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,…
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…
Highlights of the Week (20/01/2020)
Our editors give us the breakdown of this week’s biggest news stories
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…
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…
Highlights of the Week (13/01/2020)
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…
Highlights of the Week (06/01/2020)
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…
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…
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…
The Hawala System and Sharia Banking
How Terror Abuses Financial Institutions Hawala, حوالة, in Arabic translates as transfer in English and trust in Hindi. The Hawala System is an Informal Value Transfer System (IVTS) which is essentially a system whereby money or value in the form of commodities, is transferred nationally or internationally by an organisation that does not offer financial services as…
The Chrysanthemum and the Pork: The US and Japan Strike a Controversial Deal on Trade
The US-Japan agreement will likely be closely scrutinized in the coming months, hopefully providing clues into the economic and political precedent it may create.
Spilling the Beans on Fairtrade Coffee
Fairtrade’s long-term value to both consumers and producers is more likely in the information it conveys about method of production, not in the extra premium it ostensibly conveys to producers.
