Imagine Ania, a Ukrainian immigrant who arrived in Berlin, Germany in the spring of 2022 with her teenage son. At the moment, the 2001 Temporary Protection Directive provides them with the reassurance that they can stay for one year. If Ania ends up staying longer term, however, her career and economic success will depend on […]
Zimbabwe heads to the polls amid high inflation, a slumping currency and a cost of living crisis
Zimbabwe is facing a host of pressing challenges that voters dearly want the next president to address. Persistently high inflation, elevated interest rates, and a slumping and volatile Zimbabwe dollar have combined to fuel a cost of living crisis for households and battered business activity. These will be among the key economic concerns weighing on […]
I’ve spent years studying happiness – here’s what actually makes for a happier life
It’s one thing to know what makes people happy, but quite another to live a happy life oneself. I didn’t get a true taste of happiness until I quit my decade-long career as a happiness academic, packed all I’d need for many months onto a bicycle, and began meandering my way around the world to […]
2022 was a rough year for people everywhere – South Africa was no exception
Tough economic conditions meant that 2022 was a rough year for people everywhere in the world. South Africa was no exception. But this year’s crop of problems came on top of a legacy of poor economic performance. The country’s economic growth averaged 1% over the nine years to 2021, leaving the population poorer on average. […]
Nigeria’s COVID-19 economic plan has delivered disappointing results: here’s why
Over a year ago, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari launched an economic plan designed to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Nigeria has recorded 207,618 cases of infection and 2,745 deaths as of October 11, 2021. The economic effects were devastating. Economic growth turned negative in 2020, unemployment and […]
COVID-19 is prompting more people to head to trusted mainstream news sites for information — new research
More than a year after it began, the pandemic continues to cast a dark cloud over both public health and the economy. The news industry is no exception. Across the world, long-established news titles are being closed, and journalists are being laid off, as advertisers take fright in the face of a global economic downturn. […]
Federal Reserve bows to bank-crisis fears with quarter-point rate hike, letting up a little in its fight against inflation
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter-point on March 22, 2023, bowing to market expectations that it would temper its aggressive program of rate hikes amid a still-brewing banking crisis. The U.S. central bank lifted rates to a range of 4.75% to 5%, its ninth-straight increase since March 2022. As late as early […]
Nigeria’s central bank made critical mistakes that doomed the country’s currency redesign
Nigeria has successfully introduced new banknotes on about 10 occasions since independence in 1960. So why has the latest attempt been so controversial and traumatic? And what measures need to be taken to avoid a future debacle? Nigeria’s central bank announced the introduction of new banknotes last November, with the changeover to new notes scheduled […]
What you need to know about inflation
Inflation is one of the most pressing political and economic issues of the moment, but there are many misconceptions about how inflation is measured, where it comes from and how it impacts the average person. In June, inflation in Canada reached a 40-year high of 8.1 per cent. While there are signs inflation may be […]
Five ways to turn Bali into a ‘Zoom island’ for global remote workers
The Indonesian government recently announced plans to send 8,000 Jakarta-based civil servants to work remotely in Bali to help the tourism-dependent economy rebound from the pandemic. If the government succeeds in fully vaccinating Bali residents, the idea makes a certain amount of sense. Hotels and restaurants are struggling to survive. According to Statistics Indonesia, hotel […]