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Like Cream Rising, Online Slots’ Growth is Unmatched in iGaming

Image source: https://pixabay.com

The iGaming sector has experienced a lot of new developments in recent years. Advances in technology have had a real impact on how customers gamble online, but the most effective type of games in iGaming has been the rise of online slots. The fact that iGaming has become so popular is primarily due to the convenience of it. No longer are people having to spend time traveling to a physical casino to play some blackjack or multiple slot machines, when it can be done from the comfort of home. The lack of physical limitations as to the number and variety of machines also works in favor of online casinos. Today iGaming manages to provide the same kind of games found in a physical casino – and slots are biggest winners.

 

The growing market share of iGaming

In 2012, the online gambling sector was estimated to be worth over $417 billion (including online casinos, poker sites and sports betting) and online casinos’ share was $34 billion, a figure that was estimated to double by 2020. A lot of that growth has been influenced by two factors. Firstly, sports betting was legalized in the US in 2018 and this has helped to further support the iGaming market; and secondly, more people are now enjoying the wide variety of games from online casinos, specifically online slots.

 

Mobile gaming is the biggest driver of iGaming growth

One of the biggest areas of growth in iGaming has been mobile gaming. In 2019, gamers of all ages are mobile-savvy. They want games they can play on the go, whenever and wherever; games like League of Legends or Fortnite. The iGaming industry has followed this trend closely, creating intuitive, mobile versions of online slots and table games for people to play when they’re on the move.

Being able to make mobile games that look and play the same as desktop versions is the goal for most iGaming software developers. Online slots manage to do this effectively. Some online casinos have excelled at producing online slots and mobile slots that can challenge even the best online games. Take the progressive jackpots at Spin Casino, for instance, which feature slots that can be played through both the app or the browser of mobile devices. They house some of the most popular titles, successfully crossing over into the gaming sphere like slots from the Hitman or Tomb Raider series.

 

Gaming with guaranteed added value

Online slots have also benefited from the growing trend of offering something for free to entice and maintain player interest. That added value often comes in the form of bonuses, reloads and loyalty rewards which beat anything that can be offered in either physical casinos or from table-based games.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/

 

Technology using virtual and augmented reality

Globally, the virtual reality model of gaming seems to work. Research done by Rhythm One has shown that customers are 27% more invested in a product if they experience it through virtual or augmented reality. AR and VR are two sides of the same iGaming coin. Although we’ve seen limited application of these two technologies so far (the same goes with other types of video games), players are looking forward to their adoption on a larger scale, fantasizing about the day where their favourite online casino’s lobby can be browsed in VR. According to reports, several slot game developers are exploring the possibilities of VR and AR in the same way that tech companies like Google or Bill Gates’ Microsoft are, but there are very few readily available games at the moment. 

How iGaming customers experience their favourite games and slots is vital to keep them returning. Online slots have mastered this through mobile gaming interfaces, bonuses, safer online payments and adapting interesting themes and storylines to keep players entertained and engaged. Slots are ideally adapted for iGaming and continue to dominate online casino play in the same way they do in Vegas.

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Identifying key drivers to help transform African agriculture

By Mills Soko

The Green Revolution propelled India from a country plagued by famine and drought to the top wheat-producer in the world. It helped to fuel one of the fastest-growing global economies and it could be the example so many African countries need to realise their agricultural potential.1

 

While countries on the African continent have shown impressive economic development and growth over the past decade and are expected to grow on average by about 4% in 2019, the African Development Bank (ADB) has warned that there may be trouble ahead.2 The continent is likely to be negatively affected by increasing tension stemming from global trade wars, Brexit and the resulting changes to investment and lower demand for exports from Africa. This is in addition to the crop failures and lower yields that are already being experienced as a result of climate change due to higher temperatures and lower rainfall.3

To mitigate some of these impacts, the ADB has reiterated the need for greater trade amongst countries on the continent as well as placing more emphasis on generating and improving the state of agriculture in the region. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has enormous agricultural potential – the region has 60% of the globally available, arable land, but has been unable to capitalise on it.4  The continent has gone from being an exporter of food in the 1960s to an importer of food and agricultural products. Agriculture currently accounts for nearly 24% of gross domestic product (GDP) in Africa.5

Farming in SSA is largely small-scale, with insufficient irrigation, a lack of modern technology and fertiliser resulting in poor output. Meanwhile, hunger is growing on the continent with the fastest growing population on the planet. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), 31% of the 821 million people globally who are affected by hunger come from Sub-Saharan Africa.6

 

Yet, the World Economic Forum estimates that agriculture is 11 times more effective when it comes to reducing poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa than other sectors.7 And at the first Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue held in August 2019 in Kigali, the ADB, FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Bank underscored the need to step up agricultural production in order to exploit its potential.

At the event, Rwandan President Paul Kagame stated that: “Increased agricultural productivity is essential for eradicating hunger and undernourishment. But food security is not where we stop. We want a continent that is truly prospering in every sense of the term. And agriculture is undoubtedly the foundation of Africa’s prosperity. That is the larger ambition we must challenge ourselves to achieve. We owe it to the generations that follow us.”8

 

Modernising agriculture

While trade agreements like the recently concluded African Continental Free Trade Agreement hold much promise in terms of reducing tariffs, promoting digital payments and improving African trade agreements, there is a more pressing need to modernise African agricultural practices, expertise and processes.9

African countries could learn so much from the example of India and its Green Revolution.10 After years of famine and food scarcity, the Indian government in the mid-1960s initiated a slew of reforms in agricultural practices, bringing in new technologies coupled with government funding for farmers. Within ten years, India had become the top wheat producer in the world. Some of the successful initiatives included:

• Introducing high-yield seed varieties;
• Making fertiliser and insecticides more freely available;
• Producing farm equipment;
• Improving irrigation practices;
• Supporting farmers with subsidies, research into new seeds

In parts of Africa, like Ethiopia, new crop varieties have also been seen to drive growth.11 The introduction of a new kind of bean has helped local farmers move from subsistence farming to bigger operations capable of producing export crops. Beans currently contribute US$150m annually in exports.

Research into new seeds and crop varieties is critical – and making this information accessible to farmers and local producers even more so. Higher-yielding, stronger crops like semi-dwarf rice and wheat were central to India’s Green Revolution.12 Hybrid maize seeds have also been introduced in Ghana, allowing farmers to produce more tons per hectare, with crops that mature earlier and result in farmers increasing revenue.13

Another area is the so-called agri-tech field, where farmers invest in high-tech farming methods to reduce waste and raise productivity.14 New technologies that allow farmers to gather data on soil, plants and weather – and to even use drones to spray crops – are changing the farming landscape in more developed African countries like South Africa. While more cost-efficient than traditional crop-spraying equipment, drones can reach difficult areas, spray pesticides and fertilisers with precision, increasing crop yield as well as reducing costs.

 

Greener infrastructure

Closely linked to a more modern agricultural sector, is the development of infrastructure to support farming operations, aid in manufacturing products and distributing foods – access to energy and water is vital.  Green infrastructure is a growing trend that has the potential to solve many of the complex dilemmas faced by rural African farmers. These include innovative solutions, like solar irrigation devices that make use of new technology to solve problems. In Uganda, a company called GrowFast  provides thousands with pay-as-you-go solar irrigation via a smartphone and an app. The business concept enables farmers to rely on more than rainfall for irrigation, allowing for greater productivity as well as for insurance in the event of unexpected crop loss.15

In one of the continent’s poorest countries, Malawi, local farmers struggling to survive due to drought are also making use of solar-powered pumps while also choosing to grow drought-hardy sweet potatoes to supplement maize crops. Water pumps installed with the backing of the Global Environmental Facility move water from new borehole wells into reservoir tanks, where it is then piped to hydrants into nearby fields as well as for use in local houses. The water systems can irrigate about 20 hectares of land each.16

Water is needed not only for irrigation – but also to produce electricity. In Ethiopia, hydropower accounts for about 90% of electricity.17 This makes the country particularly sensitive to droughts and lower rainfall – or floods. Even a 5% decrease in rainfall can cause nearly a 10% decrease in agricultural productivity.  Workers from the REACH programme, a global research programme to improve water security for the poor, recommends that climate-resilient policies for allocating water and planning for reduced water availability ought to be implemented to support farmers in the area. They underscore the need to provide easier access and dissemination of scientific information and an understanding of current and future hydroclimatic situations. Their research points to the need to sustainably develop additional water sources like ground water, and to educate government officials and employees in related institutions about climate change and water management. While their research pertained to Ethiopia in particular, such recommendations could be applied to the rest of Africa as well.

Agriculture is heavily reliant on energy and the lack of stable sources of electricity hamper many farmers and manufacturers in the sector. In more developed areas, where better infrastructure exists, like South Africa, for instance, larger-scale farmers have installed solar panels to generate their own power and reduce dependence on the national supplier.18 Other farmers have even built their own hydroelectric plants – like the small L’Ormarins Hydro Plant on a wine estate in Franschhoek, which is able to supply not only the farm itself but could also provide additional energy to the national power utility. Unfortunately, red tape, policy uncertainty and political tensions have adversely affected the productivity of the plant.19

 

An integrated approach needed

A recent report by McKinsey&Company researchers examined what was needed for a Green Revolution to succeed on the African continent.20 They concluded that the solution lies with developing an integrated approach that includes market-friendly policies and greater investment in agricultural sectors as well as attracting investment for farming-related initiatives. The authors point to the efforts of bodies like the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Partnership Platform, an annual forum that aims to address the issues related to agricultural transformation in Africa, and to support local governments in dealing with challenges such as:

• A lack of technical agricultural knowledge and skill;
• Corruption,
• Political tensions and instability;
• Inadequate infrastructure;
• Shifting priorities.

