This Sunday the New England Patriots will be facing the Los Angeles Rams in Superbowl LIII in Atlanta, GA. For the uninitiated, the Superbowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), which is the highest level of professional American football in the United States. In addition to being the biggest day of the year for die-hard football fans, the Superbowl is also a peak time for advertisers around the globe.
globalEDGE Blog Archive January 2019
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The globalEDGE team recently updated all of the country risk assessments, which can be found on our Country Insights pages. Using data provided by Coface, the country risk assessment pages display an index rating for each countries overall risk and business environment. In addition to these indices, strengths, weaknesses, and current trends that impact risk profile are presented for every country. Check out these updated pages today to see how every country's risk profile has changed over the past year.
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After recent meetings in Switzerland, the International Monetary Fund cut forecasts of global economic growth in 2019 to 3.5%. This is down from a projected 3.7% released in October and 3.9% in July. In past meetings, the organization characterized growth as “plateauing” but now has come to the agreement that the “global expansion has weakened”.
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Long distance trading began during the domestication of pack animals and the invention of ships thousands of years ago. International trade is essential for individuals, firms, machinery and technology, and to whole countries. Trade occurs due to a countries' inability to satisfy their own needs and wants with their own resources. There are two fundamental principles (Division of Labor and Specialization) that are related to the production of goods and services in countries that want to trade.
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In the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, representatives from every nation and from the world’s largest businesses have gathered together to discuss new developments, problems, and initiatives around the world. The first two days of this year’s summit featured an address from Brazil’s recently elected president Jair Bolsonaro, discussion on shale oil by John Hess of Hess Corporation, and discussion of the IMF’s lower prospects on 2019’s economic growth.
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Over the past several decades, many countries in the Middle East, Asia, and South America have experienced unprecedented growth. Reduced restrictions combined with increased globalization sparked interest from the worlds largest corporations and investors. Numerous Fortune 500 companies are opening international headquarters for better reach and lower production costs. Business hubs are shifting locations from the West to a better balance across the world. Read below for details on several specific countries and cities.
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A whirlwind news topic that seems to reveal new headlines and developments each day, technology is changing society more than ever before. As companies and consumers key in on how technology has the potential to positively and negatively impact their futures, research, testing, and product roll-outs are being conducted around the clock to create new innovations and introduce them to a global market hungry for personalization and advancement. This blog will aim to shed light on how technology will impact three key economic industries: transportation, 3D printing, and online consumption.
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Global mining companies have taken a beating in the past decade in one of the industry’s longest bear markets. The MSCI World Metals and Mining Index tracks the stock performance of 39 metals and mining companies across 23 developed nations and serves as a proxy for the overall global metals and mining industry. This index fell 18% in 2018 closing the year out 55 percentage points lower than its 2008 peak.
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Later this year, the United States and the European Union will begin trade negotiations, which the EU has already been preparing for. The relationship, which fosters $1 trillion in commercial trade could see a complete overhaul in 2019. The EU’s executive body will begin to meet this month and will structure the bloc’s parameters for which it will use in negotiations.
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Global growth shows the rate at which the global economy is either growing or falling. Global growth is important when understanding where the economy of the future is headed. The World Bank just decreased their 2019 expected growth forecast for the second time in the last 6 months. At the beginning of 2018, it was expected that the 2019 global growth was to be 3.1%, then in June, it was reduced to 3.0%. Most recently the projection has been reduced to 2.9%. While 0.2% can seem small, when put in terms of the entire global economy, that small reduction in future growth can have a significant impact on the global economy. The lead forecaster of the World Bank, Ayhan Kose, said the following about global growth, “When you think about the engines of the global economy, they’re all going to lose momentum.” This change is going to affect every major market across the country.
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Looking ahead into 2019, with uncertainty in the world’s equity markets, many investors are viewing real estate as one of the safer markets to invest in. With that being said, here are three countries with some of the most promising outlooks for 2019:
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The globalEDGE monthly newsletter is a great way to keep up with our most recent international business updates. This month's newsletter, coming later this week, discusses recent updates to the country trade statistics and features a blog post by Andrew Menke about the Global Coffee Industry. Be sure to subscribe via the link below to receive the newsletter directly to your inbox every month.
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Watches have long been a staple accessory for both men and women across the globe, worn as both a fashionable piece to add to an outfit and a useful tool for keeping track of the time of day. The additional value watches create as a generational keepsake, and their tendency to be an item that can hold its value over many years makes watches favorable investments or gifts. With a variety of options from low to high price ranges, sport to luxury watches that feature varying materials, and newly popular smartwatches, the global watch market continues to do well despite the disruption that smartphones and similar technologies have caused.
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Taking into consideration cancellation and no-shows, airlines have always been overbooking flights in order to maintain a full flight and keep the prices low. Most of the time, predictions are accurate and all passengers are able to board the flight. However, on some occasions, passengers will be "bumped". Bumping also referred to as "declined-boarding", is when passengers are forced to give up their seats involuntarily. Before bumping passengers, airlines must first ask for volunteers in exchange for compensation. When there aren't enough volunteers, bumping takes place.
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Last spring the globalEDGE blog profiled the global coffee industry and the positive outlook for the $100 billion global industry. Now, less than a year later, a variety of factors are shaking up the industry in a major way that is dampening the outlook for some of the industry’s largest and most well-established players.
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China has successfully landed on the far side of the moon, something that no country has done before. This is a major step in challenging the United States' supremacy regarding space research and travel. President Xi Jinping has announced ambitious space travel goals, including a lunar base by 2025, the ability to man the facility by 2030, and a long-term goal of mining the moon for energy resources. With these announced plans, there is pressure mounting on the United States to continue to reach new solar milestones. Right now, the U.S. isn’t planning to return to the moon until 2023.