ECONOMY Archivi - Page 3 of 4 - Keep Calm and Drink Coffee

DIGITAL CURRENCY

Jan 16, 2021 | ECONOMY

This Hub Scuola video explains in a very basic way what it is

As indicated by this Bank of Italy document:
The guarantee of reimbursement of electronic money takes the form of the possibility for the holder – in accordance with the rules of the contract with the issuer – to download the monetary amount from their electronic device, receiving in exchange the equivalent amount of coins and banknotes or a corresponding credit to a current account. This guarantee constitutes, in the intentions of the EU legislator, a measure designed to increase confidence in the use of this payment instrument. If the operation underlying the “loading” into the electronic device consists in the exchange of bank or legal money with electronic money, the redeemability ensures that the reverse operation takes place, that is the conversion of the residual quantity of electronic money (available to the holder of the device) in the corresponding amount of legal or bank money.

Legal currency or bank money?
This prospectus from Consob explains well the difference, up to the important node represented by the monetary multiplier that originates through the granting of loans.

It sounds like a difficult concept, but simply: every time a bank makes a loan, it creates new money.
How?
Through a deposit on the current account of the holder.

This deposit represents a debt of the bank, which appears on the liabilities side in correspondence with the current account holder, but the applicant must sign a loan agreement with a mortgage on the property which constitutes a credit for the bank and which must therefore be included in the balance sheet assets.

The ability to repay the loan is the guarantee, but in the event that this does not happen, the bank must have a compulsory reserve.

The calculations are not simple, but we can consider an example, just to understand: on a deposit of 100 the bank keeps a reserve of 2. The remaining 98 can be used for a new deposit, and so on, reducing the sum by 2% at every turn.

The ECB explains that commercial banks can also create so-called “inside” money, i.e. bank deposits – this happens every time they issue a new loan. The difference between outside and inside money is that the former is an asset for the economy as a whole, but it is nobody’s liability. Inside money, on the other hand, is named this way because it is backed by private credit: if all the claims held by banks on private debtors were to be settled, the inside money created would be reversed to zero. So, it is one form of currency that is created – and can be reversed – within the private economy.

And … by the way, did you know that the ECB is planning the digital Euro presumably starting in 2021?

ACHETER CHEZ LES PETITS COMMERÇANTS C’EST FAIRE UN GRAND GESTE

Nov 21, 2020 | ECONOMY, WORLD

On the long diatribe between us and the “cousins from beyond the Alps” it must be acknowledged that they know how to be more revolutionary, starting from the feeling of nationalism that they nurture in a strong and clear way.

The French have indeed obtained a result in favor of the campaign to help small traders in this difficult period.

Many personalities took sides by signing up and promoting the cause, starting with the first citizen of Paris Anne Hidalgo.

The main hashtag is #NoelSansAmazon after which Amazon France has decided to postpone Black Friday.

The now famous appointment that provides discounts and bargains corresponds to the Friday after Thanksgiving and celebrates the beginning of Christmas shopping, but in France it has been moved to the beginning of December, more precisely on the 4th, that is four days later than when it is the reopening of shops and commercial establishments, currently forcibly closed due to lockdown, is expected

A certainly correct initiative, to restore a minimum of competition against giants whose position is already fiscally favored at a European level in general.

Inevitably, the thought goes to some of the little shops that it was impossible not to fall in love with for those who were lucky enough to be able to visit Paris.

Do you have any particular memories?

Do you have a purchase of the heart linked to the Ville Lumière?

Otherwise I hope you can live this experience very soon because like Venice, even Paris has an inimitable atmosphere.

Allons enfant de la patrie then!

FROM THE VERB GOOGLING

Oct 23, 2020 | ECONOMY, INTERNET, WORLD

It is now part of the common language: as the Accademia della Crusca indicates to us, Googling means doing an online search using the Google search engine.

How often do you use Google? For you is it just a tool like any other or do you find it indispensable?

