globalEDGE Blog - Page 30

As shown in a previous blog, global food prices are on the rise, and food security is an ever-growing concern worldwide. In China, there is a new issue. Last week, China urged local authorities to encourage families to stockpile “daily necessities.” Many citizens have seen this as a warning to them and have now induced panic buying.

Inflation in the context of economics is defined as a general increase in prices and a fall in the purchasing power of currency. Inflation can occur in an economy for a multitude of reasons and has been present in the United States and global economy at several points in history. The most notable historical case of inflation was The Great Inflation, a time period between 1965 and 1982 in which inflation was particularly high, resulting in large changes in policy, macroeconomic theory, and global monetary systems.  One of the main impacts of inflation is the toll it takes on consumers - when prices rise on basic consumer products such as food and gas, the money earned in wages does not stretch nearly as far to cover expenses. Let’s take a look at some of the causes and effects of the current increase in consumer prices.

Food, everyone eats it. It is a nutritious substance that helps maintain life and growth. What started as hunting in gathering turned into strolling through a grocery store, and paying a price for food. This year, world food prices have risen for the third month in a row according to the United Nations Food Agency. The price for food is at an all time high and is continuously rising.

In business, sustainability is defined as the practice of operating a business without impacting the environment negatively. Sustainable businesses operate with the interests of local and global environments in mind and consider the impact on society and the environment. The focuses of these businesses are profits, people, and the planet. Keeping these three themes in mind, businesses are able to adopt and modify business models and plans in order to fully create a meaningful sustainability program and strategy.

Since the beginning of Bitcoin in 2009, the implementation of the cryptocurrency has been very apparent to the public. The new form of currency has established itself as a popular and viable source of currency across the world because of its autonomy and convenient nature. Different forms of cryptocurrency were invented to serve as an alternative source of currency.

There are hundreds of semiconductor chips that make up the global silicon industry. As technology advances, these chips run powerful computers, the flashy iPhones in our pockets, and even some toothbrushes. More recently and as a result of the pandemic, the demand for semiconductors is continuing to overpower supply. These chips convey basic instructions and make sure businesses are running smoothly. Without these tiny chips, car production has been brought to a halt.

The holiday season may not feel like “the most wonderful time of the year” for many supplies chain and logistics companies this upcoming holiday season. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has come to understand what supply chain management is, as just about everyone has been affected by a supply chain management issue in one way or another; stockouts, delayed package deliveries, and struggling to find certain products on the shelves are struggles that many of us have faced over the last year and a half. Yet, despite the increasing number of vaccinated individuals, we are still expecting to feel the impacts of the pandemic in our supply chains for months to come.

Global inflation is on the rise in 2021. Though inflation has experienced common fluctuations throughout modern history, this occurrence is particularly interesting because it cannot be traced to any typical cause of inflation: today’s increasing prices aren’t caused by a significant rise in consumer demand, they aren’t caused by wage increases, and they aren’t even caused by external cost spikes. Instead, the root of late 2021’s inflation is almost entirely logistical, and it presents itself in the form of supply chain bottlenecks, costly backups that are applying immense upward pressure on prices. Carrying some of the blame for these backups, and in the middle of a desperate scramble for workers, is the trucking industry.

Only a decade or two ago, music enthusiasts had to either purchase physical albums, buy songs and albums on a platform like iTunes, or risk their computer security by downloading music illegally. Today, all of that has changed. Music streaming has disrupted the music industry and rapidly altered the way consumers listen to and purchase music. Music streaming services offer millions of songs from thousands of artists for a recurring fee each month, allowing users to access music at a much cheaper rate than previously possible.

The globalEDGE website offers an Academy section with resources for students, faculty, and teachers. You can access this section by selecting 'Academy' from the selection bar at the top of the globalEDGE homepage, then choosing a page from the drop-down menu based on the information you are looking for. Let's dive into some of the information provided in the Academy section of globalEDGE.