Cryptocurrencies: Concept, Structures and Taxonomies

What does cryptocurrency mean? In practice, it translates into any form of digital or virtual currency that exploits encrypted data to guarantee the completion of transactions. These do not derive from a central issuing or regulatory authority, that is, they use a decentralized system to record transactions and issue new units. In other words, it […]

2024: Economic Forecasts

Economic forecasts for 2024 indicate a sharp slowdown in the global economy, as all economic blocs (United States, China, EU, etc.) reveal different difficulties. Note that this global “syndrome” reflects challenges and opportunities as in any economic cycle. The United States saw the political indecision of the future presidential candidates and their high internal debt […]

Economic outook- 2sd semester 2023

Second semester 2023 acknowledges a promising economic outlook for Portugal and, a challenging and divergent global scenario. This scenario encompasses contextual quandaries, as for instance the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, underlying political and economic tensions between China, USA, and European Union (UE), as well as, profound climate changes. At national level, Portugal latest predictions, acknowledge […]

Remote work – where do we stand?

Full remote work over the past few years has gradually been replaced by a hybrid solution, which raises some queries upon how companies long-term productivity will be affected. While a more flexible choice such as remote work is considered, the hybrid option has advantages for both sides (company and worker). This seems to be the […]

Remote work – the employees’ perspective

Remote work has reshaped employees’ perspective regarding flexibility and opportunities, since it allowed: i) work in a personalised and/or familiar environment which best acknowledge productivity regarding who works in such format; ii) reduction of time and costs by eliminating daily commuting to the workplace. Note that workspace can be a coffee shop, library, home office, […]

Remote work – end or return?

During the COVID-19 pandemic several companies worldwide were forced to adopt remote work. However, some studies acknowledge remote work benefits, which solution has seemingly been classified as temporary or short-term. This is because large multinational companies (e.g., Google, Facebook, etc.) are imposing return to offices. And, this trend has been replicated by other stakeholders… Some […]

Economic forecasts 2023: The price of money and inflation

In December 2022, the European Central Bank (ECB) reassessed and increased Eurozone interest rates. The current value is 2.5%, the highest since 2008, although expected given the context (inflation level, US economy behaviour) and ECB’s macroeconomic vision. Note that Eurozone inflation rate was 10.1% in November and 9.6% in December; reachin the highest ranking over […]

Europe: Energy transition towards greener alternatives

With fuel prices increasing continuously and with no prospect of improvement, predictions for see a political, economic and social dilemma in Europe. Time is short as well as the number of options; therefore, greener alternatives must be a bet.On the 17th, it was reported by the Bloomberg newspaper that the National Commission for Development and […]

Inflation- scenarios

In early June, the European Central Bank (ECB), confirmed the rise into the interest rates by 0.25 percentage points; as a response to the overall increase in the Eurozone. Projections point to 6.8% in 2022, 3.5% in 2023 and the target of 2.1% in 2024. And this reality extends to the members of the Organization […]

The war in Ukraine- III

Regarding metals, Ukraine is a considerable producer of titanium, manganese and iron ore in the international context. Such commodities are key components in the production of low-cost steel for specialized purposes, such as the mould industry. With pressure on export points by Russia, for example, Odesa (access to the Black Sea) and the accentuated destruction […]