Cryptocurrency

TikTok fears point to larger problem: Poor media literacy in the social media age

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Friday, April 19, 2024

The U.S. government moved closer to banning the video social media app TikTok after the House of Representatives attached the measure to an emergency spending bill on Apr.

Key Points:

The U.S. government moved closer to banning the video social media app TikTok after the House of Representatives attached the measure to an emergency spending bill on Apr.
The move could improve the bill’s chances in the Senate, and President Joe Biden has indicated that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
The bill would force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to either sell its American holdings to a U.S. company or face a ban in the country.
For one, ByteDance can be required to assist the Chinese Communist Party in gathering intelligence, according to the Chinese National Intelligence Law.
The fact that China, a country that Americans criticize for its authoritarian practices, bans social media platforms is hardly a reason for the U.S. to do the same.
Here’s why I think the recent move against TikTok misses the larger point: Americans’ sources of information have declined in quality and the problem goes beyond any one social media platform.

The deeper problem

But the proposed solution of switching to American ownership of the app ignores an even more fundamental threat.
The deeper problem is not that the Chinese government can easily manipulate content on the app.
It is, rather, that people think it is OK to get their news from social media in the first place.
In other words, the real national security vulnerability is that people have acquiesced to informing themselves through social media.

Media and technology literacy

Research suggests that it will only be alleviated by inculcating media and technology literacy habits from an early age.
My colleagues and I have just launched a pilot program to boost digital media literacy with the Boston Mayor’s Youth Council.
Some of these measures to boost media and technology literacy might not be popular among tech users and tech companies.

The Applied Ethics Center at UMass Boston receives funding from the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Nir Eisikovits serves as the data ethics advisor to Hour25AI, a startup dedicated to reducing digital distractions.

Bitcoin is halving again – what does that mean for the cryptocurrency and the market?

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Friday, April 19, 2024

Reward, Miner, Attention, Research, Cryptocurrency

Now a hotly anticipated recurring event that happens roughly every four years is taking place: the bitcoin halving.

Key Points:

Now a hotly anticipated recurring event that happens roughly every four years is taking place: the bitcoin halving.
This could have further significant impact on the value of the cryptocurrency.
To understand what the halving is and what it could mean, we have to understand how bitcoin works.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that makes use of what’s called blockchain technology to securely store, record and publicly publish all transactions.
The latest halving means the reward will be just 3.125 bitcoins.

Why does bitcoin halve?

But this may lead to users holding bitcoin as a speculative asset rather than using it as a medium of exchange.
So what impact does the halving have on the price?
After the halving, the number of new bitcoin entering circulation shrinks.

While the first halving happened in 2012, when bitcoin was less well known and quite hard to buy and sell, we can learn from the subsequent two halvings.
Beginning the year around US$900, by the end of 2017 bitcoin was trading above US$19,000.

Making an asset of scarcity

But we do know that instantly miners’ rewards are halved, meaning their revenue immediately halves and their profit margins are severely affected.
Bitcoin’s scarcity is arguably one of its most significant characteristics, especially in a time of high inflation, quantitative easing and high interest rates.

Andrew Urquhart owns some cryptocurrencies.

Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement (with Q&A)

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

Stock market development and familiarity (language and distance) are considered key determinants for home bias.

Key Points:

Stock market development and familiarity (language and distance) are considered key determinants for home bias.
The literature neglects however that investors often invest in foreign funds domiciled in financial centers.

Isabel Schnabel: The future of inflation (forecast) targeting

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

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Stock market development and familiarity (language and distance) are considered key determinants for home bias.

Key Points:

Stock market development and familiarity (language and distance) are considered key determinants for home bias.
The literature neglects however that investors often invest in foreign funds domiciled in financial centers.

Central bank digital currency and monetary policy implementation

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

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Transactional demand for central bank digital currency

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

POS, Learning, CB, E41, Calibration, Financial regulation, Interest, ATM, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Journal of Macroeconomics, Sensitivity, Diffusion, ITunes, Bank of Canada, P2P, Safety, NBER, Benchmarking, Prevalence, SPACE, Bernoulli, Journal of Monetary Economics, E42, Paper, European Parliamentary Research Service, Apollo, Environment, Political economy, COVID-19, Review of Economic Dynamics, Abramov, Loss, Working paper, Choice, Collection, Probability, Dowd, Castrén, Face, Noise, History, Restaurant, Journal of Political Economy, ECB, Policy, Diary, Model, Utility, Clutch (eggs), Canadian International Council, Journal of Financial Stability, JEL, Digital, Bias, Journal, Research, Classification, CBDC, SARS-CoV-2, ECMI, Credit, Odds ratio, Literature, European Central Bank, Mises Institute, Monetary economics, Section 5, Occupation, E47, Financial intermediary, Government, Supermarket, Friction, Finance, BIS, Love, Bart, The Economic Journal, Education, Risk, Section 4, Privacy, Section 3, Appetite, App Store (iOS/iPadOS), Human, DNB, International finance, Section 2, Leonhard Euler, Payment, Attention, Central bank, Consumer, EPRS, Habit, American Economic Review, Confidence interval, FCO, Central bank digital currency, Exercise, Letizia, Applied economics, Digital currency, Sale, Business cycle, Amazon, Community business development corporation, Control, Chart, Proxy, American Economic Journal, LN, Bank, Fintech, IMF, Analysis, Aggregation, Cryptocurrency