The McKinsey report assessed ways of implementing agricultural development plans in more than 10 African countries, across public, private and social sectors. Their findings included:

 

• Focusing on higher-impact initiatives

Instead of having many strategies and programmes, efficacy improves when there are only a few targeted programmes with high-level support. In Morocco, for instance, the government decided to invest in a couple of high-value crops that would raise GDP growth while increasing income for farmers. Hundreds of thousands of acres were converted from cereal to citrus fruit and tomato cultivation, while in Ethiopia, a switch in the 1990s saw the agricultural sector revived through government and private sector collaboration in sesame and cut flower production. In 2011, oilseed and flowers were Ethiopia’s fastest-growing exports.

 

• Developing markets

This is a critical and often overlooked area – looking at where the increased agricultural output will go. Exploring export markets, domestic urban markets and the possibilities around food processing can determine much of the success of farming efforts. In Morocco, government helped facilitate the export of high-value crops to Europe by assisting farmers to meet European certification requirements, as well as through technical assistance and reaching agreements for tariff-free access for Moroccan producers. And in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, by cutting export taxes, these countries increased their share of cocoa processed in the country by up to 50%.

 

Producing for local populations comes with a few requirements as well. The need for quality standards, roads for transportation, and electricity for processing and storage is important.

• Improving local infrastructure

Producing for local populations comes with a few requirements as well. The need for quality standards, roads for transportation, and electricity for processing and storage is important. In 2002 in Ethiopia, a maize surplus went to waste as the crop could not be moved to areas with food shortages due to the high cost of transportation and the lack of existing export infrastructure.

 

• Better partnerships with the private sector

Agricultural programmes that are built through public and private sector collaboration have a greater chance of success. The McKinsey researchers found evidence that the active engagement of private agents like farmers organisations, input suppliers, warehouse operators, buyers, traders and international trading programmes are hugely beneficial to agricultural efforts. Linking small farmers to markets, educating them about soil conditions or new seeds, even private investment to improve roads and ports make a vast difference. Private sector participants have competitive know-how as well as operational expertise that can plug the gaps that exist in local authorities’ knowledge banks. 

In many instances, a case can be made for simply working smarter. Like cluster farming, which has helped farmers in the Arsi Zone in Ethiopia to increase production of wheat, barley and other crops. The cluster farming model often sees farmers grouped together and given communal access to farming equipment, fertiliser etc. with the help of government funding. Due to the success of the cluster farming programmes, Ethiopia is on track to within a few years stop importing wheat and solely relying on national production of wheat.21

But what works in one country will not work in another. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Africa is a vast continent with 54 countries, some with unstable governments, ethnic conflicts as well as serious developmental, health and economic challenges coupled with rising environmental concerns. But even in these countries – some might argue that especially in these countries – the need to transform agriculture is critical not only to improve economic conditions but also to transform communities from day-to-day subsistence farming to surplus-providing farmers, business owners and proud members of their societies.

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Mills Soko is Professor in International Business and Strategy at Wits Business School.  His research focuses on business strategy, international trade, economic diplomacy, emerging markets especially the BRICS countries, regional integration in Africa, financial globalisation, and business-government relations in South Africa.


References
1.https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/the-paradox-of-indias-green-revolution/article27472671.ece
2.https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2019-08-18-risks-to-growth-increase-daily-african-development-bank-warns/
3.https://reliefweb.int/report/world/2018-africa-regional-overview-food-security-and-nutrition-addressing-threat-climate
4.https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/opinion/by-invitation-africa-can-emulate-indias-agricultural-success/
5.https://www.modernghana.com/news/948444/how-agriculture-impacts-african-economies.html
6.https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/3-ways-to-transform-agriculture-in-africa/
7.https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/population/
8.https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/kagame -end-hunger-africa
9.https://mg.co.za/article/2019-07-10-africas-free-trade-agreement-curse-or-blessing
10.https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/opinion/by-invitation-africa-can-emulate-indias-agricultural-success/
11.https://www.syngentafoundation.org/news/recent-news/breeding-better-crops-home-and-abroad
12.https://www.devex.com/news/opinion -protect-our-food-fund-the-seed-95295
13.https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Seed-producers-schooled-on-hybrid-maize-seeds-774251
14.http://www.702.co.za/articles/356195/crop-spraying-drones-are-taking-africa-into-greener-pastures
15.https://www.esi-africa.com/industry-sectors/future-energy/uganda-solar-irrigation-solution-enables-agricultural-benefits/
16.https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/as-crops-dry-malawi-turns-to-solar-irrigation-2018-07-23
17.https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/east -africa/2019/08/22/this-east-african-countrys-future-is-tied-to-water-a-vital-yet-threatened-resource-in-a-changing-climate/
18.http://netwerk24.com/ZA/Eikestadnuus/Sake/green-energy-gaining-momentum-20190717-2
19.https://www.news24.com/Video/SouthAfrica/News/watch-red-tape-thwarting-sas-green-energy-projects-analyst-20190822
20.https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/four-lessons-for-transforming -african-agriculture
21.https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/cluster -farming-improving-farmers-productivity-food-security-arsi-zone

Argentina & the next Global Financial Crisis

By Jack Rasmus

Since Macri took the office the Argentina president on 2015, inflation has accelerated and chronic job loss was reported. Despite the record of receiving $56 billion loan from the IMF, it did not go to the real economy of Argentina but to the global bankers and investors to whom they owe their debt. What’s next to Argentina after being indebted to the US vulture capitalists?

 

On August 12, 2019, financial markets in Argentina crashed. The stock market contracted 38% in just one day. The currency, the Peso, fell 20% after falling as low as 30% and recovered to 20% only when Argentina’s central bank raised its interest rate to 75%. Watch next for bond interest rates, both government and corporate, and especially dollarised bonds which Argentina has loaded up on in recent years, to freefall as well.

What’s going on in Argentina? What’s likely to happen next? And what do the events in Argentina have to do with falling financial asset prices—i.e. stocks, currencies, derivatives, commodity futures, real estate prices, etc.—now underway globally as well?

The precipitating cause of yesterday’s crash in Argentina stocks, peso, bond rates, etc. was the primary presidential election results over the weekend. The election was a preview for the general election that will happen this October. Macri, the current president, a businessman whose election in 2015 was assisted by US interests, lost heavily to his challenger, Alberto Fernandez. Fernandez got 48% of the vote; Macri only 32%. A gap that is likely insurmountable for Macri. It’s almost certain now that Macri will now lose in October. That prospect has global bankers and investors quite worried. For Fernandez is associated with the Kirchner government that held office prior to Macri from 2002 to 2015, and that government refused to pay US hedge funds and other investors the exorbitant rates on Argentina bonds they demanded ever since the last crisis in 2001-02.

 

The US media and business press today expressed deep confusion over the weekend’s political results. They just can’t understand how Macri could have done so poorly in the primary. As the talking heads put it, ‘Macri’s been putting the economy in order’, why did he lose so badly to Fernandez?

But all the perplexed ‘talking heads’ in the US media needed to do was to look at the facts: Inflation has been running at 56% per year, one of the highest in the world. The pundits say Macri has done well, bringing inflation down from 70% in 2018. But annual inflation rates, whether 56% or 70%, have been devastating real incomes of workers and small businesses. The currency has also been collapsing for two years now, having fallen from an exchange rate of roughly 16 to the US$ in 2017 to 52 to the dollar, after hitting a 60 to the dollar low yesterday. That falling will almost certainly continue in coming weeks. And with the 20% collapse of the peso this past weekend, inflation will now accelerate even faster once again.

Add to that the Argentine real economy has been in recession, contracting the past four quarters on average by more than -5%, with unemployment officially at double digit levels and likely much higher. Industrial production has fallen nearly -10% over the past 12 months, with manufacturing double that, at around -20%.

In other words, living standards have been falling sharply due to both accelerating inflation and chronic double digit job loss for the vast majority of workers and small businesses ever since Macri took office in 2015 and instituted his austerity reforms demanded by the IMF. That austerity has included cutting pensions, slashing government jobs, raising utility costs, eliminating past household subsidies. A third of all Argentina households now officially live in poverty. Is it any wonder then that Argentinians expressed their discontent in the primaries this past weekend? US business media and pundits of course don’t choose to look at this human cost of US neoliberal policies and its corollary of Argentina austerity. For them, it’s just about whether Argentina continues to service its debt to global bankers and whether the stock market in Argentina, the Merval, continues to produce capital gains profits for investors.

