globalEDGE Blog - By Tag: economics

Following a post-pandemic period of expansionary monetary policy, stimulus checks, and economic growth, the U.S. economy has been confronted with a new stage of high inflation. The annual rate of inflation in the U.S. hit 6.2% last month, its highest rate in more than three decades. While this has been a recent concern, it’s important to note that 85% of countries in the world are experiencing higher inflation rates than usual. Perhaps most negatively affected by high inflation is Turkey; its inflation rate has reached roughly 20%, the second-highest in the world behind Argentina (52%).

Recently Afghanistan has been at the center of world news as the country finally fell under Taliban rule, putting an end to a decades long fight. The Taliban was created in 1994 from former resistance fighters, attempting to halt a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Their purpose was to enforce a specific version of Islamic law at the time, and protect that law by eliminating any foreign influence. Two years after their conception, the Taliban was strong enough to capture Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. The Taliban quickly enforced strict rules, such as head-to-toe coverings for women and banning TV and music. Their next most notable action, and the start of their downfall, happened on September 11th, 2001. The Taliban carried out a plan to hijack multiple planes in the United States, with two crashing into the World Trade Center towers. More than 2,700 people were killed in this terrorist attack.

Population issues have been a subject of discussion for decades.  While overpopulation puts a strain on natural resources, increases conflicts and wars, and causes water shortages and  malnutrition, population shrinkage also presents a host of issues.  The population on Earth is expected to stabilize and stop growing in 2100, however population growth rates vary drastically by region.  Some countries, such as Latvia, Japan, Venezuela, Syria, and Italy, have shrinking populations already, whether it be due to high rates of emigration or a declining birth rate.  Let’s dive into the unique set of issues that arise when countries are faced with a shrinking population.

The exploding cannabis industry has seen the most growth in the last year as ever before and is looking for an even better 2021 with Mexico set to legalize sometime in the coming months. Assuming this does happen and Mexico follows the lead of some U.S. states, Canada, and Uruguay, they will then become the world’s largest country to legalize Cannabis with a population of 121 million. This large input of new customers will need suppliers meaning that many Cannabis companies across the U.S. and Latin America are looking to seek substantial growth when the bill officially passes.

Bitcoin, the digital currency created in 2009 by the mysterious pseudonym Satoshi Nakomoto, was known by few people on earth at its inception and was priced at less than a thousandth of a cent. It has grown to a current price of around $36,000 and is now debated as either the future of money or a worthless asset. It is an extremely unique currency in the way that it is an entirely digital token with no physical backing. It was created with the intention and ability to be a peer-to-peer technology, meaning no central authority or government can control it, making it entirely decentralized. This aspect of decentralization, along with many other unique features, have led many to believe that bitcoin could revolutionize the global financial system.

It has almost been a year since the first outbreak of covid-19 occurred in Wuhan, China. Since then, the virus has spread furiously from continent to continent still leaving the public with little idea as to when it may end. In the time the virus has grown within nations across the globe, many implications have been imposed on our world’s developing countries that could set them back years if not decades.

Throughout the past two fiscal quarters, the global markets have been in cahoots in relation to what is forthcoming for the world’s financial sectors. With the pandemic’s conclusion remaining unknown, the vulnerability of the global economy increases by the day.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country since it declared independence back in 2011, has lost the financial support of its primary backer, the United States. While this comes as no surprise considering U.S. officials gave South Sudan’s ruling elite a mid-November deadline to form a unified government, it is compelling considering the United States has spent $11 billion in financial aid, far eclipsing other donors. 

With the rapid changes in our world, it can be difficult to predict how our economy will change in reaction to international and domestic events. Despite a multitude of negative factors and events in the world today, the global economy is set to grow by about 3% in the next few years.

After years of discussion, Brande’s municipal council approved plans in mid-March to construct what will be Western Europe’s tallest skyscraper. It is scheduled to be completed in 2023 and will stand approximately 1,050 feet high be visible from up to 40 miles away.

Since the financial crisis in 2008, Germany has been the leading economy in the European Union. Due to turmoil in the global economy and some negative internal forces, the historically strong and stable German economy is expected to experience low growth in 2019.

Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest country in the world. They have endured much financial and political hardship as a nation.  Just three years ago, Brazil's economy experienced 8 consecutive quarters of contraction. GDP declined 3.6% in 2015 and 3.8% in 2016. Recovering from their worst recession in a century, Brazilian citizens had to overcome corruption from thousands of politicians and business owners alike. Even the president was arrested and prosecuted for crimes of corruption

As a result of this, new controversial president Jair Bolsanaro was elected with high hopes for Brazil's economic future. President Bolsanaro has a plan to revitalize his nation through economic reform.

Specifically, he had three goals that he wants to reach to make a positive difference in Brazil. He wants to privatize government owned businesses that dominate the economy, he wants to cut taxes, and he wants to make trade deals that more closely align with the interests of Brazil. Eletrobras, Brazil's state owned electricity company, is currently scheduled to be partly sold to public investors by June 2019. He plans to increase the minimum annual salary to pay taxes from $6,000 to $30,000, and he plans to install a single 20% tax rate for all households. Finally, he hoped to mend fences with America to promote beneficial trade relations.

Just three months into his presidency, we haven't been able to see the results of Bolsanaro’s presidency. The outcome of this legislation will have a monumental effect on Brazil's presence in world relations in the future.

Drug prices in America have become an issue for many. Medications can cost two and three times more in the United States than they do in European countries. A drug that treats arthritis, psoriasis and other similar conditions, Humira, costs $822 dollars in Iceland but $2,669 in America.

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”.

