Category Archives: Finance

Green Investment: ‘Can It Stop Global Warming?’

A new generation of investors wants to force businesses to become environmentally-friendly. Even climate conservationists know that money talks, but can green investments really save the world? Green investment rewards companies that use sustainable production practices and protect the environment. At the same time, companies that pollute or contribute to global warming are deprived of funds.

The strategy converts the once secondary issue of the environment into hard, cold cash. Antonis Schwarz is 30 years old — and an investor, philanthropist, and activist. His slogan is “cash against climate change.” Schwarz, like many other wealthy millennials, sees climate change as the key variable when it comes to investing money. These people intentionally put their cash into companies and projects that protect the environment. Schwarz believes that those who are well-off have a special responsibility to follow this strategy. He says, “When you are able to change something and you don’t, you’re complicit. We all have to become fully involved, so we can prevent a climate disaster.”

This philosophy can be summed up with the following question: “What’s the point of having loads of money if it becomes worthless because you’re living on a planet that’s becoming increasingly chaotic?” Institutional investors have more money at their disposal than wealthy private individuals do. Their approach is also changing — and not out of pure idealism. Extreme weather events caused by climate change, for example, are bad for business. They can force corporations to write off billions in damages.

This documentary goes behind the scenes to take a closer look at the financial markets. How well does “impact investing” work? Can investors really move large, powerful corporations to change their strategies? Politicians have so far failed to do precisely that.

Anaylysis: China Tests New ‘Digital Currency’ That Replaces Cash (WSJ Video)

China is testing a digital yuan, aiming to accelerate the replacement of cash and increase state control in a society where digital payments via Wechat Pay and Alipay are already the norm. Here’s what Beijing’s new system looks like—and how it would work. Photo credit: Florence Lo/Reuters

Investments: Why ‘Bitcoin’ Is Soaring In Value (Video)

The price of bitcoin is skyrocketing, driving a rally of momentum trading that’s pushed its value higher than it’s ever been before. WSJ explains how bitcoin trading works, and why the volatile digital currency is reaching all-time highs. Illustration: Jacob Reynolds/WSJ

Retirement: ‘How Social Security Works’ (Video)

Since 2010, Social Security’s cash flow has been negative, meaning that the agency does not collect enough money through taxes to cover what it is paying out. Even though there was still this vast trust fund behind Social Security, they started tapping that fund’s interest.

Starting in 2021, they will have to dip into the trust fund itself to cover those benefit payments, and even that pool of cash has an expiration date. Trustees of the fund expect that by 2035 it will not be enough to cover full benefit payments. Due to COVID-19, that date may come years sooner than expected, which has some retirees seriously worried about their future.

Covid-19: How To Spark Economic Recovery

Governments will have to deal with the economic fallout from the pandemic for decades to come. If they get their response wrong, countries risk economic stagnation and political division.

Read more here: https://econ.st/3ojORKY

Financial Videos: ‘Is Trump Or Biden Better For The Stock Market’ (CNBC)

The outcome of the 2020 election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will likely have a major impact on the equity market. Although the economy has historically performed better under a Democratic president, that doesn’t always necessarily reflect on market performance. However, which party controls the White House can still be an important element for those looking to earn big in the market. So how does the U.S. election impact the stock market and how should investors prepare?

Economics: ‘Universal Basic Income Experiment In South Korea’ (WSJ Video)

To stimulate its pandemic-hit economy, a province in South Korea has been experimenting with universal basic income programs by regularly giving out cash, no questions asked. Now, some politicians want to go national with the concept.

Illustration: Crystal Tai/WSJ

Business: “Understanding The Economic Impact Of Covid-19” (Harvard)

 

Predicting the path ahead has become nearly impossible, but we can speculate about the size and scale of the economic shock. Economic contagion is now spreading as fast as Covid-19 itself. Social distancing, intended to physically disrupt the spread, has severed the flow of goods and people, stalled economies, and is in the process of delivering a global recession.

Predicting the path ahead has become nearly impossible, as multiple dimensions of the crisis are unprecedented and unknowable. Pressing questions include the path of the shock and recovery, whether economies will be able to return to their pre-shock output levels and growth rates, and whether there will be any structural legacy from the coronavirus crisis.

This Explainer explores several scenarios to model the size and scale of the economic shock and the path ahead.

Based on the HBR article by Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, Martin Reeves and Paul Swartz