But wait. Didn’t Argentina recently receive a record $56 billion loan from the IMF? Isn’t that boosting the economy? No, it isn’t. Because the $56 billion is not going into the real economy. So where is the $56B IMF loan going? It’s going to pay the debt that Argentina owes to global bankers and investors, including the ‘vulture capitalist’ hedge funds, who Macri welcomed back in 2015 after he took office.

The IMF never gives money to a country to spend on stimulating its real economy. Quite the opposite. It extends loans with the condition that the country introduces austerity measures that reduce government spending or raise taxes. So what if that does the opposite – i.e. slows and contracts the real economy. That’s not its objective.

The IMF officially says it lends money to help stabilize a country’s currency. Translated, however, that means lending with the understanding the country first pays off foreign investors to whom it owes money. In fact, IMF loans never even get routed directly to the country. The IMF loan goes directly to paying of principal and interest to the investment banks, hedge funds, and billionaire ‘vulture capitalists’ who get the country indebted in the first place. The IMF actually pays them off and then send the ‘bill’ to the country for repayment – i.e. payment of the principal and interest on the debt it owes the IMF now instead of the private investors. And the debt payments are made with the money extracted from austerity programs levied on workers and the real economy. The IMF is thus the bill collector for big finance capital, and transfers the debt owed from their private investor and banker balance sheets onto its own IMF balance sheet.

The IMF recently loaned Argentina the largest amount it has ever loaned a country, the $56 billion. But it wasn’t the first time it did so. In 2001, caught in a recession that originated in the USA, Argentina couldn’t repay interest on the $100 billion debt it had incurred with private investors in the late 1990s. The IMF stepped in and did its duty. It loaned Argentina money to bail out the private investors. But some of them – led by hedge fund US billionaire Paul Singer – didn’t think the IMF loan terms didn’t pay them enough. Singer and his consortium of vulture capitalist hedge funds kept demanding Argentina pay more. The dispute went on until 2015, when the pre-Macri government was replaced by Macri, an election engineered with the assistance, financial and otherwise, of the Obama government on behalf of Singer and his buddies.

The first thing Macri did when he took office was to pay off Singer and friends the full amount they were demanding since 2001. Where did he get the money for that? From the IMF of course, which loaned Argentina the $56 billion. The payoff also opened the door for Macri & his business friends to get more private loans from US investors. They immediately trotted off to New York, met with the US bankers, and came back with a bag full of private loans. In other words, they loaded up on more private investor debt after ‘borrowing’ from the IMF to pay off the old private investor hedge fund debt.

So how is it that Macri – with big loans from not only the IMF but from New York bankers as well—couldn’t get the Argentina real economy back on its feet the past four years? The IMF money went directly to the hedge funds and vultures. But where did the new private money go? It certainly didn’t go into the real economy – i.e. investment, jobs, household income for consumption, and thus GDP. Likely it’s been skimmed off the top by Macri and his friends in part. The rest diverted to financial markets in Argentina, in the USA, or Europe.

Despite the nearly $100 billion in capital provided by the IMF and New York investors, the Argentina economy has performed poorly ever since Macri took office. In 2016 the Argentina economy contracted. It recovered briefly and slightly from recession in 2017. But in 2018-19 it has fallen into recession once again, this time more deeply as its currency has collapsed, from 16 to the dollar to more than 50 to the $US – with more collapse to come. The loans it arranged since 2015 from New York investors, moreover, have been heavily denominated in US dollars. Argentina has one of the worst run-ups in dollarised private bond debt in the world. That means as the US dollar rises the cost of making payments on that debt also rises.

Not only is the prospect of default on the IMF $56 billion debt in the near future now rising, but the parallel default on corporate debt is also rising. The value of a US dollar denominated bond dropped since last week to 58 cents on the dollar, from 77 cents. Defaults are on the horizon, both government and private, in other words.

Rising domestic interest rates further slow the real economy. In turn, the slowing real economy results in domestic stock and bond markets collapsing further—thus feeding back into the financial sector and making it even more unstable and driving financial asset price deflation even more.

The peso’s precipitous collapse also has further ‘knock on’ negative effects that are now intensifying the crisis in the country. Here’s how: As currencies fall in relation to the dollar, what happens is capital flight accelerates from the country. That reduces investment further in the country, in turn exacerbating the recession and layoffs even more. To slow the capital flight from the country, its central bank then typically raises interest rates dramatically. Argentina’s central bank benchmark rate is now an amazing 75%. Rising domestic interest rates further slow the real economy. In turn, the slowing real economy results in domestic stock and bond markets collapsing further—thus feeding back into the financial sector and making it even more unstable and driving financial asset price deflation even more.

What results, in other words, is a negative feedback effect between all financial markets in the country, an effect that dries up the availability of credit in general forcing more layoffs and a deeper recession. That’s what is going on now in Argentina.

But Argentina is just the leading edge of a similar general process of global financial asset price deflation. Argentina is just an intense example of financial asset markets declining everywhere globally. And in that sense its current financial and economic collapse may be the harbinger of things soon to come.

USA and other emerging market economies’ stock markets are now contracting sharply since the beginning of August. The 20%-30% decline of US stock markets last November-December 2018 has resumed. We are beginning to see November-December 2018 events déjà vu all over again. The 2018 stock market contraction was halted temporarily by the US central bank, the Fed, capitulating in late December to Trump and financial interests demanding the bank stop raising interest rates. The Fed halted raising interest rates in January 2019 and both US and emerging market economies’ financial markets regained their losses in the first quarter 2019. Aiding the halt of rate hikes by the Fed was the appearance of an imminent agreement between the US-China on trade, as negotiations resumed between February to May 2019, which also helped to restore stock market losses of 2018.

But two events happened in late July-early August 2019 that have resulted in stock and other financial markets resuming their trajectory of decline of last November-December 2018: the US Federal Reserve cut rates on July 28 by only a token 0.25% when financial markets expected more aggressive action by the Fed; and Trump a day later scuttled the prospect of a trade deal with China by raising more tariffs on $300 billion of China imports. Add to these two events the rise of Boris Johnson as the new UK prime minister and the almost now certain ‘hard Brexit’ coming after October 2019; evidence of German and Italian banks increasingly in trouble; and central banks around the world in a ‘race to the bottom’ to cut their domestic interest rates to lower their currencies exchange value to boost exports as global trade stagnates—now growing at only 0.5% annually and is about to contract for the first time since the 1930s.

Together, all these current events have translated into investors worldwide selling their stocks and other financial assets, and diverting the money into ‘safe havens’ – like US Treasuries, the Japanese Yen, and gold. Argentina’s economic mismanagement by Macri has occurred in the context of a global financial asset deflation that only exacerbates Argentina’s crisis – and makes it increasingly difficult to deal with by Argentina alone, notwithstanding the record $56 billion IMF loan.

Look around. The global economy is on the precipice of a potential financial asset market price deflation not seen since 2008. It’s not quite there yet. But the momentum is now clearly in that direction.

Not only have stock prices globally contracted sharply worldwide in just a few weeks, but so too have other financial market prices:

Government bond interest rates are falling rapidly everywhere in the advanced economies. More than $15 trillion in bonds globally are now yielding negative rates. Trillions of Euro bonds are now in negative territory, up more than a $trillion in just the past year, including in Germany, and are continuing to fall further. Currencies are also contracting everywhere (driving up the value of the US dollar). Property prices are leveling off, and have begun to drop. Global oil futures, a financial asset, have fallen 20% again, from $75 a barrel to the low $50s and may soon to fall below $50. The same for many other commodities.

Financial asset prices are deflating across the board and investors are dumping them and converting to cash – i.e. a sure sign of pending global recession. What’s rising in price are the ‘safe havens’ into which the cash is flowing: gold, the Yen, US Treasuries, high end residential properties in select markets in the advanced economies, art works, and even cryptocurrencies. Also rising sharply is the cost of insuring bonds with credit default swap derivatives. In Argentina the CDS cost has accelerated to $38 for every $100 of Argentina debt, and that’s in addition to regular debt principal and interest payments.

Argentina today is therefore likely a harbinger of things to come, i.e. the canary in the global economy coal mine, and the victim of a ‘made in the USA’ global slowdown driven by Trump trade and US monetary policies.

But Argentina is just the ‘worst case’ scenario of this global financial asset deflation underway. Its financial asset prices are deflating faster and deeper than others at the moment. It is just the worst case of a more general scenario emerging globally. Global trade volumes have already collapsed, and a recession in the global economy will necessarily follow. Global manufacturing is already in recession. And a global recession tomorrow will only exacerbate Argentina’s current recession today.

Argentina today is therefore likely a harbinger of things to come, i.e. the canary in the global economy coal mine, and the victim of a ‘made in the USA’ global slowdown driven by Trump trade and US monetary policies. Of course, Argentina’s economic crisis can’t be explained alone by US government policies. Macri’s austerity and loading up again on private foreign investor debt and IMF loans since 2015 is also responsible. And Macri’s recent austerity policies to pay for that debt by cutting more pensions, social subsidies, raising utility costs and taxes on households has contributed heavily to Argentina’s current crisis. But that debt and austerity too can be traced back to US vulture capitalists and their friends in the IMF and among New York bankers.