Apple and smartphones will always seem to be connected, almost as Apple is a monopoly for the market. While Apple only holds 17.9% of the smartphone market industry, it is no question that they are the top tier in smartphone manufacturing and production. However, Apple is currently being trialed in a case that claims Apple violated anti-trust laws in affiliation with their app store. Apple controls their app store, the only way to get apps on an iPhone is through Apple’s Appstore. The case, Apple v. Pepper, turns on what happens when iPhone users buy something at the Apple App Store. In allowing the suit, a federal appeals court said the transaction is a simple one in which consumers buy directly from Apple.  According to anti-trust laws, there are statutes developed by the U.S. Government to protect consumers from predatory business practices by ensuring that fair competition exists in an open-market economy. When looking at the definition, we must keep in mind that for Apple to be found liable, there must be clear evidence showing that consumers were harmed in some way. This is where it gets tricky because Apple is such a dominant price chooser for the application industry, that there is no clear idea if they are suppressing consumers or not. Also, it is important to note that Apple has incentives to raising the price of applications, as producers must agree to give 30% of profits in exchange for having permission to sell apps on Apple’s Appstore. While this court case is being decided, it is important to note the impact that this ruling could have on any other competitive monopolistic tech giants such as Facebook, Google, or Amazon.

Fermented carbohydrates, malted cereal grain, and hops are three essential ingredients to the world’s most common alcoholic beverage, beer. Beer is one of the oldest brewed and consumed beverages across the globe and its demand increasing exponentially. Local breweries have been popping up in cities across the globe featuring a new micro-brewed ale or a new twist on an old classic.

Days are growing shorter, the temperature is dropping and families are beginning to dig their snow boots out of storage. Winter is fast approaching which means the lucrative ski market will begin to rise again worldwide. In America alone, the winter sports industry is valued at approximately 12 billion dollars and is expected to grow in the upcoming decades. However, many people are beginning to grow weary of the industry due to the looming idea of climate change.

The Olympics have been a household staple occurring biannually for multiple centuries now. In less than 100 days, PyeongChang, South Korea will join the ranks of other cities who have had the honor of hosting the Games. This event kicks off with opening ceremonies starting on February 9th, with competitive events beginning on the 8th, till the 25th with 102 events in 15 sports. This year will be the first year for big air snowboarding, which is replacing the parallel slalom, mixed doubles curling, mass start speed skating and mixed team alpine skiing. However, with the hype of Olympics still growing, through social media, ticket sales have not been following the same trend.

In the world today, everyone is looking into shortcuts for everything from cooking to driving and now for payment methods. The world as a whole is becoming a paperless society. According to a Business Insider report, more than one trillion dollars are exchanged through peer-to-peer (P2P) payments applications such as Venmo and PayPal. This number is expected to grow exponentially in the next couple of years.

Venezuela's international standing has suffered in the wake of its controversial presidential election and constitutional assembly. Amidst allegations of vote manipulation and crackdowns on protests and opposition, Venezuela's electoral process and ensuing government scandals have faced condemnation from several international leaders. Foreign ministers of fellow Mercosur countries voted to indefinitely suspend Venezuela from the trade bloc. The United States levied sanctions on numerous Venezuelan officials, including the country's president, preventing them from doing business in or traveling to the U.S. Other nations have refused to recognize the election results. The international response will likely impact the already-suffering Venezuelan economy, which has declined sharply over the past few years.

globalEDGE has added a Best Countries Index to our Country Indices pages. The index, compiled using data from the U.S. News and World Report, assigns a ranking and score to 80 separate countries, based on how global perceptions on a variety of attributes could potentially increase trade, travel, and investment in each country. The information also takes into account how these perceptions could potentially affect the national economy of each country. The factors considered are qualitative instead of quantitative, giving varying amounts of weight to these subrankings: adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power, and quality of life. Check out our new indices today.

Part four of this week's blog series explores current events in the sports sector of the leisure industry. 

A few trends are expected to drive the sports industry in 2017 such as the rapid change in the sports media landscape of content creation and distribution rights due to consumers shifting from cable to digital media. Other trends expected are innovation for game days by enhancing the fan experience outside of the sports venue and the use of augmented and virtual reality to enable teams to become more personalized and integrated with sports fans’ daily lives. In addition, it is expected that data and analytics will continue to drive the more business focused side of the industry.

Large consumer good staple companies have been impacted by slower sales at the end of the first quarter of 2017. Companies in the food beverage and consumer staples segments are being hard pressed to adapt to changing tastes, while other large companies are losing market share to technologically adept disrupters.

The Life Cycle Hypothesis (LCH) is an economic model developed by famed economist Franco Modigliani in the early 1950’s, which attempts to explain the saving and consumption patterns of individuals over their lifetime. The crux of the hypothesis is that by assuming all individuals maintain stable lifestyles, they will plan to even out their consumption as best they can over their lifetime. This implies that an individual will transition through multiple phases of saving and consumption patterns throughout their life. In their youth, before entering the workforce, an individual will borrow against future earnings, many to pay for education and training. Once that individual enters the workforce, they will become a net saver, as they put money away for their eventual retirement. Finally, in the twilight stages of their life, once an individual retires, they will become a dis-saver, as they begin to drain their accumulated retirement savings.

Oil prices worldwide are in decline. Much of the decline in oil prices has been contributed to rising oil production in the United States. To combat this it is expected that OPEC will decide to continue its cap on oil production at their meeting in May. As recently as one week ago it was reported that Saudi Arabia was gathering support from other OPEC countries in extending their cap on production.

The Danish firm Novo Nordisk confirmed on Monday, January 30th its investment of 144.5 million dollars to employ about 100 academics and scientists to perform research and treatments for type 2 diabetes. This investment has helped raise the economic standard of the UK which has been on a decline since the announcement of the Brexit. The research will occur in Oxford, but any new treatments are likely to be developed and produced in Denmark. This will help both countries economically, and boost confidence for further investments. 

