by Alan Wheatley | 19 Oct 2020 | Decoders, Economy
On any day, the stock market can go up or down. But in the long run, a young person cannot afford to ignore the chance to invest in company shares. The effect of compound interest, with an initial investment of $1,000 and 20% annual interest, compounded at various...
Alan Wheatley’s article on stock markets touches on concepts of tremendous long-term importance to young people, such as compounded interest and interest rates. Wheatley has decades of experience covering international finance, and it shows as he connects investing fundamentals with economic growth and the current U.S. political situation. The article finishes with questions that can be taken up in a wide range of classrooms: Who would be better for stock markets — Trump or Biden? If you have $1,000, should you spend or save it? And why is Wall Street near a record high during the coronavirus pandemic? With Wheatley explaining matters, there’s no reason why economics should be “the dismal science”!
by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 5 Oct 2020 | Economy, Environment
It makes potato chips crispier, soap frothier, lipstick smoother and fried foods crunchier. Consumers love palm oil — but at a cost to our environment. Environmental activists evacuate an orangutan whose habitat is threatened by oil palm plantations, rubber...
by Marina Eckersley | 24 Sep 2020 | Economy
The rich and the poor are growing farther apart. If workers own shares in the firms where they are employed, we can reduce inequality, economists say. Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company in Canada is employee owned (from the company website). The gap between rich...
by Hanna Rahman and Sadie Dyson | 9 Jul 2020 | Economy, Podcasts, Student Posts, Youth Voices
We wanted to learn about immigration. So Sabina told us her story about leaving Colombia for the U.S. to escape violence and embrace opportunities. To understand immigration, we must listen to immigrants as they tell their stories. In our podcast, we spoke to Sabina...
by Ben Barber | 19 Jun 2020 | China, Decoders, Economy
It’s one of world’s biggest infrastructure projects ever. Here’s how China plans to rebuild the ancient Silk Road — and how it could reshape the globe. Flush with cash from its exports of everything from electronics to furniture to Europe, the...
by Josephine Wong and Marina Eckersley | 11 May 2020 | Economy, Health and Wellness, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows
Governments have spent huge sums to support societies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people are worried they will end up paying the economic price. A man walks past a boarded-up store with coronavirus-inspired graffiti, New York, 7 May 2020. (AP Photo/Mary...
by Malcolm Davidson | 29 Apr 2020 | Economy, Environment, Health and Wellness
Past cataclysmic events have triggered major changes in the world. Will COVID-19 galvanise the fight against global warming and slow globalisation? New Delhi’s skyline on 1 November 2019 (top) and 20 April 2020 (bottom). (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) After the...
by Stuart Grudgings | 23 Mar 2020 | Economy, Environment, Health and Wellness, Nationalism, Technology
The coronavirus has turned life upside down for billions of people around the world. It’s bound to have a lasting impact once the pandemic subsides. Hikers maintain distance at Vista View Point, Los Angeles, 20 March 2020. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) The...
by Harvey Morris | 5 Mar 2020 | Economy, Health and Wellness
As a survivor of the Asian flu, I remember 1957 vividly. Times have changed since, but there are key similarities between that crisis and the coronavirus. A doctor gives a nurse the first Asian flu vaccine shot to be administered in New York, August 16, 1957. (AP...
by Stella Mapenzauswa | 4 Mar 2020 | Africa, Economy, Europe
Britain was once a colonial power in Africa but now lags other nations in trade with the continent. Boris Johnson says he wants to change that. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (C), Laurence Kemball-Cook, CEO of Pavegen Systems (L), and Ciiru Waweru Waithaka, CEO...