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About the Author

Dr. Jack Rasmus is author of the forthcoming book, ‘The Scourge of Neoliberalism: US Economic Policy from Reagan to Trump’, Clarity press, October 1, 2019. He blogs at jackrasmus.com and his website is http://kyklosproductions.com. He tweets at @drjackrasmus and hosts the Alternative Visions radio show weekly on the Progressive Radio network.

Euro Exim Bank: Ahead of the curve in the trade finance industry

Interview with Mr. Graham Bright JP, Head of Compliance and Operations

Amidst tightening regulations and increased compliance requirements in the financial sector, Euro Exim Bank maintains undisputed quality services for its clients. Graham Bright, JP, Euro Exim Bank’s Head of Compliance and Operations, shares with us how EEB leverages the latest technologies to offer innovative services in the global trade industry, gives us his view of the cashless society, talks about the significance of women working in EEB, and more.

 

Thank you so much, Mr Bright, for sharing your time with us. To start with, for a successful business leader like you, what are the best morning routines to jump-start a busy day, and your quick tips for improving productivity for a day’s work?

Firstly, making sure the mind and body are prepared for work.  Take on fuel for the day – no rushed coffee, eat a balanced breakfast. Secondly, use the first 30 minutes at work to focus, read, plan time effectively and set goals for the day, uninterrupted by calls or emails. And, listening to self-affirmation statements to stimulate the brain and enhance well-being, for better, informed decision-making.

 

We see that you have a very successful career journey in the financial industry. Would you tell us about the important highlights of your professional career so far?

Fortunately, I have experienced diversity of roles and industries encompassing pharmaceuticals, credit analysis, trading and banking systems, with each business sector adding focus, perspective and knowledge. 

Highlights include achieving market penetration in African and Indian Ocean banks, making a real difference for the population and allowing organisations to compete more effectively in international markets with greater confidence and social benefit.

Also, becoming a UK Justice of the Peace, applying the sense of fair play, gravitas, trust, focus, logic, tolerance and process where the impact of decisions is potentially life-changing.

Other highlights? Working with like-minded professionals, speaking at events and being recognised as a thought leader, with every day different.

 

Corporates and SMEs all need simplified processes and payment corridors, and we are actively expanding our operational footprint to enable corporates to pay global suppliers both rapidly and seamlessly, without the need for complex payments infrastructures.

Euro Exim Bank is an international financial institution headquartered in St Lucia in the West Indies, holding a Class ‘A’ licence, with a representative office in London. Can you tell us more about the company’s strategic role and ethos, in terms of your expertise and the clients that are most likely to benefit from your services?

We have built an impressive team with years of experience in trade, and this is showing benefits for our clients in our ability to rapidly generate instruments drafts, complete complex KYC processes and send instructions.

Corporates and SMEs all need simplified processes and payment corridors, and we are actively expanding our operational footprint to enable corporates to pay global suppliers both rapidly and seamlessly, without the need for complex payments infrastructures.

Euro Exim Bank is also developing trade services to small and mid-tier merchants in traditionally unbanked and challenging jurisdictions, allowing them access to funds and to compete effectively in world markets.

 

Last year, Euro Exim Bank received the 2018 Best Global Trade Services Bank Award. What are the outstanding features that set you apart from your competitors in the facilitation of trade finance?

Primarily, building long, lasting relationships with the clients. Finding and keeping clients is key to cash flow and ongoing business, supported by our advanced technology platform, accessibility and participation with payments technology leader, Ripple.

Coupled with our competitive rates and market focus across Asia and Africa, we, along with our agents and partners in strategic locations, serve corporate clients in connecting the players in the trade ecosystem and doing things right.

 

With today’s fast-expanding market and government initiatives such as One Belt One Road (OBOR) driving demand for global trade and infrastructure, how do you see the future of trade finance and the role of Euro Exim Bank in this challenging time?

Trade finance remains a paper-based and complex business, and services offered by banks are equally restrictive, costly and time-consuming for bank customers.

Time-honoured open account trade and supply chain financing continue to grow, and it is only recent innovation in technology that may modernise the trade finance business.

New markets are emerging along the new Silk Road, with major manufacturing centres in Asia importing raw materials from Africa, remanufacturing and repurposing goods to meet the demand from western Europe. China has a growing economic footprint in Africa, where they own airports, ports and infrastructure, with opportunities to build and supply local markets with greater ease than ever before.

The most effective long-term strategy for the industry will be to embrace document digitisation and promote standard interoperability and interconnectivity between all parties to the transactions.

We at the bank have designed and built in scalability, workflow and document digitalisation, not only for initial drafts and remittances, but also handling real-time settlement through connectivity across a variety of payment channels.

Our development teams have incorporated blockchain capabilities built on Hyperledger, and we are ready to enrich blockchains with trade data where possible.  With this advanced approach, we are positioned to  go live with any counterparty, although, given current take-up, the industry as a whole will not be actively using this technology for some years yet. 

 

Euro Exim Bank partnered with Ripple for cross-border payments. How do you see this partnership bringing globally competitive services to your clients and customers?

Firstly, it is important to remember that Ripple is not just about cryptocurrency. It is an innovative technology company with a financial network capability (RippleNet), handling real-time, frictionless transmission of payments across a secure, decentralised DLT infrastructure, covering both fiat and non-fiat currency.

We use two unique Ripple services, namely xCurrent, speeding up and securing real-time payments, and xRapid, enabling pay-outs in local currency without the need for exchange into dollars or for traditional correspondent banks, through use of the XRP digital asset, which is a game-changer in reducing capital liquidity requirements.

Whereas, in the past, client access to funds and foreign currency meant competition in world markets was impossibly expensive and restrictive, through service delivery with other RippleNet participants, customers can achieve high-volume, frictionless, low-cost, secure, fast, guaranteed payments and instrument movement across the globe.

 

Along with the rapid innovations and disruptions happening globally in the banking sector, what other new technologies has Euro Exim Bank adopted to upgrade their offerings and quality of services?

We have always seen the value and impact of technology and, as such, continue to automate and improve our internal Simplex trade finance platform capabilities and, importantly, extending real-time payments functionality with Ripple for an enhanced customer experience. Additionally, we are creating sophisticated mobile apps and, in light of recent cryptocurrency regulation and opportunities, building a crypto exchange.

Today, innovation is the answer to serving the world’s three billion unbanked people, with better identity checking, faster remote account opening, access and control through mobile phones in developing markets, allowing more control to the end user. Ultimately, this will lower account maintenance costs and increase overall coverage, with immutable, blockchain-enabled technology making delivery, maintenance, security, trusted services and banking system participation easier.

With advanced mobile, smart connectivity, customer expectation is driving demand for more-efficient and ever-cheaper services from financial institutions. 

With the tightening regulations and increased compliance requirements in the financial sector, how do you leverage the latest DLT/blockchain solutions for anti-fraud, AML and KYC among banking and financial industries?

With advanced mobile, smart connectivity, customer expectation is driving demand for more-efficient and ever-cheaper services from financial institutions.  However, if new Open Banking is available, IoT is expanding, faster mobile networks are becoming common, why is it still taking weeks or months to open an account or complete a KYC process? 

How will banks change legacy systems and deliver the services that connected people demand today, if they are to survive the next wave of growing competition from agile challenger institutions? Is compliance at fault?

The perception of compliance is that it is bureaucratic, burdensome, costly, slow, repetitive and frequently stifles entrepreneurial flair to the detriment of lasting business. And for many, this is no different in practice.   

The use case for DLT in payments is strong, and even more so when assessing the issues and possible remedies in tackling fraud with KYC/AML and compliance.

Fortunately, DLT can provide the technology to improve the heavy, data-bound process. Addressing the fundamental issues of internal, intra- and interbank data sharing, DLT will assist submissions and oversight with regulators, and more rapidly identify foreign accounts used for illegal and fraudulent drug- and terrorist- financing transactions.    

For KYC, AML and due diligence across an enterprise, proliferation of paper, identification of false positives, multiple submissions of data, identity assurance and manual reconciliation times can be drastically reduced.

Coupled with efficient verification of KYC data, through DLT technology, rapid cost-effective on-boarding, faster loan servicing and efficiency in creation, communication and one-touch handling of trade documents will enable banks to offer systems enabling long-lasting, cost-effective customer experience. 

Whilst banks should not underestimate the investment and commitment in terms of budget and resource to implement such DLT/blockchain technologies, failure to plan, act and compete will have a serious impact on long-term institution viability.

About Euro Exim Bank

Euro Exim Bank Limited is an innovative global financial institution with head Office in St. Lucia and representative office in London.

They hold a “Class A” international banking license from Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of St. Lucia. This license provides authorisation to conduct business with third parties across industries and geographies worldwide, exercising strong due diligence, full compliance and operational excellence in our processes.

Euro Exim Bank is an associate member of the Caribbean Association of Banks Inc (CAB). Being a member of CAB offers them opportunities and knowledge sharing with industry leaders that are applied to modernise their operations and customer service.

 

Customers nowadays demand more-secure, fast, mobile and customised financial services with more-transparent fee structures. What do you think are the important trends regarding customer expectations in trade finance, and how does Euro Exim Bank cater to their ever-changing needs?

Clients want simplicity, low risk cost-effective instruments, with guarantees of delivery and a borderless trading environment, regardless of jurisdiction.