Last month we wrote a blog series on Central Banking policy in several regions of the world. One region that was not covered in that series was the second biggest country by population, and the world’s 7th largest economy by GDP; India. India has come into focus in recent weeks as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for India to demonetize, particularly calling for a ban on high-value bank notes in an effort to cut down on corruption and tax evasion. This has had several side effects on the Indian economy, most of which seem to be negatively impacting the nation as a whole, and sending India on a path towards cutting interest rates at a time when the US is heading towards possibly a series of rate hikes.

The latest economic numbers for the second quarter of 2016 were published Monday, and they do not paint a bright picture of the Japanese economy. Data shows the economy in Japan barely grew, expanding only 0.2%, lower than the already diminished target rate of 0.7%. The stalling growth was somewhat expected, considering April earthquakes and the impact of Brexit, but was still worrisome considering the large drop from 2% growth in the first quarter.

The Bank of Japan announced a new stimulus plan last Friday. This new plan involves the annual purchasing of the equivalent of $58 billion USD worth of ETFs. This is an increase of approximately $26 billion from last year. The bank notably yields negative interest rates. However, those will not be affected in this new round of easing.

Many of the world’s poorest countries have been struggling as of late in terms of growth. This is due largely in part to a strong dollar, which makes it harder for other countries to pay back the U.S. “Many impoverished country governments are being hit by the fall in prices for the commodities they export, and large depreciations of currencies against the dollar,” said Tim Jones, economist at the Jubilee Debt Campaign. This means many of the countries who rely on exporting world commodities are being hurt in multiple ways recently. This is because both the strong dollar and the dropping prices of these commodities are driving their development budgets into the ground. An example of this is in Sierra Leone, where the price of iron ore dipping as well as the Ebola breakout have hampered the country’s ability to develop. The World Bank will be dealing with an increase in loan requests due to the fall of commodity prices as well.

Manila is a relatively short plane ride from Singapore, but a world apart. In Singapore, as I reported last week, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is the topic of the minute (even if some officials admit it’s “a lot of hope and not a whole lot of change, yet.”) In the Philippines, on the other hand, one high ranking government official estimated awareness of ASEAN at about seven percent in the general population and roughly 30 percent among businesses. He could not site any numbers for the AEC specifically.

Greetings from Singapore, where the talk in this city-state is centered squarely on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The AEC came into being, officially, on December 31, 2015, and businesses are abuzz about the AEC's potential for growing the economies of the 10 member states.

The Celtic Tiger is roaring again. After an economic downturn in 2008, Ireland was in dire straits. It was more often associated with the failing economies in Southern European countries than its peers in Northern Europe. In 2015, however, these troubles seem to be a relic of the distant past. Ireland’s GDP has grown at an astounding 7% through this point in 2015, while most of Western Europe is marred in low growth in the 0 to 2 percent growth range. This positive trend in the Irish economy has been spurred mainly by investment from overseas, particularly U.S. pharmaceutical and tech companies.  A skilled workforce, and a minimal corporate tax rate of 12.5% has led many of these U.S. corporations to set up their base European operations in Ireland. Companies such as Pfizer, Apple, Facebook, and Google have built up major operations in Ireland’s main cities. Some major US companies have even completed mergers or acquisitions to execute a tax inversion, and move their base of operations for tax purposes to Ireland. Not only are these countries creating jobs and bringing in tax income to help the public financing of Ireland, but they are helping to offset all of the negative aspects that were dragging down the Irish economy.

Brazil’s economy shrank 1.7% between July and September, marking the third straight period of economic contraction. As Brazil’s economy has slipped further into recession, it has led to the downfall of its surrounding nations’ economies. Being the largest economy in Latin America, the slowdown could be detrimental to its neighboring nations’ economic growth.

China has a problem. In fact, China has multiple problems, but perhaps the most concerning issue is its greying populace. Throughout the world, advances in technology and knowledge in the general population of birth control, have left advanced countries facing demographic crises. China is no different, and while not considered an advanced country, it faces similar issues that are plaguing its population.

Japan’s recent recovery, frail as it is, is doing far better than the failing endeavor it’s been pegged as in mainstream media. Understandably, claims on the many faults of Prime Minister Abe’s Quantitative Easing policy have been warranted. This year alone, Japan has faced a shrinking economy in its second quarter and came uncomfortably close to the same designation in the third quarter. Most notably, inflation has been on a steady decline since April and has since stabilized but remains alarmingly close to zero. Dismal as the outcomes have been thus far, the island nation is inching closer to its goals.

As of late, most news related to emerging markets has been overwhelmingly negative. China’s economic growth rate is dropping, and Brazil and Russia are mired in economic recession. To make matters worse, the 19 largest emerging economies have seen an outflow of more than $900 billion in investor capital over a thirteen-month period ending in July. Despite all of the negativity surrounding emerging markets, there are indicators that suggest emerging economies will be just fine.

Greece's woes have been a well-publicized global topic over the past year. Between its staggering debt, its default on these debts, and discussion of its exile from the European Union, Greece has struggled with pulling its way through an web of economic troubles. There is, however, a glint of optimism for the country. On August 14th, Eurozone finance ministers approved Greece for a new bailout package, its third such deal in five years. The package was agreed upon after a half-year's worth of negotiations between Greece's government, the Eurozone, and the IMF. While not all Eurozone countries have yet given approval, the bailout is considered a relief for a situation that threatened to break the Eurozone apart. It is yet to be seen how it will affect Greece and the rest of the Eurozone in the long run.

