Amid sharply rising global energy and food prices, inflation has threatened to spiral out of control worldwide, and this is prompting concerted action from major central banks. With inflation hitting multi-decade highs in most economies, central banks are responding by hiking...
In a survey conducted in November 2020, McKinsey & Co. found that roughly 80% of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) viewed their economy as “somewhat to extremely weak”. While the sentiment varied across national economies, SMEs in Italy and Spain were the...
AAs the World Economic Forum reports, oil prices jumped above $110 per barrel in the weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Likewise, natural gas prices more than tripled between mid-February and early March in reaction to the conflict, signaling how the war is affecting...
There are strong arguments that uncertainty has been the defining economic feature of the past three years. From the US-China trade war to COVID-19 and the supply chain crisis of 2021, markets have been constantly up or down with remarkably few (and generally short) periods of...
For companies still reeling from pandemic tailwinds and last year’s supply chain shocks, the Russia-Ukraine conflict couldn’t have come at a worse time. While most organizations were focused on consolidating growth gained within the past year, new concerns...
Although Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) emerged before the pandemic, the attractive e-commerce payment option is soaring on post-COVID adoption. BNPL provides short-term financing to online shoppers, allowing them to split the cost of purchases into affordable...
In the past two decades, national banks pumped trillions into their economies to grapple with recession and stimulate economic growth in a process called Quantitative Easing (QE). However, with inflation at a 40-year high, the Federal Reserve, alongside other central banks, is...
The World Bank has warned in a recent report that, due to headwinds such as inflation and vaccine inequality, the world faces a two-speed recovery that could damage prior strides in global economic development. Although there’s likely to be a general...
I have closely followed the recent upsurge in energy costs that characterized the end of 2021. According to global reports, coal, gas, and electricity prices rose to decade-high levels in the final months of the year, and projections were that the energy shortfall would...
As the world looks to bounce back from the 2020 COVID-induced slump, inflation is playing a larger role than anticipated in global economies. A slower than expected economic recovery, a flagging labor market, and supply chain disruptions have created concerning inflationary...
The electric revolution in European skies could take just a few years. Judging by the speed at which things are moving, particularly in Scandinavia, the first to see the dawn of zero-emission aircraft will be passengers in the far north, where a number of experimental...
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that “these extraordinary times and circumstances call for extraordinary measures. The US supports the waiver of IP (intellectual property) protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help end the pandemic and we will actively...
By far not all the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis have been learned. And those that have been learned have not necessarily been applied. Nevertheless, one of them – drawn and applied – will certainly have been of great help in the current crisis. At...
FINMA independent supervisor of the Swiss financial market, has published its annual Risk Monitor. This report specifies the most important risks that supervised institutions are currently encountering and portrays the focus of FINMA’s supervisory activity. After...