As major banks re-risk, merge and close customer accounts, doing business has become more challenging. Smaller agile providers have emerged, able to handle trade instruments for clients previously disintermediated and left uncompetitive.   Access to fiat currency and even sufficient local funds to trade on the international stage has prevented companies in emerging countries from being able to export. But trade does not have to stop.

Flexibility is the key in our approach to markets, fee structure and service level agreements and, with our eye on new technology, our systems deliver cost and time benefits internally and for end users.

Whilst our Simplex trade platform embeds DLT/blockchain technology, we continue to look at payment APIs and how they may be fully automated and integrated regarding individual identity, real-time company data access, PEP and sanction lists, and so on. 

Leading all our activity is listening to and building relationships with clients. We are constantly analysing emerging market flows in terms of volume and value, the impact of the OBOR initiatives and ease of instrument delivery with advanced payment channels. We remain vigilant and mindful of the continual changes and innovations that dominate the trade space and strive to be recognised as one of the best trade services institutions in the industry.

 

In addition to having an international team of experts with years of trade finance and SWIFT experience supporting clients from around the globe, Euro Exim Bank also puts great value on diversity, having five females holding senior/executive positions. What would you say are the advantages of having more females on the senior/board levels in the firm? 

We hire staff according to experience and suitability for the role and, as with all small companies, need to consider each role carefully.  Our employees are from eight countries and different cultures, and we firmly believe that women have a key role in making and assisting better-considered decisions on strategy and tactics.

Women focus on detail, with empathy, intuition and creativity, in a non-patronising way. This has helped  fashion our corporate culture,  working with common goals in an atmosphere of collective responsibility, mirroring recent employment reports that diversity leads to more profitability. In our experience and environment, women are truly valued for their contribution.

 

What is your opinion about the push for a cashless society?

We are some way off. 

Imagine the future with no coins or bank notes, no banks or money-service companies, with all financial transactions activated and automatically exchanged via mobile, or through contactless cards, and all in real time. An interesting aspiration but, given current progress, perhaps the UK at least should eliminate cheques before the debate turns to cash.

There is no doubt that traceability, audit, mobile stores of wealth, contactless operations with credit cards, payment apps and even cryptocurrency (if and when global regulatory approval is achieved) can benefit large sectors of the economy and communities.

Mobile payment mechanisms and digital wallets are taking the place of traditional bank accounts, but there are still three billion unbanked people, mainly reliant on cash, especially in rural economies, and the age demographic remains important – often resisting the latest technology trends.

Cash remains quick, accepted universally, and above all anonymous. Psychologically, the elderly still like holding physical cash, and a wallet of £50 notes still speaks more as a tangible symbol of wealth than waving a mobile phone with a banking app balance.   

But there are considerable, but not unsurmountable, issues.

Firstly, privacy, trust and confidence. With every transaction checked, recorded and available electronically, anonymity no longer exists. So, where is my data, who can see it, are they entitled to see it and will they use this data for my benefit or detriment?

Secondly, bad customer experience. Banks have suffered network outages, causing denial of service, delays in wages, savings, pensions and other instrument credits, leaving clients financially disadvantaged for days at a time. 

Thirdly, digital crime. The new criminals of our times now hack and launch cyber attacks, not only for cash but information, anonymously targeting bank systems and processes, where the spoils are far greater than stealing individual purses.

Ultimately, cashless societies will emerge, possibly within two generations, something that will take beyond my lifetime to fully realise.

 

Financial institutions are expected to play an important role in creating a sustainable and socially responsible future. What are Euro Exim Bank’s strategies and practices to further this aim? 

Our CSR policy is clear and fully in operation. From charity fundraising events, raising thousands of pounds supporting hospitals and the underprivileged, to local sponsorship of cultural events at home, in the Caribbean and in Africa, our organisation is pleased to provide regular support and awareness to those less fortunate than ourselves.

From a business perspective, before embarking on any agreements, we are careful to assess the environmental impact of trade and types of goods (responsibly sourced), working with buyers with whom fair trade prevails, and where sellers/manufacturers pay fairly and treat their workforce with consideration and respect.

 

On a lighter note, what does success mean to you? Can you also share with us your favourite life mantra?

For me, success is not about social-media likes, working all hours to become a millionaire or blindly building wealth.

It is an accumulation of smaller experiences: meeting people and creating lasting, honest relationships, sharing love and laughs with family, being a grandparent, respecting and emulating the legacy of my father, looking forward to sharing new experiences, appointment as a magistrate, having a book published, acting on the London stage, on TV and in film, scoring under 85 at golf, and driving the car I always promised myself!

My favourite life mantra? Life is short. Wake each day with a new passion, staying balanced through highs and lows and, not being too proud to ask for help.

 

Thank you very much Mr. Bright. It was a pleasure speaking with you. We learned a lot.

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About the Interviewee

Graham Bright is the Head of Compliance and Operations at Euro Exim Bank. He has more than 35 years of experience in the finance industry in a number of roles, working collaboratively with industry utilities, regulators and central banks, and in consulting and partner/channels management. He holds a BA (Hons) degree in Business Studies, and is also a serving UK Justice of the Peace in the magistrates’ court, having sat on criminal and proceeds of crime trials, and he also sits on Crown Court appeals. Graham is a regular contributor to trade journals (GTR, TFR), with published thought-leadership articles in the financial technology press, and a speaker at international trade industry conferences, such as SIBOS, GTR and Ripple Regional events.

Getting Metro back on track

Image source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk

By Matt Brown

To retain its position as a leader in terms of hard customer numbers and profit, Metro needs to revisit its challenger values. It needs to refresh them for a new decade, aligning them with customer needs today, rather from 10 years ago when it first launched and redefine how customer data can inform and drive the business forward.

 

What is the definition of a challenger today? Not in the Rocky Balboa sense, although of course there’s a metaphor there if you’re willing to look for one. Even in business, it seems to personify the plucky outlier, shaking up convention, bringing novelty and, hopefully, changing things for the better.

This is certainly what seemed to happen when the first of the challenger banks, Metro, emerged to put a rocket under the decades – sometimes centuries – old UK retail banks. Like the branchless, mobile-only banks that came after, Metro seemed to offer customer-friendly banking. No delayed transactions pushing the unwitting into unarranged, expensive overdraft, and none of the whiff of scandal that has tainted most of the incumbent banks at one stage or another over the years.

That was until Metro started looking suspiciously like the establishment and suffered its own financial crisis with a £900 million accounting error and criticism of its leadership.

But despite this, Metro remains a strong leader in disrupting the financial services sector, and it has the potential to create positive opportunities for growth and transforming its connection with customers. For a start, it continues to top the customer satisfaction league tables. It ranks top for overall service, just beating First Direct, the only bank belonging to the traditional cohort and even then, only just as it is also a new bank in relative terms and itself online only. However, it’s worth noting that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that ran the poll does not count the app-only challengers such as Monzo or Starling who have shaken the market up further still and who continue to gain users hand over fist.

To retain its position as a leader in terms of hard customer numbers and profit, rather than just sentiment (although also an important metric, just not enough on its own) Metro needs to revisit its challenger values. It needs to refresh them for a new decade, aligning them with customer needs today, rather from 10 years ago when it first launched and redefine how customer data can inform and drive the business forward, putting clear water between in and old-style banking that still fails to satisfy.

 

The banking customer 2020 onwards

SYZYGY conducted extensive research among financial services consumers to discover their key attitudes to banking today and going into the next decade. It uncovered a landscape where customers are happy to share data with institutions, provided there is something of real value in return. And that value comes in the form of transparency and ease of use, and anything that consigns traditional banking ‘trickery’ to the past.

 

Driving customer satisfaction

30% of UK consumers say that their experience of handling financial affairs would be improved if the information were easier to understand and free of jargon. This quick win is even more attractive to younger consumers, where 38% of 16-24 year-olds want a plain English approach. Nearly a third (31%) also want just the process of tracking down their financial details simplified, saying their experience would be most improved if they had access to all their services in one place.

The results of applying this kind of data is two-fold. Firstly, understanding what customers want from their service and offering solutions will help to stabilise the customer base, and secondly, it can help to reduce costs. By unleashing this data in the right way, it will lead to positive business transformation. Its insights can highlight where is best to pool money, what will work most efficiently and give banks like Metro a lever to control the flow of cash within its wider infrastructure. Orientating around the customer means more than working with new technology. It involves a fundamental reset of strategy, culture and process across all departments from marketing to sales and HR.

But when it comes to securing that data from customers, it is a myth to suggest that since data scandals like Cambridge Analytica that UK consumers are unwilling to share data. More Brits are happier to share their data with financial companies (55%) than with health and wellbeing (52%), technology (48%), retail (48%), entertainment (45%) and automotive companies (43%). Men were generally more willing than women, with nearly a fifth of the former (19%) content to share data compared to 13% of women.

However, the more personal the data, the more reticent consumers are about sharing it with financial services companies. Their professional lives are open books for 52% of consumers but that falls to 42% when it comes to family, medical (41%) and spending behaviour (41%).

