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Environment World

We can’t have a world without poverty in a world with plastic pollution

When future generations share the story of plastic pollution, it will include graphic images of turtles choking on plastic debris, zooming out to show beaches and communities laden with trash, and panning to medical reports showing microplastic in the average person’s bloodstream.  This is a story that started as an environmental crisis, and quickly became an […]

Business Finance

Opening the black box of digital wallets and demystifying ‘buy now, pay later’

The growth of digital wallets and popular ‘buy now, pay later’ options raises concerns about social welfare and policy. This column uses data from a world-leading Chinese provider to document that ‘buy now, pay later’ dominates e-wallet transactions and expands FinTech credit to underserved consumers. It also substantially boosts consumer spending, but users – especially […]

Economy World

Electoral earthquakes: Local shocks and authoritarian voting

While a growing literature has highlighted the role of economic grievances, global transformations, cultural cleavages, and isolation in engendering political discontent, the nexus with local shocks has not yet been explored. This column documents that two earthquakes in Italy resulted in sharply diverging electoral outcomes: while the 2012 Emilia quake did not alter voting behaviour, […]

Business Climate Environment

Fostering a sustainable digital transformation

Automation and digitalisation are progressing rapidly worldwide, auguring improved productivity and living standards but also the prospect of genuine social harm. This column discusses two side effects of automation – increased inequality and a rise in carbon emissions – and proposes a policy response to deal with both problems simultaneously. By imposing a higher tax […]

Economy Energy

European natural gas demand tracker

High and volatile European energy prices are being driven by extraordinarily tight supply-demand balances in energy markets, particularly for natural gas. The primary solution is to reduce demand and the European Union agreed a target to reduce gas demand by 15% compared to the previous five year average between August 2022 and March 2023.This target has subsequently […]

Energy World

Tesla takes a leap: GM brings its charging network closer to US standards

Tesla (TSLA.O) jumped nearly 7% on Friday after General Motors (GM.N) joined Ford (F.N) in agreeing to use its electric powered-car charging network, a huge win that analysts said ought to make Tesla Superchargers an enterprise standard within the United States. The rare partnership among three of the biggest U.S. Automakers ensures that more than […]

Business Finance

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are reviewing prime brokerage relationships with Odey Asset Management sources

JPMorgan ( JPM.N ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) are reviewing their prime brokerage relationships with Odey Asset Management after the Financial Times and Tortoise Media reported on Thursday that Crispin Odey was sexually harassed, sources familiar with the matter said. The FT reported that 13 women claimed Odey sexually assaulted or harassed them […]

Technology World

Taiwan’s Acer supplies hardware to Russia after announcing it would freeze business data

Taiwanese computer maker Acer ( 2353.TW ) shipped at least $70.4 million worth of computer hardware to Russia between April 8, 2022 and March 31, 2023, according to Reuters customs records, after it said it will suspend business there.While not illegal, Acer’s actions contrast with those of major Western rivals such as Dell ( DELL.N […]