WORLD ECONOMY FOR 2022
The US Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, caught the attention of the world on the 11th of January when he declared about the expected inflation levels for 2022. He mentioned that there is no apparent need for an aggressive stimulus to reduce inflation and that the expectation is for inflation to continue but to lessen throughout this year. The Chairman was giving testimony in front of the American senate hearing that was responsible to decide if he was to be reelected for a second term.
His statement was criticized because of its timing. Not only his reelection but the American and world economy have been suffering for years now due to Covid-19 and his critics argue that some alleviating news is what everybody wants to hear. The stock market still reacted to Powell’s remarks. The S&P 500 “halted a 5-day slide” and overall the different stock markets reacted positively as well.
On the same day, the World Bank forecasts a slowing down of the world economy. The report mentions a slowdown in 2022 (4.1%) and another one in 2023 (3.2%); growth in 2021 was 5.5%. They also claimed that developing countries are at a higher risk since their vaccination rates are lower and there are expectations of new variants of the virus. They too expect a decrease of the supply chain crisis to take place mid-2022.
On the other side of the world, China has also been struggling with Covid-19. Major factory shutdowns along with strict government measures, like massive testing and travel restrictions that affect workers, have been the cause for supply chain bottlenecks. Goldman Sachs reduced the predicted growth for China’s growth in 2022 by 0.5%, leaving them at 4.3%. The full effect of Omicron is still a mystery but so far the new variant seems to have the potential to put a halt on the small recovery of the world economy.
Sources: Bloomberg, WSJ, Barrons
ZYNGA ACQUIRED BY TAKE-TWO
The $12.7bn transaction is one of the latest and greatest in the gaming sector. Frank Gibeau, chief executive of Zynga announced “we begin a new journey which will allow us to create even better games, reach larger audiences and achieve significant growth as a leader in the next era of gaming”.
This move by Take-Two is considered a strategic one since Apple implemented security barriers such as App Tracking Transparency launched last April to protect the privacy of their users. This of course affects the effectiveness of the ads that run on such games. Since Apple users can now opt out from having apps tracking them, huge gaming companies are trying to get bigger, creating their own gaming networks which will also allow them to collect data.
Experts expect this type of behavior to continue from big gaming companies since the mobile gaming market has been growing and is currently dominating other traditional gaming platforms. This trend where smaller companies are valued based on their user’s database is predicted to continue since the price of the ads run on these games depend on having a reliable method of targeting audiences.
Another prediction is that Zynga’s experience will probably result in more Take-two games to be published on mobile. For Zynga is has been hard to remain relevant, its glory Facebook days with Farmville have not been enough to keep it increasing profit. On the other hand, Take-two has been growing and started acquiring many smaller studios to expand its portfolio.
Novak-ccine
The Serbian player has been causing controversy since he decided to still participate on the Australian Open despite the fact that he did not receive a vaccination. The matches have been drawn and Djokovic is set to play the younger Serbian player, Kecmanović on January 16. The Australian Border Force is currently investigating the player on the basis that he has filled his travelling declaration forms with false information. Alex Hawke, the Australian Minister for Immigration said, “[he] must prove they are vaccinated or provide a medical reason, that is the policy and the policy hasn’t changed.”
On Monday 10, Djokovic won an appeal and was not deported. Even though his visa was cancelled upon his arrival on Australia, he was able to challenge that call successfully. After this, it appeared as if he could focus on his upcoming game, which was the start of a possible 10th title on Australian grand Slam. Even the Australian Open had promoted Djokovic’s match via Twitter, but a few days later, Hawke revoked Djokovic’s visa again on the basis of public interest.
The player will not be detained or deported immediately according to the authorities but he had to meet with immigration officials. Both the Prime Minister and the Minister for immigration are conservative and have advocated for strict measures against Covid-19. In addition, the Australian public is sensitive to the matter since they had to go through one of the most severe and extensive lockdowns and yet they still have to face the Omicron variant which has rapidly spread across their country.
Djokovic got into Australia with a vaccine exemption which was approved by the Victoria state government. His legal team sustains that he got Covid-19 on December and could not be vaccinated while being infected. Upon his arrival his exemption was declared invalid and the investigation started.
EUTHANASIA IN COLOMBIA
After a legal battle of two years, Victor Escobar became the first person in Colombia to die by euthanasia without suffering from a terminal illness. Euthanasia is legal in Colombia for patients with terminal illnesses since 2015. Since then more than 150 people have being approved to end their suffering this way.
Escobar recorded a video saying “we reached the goal for patients like me … who want a dignified death”. The request for this procedure was made on two occasions. The first one on 2020, a scientific committee evaluated the case and rejected the case. Finally on December last year, the request was approved by jury.
Martha Sepulveda is another case which caught the attention of the public since the procedure was planned and then cancelled. This happened on October last year and created controversy since the cancellation took place 36 hours before. The procedure had been approved in August on the same year. On this issue, there is a lack of regulation from the Colombian government. There is not a specific mandate that applies to these cases, only an extension to the existing right to die with dignity by the Constitutional Court. That is why cases similar to Sepulveda’s are prolonged and delayed.
Sepulveda became the second person to die by euthanasia after Escobar. Even though both of them became the center of discussion these last month, they both chose to spend their last moments away from the spotlight. Escobar had a press conference scheduled but he later cancelled it to spend his last moments with his family. He chose to be buried with his football team jersey on.
Sources: BBC, Elpais, Cnnespanol