Nigeria is a country that is steeped with opportunities and chances for economic growth, but has its problems and challenges as well. Between 1990 and 2010, Nigeria re-based its GDP, which resulted in an 89% increase in the economy's estimated size. Now, Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa with a nominal estimated GDP of  $590 billion, surpassing South Africa’s $340 Billion, and has maintained over the past decade an average growth rate of 6.8%, higher than the West Africa sub-region.

Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, many large central banks have used quantitative easing in order to help stimulate their respective economies. Quantitative easing is the act of buying financial assets from lower level banks, thus increasing the price of the assets and increasing reserves in the economy. This has remained a common practice in central banks, and these banks have even increased the rates of easing since this year. However, economists are uncertain of how much easing has actually helped the global economy, and are wondering if it is time for a change in monetary policy practices.

Greece has been in constant negotiations with other European countries and institutions over Greece’s debt load, which if not resolved, can lead to another financial crisis. The European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are both creditors to Greece, and Greece is expected to repay the IMF nearly 750 million Euros on Tuesday, but the remainder of the debt repayments total nearly 12 billion Euros for the rest of the year. While Athens has authorized its treasury to make the loan payment to the IMF, Greece will continue having trouble making the upcoming payments unless the creditors agree to give more aid as a part of the 240 billion euro bailout program.

It has been big news in the world economy that The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is trying to implement a single economic community called the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). What does this mean for ASEAN and the entire world economy? The AEC is expected to lead to a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

Imagine a scenario where a market is losing value (deflation), which in turn scares away investors and greatly reduces cash flow in the active market. This stems growth, as more people lose confidence in a downward spiraling market. This is a scenario that the European Central Bank (ECB) would like to avoid, as the Eurozone is currently experiencing -0.1% deflation. Perhaps the ECB’s most important response has been through quantitative easing, which has had a substantial impact on the Eurozone's economy.

Crude oil is the traditional starting point for the many plastics that are essential to modern life. Approximately three percent of worldwide oil production is used to make plastics. Due to this relationship, the cost of plastic is closely tied to the price of oil. And since June, the price of oil has been cut in half, leading to a decrease in the price of new plastic.

Globalization can be defined as the process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade, investment, and information technology. It is not a new concept, and has been present for thousands of years, as people and corporations have been buying and selling goods and services, along with exchanging ideas across long distances.

China’s manufacturing and factory sector hit an 11-month low in March, alarming investors worldwide. This indicator is yet another under-performing expectation that will likely have a negative effect on China’s gloomy first quarter. Ultimately these results are detrimental to the Chinese Government's 7% GDP growth target and will likely lead to new stimulus measures during a period of slow economic grw.

The Nile River is a major influence on the economies it encompasses, and in the past it has been controversial how the energy, space, and water is allocated amongst the countries it passes through. Ethiopia is constructing a massive dam costing billions of dollars on the Blue Nile, which will distort the previous allocation of water agreed by the countries surrounding the river. Most of the disagreement in the initial stages of project development stemmed from this allocation dispute, but the presidents of Egypt and Sudan, as well as the Ethiopian Prime Minister, all recently signed a contract pledging to better share the water and resources of the Nile. On Monday, Egypt agreed to a preliminary deal with Ethiopia on the construction of the dam.

In recent years, immigration has been a topic that has been widely discussed globally, from the U.S. to the EU to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  There are other aspects of immigration that are often not considered that tend to slip through the cracks of the political quagmire, and those aspects can influence the global economy and can be far-reaching.  One such aspect is remittance, which is the transfer of money from a worker in a foreign country back to individuals back in their home country, typically family members and friends.

Exchange rates for currencies across the world are akin to a seesaw - they need a balance. As a result, the simplest differences in the exchange rates can have drastic ripple effects on economies due to the economic purchasing power principle. If your domestic currency is trading strongly (weakly) against a foreign currency, you have increased (decreased) your purchasing power and can purchase more (less) just from currency swapping. The effects of currency exchange on purchasing power can be in the form of government policy, such as Japan, or based on the nature of current positive market conditions within the economy like the United States. As you will see, exchange rates can have a drastic impact on tourism globally.

Since the Eurozone has been at a very low inflation level for quite some time and people have become more conservative in their spending, the issue of pushing the economy up has been raised by the European Central Bank. The ECB President, Mr. Draghi said, “for growth to pick up, you need investment. For investment, you need confidence. And for confidence, you need structural reforms.” Then, a 60-billion-euro-a-month bond purchase program became such a structural reform last week. This blog will examine both the regional and international impacts of this quantitative easing policy.

The United States has pledged financial support of $2 billion to Ukraine to help them prevent a looming bankruptcy, and boost recovery efforts amidst the financial turmoil in Europe and Asia. Ukraine is trying to recover and stabilize its economy, but the waging conflict in Eastern Ukraine with Pro-Russia rebels is hurting the economy and driving down consumer spending.

The global economy had its projections cut by the World Bank, saying that the United States will not be able to hold up the global economy alone.  The global economy is now projected to grow 3.0% this year, rather than the 3.5% that was formerly projected. However, the United States had its projection increased from 3.0% growth to 3.2% growth. The World Bank cited Europe, Japan, Russia, and parts of Latin America as the source of the struggles leading to the lower projections. While oil prices are low, developing economies who import oil will receive a boost. However, oil exporters will continue to struggle, especially Russia, due to the low price of oil.

After falling into a shocking recession last year, Japan’s manufacturing industry shows signs of hope as growth was sustained in December. The Markit/JMMA purchasing manager’s index was measured at 52, and demonstrated the seventh consecutive month for manufacturing growth in Japan. As a matter of fact, this growth rate is the most rapid rate since May of last year, suggesting that Japan’s economy may not be in as terrible condition as previously thought.

