Business + Economy – Articles, Analysis, Comment – The Conversation

Forget real sneakers – soon we’ll be more worried about the digital variety. naratrip2

NFTs: how top brands like Nike and Prada are using them – and what could go wrong

Achilleas Boukis, University of Birmingham

NFT sales passed US$40 billion in 2021 and now more brands want to get in on the action.

The daily commute is not worth as much as before. PA Images/Alamy

Wages: why are they not keeping up with inflation?

David Spencer, University of Leeds

Lower real living standards now represent the price of being in paid work.

The UK has fallen behind. PA Images/Alamy

Inflation: there’s a vital way to reduce it that everyone overlooks – raise productivity

David McMillan, University of Stirling

Increasing productivity means increasing investment, but raising interest rates makes businesses do the opposite.

Is it wrong to steal from large corporations? A philosopher debates the ethics

Emma Borg, University of Reading

Some philosophers say stealing is always wrong, but there could be grey areas when companies break their social contract.

Bank holidays: how a day off work affects the economy

Edward Thomas Jones, Bangor University

Some sectors get a boost while others may suffer.

Rishi Sunak’s £15 billion cost-of-living package and windfall tax: four experts respond

Jonquil Lowe, The Open University; Adi Imsirovic, University of Surrey; Alan Shipman, The Open University, and Keith Baker, Glasgow Caledonian University

The UK chancellor is giving a one-off payment of £1,200 to the most vulnerable households, while U-turning on a windfall tax for energy companies.

Liverpool enjoyed the semi-final against Villarreal. EPA-EFE/DOMENECH CASTELLO

Champions League final 2022: the economic tactics that drive Liverpool and Real Madrid

Simon Chadwick, EM Lyon Business School and Paul Widdop, University of Manchester

They may not be funded by gas and oil, but these two sides are big money players.

How to talk to your employer about trauma

Stefanos Nachmias, Nottingham Trent University

Trauma and PTSD can lead to challenges in the workplace. An expert explains what you should consider before seeking support at work.

Shanghai has been dysfunctional since March. Xinhua/Alamy

Shanghai: world’s biggest port is returning to normal, but supply chains will get worse before they get better

Sarah Schiffling, Liverpool John Moores University and Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos, Technological University Dublin

China lockdowns and Ukraine war have made global supply chains far worse in 2022 than many expected.

Tech firms are making computer chips with human cells – is it ethical?

Julian Savulescu, University of Oxford; Christopher Gyngell, The University of Melbourne, and Tsutomu Sawai, Hiroshima University

Technology businesses are already making computers with human matter.

Inflation: the supermarket business model is too fragile to shield customers from rising food prices

Lisa Jack, University of Portsmouth

It’s surprisingly difficult for most to make a profit.

How soaring inflation can be particularly harmful for young people

Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, University of East London; Ejike Udeogu, Coventry University, and Michael Harrison, University of East London

Starting out is getting more and more expensive.

1922 and all that: Ireland had a reality check after gaining independence. EPA

What Scotland can learn from Irish independence: it won’t control interest rates and inequality will widen

Eoin McLaughlin, University College Cork and Seán Kenny, University College Cork

After 1922, the people that had supported independence often weren’t the ones who benefited from it.

Women at work at a textile factory in Tamil Nadu. Joerg Boethling/Alamy Stock Photo

India’s employee hostels are often like prisons – but young women garment workers don’t always see it that way

Andrew Crane, University of Bath

Living in factory owned accommodation can provide certain freedoms.

Rural areas are being hit much worse than most other places. geogphotos

Shortage of workers threatens UK recovery – here’s why and what to do about it

Donald Houston, University of Portsmouth and Paul Sissons, University of Wolverhampton

The nation has very low unemployment figures, but that masks a complex labour market.

A central bank digital euro could save the eurozone – here’s how

Guido Cozzi, University of St.Gallen and Leonardo Becchetti, University of Rome Tor Vergata

By changing the rules around bank lending, you can make a huge cut to national debt.

A living wage increases economic productivity while reducing poverty – new report

Anna Barford, University of Cambridge and Jane Nelson, Harvard Kennedy School

How employers benefit from paying higher wages.

Cryptocurrencies: why they’ve crashed and what it could mean for their future

Gavin Brown, University of Liverpool; Richard Whittle, UCL, and Stuart Mills, London School of Economics and Political Science

Cryptocurrencies may be down, but they’re not out.

Stablecoin volatility shows an urgent need for regulation to protect consumers

Matthew Shillito, University of Liverpool

Uncertainty is affecting what used to be the safer end of the market.

Electric car supplies are running out – and could drastically slow down the journey to net-zero

Tom Stacey, Anglia Ruskin University

Governments may be forced to put back deadlines to shift away from petrol and diesel.

A Shanghai refuse worker shows the strain of the month-long COVID lockdown. Shutterstock

China’s COVID crisis and the dilemma facing its leaders, by experts who have monitored it since the Wuhan outbreak

Jane Duckett, University of Glasgow; Meixuan Chen, University of Glasgow, and William Wang, University of Glasgow

What can China do to resolve a crisis that threatens not only the health and security of its people and economy, but the future of Chinese Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping?

Should have been listening. Mijatmijatovich

Five things that economists know, but sound wrong to most other people

Renaud Foucart, Lancaster University

Economists shape the world in many ways, but some of their conclusions are counter-intuitive to say the least.

Gaming nous and the ability to manage multiple digital identities gives young people an edge in the VR workplace. Dan Rentea / Alamy Stock Photo

Working in the metaverse: what virtual office life could look like

Sam Gilbert, University of Cambridge

Young people have lost out from recent developments in the labour market. Could the shift to working in virtual reality be about to turn the tables?

Over-50s are resigning en masse – new research explains who and why

Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, University of Essex; Alex Clymo, University of Essex, and David Zentler-Munro, University of Essex

300,000 more workers in this age group in UK are now economically inactive, pointing to a major challenge for the government.

Russian money for Russian gas? Vyacheslav Lopatin/Alamy Stock Photo

Why Bulgaria and Poland can withstand Russia cutting off their gas supply

Alexander Mihailov, University of Reading

Democratic nations are adept at evolving to deal with economic shocks.