Finance

Warfare has existed throughout human history, but it hasn’t always involved swords and spears. If humans are doomed to fight each other, is economic warfare more “humane” to solve disagreements than military confrontations? Possibly, but both lines of offense can have devastating consequences for victims and should be carefully monitored.

While access to COVID-19 vaccines is well established in many developed countries, the situation is starkly different in the developing world, where vaccination rates are much lower. When a virus is a global concern, a coordinated global vaccine effort seems to many to be the only solution to ensure equitable and effective distribution.

In June, the US annual inflation rate surged to 5.4 percent, a pace not seen since right before last decade’s financial crisis. As the country shakes off its pandemic doldrums, demand is eclipsing supply. Whether this is a short- or long-term phenomenon is open to debate, but the Fed will likely keep its rate in check for the time being.

The upheaval spawned by COVID-19 has forced governments’ hands to wield counter-offensive measures, and one popular weapon has been fiscal stimulus. Although not everyone supports massive government spending as a tool for protecting and reviving economies hard hit by crisis, history confirms its successes and provides hope for recovery.

Approaches to HR planning has changed significantly, and they will continue to do so. Amongst the many impacts Covid-19 has had, it’s proved that remote working is not only possible for the banking sector, but that in the right circumstances it can be more productive than traditional working models.

The GDP, the aggregate value of the goods and services produced, has been the go-to statistic for comparing nations’ economic prosperity. But is it the best measure? Increasingly, its value as a comprehensive gauge is being questioned, and the hunt is on for more holistic metrics that better account for such issues as standard of living.

Valuable works of art have traditionally brought high prices, but the world of NFTs is giving this market a whole new avenue for jaw-dropping sales of assets that can be stored digitally. There are many advantages to buying NFTs and also some potential pitfalls. Investors should be wary but not overlook this developing profit opportunity.

Emerging markets appeal to investors because of their unrealized potential. As a group, they have performed well, even during crises. The pandemic has influenced this investment opportunity by rendering some EM countries more promising than others. Careful examination and cautious selection of the likely best performers are recommended.

In the latest edition of its semiannual report on Latin America and the Caribbean, “Renewing with Growth”, The World Bank investigates whether technological disruption could boost productivity. The report examines two disruptions: the pandemic-induced escalation of digitization and potential for more competition in the electricity sector.

Monopolies pose dangers, and the one held by the world’s three top credit-rating agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch) is no exception. These heavyweights are influential enough to cause financial crises—and may have in the past, due to problems such as conflicts of interest. The only solution is a radical reform of this oligopoly.