The Godfather is regarded as the greatest film of all time, or at least it is according to a 2014 list by the Hollywood Reporter, but could a film like that be made today and be as successful as it was in 1972? In their heyday prior to the turn of the century, independent films such as The Godfather, Pulp Fiction and The Blair Witch … Continue reading The Future of the Film Industry
War and violence. Topics that, until the pandemic, we seemed to have been hearing more and more about day by day. The Syrian Civil War drags on, the insane barbarity of ISIS continues, and the Israelis and Palestinians continue to slug it out. It seems that we’re living in an ever more vicious world. However, this is a distorted reality: the truth is that we … Continue reading Why we’re Living in the Golden Age of Peace
What are they? Collateralized debt obligations (CDO), initially created by the Drexel Burnham Lambert bank, are instruments which are formed by pooling together cash-generating assets such as mortgages, loans and other forms of debt. They are made up of various ‘tranches’ based on their respective level of credit risk. Supposedly, one diversifies their risk when buying a CDO as they have portions of high, medium … Continue reading CDOs: The genius idea that destroyed the World Economy
The COVID-19 outbreak is having a severe impact on the global economy. China had its slowest year of economic growth last year off the back of the trade war with the United States. The timing of the virus could not have been worse, slowing China’s economy even further with their quarterly growth rate dropping to negative 6.8% from 6% in the previous quarter, seeing the … Continue reading The Impact of COVID-19
Never before in human history have there been as many people alive as there are right now. The human population had been gradually increasing for the last couple of millennia, until there was an explosion in growth in the 19th century due to rapid medical and economic progress, brought about by the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. As a result, the number of people has skyrocketed … Continue reading Overpopulation: Should we be worried?
A demographic dividend refers to the positive impact anticipated for an economy’s productivity and growth due to the age structure of its population. A younger population is useful for the growth of economies as a larger working force population can translate to increased output as well as decreased dependency from senior citizens per worker. The age demographic influences consumption trends, productivity patterns, natural increases in … Continue reading When a Demographic Dividend Becomes a Demographic Nightmare
As COVID-19 continues to spread, governments face a critical decision: whether to prioritise the economy or the lives of the people. In attempting to address this question, four frameworks are essential: the utilitarian, scarcity-based, duty-based and Rawlsian approach. The principle that, as Thomas Jefferson puts it, “the care of human life and happiness is the first and only object of good government” will be adopted … Continue reading Is maintaining the economy a fair trade for lives?
Millions unemployed. The world in shock. Governments panicking. Both the financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic left the globe reeling. Yet governments responded with their own bailout packages, their own furlough schemes and their own targeted welfare programs. It’s quite interesting how differently the public has reacted to these plans and in turn, how effective they were to actually solve both the short and long-term … Continue reading Financial responses to Covid-19 and the 2008 financial crisis
Today it takes only 40 hours to circumnavigate the world by plane, 40 days by boat and 346 days by foot. This is an era of unparalleled human movement and interaction. People, products and capital travel the world with unprecedented quantity and speed, as do countless disease-causing microorganisms. However, this connectivity paradoxically can help to prevent and control the severity and emergence of such diseases. … Continue reading The Impact of Globalisation on Pandemics
Ever since the dawn of mankind, pandemics have been a threat to our survival. From the Justinian Plague to the Polio epidemic, one only has to look back through history to see examples of devastating diseases ravaging populations. Now, in the 21st century we face another pandemic: Covid-19 has killed thousands and disrupted the lives of billions more, and there is extreme uncertainty about the … Continue reading Can Past Pandemics Predict the Future?
