globalEDGE Blog Archive November 2019

The dominant generation of the post-financial crisis era, millennials followed Generation X when it came to be accumulating massive amounts of debt. For millennials, it was student loans, and for GenX, mortgages. Although most millennials entered workplaces with high student debt, their spending power and surveys indicate that this holiday season, millennials are indeed going to deck the halls with jolly, jolly spending.

Technology has always been a common interest for many people across the globe. It crosses physical and cultural barriers to create common interests or goals among individuals and groups. Technology is always changing and will only continue to evolve in the future. The constant evolution of technology has created some impressive economic effects in recent years. S&P 500 technology sector has seen a 41% gain for the year, and this number is only expected to grow in the future. Despite the tariff war between China and the United States, technology stocks are still expected to rise in the near future. Some of the areas in which technology will grow are car innovations (smart cars, virtual and augmented reality, and healthcare).

According to a report released by the Institute of International Finance on November 14th, global debt reached a staggering high of $250 trillion, rising $7.5 trillion in the first half of 2019.  The expectation is that global debt will reach $255 trillion by the end of 2019. The primary contributors to this statistic are the U.S. and China, who account for 60% of the increase.

The Forbes Corporations update has been completed on the globalEDGE website.  The site now has the most recent Corporations from Forbes World’s Largest Public Companies List.  The new information is located in the Corporations tab in the sidebar of each country.  Countries can be located by selecting "By Country" from the "Global Insights" drop-down menu.  The Corporations are separated into sections by country.  For example, the United States corporations are located here.  The Corporations tab of each country includes the name, industry, sales, profits, assets, and market value of each company that has its headquarters in that country.

Movies are a universally loved medium. Since the early creation of the moving image, crowds have gathered to watch immersive stories unfold upon the screen. With technological advancements, the accessibility of movies has drastically expanded. What formerly had to be seen at theaters can be viewed at home through DVDs and streaming platforms. It has never been easier to view a large variety of films, both from native and foreign countries. For those in China, however, the selection and variety of movies is extremely restricted.

As cultures collide, people are becoming more tolerable of changes and foreign ideas. During the past few decades, the variety in every aspect of life has been increasing, especially in the food industry. People are becoming more adventurous and willing to try different tastes and spices. However, some of these so-called "authentic" restaurants are not as authentic as they may seem.

The Country and State Trade Statistics sections of the globalEDGE website was recently updated to reflect the most recent 2018 data.  This data includes global exporter and importer rankings, total trade statistics, rankings of top trade partners, and the leading goods imported and exported from an area.  Be sure to check out these pages at the links below to learn more about how trade is played out around the world.

In the culmination of technology’s expansion, four companies have been placed above the rest as a result of their substantial growth: Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. Due to each companies’ vast role throughout our world’s markets, the four businesses have been labeled as Big Tech when referenced to. Although the expansion of these companies may seem positive for the global economy, their industry dominance is perceived by many as the exact opposite. By becoming market leaders throughout the tech industry, the companies have forced out many other competitors leading to a tremendous decline in competition. If antitrust regulators would’ve noticed this issue sooner, they could've acted on laws that would have restricted each company’s growth. Instead, the public’s concerns for the market have increased, and many feel that the government must intervene in order to break up Big Tech.

With the holidays quickly approaching, shopping for holiday parties, friends, family, and even yourself will begin soon. Around the world, shopping for the holidays looks a bit different, but they all contribute to a country’s economic growth.

Cable television was the staple of entertainment for over 50 years until the arrival of streaming services was introduced at the start of the 21st century.  The introduction of this concept revolutionized our accessibility to television, making ‘on-demand’ video readily available from any electronic device (phone, laptop, or T.V.).  While cable television continues to diminish, with 19% of households already having "cut the cord," streaming methods continue to evolve with new companies emerging into the market trying to get a stake in the game.

The globalEDGE team has updated the risk assessments for each country within the website's Economic Classification section to reflect the most recent data available.  Here, users can explore countries by their classification in either the emerging market, frontier market, or mature market.  Within each of these markets, the risk comparator tab allows for the comparability of countries based on six risk factors: country, political, currency, sovereign, the banking sector, and the economic sector.  Make sure to check out this new update for a better understanding of market risk around the globe through the links below.

The state of our environment has become a hot button topic as many companies are turning to environmental sustainability. Each year there are approximately 14 billion pounds of trash dumped into the ocean. While many small non-profit organizations are setting out to try and fix this problem, it does not seem to be getting substantially better. China has 6 rivers in the “Plastic Ocean Input top 20”, 3 of which are in the top 4. This means these rivers are the top polluted rivers due to the ocean’s pollution. Other countries in the top 20 affected are Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Taiwan. Now large companies are trying to fix this problem by creating new products that integrate this ocean plastic waste into their new products. And it may actually be working.

The International Business Knowledge Quiz, located in the Tools and Data tab on the globalEDGE website, has been recently updated. Questions more accurately reflect the most up to date information and statistics, in addition to some minor grammatical fixes. The quiz is a great way to learn about numerous countries and global business partnerships. With a test bank of around 100 different questions, the quiz can be taken multiple times while still offering new information. 

The Community College Conferences section was recently updated by the globalEDGE team. These conferences usually occur from March until May every year at locations worldwide. This is a valuable destination that guides community college educators who are looking to refine or develop new programs. In addition, it also provides people interested in international business the opportunity to learn and connect.

The global pork market is currently facing a major obstacle: African swine fever.  This disease has severely cut China’s hog population, which is predicted to drop around 40 percent from the beginning of 2018 to 2020.  This will consequently reduce global pork production by 10 percent in 2020 and is especially consequential because China is the world’s leader in pork sales, yielding a value of 118.2 billion dollars in 2018.  The disease and its negative effect on the ability of the pork industry to meet market demand have caused pork and bacon prices to rise, likely leading to the largest jump in price since the mad cow disease epidemic of 2004.  With such a big shift in the meat industry, questions arise about how the pork segment will respond and how this shift will impact the meat industry as a whole.