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Industry’s Most Exciting Space: Untold Billions Showered on Battery and Electric Vehicle Technology and Production
Earlier this week, the first lithium-ion battery cell rolled off the assembly line of Europe’s newest so-called gigafactory – a novel phenomenon usually defined as a manufacturing plant capable of churning out at least 15 gigawatt hours of cumulative battery
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Former Student Protest Leader Claims Presidency in Chile
A land of geographical and political extremes, Chile seems to have rejected moderation and elevated a former student protest leader to the presidency. However, the electorate did so reluctantly as it faced an almost impossible choice between a right-wing apologist
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Too Much of a Good Thing: Inflation Spike Puzzles ECB – Engage or Ignore?
For years on end, central bankers in Europe and the United States have tempted providence to deliver a modicum of inflation. Over the past five years, the eurozone slid twice into deflationary territory. As recent as August 2020, the consumer
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The Fallacy of ‘Chinese Characteristics’: Critique of Liberal Democracy Misplaced and Premature
Amongst political philosophers, it has of late become fashionable to hail China as a model of effective governance. The country’s rapid development – according to the World Bank the fastest sustained growth of a major economy ever in world history
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Brand-Power is Real — but the Goalposts Won’t Stop Moving
From the upstarts to the everlasting, branding and marketing drive sales. That goes beyond mere recognition, and requires a certain stability: Sellotape, Google, and Rollerblade are generic terms intrinsically tied to products. Big name firms are those most able
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Uncertainty and Pessimism Surround Emergence of the Omicron Variant
The Omicron variant will either be a major development in the Covid-19 crisis… or a blip on the ever-changing, post-pandemic screen. Uncertainty has always plagued the global economy, from the Great Depression through to the 2016 Brexit referendum. In the
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Energy Sector Grapples with Hydra-Headed Problems of Global Supply and Demand
At the recent COP-26 climate summit in Glasgow, government officials and leaders of international organisations put the spotlight on the energy sector. This year marked the first meeting of the Energy Transition Council, formed to accelerate the shift to cleaner
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Inflation, Used Cars, Silicon Chips and Supply-Demand: Links in a Worrying Chain
Chips — no, not the potato or chocolate kind, the electronic ones – are a driving force behind a spike in inflation. Whether it’s cars or computers, we depend on silicon chips — and a global shortage is having some
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World Bank: Sustained Global Solidarity Needed to Achieve Global COVID-19 Recovery
The pandemic has affected virtually everyone in the world, but its impacts have been hardest on the poor and vulnerable, deepening inequalities and exacerbating underlying challenges. Now more than ever, global solidarity is needed to address the widening gaps between
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Invasion of the Robots! Beware, Beware! Just Because We Can Doesn’t Mean That We Should…
AI, facial-recognition, machine learning… where should humans draw the line when it comes to automated ‘job theft’? Yogesh Patel gives it some thought. Hammers, spanners, screwdrivers, scissors: tools of all shapes, sizes and functions have acted as catalysts for human
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