The new Israel government's Defense Minister Benny Gantz, met with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas today, marking the first high level meet between the two governments in seven years. This meeting shines a new light on the relations between the two governments and may point towards peace, though both do not aim to come to peace just yet.
Both sides are getting backlash from respective critics. Islamists oppose Mr. Abbas while the diverse coalition opposes Mr. Gantz. The Palestinian side fears whether statehood can be achieved or not. The Israeli side fears whether there'd be another rebellion. It is to be seen whether further meetings would be held, and what actions would be taken by the parties.
The Israeli government has already promised reparations and approvals to many Palestinians' demands and projects, which the other political parties of Israel do not fully support. It is yet to be seen what Palestine's actions would be, but their current position is to cease all violent activities against Israeli personnel.
The situation between the two parties remains tense and it would not be surprising if another war started, but these meetings are a step in the right direction, a direction towards peace.
Article Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/25/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-abbas-bennett.html
Saturday, September 25, 2021
German elections: Businesses face future without Merkel
German elections: Businesses face future without Merkel
In Germany, Angela Merkel has been the chancellor for the past 15 years. However, with the new elections coming up Merkel is stepping down and will not be eligible to become chancellor again. This change in leadership leaves many people, and business, wondering what life will be like next. The coronavirus caused many businesses, especially those in entertainment, to suffer. While other businesses are able to start getting back on their feet, many entertainment businesses are struggling to comply with Covid regulations. Who ever takes over Merkel's leadership will have to figure out a way to help the businesses that are still struggling in a coronavirus world.
Like many other places, Germany is facing a worker shortage. With limits on travel and migration, businesses that relied on immigrant workers are finding it hard to staff their workplaces. Again, businesses are looking forward to a new chancellor to come up with new solutions to this problem. Another thing Germans are looking forward to with a new chancellor is the update of German technology. Europe is currently not a tech powerhouse compared to the United States and China, and Germans would like to see Germany leading the tech movement.
It will be interesting to see who the German people elect, and how their policy will differ from Merkel's. I hope that rise of the right does not continue with the German people as it has in other European countries.
https://www.bbc.com/news/58632324
U.S. to donate millions more Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses to poorer nations
The article focuses on how approximately 500 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine will be donated to primarily lower-income countries by the U.S. government. The article states how this represents an expansion of the companies' agreement with the government to provide these doses of vaccine for the price for a not-for-profit. This donation will bring the total number of doses to be supplied to these countries to 1 billion. In the agreement it says that 92 low and lower-middle-income countries and 55 member states of the African Union. They expect that the 1 billion doses will be distributed by the end of September as the process did begin in the beginning of August. The article further discusses vaccination rates within the U.S. and U.K. and EU compared to the rest of the world. These donations are the first steps to aiding the rest of the world to get vaccinated so we can get past this pandemic.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/22/us-to-donate-millions-more-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-doses-to-poorer-nations.html
Friday, September 24, 2021
China cracking down on cryptocurrencies
Today, China has reaffirmed its position to outlaw all cryptocurrencies in its economy clamping down on all related economic activity. This includes cryptocurrency miners and platforms based in China that have taken advantage of the cheap manufacturing of computer hardware and software. This decision has been made in large part due to the environmental ramifications that cryptocurrency creates. For mining in particular, it is very energy intensive to not only power the computer equipment but to also run systems critical to the cooling necessary for these computers to run nonstop. The heavy reliance on cheap electricity causes a high demand for sources that produce a lot of pollution like natural gas and coal power plants. The growth of this industry in China runs in the opposite direction of the country’s goals to fix its international reputation as the world’s largest polluter. China has set a handful of monumental goals to reduce its pollution levels and cryptocurrency could be a factor in achieving those milestones.
While today’s statement from China echoes previous messages reflecting their unflinching position, it does not change how impactful this decision will be on the future of cryptocurrency worldwide. China has a huge market that can help fuel the growth of cryptocurrencies and further legitimize the new technology. Without this market, growth will be slowed as other regions in the world develop their own cryptocurrency sectors. However, the absence of a major player in the market can open up many opportunities for others to capitalize on. Miners and platforms in other parts of the world can take more market share with less competition. Also, governments can take the lead over China to make themselves economic leaders in this budding market.
Overall, China is taking a more different approach to cryptocurrency than most of the world. But time will tell if China’s aggressive market involvement will pay off.
