The difficulties of policing remote work

   I know through my experience over the summer interning at a bank hearing stories from the workers about how much better they liked doing there job from home. Also when o was working with more senior management hearing how they went from working 5 days a week at the office to only coming in once a week and any other times they feel it is necessary. This allows for better worker morale and workers don't burn out as fast. One issue that can arise is if workers will be as productive from home, in my experience from those at the bank they are incentive based in pay and also are graded on performance so they were properly motivated. Another issue that the article mentions like when should bosses be able to call employees if they are working from home? As the article mentions the government of Portugal made a law stating that attempts to contact employees after hours to work can cause fines against the firm. The question is will employees actually file these complaints or are they more likely to take the calls to make their bosses happy and compete for promotions. I feel as an employee entering the labor force in the next year I would take the extra phone calls to earn those promotions so I feel these changes will not be very effective. It will be hard to figure out where to make changes that can keep employers from doing this in the future. 

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/12/11/the-difficulties-of-policing-remote-work

 

Biden’s commerce chief ‘confident’ inflation will be short-lived

As the United States economy recovers from the pandemic it comes as no surprise that the recovery is accompanied by high levels of inflation, the fastest inflation the US has seen in decades.Inflation has gotten to the point where it is starting to impact citizens who are seeing prices rise as the holiday season rolls around and while income is also on the rise it is not keeping up with inflation.The administration is confident that this inflation will be "short-lived" as the administration looks to expand the labor market, increase vaccination numbers and invest in American manufacturing all "while waiting for the supply-chain labor-market disruptions to ease". 

This all sounds well and good, but the real question which people do not seem to have the answer for is how long "short-lived" will last?

Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/12/9/bidens-commerce-chief-confident-inflation-will-be-short-lived

Pfizer Already Suggesting Another Booster Shot

Pfizer, just two months ago, rolled out their booster shot. This booster shot was the third dose Pfizer has created after the first two original doses. Originally, Pfizer's CEO said that a 4th shot will not be needed until a year after the first booster shot. However, he just made a new statement saying that a new booster will be needed soon than expected. He said it is due to the Omicron variant. However, a couple weeks prior he said that research showed that the first booster shot was strong enough to handle the Omicron variant.

One of the concerns brought up is that Pfizer is going to continue to say that new vaccines and booster shots are needed everytime there is a new variant arises. These new booster shots might not provide anymore protection than having just the original shots plus the booster. Pfizer could be making these recommendations to increase their profits. 

The World Health Organization has come out and said that they do not think another booster shot should be the focus right now. They do not believe that is the solution right now. They think efforts should be focused on people that are unvaccinated. 

Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-12-09/pfizer-ceo-omicron-variant-could-mean-fourth-vaccine-dose-needed-sooner-than-expected

2022: The end of the pandemic?

2022 Economic Triumph?

According to JPMorgan, 2022 will mark the beginning of full economic recovery and the end of the pandemic. The COVID-19 health crisis has plagued the world's economy for the past two years causing financial wounds everywhere.

JPMorgan's chief global market strategist Marko Kolanovic is on the record stating, "Our view is that 2022 will be the year of a full global recovery, an end of the global pandemic and a return to normal conditions we had prior to the Covid-19 outbreak... This is warranted by achieving broad population immunity and with the help of human ingenuity, such as new therapeutics expected to be broadly available in 2022."

While this is a positive claim it is also a bold one. There are many underlying factors that could alter the course of the end of the pandemic and economic stability in the coming year. Factors such as geopolitical tensions in Europe and Asia could have input on the result of the pandemic along with uncertainties around high inflation and a looming energy crisis. 

Do you believe 2022 could be a year of economic triumph?

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/08/economy/economy-jpmorgan-2022/index.html

Japan suspends visas for would-be residents amid crackdown on inbound travel

 The Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus has made things very tense and that is no more true than in the country of Japan. Effective Thursday the Japanese government has temporarily suspended one-month visas that have been issued and can not be used to enter Japan unless they are a citizen or a diplomat. This comes as a shock as Japan was preparing for people to enter the country starting with Students who have been waiting up to three years to study abroad in Japan. Japan was also beginning to send out work Visas to businessmen, Teachers, and even athletes but this too has been postponed and people will have to wait.

When asked about the specifics of the restrictions and who can have the Visa, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno was very evasive in the question and said “At present, (those individuals) are eligible to return to Japan,” he told reporters without denying the possibility of a change in policy. “Moving forward, it’s important to respond to the outbreak quickly and decisively.”   

When the Japanese government will issue visas again is unknown, but when they do they will surely fall behind, as on a more personal note is why I was not able to study abroad. The opening of the borders was a blessing but the devil was in the details, the Japanese government was overwhelmed by how many people were let into the country and could not process all of the visas. It got so bad that they could only process 10,000 visas a day and once in the country, you were met with a two-week quarantine. Let's hope the borders do open soon and that is on top of the visa processing so that not only I but also everyone else can go to Japan.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/12/03/national/visa-suspensions-omicron/

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/11/17/national/foreign-students-covid-rules/

Belarus EU Migrant Dispute

     Along Belarus's border with EU countries Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, thousands of refugees from mostly Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan are trapped between Belarusian and the EU countries' militaries. This conflict is a result of the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's actions. All of his election victories were believed to be fraudulent by much of the population and after his fifth victory in 2020 massive protests ensued. His response was harsh and widely condemned by the EU who imposed sanctions in response. Lukashenko only got more aggressive following the sanctions which led to more rounds of sanctions by the EU. After the fourth round Belarus announced they would not stop migrants trying to enter the EU. Not many migrants typically went through Belarus but following this announcement many started applying for tourist visas which Belarus widely granted. They were then bussed to the EU border by the Belarusian military despite the migrants not being allowed in by any of the three countries. They all responded by fortifying their borders with Belarus. As groups traveled along the border looking for a way in, many of them collected in area along the Poland border. Here the migrants were forced back into Belarus by the Polish military and then not allowed to leave, and even encouraged to keep trying by Belarus. They are now in camps lacking food, clean water, and shelter as it gets colder. Some have already died from the harsh conditions. No humanitarian help has been given  these people and if an effort is not made many more will follow the same fate.

source: https://www.vox.com/videos/22822426/belarus-lukashenko-eu-migrant-crisis-poland

Bitcoin drops in price

 It was a typical Saturday. Suddenly, the fire alarm went on at 6 AM. I went outside in order to protect myself from the possibility of fire. The first thing that I did, when I unlocked my phone, checked the Robinhood app. Bitcoin’s price had dropped more than 17% while I was asleep. A loss was around $8,000. On November 9, Bitcoin reached its all-time high, approximately $69,000. JPMorgan has predicted Bitcoin to reach $146,000 in the long term just a month ago. Will these predictions have a place? What caused this massive drop? Liquidation of nearly $1.3 billion, the first massive liquidation. El Salvador, where Bitcoin is a currency, has bought a dip. Buying a dip is a strategy when buyers buy a stock or a cryptocurrency when it drops. Consequently, they believe that in the long-term, the price will eventually rise. In my opinion, Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies are just a big bubble, which will end one day. It will be the next recession of the world’s economy. However, no one knows if there is a bubble until it pops.