Several new economic developments have occurred in the United States during this last quarter. The recent drop in gas prices, credited to the drop in global oil prices led by OPEC, is one of these noteworthy developments. This has led to increased spending in the U.S, especially in the retail and automotive industries. There have also been significant increases in employment, as well as a strengthening in the value of the dollar. While these all seem like boons to the United States, some of these factors have the potential to not only hurt the U.S. economy, but economies around the world as well. As a result, economists are warning the U.S. to take caution, especially with its fragile economy now leaving the period of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve.

The OECD has found a link between a country's inequality and the decrease in percentage points of GDP Growth. This decline has been seen in countries including the US, who has lost almost seven points, and the UK, who has lost around 9 points of GDP Growth percentage. This is a shocking point which shows countries that if they want to promote strong and sustained growth, addressing inequality needs to be a central focus.

As discussed in an earlier blog post, oil prices are continuing to fall as global demand weakens, affecting economies around the globe, such as the United States, Norway, and Saudi Arabia. One of the countries most affected is Russia, which heavily depends on the oil industry, so much so that it makes up an estimated 60% of the country’s exports. The Russian government began the year expecting oil prices to be near $96 a barrel, and with current oil prices well below this number, there is reason to worry about Russia’s economy.

The global price of oil has fallen sharply since June, when oil prices hit $115 a barrel. Now, only four months later, the price for a barrel of oil has dropped to $85, and it could keep dropping. Global supply of oil has increased in recent years, especially in countries outside OPEC, which is one reason for the drop in prices. A more concerning reason that could be adding to the lower prices is a global drop in demand, due to slowing economies, which could signal another global economic downturn. Whatever the reasons, the suddenly low oil prices could have huge impacts around the globe, positively or negatively affecting economies that rely on the production or use of oil.

Last week, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy visited Beijing, China to help gain economic support for Spain. Rajoy met with the President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to help facilitate the signing of 14 contracts, totaling about 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion). A crowd of Spanish and Chinese businesspeople were in attendance as Rajoy encouraged China to invest in Spain after its recovery from the Eurozone crisis.

Africa’s second biggest economy is experiencing an energy shortage that is affecting consumers and businesses across the country. Eskom, the state-owned electrical provider, has informed customers that the company cannot keep up with the increasing demand for electricity, and has asked everyone to reduce the amount of energy they use. Recently, these measures have not been enough, forcing Eskom to implement managed electrical blackouts, impacting the 95% of South Africans that rely on Eskom’s service.

Argentina has been facing many economic and financial troubles these past few months. Future predictions are now showing a poor outlook for its economy, as the country is struggling with high inflation, a major decline in the value of the peso against the U.S. dollar, and more trouble involving disputes with hedge fund and holdout creditors. For a country that has had a history of economic troubles in this century, none of these things spell anything good for Argentina's future, and it only seems to be getting worse from here.

Much of the talk surrounding biofuels in the past has centered on corn, wheat, soybeans, and sugarcane, which are known as first generation biofuels. These food crops were seen by many as a way to become more energy independent, as they could be processed to create ethanol fuel that in turn could replace our dependence on oil. The excitement of this prospect led many countries, such as the United States, to implement mandates requiring specific amounts of ethanol to be mixed with gasoline. These countries hoped that ethanol could help by lessening the impact of oil prices on the economy and by saving the environment from the increasing use of oil.

As the world's second biggest economy, China is a mainstay for several countries who depend on it for their international services. Most of these tend to be neighboring countries on the same continent, but China's influence is not limited to Asia alone. With major business also being done in Australia and North America, China has proved that its reach is global. As a result, the impact of its attempt to rebalance its markets and economy will not stay within its borders, and will most likely affect economic policies everywhere.

It's no secret that the Eurozone is an economically struggling region of the world, and although it has been recovering from the blow caused by its economic crisis, it has been doing so very feebly. Now, the recovery has suddenly stopped; in the second quarter of the year, the Eurozone was recorded as growing 0%. While economists say that the overall Eurozone economy should not sink into a recession yet again, it does not seem like the recovery will pick up its pace anytime soon. The future of its countries economies all depends on what actions the European Central Bank takes.

As harvest time approaches across Europe, many farmers are worried about how much revenue they will make this fall because of trade restrictions with Russia. These trade restrictions, a result of the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, have had a large impact on European growers, who ship an estimated 5.2 billion euros worth of produce to Russian markets. With Russia’s embargo on European goods, farmers across the European Union are scrambling to find new markets to sell their goods, or risk large price reductions as a result of smaller demand.

Earlier this year, Japan implemented a sales tax increase from 5 to 8 percent. Bloomberg experts had predicted a median 7 percent decline, however, the economy declined by only 6.8%. And although an economic decline is never ideal, the contraction that has occurred in this quarter is much less impactful than in 1997, the last time the sales tax was hiked.

On July 18, the seventh annual Global Innovation Index (GII) was released at the B20 Australia Summit in Sydney. This year, the report's theme dealt with the Human Factor in Innovation, referring to the role that people play in the overall innovative success of different countries. While Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Sweden topped the list, a significant change was seen: nations in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa showed the most overall improvement on the list. Seventeen African nations, including Mauritius, Seychelles, and South Africa, jumped up in the rankings by several placings. Sub-Saharan Africa has already seen great strides in economic growth and freedom, and this new development spells good news for Africa and its future.

The second richest man in the world, Carlos Slim, made a proposal this week that might excite employees around the globe. Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, told those at a business conference that he thinks employers should move to shorter work weeks that promote increased leisure time for employees without losing productivity. His proposal had employees reporting to work only three days a week, giving workers four day weekends year-round. He believes that the shorter weeks would help to boost employee morale and increase leisure activities, which in turn would have a positive effect on the economy.

