Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Could Boost Singapore’s GDP By Over $200 Million, Report Says

American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift's sixth concert tour titled the Eras Tour commenced on March 17 of 2023 and is still ongoing. In March, Swift brought the tour to Singapore. This was significant because Singapore was her only stop in Southeast Asia. Controversially, Singapore's government negotiated with the singer to make Singapore her only stop in the region for the tour. While specific numbers have not been disclosed to the public, it has been reported that Swift is receiving around $2-3 million for this arrangement. The deal was funded by Singapore's post-pandemic tourism fund. Such arrangement has proven quite fruitful for Singapore. Hotel bookings rose 10% during the tour and flights into Singapore also rose 186%. The large influx in tourists from the concerts will add between $225-$300 million to Singapore's Q1 economy. Bloomberg also reported as a result of the Eras Tour the GDP of Singapore in Q1 is projected to grow 2.9%, leading annual growth projections to rise to 2.5% from 2.3%. Overall, this is a great example of how investment into the entertainment industry can swiftly benefit an area's economy.  Perhaps we will see a new era of entertainment investment after Singapores success. 

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/03/08/swifts-eras-tour-boosts-projections-for-singapores-2024-gdp-report-says/?sh=17a6f52cfdde 

Global fertility rates to plunge in decades ahead, new report says

Global fertility rates to plunge in decades ahead, new report says by CNN

Fertility rates have been on a decrease since the 1950s and this new study that was conducted revealed that over the next few decades, fertility rates will significantly drop. In 1950 fertility rate, also known as the average number of children born to a woman in her life, was 4.84. In 2021, it has dropped down to 2.23 and it's expected to drop down to 1.59 in 2100. The article explores some of the key factors that have changed women's behavior in having fewer children over the past few decades. Child costs, gender equality, and personal perceptions are some of the driving factors. The study also points out that this decline is uneven between countries. The poorest countries still have high fertility rates while the richest countries have lower fertility rates. This implies that the United States being among the richest countries I the world would experience a decline in the fertility rate. From an economic standpoint, this would impact the country's population growth, labor force, and other markets that require human capital in the long run.  While the article mentioned several other issues, the one I found the most interesting is their environmental approach. With a smaller population, the global carbon footprint would go down and alleviate some of the excessive fuel burning. The next thing to think about is how the government will adjust and how the labor force will adapt to this impending change.

Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/global-fertility-rates-to-plunge-in-decades-ahead-new-report-says/ar-BB1kfnKC

Switzerland pivots to cut interest rate in surprise move

Key points

• Surprise rate cut sends franc lower, boosts equities
• Lowered inflation forecast allow bank to cut rate
• Chairman gives no guidance on future moves
• Rate cut was first by SNB since 2015

Switzerland today suddenly lowered its reference interest rate, becoming the first developed economy to do so. On March 21, the Swiss Central Bank (SNB) announced a reduction in the reference interest rate by 25 basis points (0.25%), to 1.5%. The reason is that inflation in this country is forecast to remain below 2% in the near future. Swiss inflation in February was 1.2%. This is the 9th consecutive month this figure has been within the SNB's target range of 0-2%.

"In the past few months, inflation has dropped below 2%. SNB believes that prices have stabilized. According to the latest forecast, inflation is likely to remain in this area in the next few years," the agency said in the announcement. newspaper.

Switzerland is the first advanced economy in the world to reduce interest rates, after a period of massive interest rate increases to cope with global inflation. Covid-19 and the war between Russia and Ukraine have caused inflation to rise around the world in the past few years. The Swiss National Bank provides no forward guidance on future rate decisions but will monitor inflation forecasts, suggesting potential adjustments to monetary policy. The move contrasts with central bank actions globally, with varied approaches to monetary policy adjustments in response to inflation concerns 

Norway’s central bank refused to change, holding rates steady at 4.5%. Later in the session, the Bank of England also left its rates unchanged at 5.25%. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held rates steady following its March meeting and reiterated its expectations for three rate cuts in 2024. The European Central Bank has also been keeping policy unchanged.

However, this information also caused the price of the Swiss franc to plummet compared to the USD and euro. Currently, the price of this currency is at its lowest level in 8 months compared to the euro.

Link: Swiss central bank cuts rates in surprise move, getting ahead of global peers

Housing Prices Continue to Surge Through Higher Interest Rates

The National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales in the US saw a drastic surge of 9.5% from January, with 4.38 million houses sold. While sales were down 3.3% compared to the previous year, it marked the largest monthly gain since February 2023. Due to high population and economic growth, home builders are struggling to keep up with the large demand for single-family homes. Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February, which is still a low 2.9-month supply at the current sales rate.

Analysts predicted that with the increase in mortgage rates increasing to 7%, demand and prices would decrease. Unfortunately for consumers, higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the previous year to $384,500. U.S. demand is currently so high that 20% of homes are selling above the list price. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/february-2024-home-sales-spike.html

Aramco posts 25% fall in profits over 2023 Fiscal year

 Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco is the largest oil company in the world, and is the second largest company in the world by revenue. In 2022 Aramco posted a net profit of $161.1 billion in 2022, the companies largest profit ever recorded. Aramco's 2023 profits dropped to $121.3 billion in 2023, Aramco claims the lower profits were due to lower crude oil prices coupled with a lower volume sold and a tightening margin for the refining process. With revenue, profits, and free cash flow all declining Aramco posted their highest ever dividend totaling to $31 billion dollars.  Aramco CEO Amin Nasser spoke at OPEC two weeks ago and tried to clear any concern with the health of Aramco. Nasser stated, “We expect the global oil market to remain healthy over the remainder of this year, and we expect it to be fairly robust with growth of about 1.5 million barrels”. 

