Business

For some time there has been concern that the Tech Giants of Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook carry out monopolistic practices and are actively harming pricing and/or competition.  These biggest tech companies are all now so large in terms of market valuation they have eclipsed the Big Oil and Big Media companies that have dominated stock markets historically.  These concerns have prompted antitrust investigations into various Big Tech companies in both the United States and the European Union.  However issues of censorship, privacy, and free speech often get falsely intertwined with this subject as Big Tech companies have come under fire for an increasing number of reasons in recent years.  

Have the Big Tech broken antitrust legislation?  What effect do these big companies have on competition?  Do we need better tech company antitrust legislation?  Could the domination of a few giant tech companies have any positive consequences?  Should Big Tech be broken up?

Should tech monopolies be broken up?

A growing trend is cropping up as workers are becoming more likely to engage in freelance work, or short contracts rather than a permanent position.  This is especially clear with online services such as Uber or Deliveroo who are relying on temporary workers that function as private contractors to provide services for the company’s clients.  These services usually consist of smaller jobs or ‘gigs’ that the company supplies to the worker based on demand, often through the use of the company’s online application, but the gig economy is based on a variety of platforms and arrangements.  A growing section of the service sector is now functioning from this emerging trend of free-lance digitalisation in the labour market; with over a third of US workers claiming to have carried out gig work in some capacity.  However the gig economy has raised issues for many, as proponents argue that a gig-based economy is beneficial to both companies and workers, while others claim it is exploitative.  Overall, is a gig economy a positive or negative for the majority of workers?

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/240929/workplace-leaders-learn-real-gig-economy.aspx
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38930048

Is the gig economy a positive or negative for the majority of workers?

In the wake of the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 crisis US oil prices plunged beneath zero for the first time in history.  The sudden drop in transport internationally due to the global pandemic led to an abrupt oversupply of crude oil and the collapse of oil markets, as oil suppliers had to actually pay buyers to take oil due to a global lack of storage for the level of crude oil in the supply chain.  Despite this extraordinary dip the oil industry is reeling as the problem of storage is going to be an on-going issue throughout this pandemic.  With the world running out of space to store the excess oil that has been produced but is now not being used - Is the sun setting on the oil industry?  Will the passing of the pandemic revive the oil markets?  What does the future hold for the fossil fuel industry as a whole?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/20/oil-prices-sink-to-20-year-low-as-un-sounds-alarm-on-to-covid-19-relief-fund

What does the future hold for the fossil fuel industry?

Bitcoin is a ‘crytocurrency’, a digital monetary alternative designed for use as an exchange medium with a high level of security whose value is guaranteed by strong cryptographic algorithms and not by any third party or nation state. The decentralised control of this digital currency is seen as favourable to some despite not fully taking off as a popular currency.  Can cryptocurrencies work to the extent that they could be viable as a currency?  Or are they all just a speculative bubble?

https://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2018e5.pdf

Is bitcoin a speculative bubble?

Angela Merkel has now given Boris Johnson 30 days to find a solution and avoid a no-deal Brexit; meanwhile Emmanuel Macron has also stated he sees Britain leaving without a deal as the most likely outcome.  Boris Johnson has indicated extensively that he is ready to leave the EU without a deal, so it looks increasingly likely that Britain’s latest Prime Minister will take the country nearer to leaving the European Union without an exit deal on 31st October 2019.  But how will a no-deal Brexit effect British citizens and businesses? Is the country ready to trade with tariffs set by the World Trade Organization? Is the UK ready for a no-deal Brexit?

Is the UK ready for a “No-Deal” Brexit?

Tourism undoubtably plays a positive role on a countries economy, and is often linked to promoting peace, by easing poverty and unemployment while encouraging mutual cultural appreciation.  But how can a country encourage tourism?