The Economics of Space Exploration In the several records throughout human history, hardly any endeavours have captured the imagination quite like the exploration of space. From Armstrong’s first tentative steps on the moon to the voyages of rovers on the remote landscapes; humanity’s fascination with the cosmos has been relentless. Beyond its scientific appeal and thrill of discovery, space exploration does carry intense economic implications. … Continue reading Spacenomics
“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”. Those were the words of John F Kennedy in 1962 at the dawn of the Space Race. In the previous year, the USSR had shocked the world by sending the first man into space. Uncle Sam was worried that his dominance was being … Continue reading The Second Space Race
Over the past few years, Large Language Models (LLMs) and other generative AI technology have become increasingly prevalent in business and enterprise. A LLM is a form of of artificial intelligence that uses deep learning algorithms to process, understand and generate natural language. They make up a part of generative AI, which refers to AI capable of generating content such as text, images, and other … Continue reading What Effect will LLMs and Generative AI have on entrepreneurship?
August’s Chart of the Month shows the number of Santander cycles hired from 2015, when Santander began sponsoring the scheme in London, to 2023. It shows long term growth, culminating in 2022’s record-breaking year of 11,506,889 hires. However, more recently, usage has been low and recovery has been slow. The Santander Cycle hire scheme is owned by the Transport For London (TFL), a government body … Continue reading Chart of the Month – August 2023
June’s Chart of the Month highlights the stagnation in China’s manufacturing output after the pandemic. When China unexpectedly reopened at the beginning of 2023, many analysts expected an immense recovery. However, their forecasts have been disproven, particularly regarding China’s manufacturing activity, which has fallen after a slight increase (an index score below 50 indicates a contraction). This is not because of a stunted reopening, but a … Continue reading Chart of the Month – June 2023
On the 8th of January 1982, the telecommunications company AT&T was finally mandated to split into 7 independent companies. At that time, it was the only provider of telephone service throughout almost all of the United States. Moreover, most telephone equipment was provided by Western Electric, its subsidiary, which resulted in a vertical integration system, where a company owns its supply chain. Unsurprisingly, the United … Continue reading Monopolies
Tencent is not only the world’s largest game company; it also controls large shares of important markets in China such as music, social media, and films. Since April 2021, Tencent’s stock has seen a slow downward trend, falling from its highest closing price of HKD 757.00 on 14/2/2021 to HKD 266.40 as of 9/30/2022. This has been driven by anti-monopoly laws recently published by China, … Continue reading Tencent: The King of Video Games
In recent times, Artificial Intelligence has become more prominent in our everyday lives. With the emergence of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, which are able to answer questions and assist with tasks such as writing essays, our everyday lives have become much easier and more efficient. While AI has the potential to bring about numerous positive changes in society, it can also bring about risks … Continue reading The Impact of AI in Our Society
This Chart of the Month revisits the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). An explanation as to how it works can be found in the July 2021 Chart. In that article, we asked whether the EU ETS could hold its value, and whether the increase in costs of pollution would prove too great a burden for firms and the poorest households. Now, we can try to answer … Continue reading Chart of the Month – May 2023
A cryptocurrency is a digital currency secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology and they are generally not issued by a central authority. Any investor can purchase cryptocurrency through an exchange. These range from popular options likes Coinbase, apps such as Cash App, or through brokers, as well as through financial derivatives … Continue reading Crypto-currency and the Pinocchio Condition
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