Economics

In times of recession, companies are looking for ways to cut costs, but instead of slashing their marketing budgets, they should be considering earned and owned media strategies. These are much more affordable alternatives and can be extremely effective – earning a company trust and loyalty from customers, which is essential to their survival. With the right amount of effort, earned and owned media can be an invaluable tool for companies looking to stay in the public eye. Read full article here

The recent debate about the British tax system has focused on the ultra-wealthy and the so-called ‘non-dom’ tax breaks. But despite warnings that tax changes are driving away the wealthy, data suggests that the 2017 restrictions to the non-dom regime have barely had any effect on emigration. In fact, the reform is estimated to have boosted revenue collected without triggering an exodus. The current regime is deeply flawed, costing the UK £3.6 billion per year in lost income tax and capital gains. Read full article here

Moderna is reportedly planning to increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by over 400 percent, to match the previously announced price hike of Pfizer-BioNTech’s rival vaccine. Not only that, the company has announced that it expects to make a minimum of $5 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales in 2023, with their current cash and cash equivalents standing at $18 billion. Such a steep price increase has already been lambasted by lawmakers, who have accused the companies of ‘unseemly profiteering’. Read full article here

This article shows that size matters when it comes to choosing products – but it matters in different ways. If your product is low-tech, people will judge it as higher quality if it’s from a small company. If your product is high-tech, people will judge it as higher quality if it’s from a big company. So, when it comes to marketing your product, consider how your company size fits with the type of product you’re offering. Read full article here

A survey asked what amount of money people would need to live their ideal life, from ten thousand dollars up to one hundred billion. People generally settled around ten million, which goes to show that people generally don’t want infinite money for its own sake. Rather, they want the amount of money that answers their wants and needs. This provides some hope that sustainable development may be possible, if only the people and the society of the future don’t tie virtually all wantable things to money. Read full article here

When Adam Smith published his seminal work, An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations in 1776, it was nothing short of a revolution in knowledge. He shaped our modern understanding of how economies work and what national wealth is, shifting the emphasis away from hoarded gold or high trade profits toward the national standard of living. He also put forward profound arguments against slavery, colonialism, and protectionism on moral and economic foundations. Read full article here

When a person experiences professional success, they tend to take it for granted. Not that they don’t appreciate it or continue working hard, but that their income will continue to grow rather than stagnating or falling. This is a dangerous money fallacy, the idea that the checks will always come. People can avoid falling into this money fallacy by being mindful of the fact that good times don’t last, and by saving and investing so that the bad times will be more bearable. The good news is that the bad times don’t last, either. Read full article here

The oxymoronic economy of Japan is baffling: undervalued currency, yet undoubtedly strong. According to financial analyst Peter Tasker, the Japanese yen is significantly undervalued and is due for a major revaluation. Tasker, however, praises Japan’s strong economy, low debt levels, and massive trade surplus as evidence of the yen’s true value, which he believes is much higher than its current exchange rate suggests. Tasker argues that it is only a matter of time before the yen rises to its true value, leading to significant changes in the global currency market. Read full article here