC members and their inability to make up for production shortfalls amid political turmoil.

globalEDGE has gathered a list of Community College Conferences happening in 2019. These conferences are aimed at the community college audience who are refining or developing new programs in their institutions. The next conference coming up is the Workforce Development Institute by the American Association of Community Colleges which will be held in San Diego, CA.

What began as an extremely lucrative and beneficial relationship between the U.S and China has become a hostile one that has potential to change the economic landscape of the world. With the latest round of tariffs covering nearly half of all goods exchanged between America and China, both countries are bound to experience some collateral damage.

Wireless network technology is not often on the mind of the average person. Over the past ten years, society has grown accustomed to uninterrupted access to the internet everywhere we go, whether there is a Wi-Fi connectivity or not. The proliferation of mobile applications has made many people dependent on continuous network connectivity to conduct business, commute to work, stay up to date on the news, and interact with family and friends. The wireless network is the technology that underpins omnipresent access to the internet and that technology is scheduled for a major upgrade in the coming years.

International production, strategic global investments, and the infrastructure design of global supply chains are all a function of driving satisfaction among a company’s customers (and perhaps some can argue satisfaction among a country’s citizens). On October 26, 2018, I am giving a talk (ppt slides) at the World Investment Forum in a session titled “Explaining today’s global investment and international production trends.”

Jack Ma and Mukesh Ambani are two of the biggest powerhouses in business today, with their net worth being 38.2 billion and 49.2 billion, respectively. But the influence of these two men stretches far beyond their wealth. These businessmen, through exuberant wealth, name recognition, and influence have greatly influenced not only the unities of their countries but also the economies.

One of the worlds premier decorations, art is hung, stood, and displayed in places all over the world.  Whether a wall painting, sculpture, or online design, art is a topic that is frequently overlooked as a major influence on society.  Much like it can be overlooked as something that simply belongs on a wall, the global art market is not often talked about in the economy.  Despite this, the art industry is a 63.7 billion dollar global market that deserves attention.

Natural disasters have always been detrimental to society. They disturb peoples' lives, destroys infrastructure, and the aftermath can last up to several months. All of these factors affect the global economy in its own way. From 2000-2017 alone, there was an estimate of about $3 trillion economic loss from natural disasters worldwide. Since this number only represents the measurable losses, the actual amount goes way beyond this number.

There may be an unintended consequence of the White House’s trade battle with China. Companies in the Pearl River Delta, a Chinese manufacturing hub are accelerating towards making higher-quality products to compete against American goods. Recently, the U.S. government announced their plans to unveil fresh tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese products entering the U.S. Many of these products are focused on low-cost goods, of which were once the bread and butter of the Chinese economy. In response, China is hoping to be innovative and resilient as an attempt to overcome these headwinds.