Monopoly Have you ever played Monopoly? When I was younger, I played often enough that the complex strategic nuances of this apparently innocent family game soon became evident. To win Monopoly, you have to exploit people’s misconceptions of property value. The navy blue properties, at the end of the board cycle, are the most expensive…

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The performance of the UK housing market over the course of 2020 has been little short of remarkable. The first lockdown released a tide of demand for those re-evaluating their lifestyle and housing needs, the opposite of what was expected at the time. The second lockdown started on the 5th of November and will last…

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The Greater London Authority (GLA) moved from Foster’s City Hall to Siemens’ ‘The Crystal’ last month. The eco-friendly alternative features triple-glazed windows, rainwater harvesting capabilities and roof-mounted solar panels that are responsible for 20% of its electricity generation. The structure facilitates ubiquitous natural light which reduces the need for artificial sources. Whilst this move is…

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The summer’s housing boom continues as forecasts for the UK property market become increasingly positive. In August, house prices increased at their fastest rate in 16 years, despite the economy entering a recession. There was a record high of 84,190 transactions compared with 82,830 in February, the month before lockdown. Areas such as Edinburgh, Liverpool…

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REITs – Real Estate Investment Trusts – represent a slightly alternative form of liquid investment to traditional stocks and shares, with between 90 to 100% of their taxable income redistributed in the form of dividends to investors. They are identified by strong, investment-grade balance sheets with conservative leverage metrics and moderate risk implications. Between 1990…

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For 16 years, Boeing (HQ in the USA) and Airbus (HQ in France) have been consistently claiming that the other firm has received illegal state aid from their respective government (Figure 1). However, a recent announcement by the WTO permitting the EU to impose retaliatory punitive tariffs against the US could potentially force both sides…

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Lithium is rapidly becoming one of the most important elements on earth due to its use in Lithium-ion batteries. The demand for electric vehicles (EV) and consequently the Lithium required for their batteries has skyrocketed recently but the price of the element has remained low due to a surplus in supply. Whilst the explanations behind…

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Embedded within the country’s meteoric rise towards the very top of the global superpower hemisphere, China’s automobile industry has proceeded to show resilience in the face of some of the most deteriorating economic contractions. Indubitably, this includes that of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis which has ultimately resulted in unprecedented financial ramifications caused by the disruption…

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Sustainable finance is defined as the incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into business decisions, economic development, and investment strategies. Sustainable finance and ESG investing has become a trend in 2020. A single phrase sums up the appeal of environmental, social and governance investing: “doing well by doing good”. ESG strategies allegedly promote…

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The 2015 Paris Agreement set a global goal to reach net zero emissions in the second half of the century. As of June 2020, 120 countries have committed to this net-zero target. To fulfil this commitment and limit global warming to 1.5°C, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has shown in a new study…

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