Angela Merkel, the current chancellor of Germany, has been reigning over the country for 8 years. Her approval rating of 71% seems expected when you consider the 2014 estimated GDP growth in Germany. Compared to the Eurozone average of 0.25% Germany’s domestic demand and increase in construction have been great assets to the country’s economy. Despite her success as chancellor, some believe that she is not taking actions that will positively impact the long-term economy.

An important economic issue that is affecting several countries is the rising number of shadow businesses: businesses unregistered with their country's government. These businesses exchange goods and services, both legal and illegal, without paying taxes to their government. Typical examples of these include small taxicab services, roadside food stalls, and drug dealing. These businesses are causing concern because of their increasing prevalence in developing countries, which many worry is crippling economic growth and development. Other countries with smaller numbers shadow businesses are looking for ways to try and incorporate the operations of these businesses into their national economies. Here is a closer look.

Sports are big business across the world. The recent agreement to sell the Los Angeles Clippers, of the NBA, for $2 billion is the largest amount paid for a sports franchise in the history of the United States. Across the world things are no different. In 2012, for the first time, a sports franchise issued an IPO and went public. Manchester United, an English soccer club, currently holds a $2.75 billion market cap, making it one of the most valuable sports franchises.

On Monday, June 2nd, the Obama administration announced through the EPA that new rules have been put into effect to reduce carbon pollution by coal and power plants by 30% by 2030. This is a historic occasion, as it marks the first time that the United States government has acted to try and regulate power plant emissions. The new rules have been met with high praise by many environmental groups and activists. However, debate has sparked over the potential economic impact of these rules. While concerns have been voiced over the effects on the coal and energy industries, many economists are also claiming these rules will lead to an overall positive outcome for the U.S. and the world. Here is a closer look.

This past weekend, European Union nations experienced eventful elections for the Europe Parliament that will cause a stir on future economic reforms. This election term saw a very aggressive battle between two opposing forces – pro-European Union parties supporting strong central powers, and anti-European Union parties (also known as Eurosceptics), who are nationalists that want to decrease central powers of the union. The elections were forecasted to see anti-European forces make major gains and double their seats in parliament as a result of increasing unrest caused by unfavorable union wide measures.

International economists are all asking the same question: Is the Eurozone's financial crisis over? For a region of the world that has borne some of the worst repercussions of the Great Recession, it could potentially be said now that the biggest brunt of the crisis is over, and the countries of the Eurozone are now on their (uneasy) way to recovery. However, this is not a confident prediction. Several factors, such as worryingly low inflation and high unemployment, are still present in these economies, showing that more problems may still be nigh. At this point it may be dangerous to assume the Eurozone has seen the last of its economic woes. Here is a closer look.

Over the past decade South Asia has experienced rapid economic growth, but its infrastructure growth has not kept pace. The World Bank recently came out with a report, “Reducing Poverty by Closing South Asia’s Infrastructure Gap,” which found that countries in South Asia need to invest up to $2.5 trillion in order to bridge the infrastructure gap in the next ten years. An infrastructure gap is the difference between a country’s development goals and its actual capability to obtain those goals.

In the face of major economic sanctions from many countries around the world, especially the United States and other Western nations, Russia has been actively looking to avoid economic isolation. As a result of this, it has turned to many large nations in the East to set up economic agreements. One country that is willing to open its doors is China. After over ten years of talks on the subject, Russia and China are finally coming close to signing what has been called a "Holy Grail" for Russia and especially Moscow; a deal where Russia will send natural gas to China.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $354 billion last year, making it the second largest African economy behind South Africa. This past Sunday, for the first time in a decade, Nigeria’s statistician-general announced a revision in its GDP from 42.4 trillion naira to 80.2 trillion naira.  How could an economy grow so much in just one night?

Brazil’s economy posted surprisingly good numbers for the fourth quarter of 2013, renewing hope that the country’s economic fortunes can turnaround. Brazil had seen its GDP contract by .5% in the third quarter, leading some analysts to speculate that the country was headed for a recession. The new numbers for the fourth quarter show that the economy grew .7% from the previous quarter and 2.3% over the entire year, numbers that no one expected to see. This news brings some relief and encouragement to Brazilian officials, who currently have their hands full with issues surrounding the economy, protests, and major upcoming sporting events.

India has a caste system which is a social structure that separates people according to different socio-economic conditions.  In recent years the system has been relaxed and it is easier to move from caste-to-caste, but it is still significant to the Indian culture. Having a caste system can increase the amount of poverty and economic activity, leading to a decrease of international trade. In May, India’s general election will take place and the front-runner to be the next prime minister is Narendra Modi. Modi was a former tea seller, which is not considered an elite occupation and is quite different from the former occupations of leaders from the ruling Congress party.

Many emerging markets have noted the rapid devaluation of their currencies taking place over the past year. In Colombia, the peso is now worth 2,017.01 per U.S. dollar, the weakest currency level since 2009. While other emerging markets such as South Africa and Turkey are fighting incessantly to combat currency declines by raising interest rates, Colombia is taking a different approach by fully embracing the decline of its currency.

China's economy has politicians, investors, and businessmen all over the world biting their nails in nervous anticipation. Business and investment in the country have become increasingly risky and low expectations have been predicted for several sectors of the economy. The country as of late has been able to hold their own and beat their dismal forecasts; however if it does not stabilize its economy soon, it could prove bad news for the country and for the global economy.

Just how much does it cost to host an Olympics? The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia are more expensive than every other Winter Olympics combined. The cost is projected to be around $51 billion, which is ten million dollars more than the 2012 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. This money goes towards construction, transportation, hospitality, security, lodging and more. For events like the Olympics, it is starting to look like a waste of money for all of the over-extravagant, luxurious decorations and celebrations that take place. It has become less about the athletics, and more about which country can make their Olympics look the best to the world. A country like Russia has a lot larger problems that it should allocate $51 billion to, especially if they are trying to clear up their image.