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FTC Issues Report to Congress on Collaboration with State Attorneys General

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Friday, April 12, 2024

Sentinel, Consumer protection, Congress, Commissioner, Communication, AGS, Bureau, Social media, Blog, News, Commission, Fraud, Best practice, RFI, State, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Cryptocurrency

The Federal Trade Commission today issued a report to Congress detailing the FTC’s law enforcement cooperation with state attorneys general (AGs) nationwide and presenting best practices to ensure continued effective collaboration.

Key Points:

The Federal Trade Commission today issued a report to Congress detailing the FTC’s law enforcement cooperation with state attorneys general (AGs) nationwide and presenting best practices to ensure continued effective collaboration.
The report, directed by the FTC Collaboration Act of 2021, “Working Together to Protect Consumers: A Study and Recommendations on FTC Collaboration with the State Attorneys General” makes legislative recommendations that would enhance these efforts, including reinstating the Commission’s authority to seek money for defrauded consumers and providing it with the independent authority to seek civil penalties.
The report is divided into three sections: 1) The FTC’s Existing Collaborative Efforts with State Attorneys General to Prevent, Publicize, and Penalize Frauds and Scams; 2) Recommended Best Practices to Enhance Collaboration; and 3) Legislative Recommendations to Enhance Collaboration Efforts.
Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

FTC Issues Report to Congress on Collaboration with State Attorneys General

Retrieved on:

Friday, April 12, 2024

The Federal Trade Commission today issued a report to Congress detailing the FTC’s law enforcement cooperation with state attorneys general (AGs) nationwide and presenting best practices to ensure continued effective collaboration.

Key Points:

The Federal Trade Commission today issued a report to Congress detailing the FTC’s law enforcement cooperation with state attorneys general (AGs) nationwide and presenting best practices to ensure continued effective collaboration.
The report, directed by the FTC Collaboration Act of 2021, “Working Together to Protect Consumers: A Study and Recommendations on FTC Collaboration with the State Attorneys General” makes legislative recommendations that would enhance these efforts, including reinstating the Commission’s authority to seek money for defrauded consumers and providing it with the independent authority to seek civil penalties.
The report is divided into three sections: 1) The FTC’s Existing Collaborative Efforts with State Attorneys General to Prevent, Publicize, and Penalize Frauds and Scams; 2) Recommended Best Practices to Enhance Collaboration; and 3) Legislative Recommendations to Enhance Collaboration Efforts.
Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

EQS-News: Negative market environment strongly impacts 2023 earnings – implementation of performance program exceeds plan

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Wednesday, April 10, 2024

CDP, Organization, CAPEX, Growth, Environment, Lenzing AG, Clothing, EU Ecolabel, IMF, Hygiene, Depreciation, Marketing, Cryptocurrency

The largely absent recovery in the textile and clothing industry had a negative impact across the entire sector.

Key Points:

The largely absent recovery in the textile and clothing industry had a negative impact across the entire sector.
Prices for wood-based specialty fibers were also down slightly due to weaker demand, particularly from brands and retailers, as well as additional market capacity.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 25.4 percent year-on-year to reach EUR 303.3 mn in the reporting year.
Earnings after tax amounted to minus EUR 593 mn (compared with minus EUR 37.2 mn in 2022) and earnings per share to minus EUR 20.02 (compared with minus EUR 2.75 in 2022).

ABB Ltd: ABB plans to launch new share buyback of up to $1 billion following completion of 2023–2024 program

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Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Automation, Share repurchase, SIX Swiss Exchange, Software, Annual general meeting, Treasury, ABB, Engineering, Cryptocurrency

Through this buyback program, ABB repurchased a total of 21,387,687 shares – equivalent to 1.09 percent of its issued share capital at launch of the buyback program – for a total amount of approximately $0.83 billion over the past 12 months.

Key Points:

Through this buyback program, ABB repurchased a total of 21,387,687 shares – equivalent to 1.09 percent of its issued share capital at launch of the buyback program – for a total amount of approximately $0.83 billion over the past 12 months.
ABB’s Board of Directors intends to use the capital band approved at the 2023 Annual General Meeting to cancel all shares repurchased under the 2023–2024 share buyback program.
Consistent with ABB’s capital allocation principles, the Board of Directors today approved a new share buyback program for capital reduction purposes of up to $1 billion.
ABB intends to also use the capital band for the cancellation of the shares repurchased under this new program.