    Aramco is also dropping plans to increase their maximum barrel capacity to 13 million barrels. Nasser claims that this will increase flexibility and allow for Aramco to increase R&D in their liquids-to-chemicals business and to increase gas production. Aramco has plans to grow gas production by 60% from 2021 levels by 2030. 

    It seems that oil production may be losing its luster with tightening production margins and Aramco posting a declining revenue, free cash flow, and profits. I believe that Aramcos increased interest in other energy production methods is a strong indicator that oil is on its way out as the number one source of energy for the planet. Increased investment in cleaner energy may be showing strength in 2023 and forcing Aramco to realign their business interests for the inevitable future.

The state of women’s sports: Top executives weigh in on parity, media share and NIL regulations

 This article reflects what has been a huge amount of growth in women's sports. The article states that from 2021 to now there has been more than a 300% increase in revenue from women's sports. This growth has led to a change in opportunities for these women as well. These professional athletes now stand to make significantly more money, closing the pay gap between men's and women's sports. In addition to this college women athletes now have more opportunities to make money as well through the NIL systems. The article mentions how huge names such as Caitlin Clark and Angle Reese have already been able to capitalize on this. Even though all of this growth has occurred, all of the top executives mentioned in this article say that this is only the beginning, saying things such as women's sports are 100 years behind, and they expect this huge growth to continue. As someone who has recently started watching more women's sports, it is definitely exciting to watch, and I see a bright future for all women's sports.

Article Link

Why Zillow is worried about America's housing market shakeup

Since its founding nearly two decades ago, Zillow has been revolutionary for Americans to be able to sell, buy and ren houses all over America. 

However, the declining traffic in an increasingly competitive housing market has triggered a range of problems for the company's stock- it dropped nearly 13% since Friday. Zillow made this point itself in its annual report last month, when the company warned that, “if agent commissions are meaningfully impacted, it could reduce the marketing budgets of real estate partners or reduce the number of real estate partners participating in the industry, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.” 

Despite the problems, Zillow still leads in its market, with data on well over 160 million US homes, its residential revenue has outperformed the real estate industry average for six consecutive quarters. Still, it’s a down market. Zillow reported that it outperformed the residential real estate industry by 12 percentage points in 2023. Total revenue industry-wide declined by 17% from the year prior while Zillow fell by 5%.

The next step is for Zillow to create a new business model that will be beneficial for their company, Zillow generates revenue through agents who invest in enhancing their presence on the platform and purchasing AI-enhanced listings tailored to the preferences of homebuyers in specific markets. Should the ruling decrease agent fees as anticipated, they may have reduced budgets for these services. Without alterations to Zillow's business model, this could result in substantial declines in revenue. 

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Just how rich are businesses getting in the AI gold rush?

 Link: https://www.economist.com/business/2024/03/17/just-how-rich-are-businesses-getting-in-the-ai-gold-rush

It is hard to go through any conversation centered on technology without mentioning AI. Even if the conversation isn’t centered around AI, it seems to always sneak in. As someone who is both interested in its economic effects and social effects, I find myself trying to learn more about AI because it is generally confusing and often a troubling discourse. We love AI when we hold Nvidia stock but we hate it when we are in a low skilled labor position. In this article I was able to learn a little bit more about the business side of the rise of AI. From this article I learned that, “Nvidia accounts for some 57% of the increase in the market capitalisation of our hardware firms.” This is especially important to point out not just because of the magnitude of the market the company captures, but also how important the hardware manufacturing firms are to this growth. When AI booms, the companies that see the largest increase of investment tend to be the hardware manufacturing companies–which explain the Nvidia boom. Another important detail that the article mentions is that the economic growth of the companies is not proportionally equal to all the other sections. Cloud computing, software developers, and model makers also have their share of the market, though their percentages are not nearly the same and have not seen as much growth in investment. It is hard to tell when investment will slow or if the proportions will see much change. The article attempts to compare the AI boom to the internet boom and map behaviors that way.

TikTok creators warn of economic impact if app sees ban, call it a vital space for the marginalized

     A bipartisan bill was passed by the House of Representatives on March 13th of 2024 that would lead to the national ban of TikTok. This will be the case unless the China-based owner sells its stake in the company. The bill has yet to go through the Senate, so it is ultimately still unclear on how this will proceed. The main concern from lawmakers, law enforcement, and intelligence officals comes from the insecurity of user data and suppression of content by Chinese government. The government has had this concern ever since the app has been in service. Many content creators who rely on TikTok as their income and as a platform for their businesses are worried about their future and standard of living if this becomes reality. 

    Overall, as a non-user of TikTok myself, I do not personally become impacted by this. I can clearly see how many people, and especially the younger generations, can become worried. I would be interested to see how much revenue, expenses, marketing, advertising, and other business interaction have been influcenced within the 4 years that TikTok has been alive. I assume it would be astronomical numbers for both the application and its users. With this all being said, I do not see the Senate following through with the ban and think this will die down. 

    NOTE: This is not based on true economics or studied by professionals. This is solely looked at on a consumer level, by consumers and small business owners / users of TikTok.

Link to Article