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Category: economics – Page 124

How to build a modern public-private cybersecurity partnership

Public-private partnerships have been central to the development of cybersecurity over the past decade, through the sharing of threat information between commercial organizations and historically secretive government agencies. The opportunity now exists for a new era of public-private partnership, for a new realm of information sharing.

Cyberattacks continue to be reported as a key business risk. In the recent World Economic Forum’s Regional Risks for Doing Business 2019 report, survey respondents in six of the world’s 10-largest economies identified cyberattacks as their number one risk.

However, as distinct from other risks such as fiscal crises or energy price shocks, cyberattacks have a clear mitigation: cybersecurity. Yet despite a decade of rising spending, respondents do not have confidence in their ability to deliver sufficiently strong cybersecurity to mitigate the risk. Why is this?

A vaccine won’t cure the global economy

🤔 My belief is: Many people have ideas on how to fix the global economy. It is only in trying as many ideas as possible to see what works, and what fails. Personally I believe in the ideologies of Scottish Intellectuals David Hume, and Adam Smith. Capital needs to be broadly spread out to the most productive hands of an economy. Currently that would be creatives. Musk and Bezos have multiplied wealth and created jobs, like Steve Jobs. With people cozy to the idea of working a… See More.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked states to be ready to distribute a coronavirus vaccine by late October. Pfizer (PFE) thinks it will have enough data to ask the US Food and Drug Administration to authorize its potential vaccine next month.

Most experts think it’s unlikely — but not impossible — that a vaccine will be ready ahead of the US election. But with at least seven candidates in phase three trials, it’s very likely that at least one successful vaccine will emerge in the months to come. Pharmaceutical companies are also racing to develop effective treatments for the disease.

An effective vaccine has been touted as the magic bullet that will allow the global economy to quickly shift back into gear. Yet there are reasons why the recovery may be slow going: vaccines are typically not 100% effective and there will be a limited number of doses to go around. Distribution could be a problem, both between countries and within them. Even if those challenges are overcome, some people may choose not to take the vaccine.

Blockchain and Money

This course is for students wishing to explore blockchain technology’s potential use—by entrepreneurs and incumbents—to change the world of money and finance. The course begins with a review of Bitcoin and an understanding of the commercial, technical, and public policy fundamentals of blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, and smart contracts. The class then continues on to current and potential blockchain applications in the financial sector.

Jeep reveals hybrid Wrangler, 1st US battery-powered vehicle

The company rolled out the first of them for the U.S. on Thursday, a plug-in rechargeable Wrangler to go on sale in America, Europe and China early next year.

The Wrangler 4xe can go 25 miles (40 kilometers) on electricity before a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine takes over. Drivers can choose to have an engine-powered generator recharge the batteries (at a higher fuel consumption rate), although it would take about 2.5 hours at 45 to 55 mph (72.4 to 88.5 kilometers per hour) to fully replenish them.

A big driver of the new offerings is FCA’s obligation to meet fuel economy and pollution regulations in Europe, China, and the U.S. or face stiff fines or steep costs to buy electric vehicle credits from companies like Tesla.

Germany tells Elon Musk he can have whatever he needs for new Berlin plant

Tesla boss Elon Musk has been told by Germany’s economy minister that he can have whatever he needs for his new electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Berlin.

Musk and Germany economy minister Peter Altmaier had an hour long meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter. “The main topics were Tesla’s billions of euros worth of investment in Germany,” the source said.

The duo, who first met six years ago, also spoke about Musk’s projects in areas like space flight and autonomous driving.

The covid-19 pandemic will be over by the end of 2021, says Bill Gates

MILLIONS MORE are going to die before the covid-19 pandemic is over. That is the stark message of Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s largest philanthropists via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in an interview with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, in early August. Most of these deaths, he said, would be caused not by the disease itself, but by the further strain on health-care systems and economies that were already struggling.

But he offered reasons for hope in the medium term, predicting that by the end of 2021 a reasonably effective vaccine would be in mass production, and a large enough share of the world’s population would be immunised to halt the pandemic in its tracks.

1) If “Most of these deaths, he said, would be caused not by the disease itself, but by the further strain on health-care systems and economies that were already struggling.”, how will a vaccine at the end if 2021 magically change that? 2) No one knows what will happen in the future, but one knows what one wants to happen. It is called a plan for 2021, not a prediction of 2021. 3) What about treatments?

But millions of deaths are yet to come in poor countries.

International.

Continue reading “The covid-19 pandemic will be over by the end of 2021, says Bill Gates” | >

Scientists Use Fruit Peel to Turn Old Lithium-Ion Batteries Into New

Scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a novel method of using fruit peel waste to extract and reuse precious metals from spent lithium-ion batteries in order to create new batteries.

The team demonstrated their concept using orange peel, which recovered precious metals from battery waste efficiently. They then made functional batteries from these recovered metals, creating minimal waste in the process.

The scientists say that their waste-to-resource approach tackles both food waste and electronics waste, supporting the development of a circular economy with zero waste, in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible. An estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste and 50 million tonnes of e-waste are generated globally each year.

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