Month: October 2021

By: Neelesh Raj During an online conference hosted by the South African Reserve Bank, FederalReserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that supply-chain issues would eventually be resolved.He also claimed that the current stagflation caused by the supply chain bottleneck would bescaled back, bringing inflation back to the Fed's current goal of two percent per year. The impactof his statement can be seen on the securities market, causing the price of gold to drop bynearly $30 per ounce, bringing the gold price below $1800 once again. Historically speaking, investors usually would invest in government bonds and bullion(such as gold) when they believe in economic instability within the equities market. This woulddecrease the money invested into equities, leading to a form of stagflatio...

By: Marvi Ali During the onset of the pandemic, employers were furloughing and firing workers rapidly, in an effort to downsize. Unemployment peaked in April 2019 at 14.8%. There was great uncertainty as to whether workers would find any jobs, let alone better jobs. However, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that, in August, 4.3 million Americans had quit their jobs, setting a new record but following the trend of rising quit rates from previous months. Economists have increasingly begun to recognize this new phenomenon as “The Great Resignation,” which is a term coined by Anthony Klotz, an organizational psychologist at Texas A&M University, in 2019. He predicted a mass, voluntary exodus from the workforce, and this is exactly what is happening. We are witnessi...

By: Iris An 2021 was supposed to be the year the U.K. breaks free from the European Union and forges ahead as a free trader, delivering the benefits of a new, confident “Global Britain” to workers and companies at home. Nevertheless, as the first winter after Brexit draws near, the country is in a precarious position, facing an onslaught of new economic crises with soaring gas prices, supply shortages, and a shortage of overseas workers such as HGV drivers.  Although the pros and cons of Brexit have been discussed for a long time, the crisis as the winter approaches has made it necessary to review the potential outcomes. Is this shortage merely a temporary transition period, as the UK turns from a EU country to a more global trader? To what extent should we blame the covid— ine...

By: Anton Kozyrev Zimbabwe has had a long road to its present-day state -- including from an economic standpoint. While the economic activity and history of the area dates back 100,000 years, including the emergence of kingdoms such as the Rozvi and Mthwakazi, the land that is today the Republic of Zimbabwe was integrated into the present-day economic system in the 1880s. This was, of course, when the area was colonized by European powers. After the Portuguese had tried unsuccessfully to invade, it was British mining magnate Cecil Rhodes who proved instrumental in enabling the British Empire to colonize the land. This marked the beginning of company rule in the state that would be called Rhodesia in his honor. This state would continue to exist in a variety of administrative forms, ...

By: Gianna Minasian On Thursday October 21st, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC), in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),had approved booster shots for people over 18 years old for both the Moderna and the Johnson &Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. Pfizer’s booster shot had already been approved weeks before. This approval came in the wake of President Joe Biden’s September directive that alllarge companies must require their employees either to be fully vaccinated or comply withweekly COVID testing. In the aftermath of Biden’s directive, companies are scrambling to create policies thatcomply with federal COVID policy. While, last month, only about 15% of companies hadvaccine mandates, an October report by Fo...