money and monetary policy - 360

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If and when it does run out of cash, the US will default on its obligations to repay borrowers and make payments to individuals and businesses. : Farsnews.ir CCBY4.0

As the US hits its $31 trillion debt ceiling, there’s a danger it could default. Yet the solution to avoiding the debt ceiling is surprisingly simple.

Governments in the red

How the US could easily avoid default

As the US hits its $31 trillion debt ceiling, there’s a danger it could default. Yet the solution to avoiding the debt ceiling is surprisingly simple.

Microfinance debts can end up being a trap for women in Sri Lanka. : Adam Jones CCBY2.0

Micro loans promised Sri Lankan and Cambodian women affected by war a way out of poverty as they rebuilt their lives. Instead the loans trapped them in debt.

International women's day

Microfinance promises women a future instead it traps them in debt

Micro loans promised Sri Lankan and Cambodian women affected by war a way out of poverty as they rebuilt their lives. Instead the loans trapped them in debt.

EU Vice-President Margrethe Vestager has identified some of the new changes that ever-growing Big Tech companies present. (Picture: David Fitzgerald/Web Summit via Sportsfile, Flickr. CC BY 2.0 https://bit.ly/3ln7AVn) : David Fitzgerald/Web Summit via Sportsfile, Flickr.

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act is a bold, innovative attempt to do what no power has successfully done: mitigate the power of tech giants.

Platforms and power

EU policy aims for Big Tech ‘gatekeepers’

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act is a bold, innovative attempt to do what no power has successfully done: mitigate the power of tech giants.

Crowdwork and the gig economy are creating a “precariat”: Shopblocks, Flickr CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/155237687@N06/34719224782/

The gig economy offers workers flexibility – but inadequate labour protections. Blockchain may be the solution.

Platforms and power

Crowdwork pitfalls may need a (block)chain reaction

What we trust online today may not necessarily translate when we start using the metaverse. : rawpixel.com

Many people believe that technology is neutral or unbiased, but the reality is more complex, especially in an immersive environment.

Platforms and power

The metaverse is coming but we still don’t trust AI

This sculpture, one of a pair found outside of the Federal Trade Commission Building, is entitled “Man Controlling Trade” and was completed for the FTC Building in 1942 by New York sculptor Michael Lantz. https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootbearwdc/2404635465/ : David/Flickr

Growing evidence and new research explain the evolution of economic diversity and the need to rethink monopolies in the age of technology.

Platforms and power

How tech rebooted economics and platforms broke the invisible hand

Indian yoga entrepreneur and businessman Baba Ramdev launched a swadeshi WhatsApp lookalike, Kimbho, in 2018. He is pictured here in 2014 with Narendra Modi. : Narendra Modi/Flickr

The prospect of freeing India from the grip of big social media platforms is alluring, but an embrace of local start-ups comes with its own risks.

Platforms and power

India’s rocky road to social media independence