Ultimately, this is great news for the likes of Metro because financial services companies that can optimise the customer journey and make best use of customer data to anticipate needs, reduce friction and maximise conversion are on the way to developing a sustainable competitive advantage. However, they need to gauge what kinds of data their customers are comfortable sharing and their ‘elasticity’ to share, if they don’t want to undermine trust or drown in their own data lake.

 

Injecting Innovation

Financial services customers are neither naïve, nor underinformed. Few may themselves be experts, but they understand how their data relates to the services they receive and generally, they approve.

Customers aren’t impressed by banks touting the technology itself, but rather what it can do for them. So, software like AI and machine learning didn’t score highly, but related innovations that then delivered a higher return on savings were top of consumers’ wish lists with 49% saying this was most attractive.

Real-time, up-to-date information on personal investments came second with 34%, as well as real-time notifications on transactions and account balances. With the latter already a reality for most, particularly among challenger bank customers, there seems little barrier to transferring this service to the investment product range.

Improving account management was next ranked, with 31% anticipating that lower management fees would be possible due to automation and 25% felt they should be receiving more relevant calls, emails and text messages.

Tailored investment recommendations came last on the list at 19% which is surprising. This is highly valued in other sectors like ecommerce and retail which suggests that something is still getting lost in translation when it comes to explaining more complex financial instruments.

In the end though, it pays not to over-think the value exchange. Our consumer research showed that cashback was the favourite incentive, encouraging 58% of customers to part with their data. Second was discounts or cheaper premiums for insurance at 54% of respondents. Related offers came in at 43% while ‘member privileges’ such as exclusive access to events was popular with 41%. Money management ranked the least exciting at 36%, telling because this is already a significant feature of the app-only bank accounts. It is difficult to tout something as an exclusive benefit when it’s seen as a hygiene factor for many competitors.

 

[su_pullquote]Transparency is key. The customer may be well-informed but there are still areas of data collection and its use that seem hidden behind the veil and it is the collection of more peculiar data points that can set the customer relationship off-kilter.[/su_pullquote]

Managing growth through transparency

While consumers are increasingly willing to share data, its collection must neither be gratuitous, nor murky. Transparency is key. The customer may be well-informed but there are still areas of data collection and its use that seem hidden behind the veil and it is the collection of more peculiar data points that can set the customer relationship off-kilter.

The most scepticism is retained for social media influence. What are you collecting about me? What does my interaction say about me? The drop in willingness to share family data can be linked here, with consumers unsure of just what sort of picture institutions are building about them through their unwittingly unguarded posts. The solution would seem to be hyper-transparency.

When Metro first arrived in the challenger market, it grew at an exceptional rate. In this first phase of growth, managing it required having messaging that aligned with what the customer was looking for. Now, at the heart of managing its next phase of growth is transparent change. This involves knowing its current capabilities and resources, identifying where it is lacking and formulate a plan that will propel it towards a successful transformation into a customer-focused organisation. To do this, Metro needs to evaluate its internal processes, use customer information to determine where to channel the growth- all while being fully transparent about the data it collects and where that data is used.

 

Investing in the future

Ten years is a long time in digital banking, and perhaps as the granddaddy of challenger banks, Metro needs to refresh its approach considering new consumer attitudes. Customers have seen what can be done by applying the right data to the right algorithm. Expectations of money management as standard, real-time transactions and even investments and AI-driven financial solutions are rising.

That Metro has branches where other app-only banks – and increasingly some traditional, so-called retail banks – do not is still a bonus. It handily bridges the gap between the standard banking customer and the early adopter. But it must strive to remain current – or even futuristic.

What does that future look like? App-only banks face their own challenges so they’re not about to sweep the board just yet, but Metro can learn from their approach to using customer data ‘out in the open’ so to speak. All those data points that usually work in the background to score interest rates or select products are now scrolling down users’ mobile screens in the form of spending analysis and saving advice. Expenditure data that used to tell an underwriter that someone was a higher mortgage risk using some very shadowy calculations now appears on screen as ‘cut down on the takeaway lattes and you could save £2,000 a year’. Although perhaps best to ignore the stainless-steel challenger take on the iconic Black Amex. A nice headline-grabbing gimmick but of little customer value in the long run.

Metro Bank already enjoys that peculiar position of having a foot in both worlds. It is a retail bank in the traditional sense with branches and tellers and all that gives comfort to customers who value that sort of thing. On the other hand, it is a fully digitised, customer experience-led challenger bank with the access to data and the expertise to deliver highly personalised, innovative financial instruments that can only improve customers’ financial health. It’s not a case of restoring its position alongside the other challengers, it’s about redefining its place as the leader.

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Matt Brown have 18 years’ digital marketing experience. He oversees delivery and execution at SYZYGY to help clients drive measurable impact from their investment.

How To Get The Most Out Of An Internship

An internship is a good opportunity to get a feel of the office environment. College students and fresh graduates are fortunate to have this chance of preparing for their actual work and eventual employment. Because an internship can be considered as a stepping stone to the path of actual employment, some individuals may develop a mindset that it is something to bear and not enjoy. However, internships can actually give many benefits and perks. These benefits are something that could not be realized if you just count down the days until your internship is over.

 

Gain Company and Industry Knowledge Early

As early as your final college years or fresh out of graduation, you can gain as much knowledge as you want about the company you are working for. Don’t limit yourself to your assigned department. Get acquainted with employees from other departments and try to learn how your work in your assigned department differs from theirs and which areas can you also find common ground.

Get to learn the most out of the company you’re working for. Learn about its organizational structure, the company’s culture and what it takes to succeed in the industry. Of course you have your own ideals for your preferred career path, and you can determine if the company you have an internship with is the right one for you or one that can help you find the right one.

 

Be An Asset to The Company

Even if you don’t have experience yet, you can still contribute to the company you are having in internship with. For some businesses such as an LLC, setting up an internship program is a wise move that can be geared to benefit both the company and the intern. Be sure to pay attention to the structure of responsibilities that you are assigned with, and accomplish them at the designated deadline or even earlier. Not only will you gain commendation from the company, you are also helping the company accomplish some of its essential tasks. The key is always doing your best and treating each assignment as an opportunity for learning and growth.

 

Broaden Your Skills and Widen Your Knowledge

Your learning doesn’t stop within campus walls, you take it with you anywhere you go. Now that you are venturing into office space and getting familiar with the office culture, get your hunger for knowledge work to your advantage. No matter what type of assignments you are assigned with, there is learning involved and knowledge gained from them, which are different from the ones learned in the classroom. If you have learned important skills and new knowledge, it can be helpful to jot them down in a journal. You can also track the accomplishments you have made during your internship.

Familiarize the tasks you are assigned with, and don’t be afraid to try out other tasks or assignments. The more tasks you get to handle, the more confident you’ll emerge from your internship. Also, these tasks you have handled can make great additions in empowering your resume.

There are actually many ways of making your internship experience worthwhile and rewarding. Always keep a mindset for learning even if you are outside of your classroom. Your internship outlook can affect your prospects for employment so make it positive and promising one. Think of it as your warm-up session before your actual venture into the race for your career advancement.

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Five Tips That Will Help You Succeed As A Forex Trader

The foreign exchange market, commonly known as the forex market, is currently the largest and most liquid financial market. Due to its nature, the forex market provides endless opportunities to traders and allows new avenues to be explored by regular and irregular traders, alike, every day.

Regardless of your level of experience, succeeding at forex trading will always remain your primary goal. However, while forex trading can lead to big bucks, it also involves a lot of risks. Hence, if you really want to be successful, not only should you know how to trade as a beginner, but you should know how to manage risks, too.

Due to the number of aspects involved with forex trading, it’s essential to have as many tricks under your sleeve as possible. So, here are five tips that’ll help you become a successful forex trader:

Take Your Time To Learn About The Market

There’s no point jumping into the field if you know nothing about it. It’s vital to gain as much knowledge about the market before you even think of making money at forex. Just like any other skill, forex requires a solid education that teaches you multiple things, including:

• How currency pairs work
• How to analyze the forex market
• How to read and understand large volumes of data
• How to use trading instruments and identify trading signals

Apart from theoretical and technical knowledge, education in forex trading will also teach you how to manage your stress and control your emotions in stressful situations. This part is significant since impulsive decisions based on your feelings can lead to huge mistakes.

Pick Your Broker Carefully

It doesn’t matter how skilled you are as a trader; if you end up choosing the wrong broker, all your efforts will go down the drain. It’s vital to take out considerable time to explore different brokers and look into their legal status and their policies. Additionally, you should check reviews and recommendations to determine whether other traders had a good experience or no.

There are multiple factors that you need to keep in mind to evaluate different forex brokers. Apart from being legitimate, a forex broker should ideally offer a demo account and have a top-notch trading platform. Moreover, the quality of a broker’s offering depends on the spreads, which is the difference between the buying and selling prices of a currency.

An excellent forex broker to consider is Oanda. Not only does the platform offer a wide range of features for all kinds of traders, but Oanda spreads can easily compete with significant forex firms. Additionally, the platform is transparent about its current and historical spreads and also issues a warning to traders when spreads can widen in times of high volatility. Make sure you go through an Oanda forex review to see if it is the best forex broker you could ever higher.

Use Trends To Your Advantage

Forex trading is exceptionally dependent on trends, which is the probability of a price to move in a particular direction over some time. Experienced traders know how crucial it is to be able to spot trends. Trends assist you in your decision making by helping you exit a trade at the right time.

