The phenomenon is only just coming into debate but has been underway for many years: as time goes by, economies resort less and less to cash for payments, and increasingly to digital means. If cash is no longer king, what can we expect our societies and economies to look like tomorrow? The lay of the land   A century ago, purchases as large as houses were often still made with cash,...

Finnish Finance Minister Mika Lintilä stated that the Finnish authorities have stopped importing the products from Brazil, and were seeking a general ban on the import of Brazilian meat and soybeans throughout the European Union. This was announced by Head of the Finnish Ministry of Finance at a press conference in Helsinki. According to him, Finland has already suspended purchases of Brazilian...

The attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, for which Yemeni rebels claimed responsibility, deprived the country of nearly 60% of its production, and the world - of 6% of its oil supplies. The fires at the two facilities have not yet been extinguished; the extent of their damage is unknown. In the worst case scenario, recovery may take several months. Markets do not yet expect significant...

The European Parliament (EP) may advocate postponement of Brexit. It may happen in case when the agreement with the EU is not reached by October 31. According to President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, a vote on the relevant resolution will be held next week. Not only European parliamentarians, but also the British are worried about the consequences of the UK leaving the EU without...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arranged large-scale reshuffling in his government. One of the newly introduced officials may replace Mr. Abe after his resignation in 2021. Foreign Minister Taro Kono is leaving his current position for the post of Defense Minister; Toshimitsu Motegi will take his place, having proved himself during the negotiations with the US Presidential Administration of...

Mexico's economic growth has stalled since the new President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, took over and is on the verge of a recession, including because of the weakening economies of the United States and other world powers. Mexico’s budget for 2020 contains ambitious forecasts for a 2% increase and an increase in oil production of about 15% compared with the current level, which, according to...

Beijing may resume small purchases of American farmers' products, which they stopped importing in early August at the height of the trade war. But not for free: in exchange, the Chinese want to solve some of the problems for their tech giant Huawei and delay introduction of the next round of duties. China has proposed an interim peaceful solution to the US-China trade dispute. The Eastern country...

The international rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Hong Kong's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating. Lengthy protests in the city infringed on the "one country, two systems" principle and threatened the city’s relationship with mainland China. The agency downgraded the rating from "AA +" to "AA", and the forecast was changed from "stable" to "negative", which will affect the...

Analysts named Vienna as the best city to live in. The Austrian city was followed by Melbourne and Sydney. These are the results of a new study conducted by The Economist magazine, namely, by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EUI). A year earlier, Vienna and Melbourne occupied the same places, and the third was Osaka. The top 10 included Osaka, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto, Tokyo, Copenhagen and...