Is it possible to predict the number of medals each country will win in the Winter Olympics by using a combination of economic indicators?  Without economics, predicting the winners would involve an extensive amount of knowledge on numerous sports and athletes. By using an economic model, one does not need extensive knowledge about each sport. In a recent study, Madeleine Andreff and Wladimir Andreff tried to predict the number of medals a country could win in the Winter Olympics by using economics.

In December of 2013 the Federal Reserve (FED) announced that it would begin to taper its bond-buying program by $10 million per month. As a result of quantitative easing (QE), the FED had been purchasing $85 million in assets in order to stimulate the economy. As the Federal Reserve continues to reduce its monthly purchases, there will be certain effects on globalization. Since tapering was announced, emerging market economies have been struggling. As the FED continues to taper, emerging markets could continue to see and outflow of funds and fluctuations in their currencies.

The figures are showing a stark truth: the levels of income inequality all around the world remain on the rise. In several countries, especially the largest and richest ones, the rich get richer while poverty becomes worse day after day. While it is a common argument that a degree of inequality is necessary for motivating people to work harder, it is also true that such extreme levels of it can be detrimental to the economy. As a result, this trend is proving to be a concern to economists and political figures everywhere.

Eugenio Proto, an Associate Professor at Warwick University, and Aldo Rustichini, an Economics Professor at the University of Minnesota, found that the relationship between national income and national life satisfaction is “hump shaped.” They discovered that there is a clear positive relation in poorer nations, then flattens out at around $30,000-$35,000, and then turns negative. The relationship between national income and life satisfaction are critical to policymakers.

As students all over the country depart from the cozy homes of their parents to go back to school a question with a seemingly obvious answer is asked - why? The start of a new semester signals a new beginning that entails learning and growth for another four months. The obvious answer to why so many young people do this every fall and winter is that school provides them with necessary skills in order to make a living in the world—a world that is becoming ever more competitive. However, little research has been done on exactly what return someone may receive for the skills they possess. The OECD published a recent paper taking a stab at this question.

Inflation has been credited with being the main reason for Moody’s Investor service choosing to downgrade Venezuela. In terms of currency, inflation has been more than fifty percent year to date, even after President Nicholas Maduro created the law to make businesses cut the cost of consumer goods. The high risk of a collapse and the economic imbalances of the Venezuelan economy have also been cited as a reason for the downgrade because the caused currency and bond ceiling ratings to move to a “speculative” grade. The government is planning on devaluing the Venezuelan currency in 2014. The current account surplus has also decreased by thirty five percent for the past three quarters in comparison to the three quarters last year. All of these statistics point to an economic collapse, but there might just be a way out.  

After a 4 day meeting in Beijing, party leaders agreed to make changes to the infamous one-child policy in China. This previous policy allowed one child to be born into each family unless both parents were only children, in which case they may have another child. Additionally, couples in rural areas were allowed to have a second child provided that their first was a girl. Although theoretically this law was implemented to combat poverty by decreasing the total amount of births, the result instead was a long-term imbalance of genders and a capped labor force. Consequently, the Chinese government has altered the policy to ensure continual manufacturing growth in the coming years.

As the world becomes increasingly globalized, workers from around the world are experiencing increased opportunities to work abroad. This is exactly what is occurring in Canada. As the province of Alberta continues to boom economically, Canadian companies are in need of a labor supply. With too few Canadians to fill the extra jobs needed, Canadian firms have begun recruiting internationally. The international recruiting strategy has been very successful as Canadian companies were able to find an abundant supply of workers from the United Kingdom and Ireland. This development in Canada is a testament to the many benefits of international business.

Recently, Standard & Poor downgraded Netherlands' sovereign debt from a coveted AAA rating to a AA+ rating. The downgrade came as S&P sees a weak growth outlook, even though the Netherlands is seen as part of Europe’s healthy economic core. Also, S&P raised its outlook on Spain from negative to stable, showing that some of the struggling southern European countries may be recovering. As many southern countries continue to improve economically, some of the northern countries are suffering from poor growth prospects.

Recent financial figures have shown that several countries around the globe have experienced some of their lowest inflation rates in years. Normally this would be the goal of the nations' central banks, but in the economic states of these regions, this low inflation could be the source of several problems. Now the issue facing many of the world's richest nations is to avoid extremely low inflation and to try and raise prices. The proposed processes to achieve these goals have the potential to lead to some intense competition.

Major changes could be coming to China, after officials released plans to reform economic and social policies. China’s president, Xi Jinping, unveiled reform plans after a four-day conclave of Communist Party leaders in hopes that the economic changes will increase economic growth, which has slowed since the world-wide recession. Along with the economic reforms, plans were made to relax the one child policy and close labor camps, both infamous in the international community. The reforms, if implemented, could have wide-ranging impacts on society and business in China, improving human rights and opening new sectors of the economy to private companies.

Pensions have become an increasingly talked about topic of late. With bankruptcies of cities, and most notably of Detroit, it is unsure whether people who worked their entire lives with the promise of a retirement will actually receive such. The trick with pensions is how does a company or city adequately plan for retirement costs decades into the future?

In his recent article, Michael Burda, a Professor of Economics at Humboldt University Berlin, suggests the European Central Bank (ECB) should be redesigned with regional rather than national central banks. The column proposes that instead of each country having a national bank, boarders should be drawn to create regional banks. The United States, which has 12 regional banks, is a country that uses this central bank system.

