Gavin D. J. Harper, University of Birmingham
From August, China is to restrict exports of gallium and germanium, two critical elements for making semiconductor chips. With China dominating the supply of both elements, exporters will now need special licences to get them out of the country. The move has the potential to harm a range of western tech manufacturers that use these elements to make their products.
Piers Forster, University of Leeds
The UK’s Climate Change Committee – the official independent advisory body of which I am interim chair – has spent the past three months poring over thousands of pages of government strategy documents to inform its latest annual progress report to parliament. And our confidence in the UK meeting its climate goals is now markedly less than it was in our previous assessment a year ago. Key opportunities have been missed.
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Tetyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy
Blink and you could have missed it. Within 36 hours, the challenge mounted against the Kremlin by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary private military company the Wagner Group, was over. On Friday June 23 2023, Prigozhin ordered 25,000 of his troops on to a “march for justice”, which duly set out to confront the Russian president in Moscow. The following afternoon he called it off.
23 June 2023 /Economy/– Zambia’s recent debt restructuring deal with its creditors is a major step forward for the country’s economy. The deal will allow Zambia to access much-needed financial resources to help it recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulate economic growth.
In the short term, the deal will likely lead to a decrease in Zambia’s debt servicing costs, which will free up funds that can be used for other purposes, such as infrastructure development and social programs. This will help to boost economic growth and improve living standards for Zambians. Continue reading
May 14, 2023 /Lifestyle/ — The phrase “If you have seen the Grand Canyon, you wouldn’t be an Atheist” is often attributed to American author and humorist Mark Twain. However, there is no evidence that he ever said it. The earliest known occurrence of the phrase is in a 1935 article in the Christian Science Monitor. Continue reading
Sean Dodson, Leeds Beckett University
Buzzfeed News, once a shining star of digital journalism, has announced it will shut its award-winning news division for good, laying off about 60 journalists in a move its founding editor, Ben Smith, described as “the end of the marriage between social media and news”.
New York, May 1, 2023 – The U.S. banking crisis that began in March 2023 was the result of a number of factors, including:
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank: Silicon Valley Bank was a large regional bank that specialized in lending to technology companies. The bank’s collapse in March 2023 was a major blow to the banking industry and shook confidence in the financial system.
27 April 2023 /Economy/ — The book “China in Africa, the Zambia Story” by Ambassador Anthony Mukwita tells the story of the relationship between China and Zambia. The book begins with a brief history of Zambia, followed by a discussion of China’s economic and political interests in Africa. Mukwita then goes on to describe the various ways in which China has interacted with Zambia, including through trade, investment, and aid. He also discusses the impact of China’s presence in Zambia on the country’s economy, politics, and society.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the book: Continue reading
April 17, 2023 /Economy/ — Purchasing-power parity (PPP) is a measure of the value of different currencies, taking into account the cost of living in different countries. It is often used to compare the standard of living in different countries.
Exchange rates, on the other hand, are the prices of one currency in terms of another. They are determined by supply and demand in the foreign exchange market.
There are a few reasons why PPP is a better metric for comparing people’s well-being than exchange rates. Continue reading
April 17, 2023 /Economy/ — The future of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency is uncertain. The dollar has been the world’s reserve currency for over 70 years, but there is a growing trend of countries using other currencies for oil deals. This trend is being driven by a number of factors, including the rise of China and other emerging economies, the increasing volatility of the dollar, and the desire of some countries to reduce their reliance on the United States.
Continue reading