According to Attorney General William Barr “Today, millions of Americans rely on the Internet and online platforms for their daily lives. Competition in this industry is vitally important, which is why today’s challenge against Google — the gatekeeper of the Internet — for violating antitrust laws is a monumental case both for the Department of Justice and for the American people.”

For this reason Justice Department Sues Monopolist Google For Violating Antitrust Laws.

In particular, the subject of the dispute are the various exclusive or long-term agreements as in the case of Apple, which prohibit the pre-installation of any competing search service and at the same time impose applications in prime locations on mobile devices, making them also undeletable.

These anticompetitive practices are equated with the conditions under which the Department filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in the 1990s.

In March 1998, Bill Gates testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capital Hill, then in May the Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming that the company had violated Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The court ruled in April 2000 that Microsoft was split into two separate companies: one for the operating system, ie Windows, and one for the other software programs.

Just on the same day, that is, Tuesday, October 20, faced with antitrust charges, and in response to the Department Files Complaint Against Google to Restore Competition in Search and Search Advertising Markets, Google released the following statement:

Google Search has put the world’s information at the fingertips of over a billion people. Our engineers work to offer the best search engine possible, constantly improving and fine-tuning it. We think that’s why a wide cross-section of Americans value and often love our free products.
Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to, or because they can’t find alternatives.
This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers. To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use.

What do you think about it? Do you feel compelled to use Google?

I have already expressed my opinion on the websoft giants, and in this case I personally cannot understand one thing: why should they possibly raise the phone prices?

RICH OR POOR?

Jun 13, 2020 | ECONOMY, INTERNET, ITALY, WORLD

By now they are commonly called “the websoft giants”, more precisely: Software & Web Companies operating in internet retailing, software development and internet services (social, search engine, web portal, payment system).
As you can see in the Area ratio of Mediobanca they move absolutely significant figures, especially in the context of the general economic crisis in which we are currently.
Big companies therefore.
The adjective big, however, has several meanings: indicates higher than normal in terms of size and quantity, gives a superlative value, but also expresses admiration and is responsible for the name of one who excels in intelligence, capacity and moral qualities.
Here, compared to these moral qualities, these societies become poor, given that moral ethics is completely irrelevant in economics.
Earnings are the only commandment.
So any opportunity is worth for them, including that of not paying taxes even in the face of huge profits.
Corporate holding companies are valid instruments capable of offering advantages linked to both the management of financial flows and tax savings. One of these tools is cash pooling i.e. the centralization, virtual or effective, of all the financial resources (incoming and outgoing flows) of a group within a single company. The goal is to achieve better management of the company’s treasury, but this also leads to better financial solidity when interfacing with the banking system. All this, transferred to the Dutch territory, where the tax regime is facilitated, thanks also to the tax ruling: a practice that clarifies the tax treatment in advance, allowing multinationals to choose the most advantageous destination of the taxable amount, and where there is a real system of companies without employees, used only to pass on cash flows.
It is clear how much the loss for the state coffers is huge, some estimates have been made and, in particular, it is possible to get an idea from this study: The Missing Profits.
In this regard, I would quote a statement by Giulio Tremonti: “I find Prodi’s phrase romantic that speaks of Holland as a country that exports tulips. Holland is a country that imports holding companies. This is a non-marginal fact in terms of influence and power. “

The CGIA of Mestre has raised an alarm.
Waiting for the WEB TAX, we keep our fingers crossed so that at least the artists’ appeal is heard and that the copyright directive is implemented,
Then it would not be bad if they also implement that paying taxes is in fact a form of social sharing towards people, since it is thanks to these people if they can achieve such considerable profits.