Credit
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/24/investing/china-cryptocurrency-ban/index.html
Boris Johnson's UN speech
At the start of November the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will meet in Glasgow Scotland to discuss the climate crisis. It was originally scheduled for a year ago but was postponed due to Covid-19. This will be a pivotal moment for the future of our species, if we can not come together as a global community to fight climate change I fear that the earth's environmental health will change drastically in the next millennium and will no longer be hospitable for the life it currently supports. In a speech recently to the UN general assembly, Boris Johnson took what was to me a shocking stance. Historically Boris Johnson has not made climate control a high priority, but in his speech he takes a totally different stance. He compared the human species to other mammalian species and how long we have been on earth. For as long as mammals have been on earth the average species lasts about a million years before it goes extinct or evolves into something else. Modern humans have only been around for 200,000 years making us only 16 years old as a species, the age when you've learned just enough to get yourself into serious trouble. Boris said that our species as a whole needs to "grow up" and face the damages we have caused over the past century, and that we cannot keep acting like "adolescents" who never face real consequence. While hearing this from a prominent conservative is a good sign for the earth it is extremely frustrating that it has taken this long for him to recognize reality. I believe he and other politicians are well aware of the climate effects they are causing and have been for a long time, but refuse to publicly acknowledge it for political purposes. It seems now public opinion has swayed for enough that being green is now the more politically savvy move. This is good news for the earth but shows the glaring faults in our nations leaders.
Link to speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpze1aEJygA
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Nike’s Revenue Pinched by Supply-Chain Disruptions
Supply chain issues have been in full effect ever since the covid-19 pandemic has spread across the globe. Footwear imports have been one of the goods majorly affected by the supply chain disturbance. Even Nike, the biggest sportswear brand in the world, has said production problems in Asia and Trans-Pacific shipping delays will weigh on sales. Of all the Nike factories around the world, the United States factories make up 6.4% of them worldwide.
Nike’s revenues have increased greatly since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, but it seems that the supply-chain issues have caught up with them. Nike reported on Thursday the revenue was $12.25 billion before the quarter ended on August 31st. This is up 16% from last year this time but has stayed flat since June 2021. These numbers were below that of what the Wall Street analysts had predicted of $12.47 billion. Executives of Nike express that their demand for their product stays high and the only reason that they are not reaching these predictions is because of the supply network issues.
Matthew Friend, Nike’s finance chief said that Nike lost 10 weeks’ worth of production in Vietnam due to the lockdowns after the surge of covid-19 cases. Another problem is in the transportation of goods. It’s taking an average of 80 days to get products from Asia to North America; this is twice the amount of time compared to that of pre-covid times. Most of Nike’s footwear production is in Vietnam where they now have been placed on lockdown until at least October 1st, this could continue to cause flat revenue growth for the highly demanded company.
To try and relieve supply-chain issues Nike and other shoe and apparel companies have sent a letter to President Biden requesting him to speed up Covid-19 vaccination donations to Vietnam. The United States has delivered six million vaccine doses to Vietnam since July. Nike has also been trying to shift some production out of Vietnam and using air freight to avoid congestion at ocean ports to get ready for holiday months.
Although supply-chain issues are in full force, it does not seem to be stopping the biggest sportswear brand in the world whose net income numbers from August 2021 are up 23% from the previous August. The net income numbers may have been higher had there have been no issues in the supply network. This will not be a major issue for Nike though due to such high demand for their product.
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
The Evergrande Debt Crisis
Evergrande is a Real Estate company that was founded in 1996 and took off during China's housing boom. They are China's second-largest Real Estate company, but they are now in debt of over $305 Billion. This is raising major concerns in both China and the global economy. Global markets have been selling off as a result of the "company warning its invest it could default on its debts." I would argue that the major concern is in China though due to the fact that Evergrande has $1.4 million of prepaid homes by the homeowners themselves that have yet to begin development. According to the article, Evergrande has over 200,000 direct employees and is indirectly responsible for another 3.8 million. There has been some discussion whether the Chinese government should step in and help the company due to the number of people that this Evergrande has an impact on.
It is thought that the main reason that this powerhouse of a company is on the verge of bankruptcy is due to China's increase in its regulation. The government has been working to control the price of houses to make them more affordable to live in. With labor and resources remaining constant, this leads to the loss of returns that Evergrande can make off of their real estate properties. There is a lot of fear in the banks right now due to "128 banking institutions and 121 non-banking institutions" being exposed to Evergrande.
This situation should unfold rapidly as many are predicting that the Chinese government will have to make its decision in the coming days. It will be interesting to see what the Chinese government decides to do and how it impacts the market.
Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/evergrande-debt-crisis-global-economy/
Sunday, September 19, 2021
French government recalls its ambassadors from Australia and US
Two long-time allies of France have stabbed them in the back, those are the words of the foreign minister of French. France for the first time ever has recalled its ambassadors from the US and Australia for consultations. This decision was caused by the announcement made on September 15th by the United States and Australia. Austalia canceled the Attack class submarine program binding Australia and France since 2016. They announced a new deal between the US and Australia to start studies on possible future cooperation on nuclear submarines. According to the French government, it is unacceptable behavior between partners and allies. The reason behind this showdown is the trilateral security partnership known as ORCAS. Its goal is the partnership of the US, Australia, and the UK in the intelligence, defense, and technology industries. One of the goals of this partnership, it to equip Austalia with nuclear-powered submarines. This partnership can lead to unpredictable circumstances in the world arena diplomacy.
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