(An aerial view of an apartment cluster in Songpa District, Seoul, taken by Yonhap News) Written by Austin Moon Many Koreans remember a time when they would laugh at comedians joking about soul-crushing housing prices, poking fun at the South Korean government’s inability to deter its seemingly unstoppable upward trend. After five years, more than…
Category: International Economics
The Talibanization of the Opium Market
Photo Source: Politico Written by Hadin Sayed When Kabul fell to the Taliban, the international media relentlessly covered the implications of the Talibanization of Afghanistan. However, an overlooked aspect of the Taliban Resurgence is the effect on Afghanistan’s opium market, the largest in the world. Immediately after taking control of Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid proclaimed,…
Construction May Become Sustainable, Knock on Wood
Written by William Fitzpatrick Across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, a peculiar trend is emerging in recent architectural projects: they are made almost entirely out of wood. But they’re not just any wooden buildings, they’re skyscrapers. In the past, most architectural advancements have been focused on design, but with the climate crisis looming closer by the…
The Economic Impact of Cutting Methane Emissions
Written by Manasvi Parikh The United Nations climate conference, COP26, took place in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31 to November 12, 2021, and many global leaders were in attendance, including the U.S. President, Joe Biden, and India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Some global leaders are absent from the conference, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and…
Data Falsification: A Short-Track to Large-Scale Economic Disasters
Written by Elizabeth Davis Most people, when asked about the root causes of economic disasters, would answer in terms of market crashes, inflation, or rapid output growth; not often would they suggest the falsification of economic reports. Yet errors that occur in the reporting of data, a seemingly trivial aspect of economics, have the potential…
Less Covid-19 Contraction Equals Less Economic Contraction: A Look into China’s 2020 Economy
Written by Arianna Pollack When the coronavirus began to sweep across the globe in 2020, worldwide shutdowns caused the global economy to grind to a halt. The world saw millions of job losses and sudden workplace closures. It has now been over a year since the first shut-downs, and countries are trying to expand their…
The Rising Costs of Global Warming
Written by Caroline McMahan Nations around the world are grappling with the cost of moving industries towards more sustainable production methods. Implementation of regulations and taxes geared towards limiting greenhouse gas emissions has been met with backlash from people and corporations who are content to continue burning through the Earth’s natural resources at the rate…
Could Vaccination Efforts Save the UK from a Double Dip Recession?
Photo by Paul Fiedler Written by Allison Libbe Since the first week of January, the UK has been under strict new lockdown orders in an effort to curb the proliferation of the B.1.1.7, or British variant, of Covid-19. Between new lockdown orders and new economic restrictions – now that London and Brussels have come to…
The Economics Behind the Punjab Farmer Protests in India
Farmers take to the streets during a protest in India3 Written by Rohan Bhargava In the past few months you may have seen on social media content about massive protests by farmers in the Indian region of Punjab. Tens of thousands of farmers have blocked highways around the Indian capital of New Delhi and have…
Establishing a Gold Standard for Charity Efficacy
Written by Claire Manley Giving to charity is a reliable way to experience a genuine dopamine hit.[1] Clicking that button to Donate! or choosing a brand that will spend a percentage of your money on charity kindles satisfaction. Someone halfway across the globe will be better off because of my actions. It makes us feel…