Sector Archives - Page 23 of 68

Oil Exacerbates Sub-Saharan Africa’s Currency Woes

Since lower oil prices typically result in depreciation of the oil exporters’ currencies, the dramatic plunge of oil prices has severe implications for sub-Saharan Africa.

After the global financial crisis, many emerging economies have coped with diminished global growth prospects by deploying direct government intervention and capital controls for competitive devaluation. In turn, advanced economies have achieved the same indirectly through low policy rates and quantitative easing (QE).

Are U.S. Cybercrime Tactics Missing the Real Issues?

In late September 2015, the Presidents of China and the United States reached a number of agreements on cyber security, cyber espionage, and cybercrime. They provide for a new high-level contact group as well as assurances to investigate and resolve complaints from each other. The agreements are important diplomatic breakthroughs, but they are relatively piecemeal when seen against the bigger picture. They may ultimately prove to be destructive if not followed up quickly by a more comprehensive agreement.

Australian Government Support of Innovation Needs a Broader View

The emphasis the Turnbull government is placing on innovation is very welcome. It is innovation, the successful application of new ideas, which will underpin our future competitiveness and productivity. However, in recasting the narrative of his “21st Century government” Turnbull must ensure the innovation focus is not too narrow.

Corporations as Agents for Positive Change

The shift in the perceived role of corporations as solely profit generators to agents for positive change has become clearer than ever before with the new UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs focus on the greatest challenges faced by humanity with the aim of ending poverty and hunger, misery and war, unfairness and inequality. Clearly, governments alone cannot achieve this big agenda, nor should they. Businesses have enormous power, resources, and knowledge to assist. Corporate responsibility is no longer about doing less harm, or giving money to charity.

Not Everyone is Bailing on the Arctic

After billions of dollars invested over several years, Royal Dutch Shell said September 28 it would end oil exploration offshore Alaska after “disappointing” results.

However, industry efforts to drill for oil and natural gas in the Arctic are unlikely to end with Shell’s decision to abandon the Chukchi Sea.

Everything’s a Pound!

Budget shops are big business. The recently approved £55m merger of low cost retailers Poundland and 99p Stores is just the latest manoeuvre in their battle to conquer our high streets.

The rise and rise of the pound store certainly is an emotive topic – just look at the BBC’s two series of Pound Shop Wars a fly-on-the-wall documentary that charts the competition between rival chains. While some shoppers flock to them, wallets and purses at the ready, others claim they suck the life out of our town centres.

VW Practices Global Brand Destruction

Volkswagen has set aside €6.5 billion to cover the costs of the growing scandal over cheating on emissions tests in the US. Putting a number on the cost further down line will be far harder, however, as it is a crisis which calls into question the ethical credentials of the company and the industry, as well as posing tough questions about the regulators and authorities who were duped.

The Economics, and Risks, of Transnational Marriages

Reports of abuse suffered by Southeast Asian wives of men in East Asian countries regularly capture media attention.

OPEC Eyes $80 Oil as Economic Headwinds Rise

Oil may rise to $80 a barrel if the global energy cartel has anything to say about it.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, announced that it would target $80 a barrel for oil, a price point nearly double current WTI futures. Oil has continued its downward slide in 2015, after a brief recovery earlier in the year, with prices briefly falling below $40 before recovering.

Oil Price Volatility as the New Normal?

On September 10 the EIA reported a production decline in the Lower 48—essentially shale production—of 208,000 BOPD. That is a staggeringly enormous number, approximately 10 percent of the estimated global over-supply. Additionally, it was a week-over-week number, which makes it all the more impressive. Yet it received little attention through the week. Rather, Goldman Sachs was grabbing all the headlines with its $20 call on oil.