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Efforts to bring trade standards to Paraguay's Ciudad del Este just make it…

January 15, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked trusted source written by researcher(s) proofread by Jennifer L. Tucker, The Conversation Paraguay's Ciudad del Este is a busy South American contraband hub where scrappy Paraguayan vendors and Brazilian traders mix with businessmen from places as far away as Lebanon and South Korea. This hive of activity moves billions of dollars' worth of consumer goods—everything from smartphones to whiskey. The city was built as a…

Jetsetters and shoppers spend big as confidence returns

Australians have begun opening their wallets, with consumer confidence making a comeback amid positive economic signs. Consumers spent an average of nearly $200 more during the 2023 Black Friday and holiday season compared to the year before, according to online sales data from financial platform Airwallex. Online shopping, finance and insurance, and travel were the main drivers of spending growth, increasing by 3.9 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 7.6 per cent over the year. It seems like Australians have begun testing the spending waters after months of scrimping in the face of a cost of living crisis, Airwallex Australia and New…

Jetsetters and shoppers spend big as confidence returns

Australians have begun opening their wallets, with consumer confidence making a comeback amid positive economic signs. Consumers spent an average of nearly $200 more during the 2023 Black Friday and holiday season compared to the year before, according to online sales data from financial platform Airwallex. Online shopping, finance and insurance, and travel were the main drivers of spending growth, increasing by 3.9 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 7.6 per cent over the year. It seems like Australians have begun testing the spending waters after months of scrimping in the face of a cost of living crisis, Airwallex Australia and New…

Jill On Money: Resilience, not recession

A year ago, the vast majority of economists were warning that the 2023 economy would be haunted by the letter R, as in RECESSION. As it turns out, the letter was correct, the word, not so much. In retrospect, 2023 was a year of RESILIENCE for the U.S. economy, led by the pundit-defying labor market. Throughout the year, we were waiting for the U.S. economic engine to sputter, which would in turn cause employers to quickly shed positions. But miraculously, in the third year of a post-COVID expansion, the economy was able to produce an average of 225,000 jobs per month, for a total of 2.7 million. The year would have been considered…

A Houthi Retaliation Could Send Oil Prices Soaring

The World Bank said at the end of October that a ‘large disruption’ in the global supply of crude oil – which it equated to between 6 and 8 million barrels per day (bpd) – would result in a 56-75 percent increase in prices to between $140 and $157 a barrel. However, as analysed by OilPrice.com at the time, a significant escalation in the Israel-Hamas War could lead to a much greater loss of crude oil supplies than that, and consequently much higher oil prices than even the top of that World Bank range. Following the U.S. and U.K. air and sea strikes in the last few days on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in response to a series…