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2 votes
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Target’s CBGB tribute draws backlash, followed by an apology
3 votes -
Facebook is the first company to see its market cap drop by over 100 billion USD in one day
16 votes -
Fairfax Media and Channel Nine to merge
Article from the ABC: Fairfax to lose its name in $4 billion takeover by Nine Dummies' guide from the ABC: Fairfax and Nine are merging. Here's what the deal involves and what it will mean for you...
Article from the ABC: Fairfax to lose its name in $4 billion takeover by Nine
Dummies' guide from the ABC: Fairfax and Nine are merging. Here's what the deal involves and what it will mean for you
Analysis from the ABC: Nine's Fairfax takeover is a last-ditch bid for survival, but it comes at a cost
Article from Fairfax: Nine promises to safeguard Fairfax journalism in $4.2 billion tie-up
4 votes -
Betsy DeVos proposes rules that would cut student loan relief by an estimated $13 billion
9 votes -
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13 votes -
Why is vigorous economic competition a good thing?
3 votes -
Trump’s tax cut hasn’t done anything for workers
9 votes -
How to spend it: The shopping list for the 1%. In an age of astonishing wealth, nothing reveals the lives of the ultra-rich like the FT’s unashamedly ostentatiously luxury magazine.
25 votes -
New Deliveroo contract shifts liability for undelivered food to riders
3 votes -
How to introduce a Land Value Tax tactfully
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Deliveroo threatens to terminate workers after losing their contracts
1 vote -
US President Donald Trump's trade offensive is producing brutal local headlines
9 votes -
The EU and Japan have signed an unprecedented free trade agreement which will create one of the world's largest trading blocs
21 votes -
The downfall of Theranos, from the journalist who made it happen
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Liberapay is in trouble
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Debunking UBI funding schemes
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Chinese police break up US$1.5 billion cryptocurrency World Cup gambling ring
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The futility of trade war explained by economist Michael Pettis
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How to invest for the next recession
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Hong Kong declined 2016 request to arrest alleged 1MDB mastermind, Singapore says
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The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto
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US debt to China: How much does it own? And why? [Analysis]
5 votes -
China vows firm and forcefull retaliation for $200 Billion US tariff threat
11 votes -
Why killing Dodd-Frank could lead to the next crash - Eliminating the bill was a top priority for Trump. So why did any Dems vote for it?
11 votes -
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan names son-in-law as treasury and finance minister
10 votes -
Northrop Grumman employee who allegedly attended violent white-supremacist rally is no longer employed at the company
10 votes -
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6 votes -
Foodora dishes out punishment to injured riders in 'oppressive' policy, ABC investigation reveals
2 votes -
The great illusion of digital currencies
7 votes -
These eleven companies control everything about the Fourth of July
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GST overhaul promises $9 billion federal injection to level playing field
1 vote -
Economists worry we aren’t prepared for the fallout from automation
11 votes -
US loses at world cup and it’s not even playing
7 votes -
A Foodora delivery rider is facing a test case at the Fair Work Commission that will determine whether food delivery riders are really employees.
5 votes -
After the Fall: Ten Years after the Crash
10 votes -
Bitcoin bloodbath nears historic levels
21 votes -
Canada tariffs on US goods from ketchup to lawn mowers begin
24 votes -
I am a bookkeeper and small business consultant, AMA
My background: I've run a small bookkeeping business in California for the past 6 years, and worked as a bookkeeper for another 6 years before that. Over the years I've been deep in the books of...
My background: I've run a small bookkeeping business in California for the past 6 years, and worked as a bookkeeper for another 6 years before that. Over the years I've been deep in the books of dozens of businesses, both successful and not. In the process of working closely with the owners of said businesses, I've learned a lot about what makes a small business work and what means I shouldn't get too attached. I'm a generalist, working with for and non-profit businesses as well as well to do individuals (who often have financial lives more complex than my business clients.)
I'm bored and it's a smoky Sunday trapping me indoors, so if you have a question about bookkeeping or running/starting a small business, fire away.
16 votes -
The surveillance economy and extreme income inequality: You can't have one without the other by Jaron Lanier
5 votes -
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi warns risks from trade war may be understated
6 votes -
OPECs agreement to increase oil production by reducing over-compliance with 2017 deal is a drop in the barrel
An agreement on Friday June 22nd caused oil prices to increase by the largest one-day jump since OPEC agreed to reduce output at the start of 2017. At the beginning of 2017 OPEC and 10 other...
An agreement on Friday June 22nd caused oil prices to increase by the largest one-day jump since OPEC agreed to reduce output at the start of 2017. At the beginning of 2017 OPEC and 10 other oil-producing countries agreed to reduce their combined output by 1.8 million barrels a day, roughly 2% of global output. The 2017 deal was a reaction to the massive over-supply that brought prices down significantly since late 2014 when Saudi Arabia led the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to allow market prices to dictate their output. While the 2017 deal called for a reduction of only 1.8 million barrels a day, many countries reduced output even further resulting in 150% compliance of the planned quotas, or nearly 3 million fewer barrels of oil a day. Some members of OPEC had faced unexpected production outages whereas others simply chose to withhold their stockpile but the result was the same: oil prices were rising and global stockpiles were being used up to avoid a dangerous price spike.