MAYBE MAKING CASTLES IN THE AIR IS NOT WRONG

May 16, 2020 | ECONOMY, ITALY, WORK, WORLD

We have had evidence of how our custom can easily collapse like a house of cards.
Have you ever thought about it in these terms?
In a whisper the daily habits went from being routine in some cases even the subject of complaints, to being a precious certainty that we would like to have again.
In this, I believe we can say that we are united on a global level, although everyone has their own story, everyone walks their own path, and everyone has their own habits.
Habits that for some had perhaps become heavy bricks like habituation, for others instead modular and elusive as sand, or, just like in the tale of the three houses, built with cards.
Cards that say who we are as documents or badges, cards that frame us, allow us access, lead us, regulate us, finance us: cards, tickets, maps, contracts, banknotes.
Cards that represent our actions, our life.
Cards that we accumulate, cards that we keep in balance.
Or balances that keep us standing.
Technically to build a castle too new or perfect cards slip: there is need of “lived” ones.
Cards that have played, cards that have been held in the hands. Hands that must be firm.
Hands that can never shake, because balance cannot be held in hand.
And never before have we had concrete and disturbing proof of this.
The question is: what exactly do we learn from this demonstration?
Who or what really has power over so many “houses” and how could we let them fall in the sudden way we witnessed?
We now have fewer cards available to rebuild, and we will have to adopt different “customs”, which will not be chosen.
Or maybe we should take the opportunity to learn to question, to ask ourselves questions, to consider all the hypotheses, always.
In the Operette Morali Giacomo Leopardi asks:
“… why is any custom, even if corrupt and bad, difficult to discern from nature?”
The answer seems to be Erasmus of Rotterdam:
“There is no practice, however infamous, however atrocious, that does not impose itself, if it has the custom on its side.”
Custom as well as a constant way of proceeding, is also a source of law. The unwritten source for excellence, which consists of two elements: one of a material type, that is, the reiteration of a certain behavior by a community; the other, of a subjective type although objectively verifiable, is instead the widespread belief that that behavior is, not only morally or socially, but legally mandatory.
So we should consider rebuilding on some unusual bases and starting first of all from the awareness of what is the true important essence of our life.

WATER IS BEING DEPLETED MANY, MANY TIMES FASTER THAN NATURE CAN REPLENISH IT. Maude Barlow

Apr 18, 2020 | ECONOMY, WORLD

Water is an essential good for life itself.
Among the countless uses, water is also used for our coffee 🙂
If I asked you to describe what water is for you, what would you answer? What is the first word that comes to your mind?
The vocabulary defines it a chemical compound in its three states of aggregation, DIFFUSED IN NATURE.
For me, immediate association is a “precious asset”.
What I wasn’t thinking about was the vision as an economic good: commodity.
And while here in Italy the various governments follow one another with the more or less common denominator of circumventing the outcome of the referendum according to which we would have voted not to privatize it, there are parts of the world where water is subject to market prices.
Yes, as on the stock exchange, precisely with the price fluctuating even according to the weather forecast.
Can the need for water be considered a market demand? According to an increasing number of investors, without any doubt.
This speculation started quietly over fifteen years ago and provides for a division of the water into quotas: a part for the needs of the urban centers, a part for agriculture divided in proportion to the properties, and a part for the environment, for good peace of ecologists.
All this is happening for example in Australia, where as we know there are large desert areas and very hot temperature.
At the beginning, farmers were given the mirage of the option of being able to sell part of their water, if in excess, and make a profit.
But an analyst is not needed to consider that water gradually decreases from year to year.
And when does the quota allocated end?
Simple: you can buy more water.
But obviously the price will have gone up.
However, the “rising” figure, which is constantly exponentially increasing, attracts speculators is another: the total population.
More people means more water needed, not only for the needs: also for the production of food.
All this leads to a consideration: if the oil was called black gold, the water for many is already “Blue Gold”.
In the title I quoted Maude Barlow: born in 1947 in the campaign to make water recognized as a human right, to conclude, on the other hand, I would like to draw inspiration from Thomas Fuller’s phrase:
We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
Maybe allow me to update it: we don’t know the value of water until it becomes a commodity.