Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Insights & Views

Sun, May 19, 2024 05:48 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

US Election Series

How vulnerable to hacking is the US election cyber infrastructure?

Aug 01, 2016 08:11 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Following the hack of Democratic National Committee emails and reports of a new cyberattack against the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, worries abound that foreign nations may be clandestinely involved in the...

Should we be locking people up in prisons at all?

Aug 01, 2016 07:48 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

Footage aired last week of children being abused in a Northern Territory prison sent shockwaves around the nation. These images forced us to grapple with the problem as if it were breaking news, despite the fact that so...

Please rewind: a final farewell to the VCR

Aug 01, 2016 07:46 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

I grew up with video cassette recorders (VCRs). I still remember rushing off to the the video store to hire the latest movie, hoping that there was at least one copy still on the shelf that didnt have the Sorry Im Out tag...

A complacent, secretive IMF failed to deal with EU crisis; what's changed?

Aug 01, 2016 07:44 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

In a 650-page report last week, the IMFs own Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has castigated the Funds handling of the Eurozone crisis. The IEO cited a culture of complacency in the IMF; a failure to identify the...

Indonesia's new cabinet built on political transactions

Aug 01, 2016 07:28 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

It is not surprising that the new ministers recently appointed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo still reflect a cabinet of compromise. As a political outsider, the president lacks the support of a strong political...

Migrant Crisis Series

A record 65.3 million people were displaced last year: What does that number actually mean?

Aug 01, 2016 07:26 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

We continue to witness violent attacks bombings and murders in France, Germany, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iraq; fighting in South Sudan and the continued civil war in Syria. These conflicts have renewed interest in the...

Why Brazil's post-Olympics hangover will hit so hard

Aug 01, 2016 07:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Sports

On the eve of the Rio Olympic Games, host Brazil is struggling through one of the deepest crises in its history. It wasnt supposed to be this way. In 2009, when the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...

1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980

Economy

What should you do if you can’t pay your rent or mortgage?

The cost of living crisis is making it difficult for many people to pay their bills, including housing costs. Private sector rents have increased by an average 9% over the year to February 2024, and rising interest rates...

Reducing energy demand and improving efficiency will help prevent the next gas crisis

Gas prices have relaxed, Europe has come out of the winter with record gas storage levels and a surfeit of liquefied natural gas is set to reach the shores of Europe over the coming years. Many commentators are hopeful...

Minimum wage for South African farm workers: study shows 2013 hike helped reduce poverty even though compliance was poor

Minimum wage policies are typically aimed at reducing poverty. Yet there is little direct evidence of this effect, especially in developing countries. And none for South Africa. In a recent paper, we consider the...

Gas is good until 2050 and beyond, under Albanese gas strategy

The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel through to 2050 and beyond. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuels uses would change over...

South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed

The South African governments Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan was launched in November 2023. It is a roadmap guiding the country away from reliance on coal-fired power towards renewable energy alternatives by...

Politics

Donald Trump Allegedly Offers Oil Execs a Deal to Scrap EV Incentives for $1B Donation

Former President Donald Trump reportedly proposed a $1 billion deal to oil executives, offering to end electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in return for campaign funding, according to The Washington Post. This move underscores...

US Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote with gerrymandered maps instead of fixing the congressional districts first

For the 2022 midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use congressional districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of Black citizens. A 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court in February...

Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections

Ahead of the European parliament elections in June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age of 18 to vote....

South Africa will be president of the G20 in 2025: two much-needed reforms it should drive

South Africa will play an important international role in 2025 as president of the G20. The G20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the African Union and the European Union. Between them they represent 85% of global...

What early 2024 polls are revealing about voters of color and the GOP

By the end of winter 2024, the return of Donald Trump to the top of the GOP presidential ticket has revealed a surprising trend in the former presidents base of support: his increasing popularity among Black and Latino...

Science

Is dark matter’s main rival theory dead? There’s bad news from the Cassini spacecraft and other recent tests

One of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics today is that the forces in galaxies do not seem to add up. Galaxies rotate much faster than predicted by applying Newtons law of gravity to their visible matter, despite those...

Why are algorithms called algorithms? A brief history of the Persian polymath you’ve likely never heard of

Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without...

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light

A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...

Technology

AI 'Godfather' Warns of Job Displacement, Advocates for Universal Basic Income

Renowned AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton warns of significant job losses due to AI, urging governments to adopt universal basic income as a countermeasure. Hinton Advocates for Universal Basic Income According to...

Shiba Inu: Top Analyst Identifies Coin as 'Potential Gold Mine'; Price Analysis Suggests 35% Upside

Top analyst Davie Satoshi sees Shiba Inu (SHIB) as a potential gold mine; price analysis predicts a 35% upside. Key Pattern in SHIBs Price Chart The Shiba Inu (SHIB) memecoin has caught the eye of many analysts....

Tesla Cybertruck Powers Houston Gas Station, Elon Musk Reacts to Saudi Prince’s Photo

A TikTok video showed a Tesla Cybertruck powering a Houston gas station after a tornado, while Elon Musk responded to a photo of a Saudi prince with a Cybertruck. Cybertrucks Real-World Test Connecting to a Tesla...

Shanghai's Data Policy Shift Could Propel Tesla's Local Data Center Efforts

Shanghais new data-export policy could accelerate Teslas plans to build a local data center, enhancing its artificial intelligence (AI) development for autonomous driving. Chinas Regulatory Update As China attempts...

CPI Report Spurs Optimism, BlackRock CIO Forecasts Fixed Income Growth

The release of the U.S. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report provided a wave of relief to the financial markets. This signaled a possible reduction in inflationary pressures. Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer of...