Market Spice: Week of 23 March

The outbreak of COVID-19 left few parts of the global economy untouched, with national governments struggling to coordinate swift responses. A multi-trillion dollar stimulus package in the United States, and further measures from governments around the world, spurred equities over the week, leading to record gains.

Market Spice: The Disease and the Cure

Market Spice: Week of 16 March 2020  Governments moved globally to combat the spread of the coronavirus, and to mitigate the effects of these measures on their economies. Uncertainty about the duration of the outbreak, and the policies halting social and economic activity used to combat it, produced a painful week for markets. Goldman Sachs…

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Market Spice: A Supply Chain is as Strong as its Weakest Link

By Delany Higgins  Market Spice: Week of March 2nd, 2020  The spread of COVID-19 caused further volatility in markets this week, with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warning that the outbreak could halve global economic growth for the year.  The OECD cut their global forecast to as low as 1.5%, from 2.9% prior…

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Market Spice: Week of February 24th, 2020

Global markets suffered dramatically over the course of the week as traders assessed the potential damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. On Thursday, a spokesperson from the International Monetary Fund warned that it was likely to downgrade its forecasts from global growth.

The How-to Guide on Eliminating Education Disparity in the UK

By Jurin Katayama Income inequality is the biggest challenge that the UK’s education sector faces today. From law, politics, medicine and journalism, 39% of the top positions in these fields are dominated by the 7% of the total British population that has been lucky enough to afford and receive private education. Upper-class parents are more…

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Market Spice: Week of February 17th

Market Spice: Week of February 17th, 2020  By Delany Higgins Asia  Chinese Communist Party leaders focused on business disruptions, noting that priority would be given to businesses with a high degree of integration into international supply chains. CCP officials spoke optimistically about the resumption of business in major export areas such as Guangdong and Jiangsu. …

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How to Strangle a Student Town’s Economy—The St Andrews Housing Market

By Ryan Morrice There are few institutions better for a small town’s economy than a centuries-old world-renowned university. Businesses can expand over time, but they can also go bust. People can migrate to a town, boosting demand for local goods and services, but they can also leave, causing a slow irreversible decline. A university, on…

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Market Spice: Week of February 10th

Week of February 10th, 2020  Delany Higgins Asia  In China, the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite Indexes rose moderately, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed slightly down.  Due to new measurement techniques, China announced over 14,800 additional cases of COVID-19, though the rate of spread appeared to be decreasing.  China-U.S. relations faltered again after last week’s…

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Valentine’s Day Special: Evaluating the Global Chocolate Shortage

By Jurin Katayama ‘Twas the day of Valentines, when all through St Andrews Chocolates were given, to show that they were true. Articles were flooded in all social media accounts, With click-bait titles blaring “Chocolate shortage!” to get the view counts. The culture of buying chocolates to illustrate love on an annual basis has caused…

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Coronavirus’s Most Critical Patient

The brunt of the reaction has focused on the epicentre of the outbreak: the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province, though it has also extended to other areas in mainland China. If similar measures to those taken in Hubei were taken in Hong Kong, however, it could quickly spell a death-sentence for the pro-democracy movement.

Market Spice: This Week’s Roundup

On Monday, following the Lunar New Year holiday, the People’s Bank of China announced their plans to inject the equivalent of $21.7 in liquidity into the economy, as well as other measures amounting to $57 billion.

Market Spice: Global Markets Catch Coronavirus

Week of January 27th, 2020 Delany Higgins Asia  The impacts of coronavirus, declared a global health emergency on Thursday by the WHO, have spread far beyond China. Roughly 10,000 cases were reported before the end of the week.  Hong Kong stocks sank, but with the emergence of some positive economic data, including on Chinese manufacturing,…

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Investing in a Sustainable Society

By Hugh Gammon First created by the UK to fund a rehabilitation program for convicts in 2010, Social Impact Bonds (SIB) provide a meeting place for charity and capital, promising a return on investment from funding social initiatives and charitable efforts. The concept is now gaining increasing traction and publicity in the financial sphere as…

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Market Spice: This Week’s Roundup

Week of January 20th, 2020 Delany Higgins Asia  The coronavirus outbreak caused the most substantial single-day decline in Chinese stocks in the past eight months, with the Shanghai Composite Index losing 3.8% over the course of the week.  Japanese stocks fell, though the yen strengthened somewhat. Japanese exports have been falling, and it is unclear…

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Lebanon: A New Hope or Renewed Despair?

Recent protests across Lebanon, sparked in October by a proposed ‘Whatsapp Tax’, have spiralled into a much broader movement calling for a political and economic overhaul to the country, having lost no momentum with the resignation of former PM Saad al-Hariri and the appointment of Hezbollah-backed, Hassan Diab. The new President has thus far failed…

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The World This Week

Our editors give us the breakdown of this week’s biggest news stories Scotland: Ryan Morrice The UK government formally rejected a request for a second Scottish independence referendum by the Scottish government. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote that “another independence referendum would continue the political stagnation that Scotland has seen for the last decade”. First…

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The World This Week

Image Source: Chris Toward/christoward10 Our editors give us the breakdown of this week’s biggest news stories Economics: Lucy Wright Train passengers may be able to capitalise on cheaper rail fares as “split tickets” – a practice previously carried out by only a select group of consumers – becomes mainstream. Instead of buying one ticket, say…

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Highlights of the Week (30/12/2019)

Image Source: Chris Toward/@christoward10 Our editors give us the breakdown of this week’s biggest news stories Scotland: Ryan Morrice Rail fares in Scotland increased by 2.4% on average on the 2nd of January. Meanwhile Abellio ScotRail has reported losses of £10 million over a 15 month period. This comes after news that they will be…

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The Mesut Ozil Controversy: How Arsenal’s Response Explains Politics in Modern Sports

By Charlie Whiteley China’s strict censorship policy has again challenged the values of a major global brand. Arsenal Football Club player Mesut Ozil recently spoke out against the Chinese treatment of Uighur Muslims on Twitter, landing both Ozil and Arsenal in serious trouble with the Chinese government. China’s response has been characteristically swift and efficient, with Arsenal…

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