By focusing on trends, traders can identify profitable trends and know which points of entry and exit are favorable. Hence, recognizing patterns is something every trader should aim to master. While depending on trends entirely is not wise either, it’s still better to be able to read them.

Don’t Focus Too Much On Losses And Learn From Them Instead

Risk-taking is at the very core of forex trading so you should never risk more than you can afford. Similarly, losses are inevitable in forex trading, and no forex trader has never experienced failure at any point in their trading career.

Don’t fret over the minor losses you’ve made in the past and, instead, focus on improving your trades in the future. Additionally, there should always be a limit to how much you can afford to lose. Traders commonly follow the 2 percent rule where they risk no more than 2 percent of their capital on any single trade. 

Focusing too much on losses can sometimes lead to impulsive decision-making when you want to recover those losses. Such rash decisions can result in even more losses, leading to a cycle of poor choices.

Record Your Trading Activities And Analyze Them Regularly 

Both beginners and experienced traders alike should record their trades in a trading journal. Maintaining a trading journal can lead to many benefits, including:

• Allowing you to monitor your performance
• Showing you how consistent you are with your trading techniques
   and strategies
• Helping you assess winning and losing trades
• Keep track of any decisions based on your emotions

Since your trading journal is personal, it depends on you how you create it. Successful traders regularly evaluate their choices to determine what they should and shouldn’t do. 

Conclusion

The five tips listed above will definitely help you become a successful forex trader by adding structure to your trading and helping you focus on the right aspects. It’s vital to explore all of the tips and incorporate them into your daily trading activities. 

The forex market is, undoubtedly, competitive. However, with the right mindset and dedication, you’re bound to succeed as long as you don’t look for the easy way out. 

Have you tried any of these tips above? What other tips can help one become a successful forex trader? Let us know in the comments below!

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Houthi Attack on Saudi Oil Fields – a False Flag?

By Peter Koenig

On Saturday morning, September 14, 2019, a few drones – were they drones or long-range missiles? – hit the Saudis most important two oil fields, set them ablaze, apparently knocking out half of the Saudi crude production – but measured in terms of world production it is a mere 5%. Could be made up in no time by other Gulf oil producers – or indeed, as the Saudis said, by the end of September 2019 their production is back to ‘normal’ – to pre-attack levels.

The financial reaction was immediate. Saudi stocks fell, the oil prices rose, then settled and later fell again. It was an immediate reaction of major banks’ algorithmic speculation with about 10,000 operational hits a second. A trial for larger things to come?

The Yemeni Shiites, the Houthis, immediately claimed credit for the attack, saying they sent some ten “suicide drones” to the major Saudi oilfields and processing center. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, immediately and without a shred of evidence blamed Iran for the ‘terror attack’ – immediately more economic sanctions were imposed on Iran (Trump proudly said, the most severe ones ever put on a country), for an occurrence they had nothing to do with. – The Saudis, as if confused, held off on accusations. And as of this day, they refrain from accusing Iran. And this despite the fact that there is no love left between SA and Iran which would make blaming Iran a easy feat.

Here is the thing: Pompeo was never clear from where the attack was launched. He just blamed Iran. He then later, following Qanbar’s statement, joined the chorus, also saying the attack was launched from Iraq, that it was not originating from Yemen.

Also immediately following the attack, a high Iraqi Government official assured that the attack was launched from Iraqi soil, not from Yemen. But shortly thereafter Iraqi officials vehemently denied that they had anything to do with this attack. Yet, the launch location Iraq was “confirmed” by the leading Iraqi analyst based in the US, Entifadh Qanbar, President and Founder of the Future Foundation. The Asia Times says, he follows closely developments in his home country, and he has many associates feeding him with information that has proved more than once to be accurate. [Apparently], his information about the attack coming from Iraq is backed by prior history and by Pompeo’s clear declaration.

 

Here is the thing: Pompeo was never clear from where the attack was launched. He just blamed Iran. He then later, following Qanbar’s statement, joined the chorus, also saying the attack was launched from Iraq, that it was not originating from Yemen. Later the location was further defined as close to the Iranian border, from a “territory held by Iran sympathizing rebels”. No matter what, Iran remains the villain.

The Asia Times further reports, [It] is growing more certain that the attacks on the Khurais oil fields and the Abqaig oil processing center in Saudi Arabia were launched from southern Iraq and not from Yemen by the Houthis. This was made clear by Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who said: “There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.”

If it all sounds like a big fabricated confusion, it’s because it is a big fabricated confusion. Iran is singled out; fingers pointing to Iran (except, miraculously those of Saudi Arabia), like a sledgehammer hitting Iran, again and again. – The mainstream media loves it. Today, a week after the attack, most nobody remembers the Houthis claiming responsibility – it was Iran. Period. The media blitz won.

But let’s look at this more carefully. The Saudis have about a 70-billion-dollar annual military budget, an armada of US missile defense systems – quite a sizable budget for a country that is studded with US military bases, receives permanent US military and logistics support, technical advice and on the ground defense systems – plus bombs and missiles delivered from the US, UK and France. How come the US-UK-France backed Saudi defense was unable to detect this, albeit, sophisticated drone (missile?) attack? Some say, too sophisticated for the Houthis? – Doesn’t that raise some questions?

Who wins? – Yes, the table is turning and the Houthis are now on the winning side. And they clearly have taken strength. Yemen has lost tens of thousands of people, including thousands and thousands of children through bombs, famine and diarrheal diseases, including a massive cholera epidemic, in an unjust and unprovoked war that started in early 2015, carried out by Saudis as a proxy for the Washington and Pentagon handlers.

The biggest winner may be Washington. They have a new devastating blame on Iran – more sanctions, more justification to launch a direct confrontation against Iran – possibly through Israel, or the NATO forces.

Many of the debris of weapons you find on the ground in Yemen say ‘Made in USA’ – which would lead you to conclude that America is at war with Yemen, not the Saudis. Yemen occupies a strategic geographic and geopolitical location and must not be ruled by a people-friendly government, let alone by a socialist leaning government, as the Houthis are. Besides, Yemen may have huge deep off-shore oil reserves.

Isn’t it logical that the Houthis hit back to defend themselves to eventually reach an end to the war and its indescribable atrocities? – Isn’t it weird that the misery and tens of thousands of Yemeni deaths in an unjust and purely criminal aggression instigated by the US, carried out by Riyadh and lasting already for more than 4 years, that this monstrous aggression pales in the mainstream media, as compared to two blazing Saudi oil fields?  Doesn’t that say a lot about our programed to the core western brains, our sense of humanity, what’s left of it?

The biggest winner may be Washington. They have a new devastating blame on Iran – more sanctions, more justification to launch a direct confrontation against Iran – possibly through Israel, or the NATO forces; the “neutral” international killing machine – an amalgam of spineless Europeans and Canada, who love to dance to the tunes of Washington – hoping to get some crumbs of the loot at the end of the day, before the empires falls.

But there is more. Almost unrelated, but if you look closer the dots click and connect. And that’s where the ‘false flag’ comes in. It is indeed very possible that the attack, by drones or missiles was launched out of Iraq – either directly by US forces, or by US-trained terrorist groups. The US has countless military bases in Iraq. A false flag, i.e. an attack at one of the major energy resources the world still uses to economically survive – hydrocarbons – will definitely enhance the planned ‘new’ economic crisis that is ‘over-due’ and has begun trickling down the melting pillars of western social infrastructure – unemployment on the rise (the real figures), to hit the western world in full swing in 2020 and counting – a financial crisis sustained by astronomical energy prices – what better scenario to shuffle more wealth from down to up, from the poor to the rich? – This attack on the Saudi oil fields may be just the beginning of more to come. Wall Street is trained in capitalizing on “crisis oil”.

In parallel with this Houthi or non-Houthi attack, according to many economists’ assessments – a crisis worse than 2008 / 2009, has indeed already been launched, as worldwide GDP growth is already slowing way beyond expectations. The year 2020 and the following years, may perhaps go down in history as the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It may also be the last one under the current western fiat money system.

But how to construct the crisis? The dollar hegemony is faltering rapidly – trust in the US economy is in freefall. The smart heads of neoliberal thinking, FED, IMF, ECB, are at a loss of finding the ‘right solution’ – but yes, the principle of looting the poor for the benefit of the rich must go on. In the last ten years, enough hard and social capital has been accumulated – social welfare, pensions, health services, public education and infrastructure, social and physical – for the kleptocrats to shuffle some trillions upwards, and let the working class start from scratch again. The example Greece is a demonstration in a crystal ball. The IMF, ECB and European Commission (EC) are to be proud of their achievement.

There is confusion and uncertainty. The FED just lowered the interest rate by 0.25% down to a range of 1.75% – 2%, with Chairman Jerome Powell’s incoherent explanations, clearly under pressure from President Trump, who wants to be reelected next year – hoping to defer a major crisis. At the same token, the lead interest in other western countries, are adjusted to reflect the FED’s decision. In Switzerland, where the Swiss Franc is one of the assets of refuge in cases of crisis, the Central Bank just decided to leave interbank rates at minus 0.75%, in line with other western central banks.  Listening to central bankers, there is not going to be any significant change in low or minus interest rates in the foreseeable future. An economic aberration if ever there was one!