Last week, the City of Detroit became the largest city to file for bankruptcy in the history of the United States. The once vibrant city, whose roots came from automobiles and music, fell-victim to its financial situation, which includes between $18 to $20 billion in debt. Along with a large amount of debt, Detroit has encountered problems with underfunded pensions, diminishing population, and poor public services. As a result of the bankruptcy, Detroit could experience large legal fees and cuts in its public services and bondholders will be left with pennies on the dollar. Is Detroit just the tip of the iceberg for cities that may file for bankruptcy?

Foreign direct investment has a large effect on the economy of countries. It can increase production, employment, exports, imports, and economic growth. Over the past five years, emerging markets have seen an increase in foreign capital from investors in search of higher yields. Three popular emerging market countries among foreign investors that have experienced political instabilities in the past month are Brazil, Turkey, and Egypt. The political instability could prove to be detrimental to emerging market financial growth in the short run, but investors should be more worried about the slowing economies of these countries.

One of the most significant trends of the past several years has been austerity measures taken by governments all over the world in order to try to keep their budgets in control. Much of the support for these actions came from a 2010 paper by Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart of Harvard entitled Growth in a Time of Debt. 

In 2002, Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics, which isn’t all that unusual until one realizes that Kahneman isn’t an economist at all, but rather a psychologist. The reason that Kahneman won the Nobel is because he has dedicated his life (along with his partner Amos Tversky) to attempting to disprove the rational agent model that is a major underlying assumption of modern economics. The rational agent assumption assumes that all people are entirely rational and make the decisions that maximize utility for them (the people in this case are popularly called Homo Economis). Kahnemen thinks this isn’t true due to innate biases inside people and lays out why in Thinking Fast and Slow, which is an overview of his life’s work.

As the U.S. has just released that its GDP has grown only 0.1% in the 4th quarter of 2012 and that trend of low growth is persistent in every economic headline for seemingly every country, the question of whether this is a temporary phenomenon or the new reality is very relevant. Personally, I am of the opinion that this zero growth environment may be unavoidable.

In the last decade, Argentina has undergone a rapid ascension from widespread poverty and a huge budget deficit towards economic prosperity and stability.  The government of Argentina, only ten years ago, defaulted on a $100 billion budget, sending over half its population into poverty.  Following this economic catastrophe was a period of contraction.  This, however, would last only three months and would then give way to economic growth.

The Euro has popped up many times in the news recently. Because of the debt crisis in Europe, many countries were left unable to fulfill the convergence criteria to have the Euro as a currency, leading to many problems throughout Europe. It wasn’t just the current crisis that brought about these issues; they have been rooted in the Euro ever since it was created. So what exactly are a few of these issues and how can they be solved?

Pecans have long been a steady source of income for farmers in the United States.  Southern farmers produce two-thirds of the world’s supply and U.S. consumers have been the main source of their business.  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the current price of $2.14 per pound for pecans is nearly twice as high as three years ago.  What has caused this sharp spike and what does the future hold for the pecan industry? 

Two weeks ago, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its benchmark interest rate from 1 percent to 1.25 percent, putting it at odds with its counterparts in the United States and Britain. This move has sparked a debate as to whether the ECB jumped the gun with the interest rate hike.

With articles starting to surface saying that the recent Japanese earthquake could cost the Japanese people over $300 billion in economic damage, I thought it would be pretty interesting to try to put that number into focus. In other words, while $300 billion is a lot of money no matter how you put it, is it really that much damage if a typical hurricane does about $350 billion in damage? Thankfully, the people at The Economist have created this graph that shows the world’s costliest natural disasters so we can put the Japanese earthquake into perspective. What the graph shows is very intriguing.

Everyone has been hearing about it lately.  Look at any news site and it will be the top story if not many of the top five stories.  Ever since Mohamed Al Bouazizi set himself on fire in December to protest Tunisia’s economic situation, revolution has been spreading across the Middle East.  These conflicts are demonstrating how some of the world’s smallest countries can have great effects on the rest of the planet.

Last week we talked about microfinance, and specifically ways to help alleviate poverty in the poorest of areas. A topic that’s closely related to microfinance, but in some ways a better option is micro-franchising. It’s basically business ownership training. It is not only for developing counties however, it can be used for the poor in cities of developed countries as well.

There has been much hype recently about rising inflation rates around the globe. The euro zone had an inflation rate of 2.2% in 2010, while China's rose 5.1% from November 2009 to November 2010. Many people fear that a surge in inflation could have an adverse effect on the recovery efforts of many economies. But what exactly is inflation and how does it affect an economy?

While just about everyone in the world knows that in aggregate the world has been going through a so-called “Great Recession,” not nearly as many people understand how it has impacted the different regions in the world. Now, thanks to a new study called the Global MetroMonitor produced by The Brookings Institute and the London School of Economics, they can.

Just recently, on November 8, 2010, gold reached its non-inflation adjusted high of $1,400 per ounce. As shown in this chart by Kitco, gold has been increasing at a very rapid pace in the past year. This has prompted many investors to say that gold could potentially be the next “bubble,” or a security that has a huge increase in price only to suddenly “pop” and decrease rapidly in price. However, there is evidence to contradict these fears, especially in the U.S. bond markets.

Is it possible that corporate social responsibility, one of the most popular trends in modern business, is an irresponsible goal for any profit-driven organization to pursue? Is the pursuit of the triple-bottom-line (people, planet, profit) contrary to the value that corporations provide for society? Ann Bernstein, the leader of the Centre for Development and Enterprise in South Africa argued in her new book that it is more valuable for companies to focus solely on profit while leaving people and planet to fend for themselves, especially in developing nations.

In the recent recession, many companies slashed jobs, some by more than 20 percent. When a corporation slashes their workforce by more than 20 percent, this is called extreme downsizing. But companies that have made these deep job cuts may suffer in the longer term.

So we've heard about a lot of the positives about what a World Cup can bring a country, but is it really all gravy for South Africa?