The new agreement, taking effect in early July, aims to reign in the over-compliance of the 2017 deal and add more barrels of oil to the global market by returning to 100% compliance. To go from 150% compliance to 100% compliance, roughly 1 million barrels a day of crude oil would be added to the global market. However, some producers may be unable to increase their output for various reasons resulting in an expected increase of only 600,000 barrels a day. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak claims the $80 a barrel threshold hit in May of 2018 reflects the global inventory of surplus crude oil being reduced to a point where the oil market can rebalance itself. Saudi Arabia's Oil minister Khalid al-Falih promises his country will increase oil sales gradually starting in July. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh had reservations about any deal because economic sanctions from the US put them in a position whereby the increased output of others may take over Iran’s market share. Oil producing countries have to weigh the risk that big consumers may invest in renewables as well as produce their own oil, when available, if prices rise too quickly.
Leading up to this decision, the price of oil steadily fell from the $80 tipping point in late May with the expectation that OPEC and affiliated oil-producing countries would flood the
market similar to the 2014 decision. While supply will increase due to this new deal it is a far cry from the amount many investors had feared - and consumers had hoped for - therefore the price of crude saw a 3% increase due to the news instead of decreasing further. The month-long anticipation of increased supply lowered the price of crude oil but the end-result of the deal caused a market correction as speculation was replaced by the true figure. While the agreed-upon figure is an additional 1 million barrels a day, the expectation is that only 600,000 barrels will be added a day however some countries wish to produce an even greater amount of oil to take advantage of the high prices while they last. Such an over-correction could still happen in the coming weeks leading to a drop in oil prices but investors believe their fears of another 2014 crash is averted.Without this boost to supply, OPEC feared prices could spike to surpass $100 a barrel which would drastically reduce global demand and severely cut into the profit of oil-producing
countries who rely on the revenue from companies exporting oil. Many worried the supply increase would cause American oil prices to drop below $30 a barrel again, which caused
massive unemployment in the industry and a huge loss of revenue. From 2014 to 2016, as much as $4 billion in American employee wages was lost in the oil industry.Countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia have the ability to produce oil at a far lower opportunity cost than most other countries, giving them a comparative advantage in the global oil
market. During the 2014-2016 period of oil surplus that brought US prices below $30 a barrel, American producers had to develop the technology to continue production despite the nearly 200,000 oil workers who lost their jobs in the shale industry. US producers made good on that pressure and were able to maintain production gains through more efficient extraction and refining methods. The relatively loose regulations on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, provided a much needed advantage to US producers who were able to leverage that technology and avoid Saudi Arabia's attempt in 2014 to shut small firms out of the market.Avoiding a spike in oil prices in excess of $100 a barrel is beneficial to producers and consumers as demand would quickly plummet despite the short-term gains by companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp as well as countries such as Russia hoping to capitalize on the high prices. Spikes in oil prices turn consumers away from their unhealthy dependence on oil in favor of renewables and alternatives to plastics; invites pressure from big consumers such as the United States who aren’t afraid of imposing reactionary economic sanctions; and benefits countries such as Russia whose major exports are oil. Massive increases in supply have the effect of hurting the governments who rely heavily on high oil prices to make their profit as well as hurting the small oil producers that struggle to produce efficiently when oil prices drop. With oil prices rising by over 40% since early 2017 due to geopolitical risks to supply causing unexpected shortages and the increasing demand matching increased economic growth, the global oil supply needed a moderate boost.
The United States exported a record high of 3 million barrels a day during the week of the Friday June 22nd deal - producing 10.9 million barrels a day. Progressing from exporting no oil to exporting more oil than all but three OPEC countries pump out of the earth is not solely the result of US efficiency - some analysts say a portion of the record-breaking exports was sourced from US stockpiles. Maintaining this level of oil exporting is not only unsustainable, it is hitting US consumers in the wallet at a time where oil prices are on the risk of surging to a new high for 2018 - perhaps even surpassing the triple digits per barrel. This may be viewed as the United States attempting to force smaller members of OPEC and most non-OPEC producers out of the world market for oil as this export record comes at a time when most countries have finally expended the last dregs of their stockpiles. Countries that can afford to increase output considerably include the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia - and the former two appear very eager to commit to flooding the market without a care for the resulting over-corrections of the market which would send the pendulum of oil prices swinging back and forth causing international uncertainty especially for countries heavily dependent on the oil industry.
Sources
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2016/12/03/opec-reaches-a-deal-to-cutproduction
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2016/12/03/opec-reaches-a-deal-to-cutproduction
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/business/worldbusiness/18opec.html
https://www.iea.org/oilmarketreport/omrpublic/
4 votes -
'We need more time': Malcolm Turnbull government concedes defeat on Australian company tax cuts
3 votes -
In Louisiana, Trump's trade war spooks America's biggest port
5 votes -
Call for a general strike for Amazon workers across Europe during Amazon Prime Day
13 votes -
Budgeting app
I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw an ad for an AI budgeting app called Cleo I was wondering if anyone had experience with this app or has heard anything about it? I do want to start...
I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw an ad for an AI budgeting app called Cleo
I was wondering if anyone had experience with this app or has heard anything about it? I do want to start using budgeting assistants since I'm pretty bad fiscally.
Does anyone use budgeting apps? If so, what would you recommend?
10 votes -
To better understand the Raising Housing Price, review the housing culture
1 vote -
BMW joins Airbus in Brexit warning
8 votes -
Amazon, the brand buster
8 votes -
America’s millennials are waking up to a grim financial future
23 votes