The collapse of several big players last year raised questions about the survival of cryptocurrency. But let’s not dig the grave yet on digital currency. A variety of cryptocurrency tokens. Credit: Roger Brown Memo to aspiring journalists: be wary of new year’s...
There’s been some pretty scary drops in the value of some cryptocurrencies – money that only exists as computer code. Last year, for example, crypto token Terra Luna fell from about $120 to two cents in less than 48 hours, wiping out entire fortunes. In this story, correspondent Robert Holloway explains what digital currency is, why it is so volatile and why it might just last.
Exercise: Give every student a stack of “currency” with each stack labeled differently. Then on a big screen have a chart that shows the value of each slip of paper according to the color or letter. Each value will start at $1,000 so if a student has 10 slips they start off with a stack worth $10,000. Present a list of commodities they can buy at different prices. Let them see how much they can buy with their currency stack. Then change the values of the currency on the chart for different students with some going up in value and some going down in value. How does that change how much each student can buy? What does it do to their net worth? Keep changing the values so that students experience wealth and poverty depending on what value is placed on their slips of paper.
Turn on the tap, and the world’s most valuable commodity pours out. Maybe it’s time to invest in water — to line our pockets and protect our planet. Clean water pours from a hose. Credit: Cassio Henrique. Getty Images. This article is the seventh in a...
Water is one of the most important commodities in the world. It is also tradable as companies seek to make money by purifying and distributing it. Some organizations that are pushing for climate change action are investing in water companies to pressure private industry to be better stewards of water. These investments in water stocks are proving to be financially profitable.
Exercise: The story identifies a list of companies that provide water or water infrastructure: IDEX Corp., Xylem Inc., Danaher Corp., Ecolab, Roper Industries, Pentair Plc, Ferguson Plc and American Water Works Co. Inc. Divide students into investment teams with $1 million each to invest. Have them first brainstorm ways water and systems for providing water could be improved in their area or elsewhere. Then have them look up the website of one or more of those companies to see if they can tell what the company does to improve water supply or quality. Would their $1 million invested in that company help towards the improvements they identified as needed?
The exchange rates of countries’ currencies such as the U.S. dollar, euro or British pound may seem obscure. But they matter a great deal to all of us. Businessman falling from pound seesaw (Ikon Images via AP Images) Even when currencies are crashing and making...
Coffee is more than a beverage in the Italian city of Trieste. Over centuries, the commodity enriched the port, where cafés are ‘places of the soul.’ Examining coffee beans at Caffè San Marco in Trieste, Italy (photo by Tira Shubart) Grabbing a coffee is...
One out of three young Africans is unemployed, and the youth population will double by 2050. How can Africa create jobs for the young and avoid unrest? A man holds a poster marking South Africa’s Youth Day holiday in Soweto, South Africa, 16 June 2020. (AP...
Marshaling official reports and authoritative data, correspondent Stella Mapenzauswa lifts the lid on one of Africa’s biggest challenges – youth unemployment. On a continent as large and diverse as Africa, it can be perilous to generalize across borders, but Mapenzauswa puts her finger on a problem that threatens numerous governments and societies there. Not satisfied with merely identifying the problem, the experienced journalist from southern Africa glimpses a solution in “hustling” – young Africans using whatever skills they have to earn money as entrepreneurs. Some of the best journalism identifies both problems and solutions.
Exercise: Ask your students to identify a critical problem facing their local community, assessing its economic and social impact, and then to list possible solutions and the attendant costs.
Inflation is one of the biggest worries for Gen Z and Millennials. Here’s why you need to care about rising interest rates — and what you can do. A tip box is filled with dollar bills, New York, 3 April 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) For the first time in more...
On the same day the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another 0.75%, News Decoder correspondent Sarah Edmonds delivered a decoder breaking down an economic issue that has an impact on us all, especially young people. Using engaging and informative language, Edmonds walks the reader through the history of interest rates, how we got to the position we’re in now and what options lie ahead. In a time when nearly half of Gen Z and Millennials live paycheck to paycheck, this decoder provides concise advice for smart financial planning.
Exercise: Ask students to look up the average cost of a house and the average interest rate in the year they were born. How does that compare to today’s averages?
My family can barely make ends meet amid runaway inflation and shortages of foodstuffs. No wonder Sri Lanka has kicked out a corrupt ruling clan. Protesters take over the office of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, demanding he resign, Colombo, Sri...
News Decoder correspondent Feizal Samath provides an on-the-ground glimpse of life in Sri Lanka following months of inflation, essential shortages and protests that led to the ouster of the president and the ruling clan. Samath gives context to a situation that many outside of the region ignored until images of protestors storming the presidential palace flooded the media. By painting a picture of his own challenges in procuring fuel and everyday foods, Samath puts readers in the shoes of those whose lives have been disrupted by turmoil.
Exercise: Ask students to imagine a part of the world different from their own and write a first-person narrative of what life looks like for a teenager there. How do the political and economic realities impact their family, their schools or their daily routines?
Many have predicted this would be the ‘Asian Century.’ But the world is increasingly fractured as we enter a new “Cold War.” Elderly wait for a free vegetarian lunch in Dingxing, southwest of Beijing, China, 13 May 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) For some...
Immigrants around the world often face discrimination. But they can help drive economic growth and in my country are among the best educated. Protesters in Zurich demonstrate against an initiative that would limit the number of migrant workers in Switzerland, 9...
Many students have strong convictions about issues, so strong that their perspective can be clouded. So we encourage students to base their reporting on solid data and authoritative sources. In her story about immigrants in Switzerland, Nina Bugajska of Realgymnasium Rämibühl in Zurich cites a global polling company, a German data specialist, the Swiss federal statistics office and a Swiss consulting company, and she interviews a university professor, giving her a solid foundation for her look into the important role that immigrants play in Switzerland’s economy. Immigration is a topic that is easily manipulated by political demagogues, making Bugajska’s story a valuable contribution to clear thinking.
Exercise: Ask your students to choose a controversial topic and then find authoritative data, relevant to the issue, that is collected by official authorities, academics or private companies. They should then summarize what the data says about the issue.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to prompt firms to re-examine supply chains and bring business closer to home, even if that means lower profits. Pipeline taps at a chemical plant near Cologne, Germany, 6 April 6, 2022. Germany relies heavily on imports of...
