Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: economics – Page 127

A digital court for a digital age

The digital court could open up commercial opportunities to those who cannot access traditional legal services. Image CC-0.

In a move to save time, money and effort, economics researchers utilized existing blockchain methodologies to create what they call a digital court. This would provide enforcement of contracts wherever a traditional legal court would currently settle disputes. Examples of areas which could make use of this would be auctions, business contracts and sales. As it is based on existing technology, it could be implemented right now.

Blockchain technology has great potential to impact many areas of life, commerce in particular. Put simply it is a way to ensure that information can be recorded in such a way that it cannot be manipulated afterwards. Blockchain is what is known as a distributed ledger, that is, there is no central authority, it is peer-to-peer, and its most famous application at this time is the online currency bitcoin. However, people find other uses for it.

Gold may soon soar to a record $2,000 says analyst: we ‘borrowed from the future, and there is not enough economy to pay it down’

The precious metal has been torn between its potential as a haven investment and a mad scramble to sell the tangible asset in a bid for cash to cover losses in the stock market.

“The Covid-19 outbreak has had a major impact on the gold market, bringing massive price swings as investors react to new developments related to the pandemic,” says Steven Dunn, head of exchange-traded funds at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

“Because of Covid-19, refiners were knocked offline…and the ability to move gold became a challenge as normal means of transport became almost impossible,” he says.

There’s A Crisis That Is Quietly Creating New Economic Superpowers…

As China begins to reopen its factories and return back to work, what they are returning to will not be the same…

Despite China being the worlds economic darling for the last 40 years, the balance of the worlds economic power has begun to shift to some places that you might not expect.

In fact, we are already starting to see some signs of other nations around the world, rising up in order to take away some of China’s manufacturing prowess away from them.

And who knows, we might be witnessing the creation of the next generation of economic superpowers, right infront of our very eyes.

But the reason that this is happening is a little complex. it started a few decades ago in 1970’s China when the country began shifting its economic policy away from communism, and more towards capitalism.

They soon began building specific economic zones where massive ports and factories could be built that would maximize productivity and efficiency. And once these economic zones were opened up to foreign trade and investment, China’s economy began exploding.

Continue reading “There’s A Crisis That Is Quietly Creating New Economic Superpowers…” | >

Venture Capitalist Stuns CNBC

Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya stunned CNBC anchor Scott Wapner and generated widespread applause on social media by declaring in a television interview Thursday that the U.S. government should let hedge funds and billionaire CEOs “get wiped out” by the coronavirus-induced economic collapse and instead focus its attention on rescuing Main Street.

When Wapner, seemingly incredulous at what he was hearing, asked Palihapitiya why he would support the collapse of large companies, the Social Capital CEO said “this is a lie that’s been purported by Wall Street.”

“When a company fails, it does not fire their employees, it goes through a packaged bankruptcy,” said Palihapitiya. “If anything what happens is the people who have the pensions inside the companies, the employees of these companies, end up owning more of the company. The people that get wiped out are the speculators that own the unsecured tranches of debt or the folks that own the equity. And by the way, those are the rules of the game. That’s right. These are the people that purport to be the most sophisticated investors in the world. They deserve to get wiped out.”

Japan budgets $2.2 billion for its manufacturing firms to Leave China

As part of its economic stimulus package, Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion to help its manufacturers shift production out of China. The Japanese government’s panel on future investment had last month discussed the need for manufacturing of high-added value products to be shifted back to Japan, and for production of other goods to be diversified across Southeast Asia.

Germany Touts Green Stimulus in Post Covid-19 Policy Push

👏Europe’s largest economy is looking to make its post-virus recovery compatible with its ambition of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

The EU has similarly pledged to make its stimulus plan aligned with its climate commitments.

Germany’s green energy shift may get a financial shot in the arm when the impact of the coronavirus ebbs, according to a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet.

When the virus’ acute phase is over, the government plans a stimulus package that advances the nation technologically and helps the economy’s move toward climate neutrality, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe. Such a package “makes sense,” said the Social Democrat without adding details.

The Kitui County Textile Center (KICOTEC), a Kenyan based industry producing masks to help curb COVD-19 receives international media recognition from the Washington Post Newspaper

The Kenyan factory has achieved a great milestone through its ability to make 30,000 surgical masks daily which is a major turnaround from its initial garment making business. I am glad in the stimulus package money will be given to small business to make things needed to fight coronavirus instead of sourcing them outside. The economic investment will help the economy just as Clinton invested in small businesses.

Japan to Fund Firms to Shift Production Out of China

Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners.

The extra budget, compiled to try to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic, includes 220 billion yen ($2 billion) for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, according to details of the plan posted online.

Detecting real biological viruses with a smartphone

Most of us are similar with ‘viruses’ and malware relating to our computers or smartphones, but Yoshihiro Minagawa, a researcher from the University of Tokyo has taken it on literally – he has invented a portable, low-cost, battery-powered device that pairs with a smartphone, which was tested with viruses but could also detect other biological markers. His initial findings, together with other teammates were published recently in the journal, Lab on a Chip.

The current leading method to assess the presence of viruses and other biological markers of disease is effective but large and expensive. It is prohibitively difficult for use in many situations, especially due to certain economic and geographic factors. Although highly accurate at counting viruses, these tools are just too cumbersome for many situations, especially when rapid diagnosis is required.

“I wanted to produce a useful tool for inaccessible or less-affluent communities that can help in the fight against diseases such as influenza,” said Minagawa. “Diagnosis is a critical factor of disease prevention. Our device paves the way for better access to essential diagnostic tools.”