The Future Made in China?
In the past forty years China has experienced extraordinary growth driven by an abundant supply of labour, exports and low wages. Will the authoritarian state will become the prevailing power in the years to come? I have decided to exclude issues caused by Covid-19 and instead focus on the underlying factors. Since China began to modernise its economy in 1978, it has experienced an average … Continue reading The Future Made in China?
Why Estonia might be the most well prepared country for the coronavirus
In 2018, Forbes named Estonia as one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Their e-government provides 99% of state services online. As Richard Davies says in his book Extreme Economies, “the only official things you cannot do online in Estonia are marry, divorce and buy a house.”1 Estonians vote online, see their GPs online and 95% of the population pays taxes online. … Continue reading Why Estonia might be the most well prepared country for the coronavirus
The Impact of Globalisation on Pandemics
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
3D-printed Food
On the 1st April 2016, the Guardian newspaper published an April Fool’s article describing the Foodini – “the first 3D-food printer to print all types of real, fresh, nutritious foods”. Many people smirked actually tempted to buy. But it wasn’t a joke. 3D food printing is no sci-fi experiment or Wallace & Gromit invention. Today 3D food printers actually exist and are coming to your … Continue reading 3D-printed Food
Can Past Pandemics Predict the Future?
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?
Lessons from the crash and today’s trends in Western monetary policy
The coronavirus pandemic, and the ensuing economic crisis, has provoked unprecedented responses from policy makers, no more so than from central banks. The Federal Reserve’s major actions include purchasing up to $750 billion of investment-grade corporate debt and lowering its discount window rate to 1.5% – lower than it ever was in the GFC. This makes the Fed’s additional pledge to buy $700 billion in … Continue reading Lessons from the crash and today’s trends in Western monetary policy
Carehomes: The timebomb the government won’t diffuse
As a barometer of society’s civilisation, the UK’s care home sector is important. However, employing more people than the NHS, it is economically and politically important too. Clear and visible demographic change is set to dramatically accentuate the pressures on the sector, and the political choices we are forced to make as a result will define our society. So, what will the boomer generation do? … Continue reading Carehomes: The timebomb the government won’t diffuse
Coronavirus: The iceberg that could sink the cruise industry
In today’s economic climate, where most of the world is stuck at home and groups larger than a small family are banned, it would seem logical that the first industries to struggle would be ones based on travel and/or large gatherings of people. So, cruise liners, being the perfect blend of the two with an average of 3,000 guests per ship, look like they may … Continue reading Coronavirus: The iceberg that could sink the cruise industry
Has Covid-19 let the MMT genie out of the bottle?
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning”. These famous words delivered by Winston Churchill after the defeat of the Germans at Alamein in 1942, marked a turning point in WWII. Such words would be apt today in the “world war” against COVID-19. The first phase of the shock is … Continue reading Has Covid-19 let the MMT genie out of the bottle?
Modern Monetary Theory Revisited
Has the coronavirus proven the existence of the magic money tree? Theresa May, in response to an NHS nurse who hadn’t received a pay rise in eight years, asserted that “there isn’t a magic money tree” during a 2017 election special of Question Time; on the 20th of March 2020, Rishi Sunak introduced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme that is estimated to cost around £78bn, … Continue reading Modern Monetary Theory Revisited
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