People – bank on it! Borrow and invest at no cost like there is no tomorrow. Help building the bubble of debt – when it bursts, you know what happens – and burst it will. It’s just a matter of time.

Yet, there seems to be an indecision – indicating a major dollar crisis is looming, but nobody quite knows how ‘major’ and how it will pan out and where; quite unusual for these heads of wisdom, running the financial globe’s kingdom.

Madame Christine Lagarde, changing ship from the IMF to the ECB (European Central Bank), theoutgoing Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, and the former New York Federal Reserve Bank chief, Bill Dudley, hinted that the United States might have to give up her dollar dominance, the backbone for her world hegemony – and let it be replaced by a kind of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), in which the dollar might still have a dominant role, but, albeit, it would no longer be seen as a untrustworthy fiat Ponzi scheme.

A major attack on a couple of Saudi oil fields is an ideal reason for letting oil prices skyrocket. It could make for an ideal ‘false flag’; a win-win for Washington.

The decadent dollar would be hidden among the other currencies of the basket, presumably the British Pound, the Euro, the Japanese Yen and the Chinese Yuan – if the pattern of the current IMF SDR basket was to be followed. The hegemonic power of the dollar might be hidden, so that the world’s “worries” vis-à-vis the western dollar dominated economy, could be at least partially and temporarily mitigated (see Will the IMF, Federal Reserve, Negative Interest Rates and Digital Money Kill the Western Economy? https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-the-imf-the-federal-reserve-negative-interest-rates-and-digital-money-kill-the-western-economy/5689200)

What does all that have to do with the Yemeni attack on the Saudi oil fields?

Everything.

The reduction of the Saudi crude production – cut in half, though amounting only to 5% of world production – would under normal circumstances hardly affect significantly the world petrol price – unless it becomes the subject of speculation, which it obviously will, a justified “high risk” speculation. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and others are experts in the matter, doing the bidding for the FED, IMF, ECB, BIS – the western instruments behind the dollar system – let it milk as much as it can, before biting the dust – letting it shuffle as much as it can from the bottom to the top, as is usual for a manufactured economic crisis. Mind you, they ALL are and have been manufactured for at least the last 100 years.

While the uncertainty about (western) global interest rates prevails – a major attack on a couple of Saudi oil fields is an ideal reason for letting oil prices skyrocket. It could make for an ideal ‘false flag’; a win-win for Washington: sustaining the manufactured economic crisis with an attack on major oil fields (maybe the first of others to come) – and – a good new reason to blame Iran – another good reason to go to war with Iran. But will the Trump Administration dare?

In today’s world, economic progress is still measured in linear GDP output which, in turn, depends largely on available (and affordable) energy. Once the hydrocarbon damage or shortage is known or predictable in term of escalating oil prices – pundits claim it could exceed the100 dollar mark, decisions on how to deal with interest rates are much easier. Combine this with ongoing trade wars, real wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, economic strangulations left and right, regime change efforts, refugee issues – you have the perfect scenario for the next crisis.

To this you may add the Soros-driven massive around-the-globe climate hype, but I mean a ferocious climate propaganda machine, the highly publicized “Greta Crowd”, the “Friday for Future” school strike movement, and more, much more, prompting a special UN Climate Conference – 23 September. As Carla Stea from Global Research pointedly asks: Has the UN become a Wall Street Asset? (https://www.globalresearch.ca/united-nations-becoming-public-relations-asset-wall-street/5689620).

All of this with the specific objective of collecting enormous sums of special ‘climate taxes’, for everything that moves and that our usual climate “scientists” are connecting with global warming, or more politically correct “climate change”. There is talk about the revival of some kind of the infamous “carbon fund”. Most of day-in-day-out manipulated westerners will happily pay the extra “fee” to clear their minds of ‘guilt’ and go on with life. Never mind, that climate change is a natural phenomenon and is primarily nature-driven, as Mother Earth has done for the four billion years of her existence.

This fits well with the attacks on the Saudi oil fields – who knows, others may follow – as the destruction, or disruption of the flow of vital hydrocarbon energy resources serves the Bigger Picture – bringing about a major worldwide economic depression. And by now, we know, that every recession-depression brings more misery to the poor and makes the rich richer.

So, ‘cui bono’ – is as usual the western corporate military and financial elite. Therefore, a false flag attack on the Saudi Oil fields – of course with the Saudis in collusion, is not as far-fetched as one might believe at first glance. Last Saturday’s attack may be just the first one of a serious of misdeeds on the Middle Eastern oil industry – to drive oil prices up – a solid support to the well-prepared financial crisis.

This is first-rate economic terrorism. The dollar may survive a few years longer, while the children of Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua – you name it – will continue to be exposed to man-made misery no end. – Let’s stop this criminal western shenaniganism now! – Let’s disconnect our economies from the west, of those who are aware and awaken, and turn to the East, where the future is.

 

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About the Author

Peter KoenigPeter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21st Century; TeleSUR; The Saker Blog, the New Eastern Outlook (NEO); and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.
Peter Koenig is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

First published by the New Eastern Outlook – NEO

Very special Ks: kamishibais, from “kokusaku” to “kyokan”, ie from war propaganda to sharing the same feelings

By Megumi Bailey and Géraldine Enjelvin

A centuries-old Japanese storytelling tradition is being revived for modern audiences. Meet kamishibai – from kami, meaning paper and shibai, meaning play or theatre – an ancient art form that many librarians, nursing-homes and schools use in many countries throughout the world. How and why has it evolved? What is the appeal?

 

In todays’ manufacturing environment, line managers and workers are familiar with kamishibai boards, also referred to as T-card systems. However, the Japanese word kamishibai (from “kami” meaning paper, and “shibai” meaning theatre) finds its origins in the twelfth century, in Japan’s art of pictorial storytelling or “etoki”: picture scrolls or “emaki” were used by Buddhist monks as tools to preach to audiences of often illiterate villagers.

 

In Japan: from entertainment kamishibai…

Around Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868), the standing picture style or “tachie” became popular entertainment as a street performing business. It is, however, in 1923-1929, in Tokyo, during the period of the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Great depression, that the current style of flat picture kamishibai or “hirae kamishibai” gained widespread popularity. Many unemployed became itinerant kamishibai storytellers or “gaito kamishibaiya”, who affixed their approximately A4/A3 size wooden stage or “butai” to the back of their bicycle. To draw children’s attention and gain a loyal following, they used wooden clappers and sold sweets and savoury snacks. Kamishibai storytellers did, and still do, reveal pictures one by one- hence kamishibai being somewhat closer to comics than traditional story books because pictures are more sequential. In the 1930s, street kamishibai storytellers used inexpensive techniques; they produced simple images drawn or painted on paper. At that time, kamishibai stories were generally extremely light-hearted, crude and/or mythical tales, presented in episodes with cliff-hangers and illustrated with glaring, garish colours to attract their young audience’s attention. The edibles sold were equally crude, often prepared in unhygienic conditions. As such, kamishibai became a byword for tackiness that was frowned upon by many (especially the police and government officials, eg the Ministry of Education), as it sought to exploit children.

 

…to military propaganda or “kokusaku” kamishibai

That same government, however, saw in kamishibai’s wide appeal, low cost and portability the ideal mass medium they could easily adapt to influence and indoctrinate both children and adults, not only in Japan but also in Asian countries under Japanese Occupation- hence the production of “colonial kamishibai”. Above all, the government wanted to capitalise on kamishibai’s (perhaps) key attribute: its power to elicit a strong and pleasant sense of togetherness or “kyokan”, as the members of the audience experience similar feelings. Hence, in the Japanese government’s hands, kamishibai became a powerful pro-war propaganda tool. Although most kamishibai’s patriotic narratives asked audiences to help the country in any possible way and be prepared to die for the “nation-family”, some were somewhat educational. Their pictures showed how to build resistant bomb shelters, what to do during air raids (eg how to put out resulting fires) etc. The government’s military propaganda strategy was so successful that it led to a tenfold increase in kamishibai publications compared with the pre-war period – when only recreational kamishibai were created.

 

… to educational or “kyoiku” kamishibai

Japanese educators also saw great potential in kamishibai – as evidenced in the resulting national education guidelines issued by the government in 1948. Inspired by Christian missionaries’ Gospel kamishibai stories which were first published in 1933, Gozan Takahashi initiated, in the late 1940s, the use of kamishibai as a two-way communication and interaction tool (between a performer and their audience), which distinguishes it from traditional picture-books and makes it a multimodal device. He also favored uncluttered pictures. He founded a kamishibai publishing firm called “Zenkosha” to disseminate his stories aimed at kindergarten and nursery schools. Although street kamishibai as a recreational tool was re-introduced after the devastation of World War Two, criticisms from both officials and non-officials about its immoral use and its lingering sense of tawdriness, added to the advent of household television in the 1950s, led to its demise as an entertainment tool.

 

Kamishibai is also known as a “storybox theatre”, and the latter acts as a frame for the pictures, thereby intensifying their power and facilitating the audience’s concentration when listening.

Today in Japan

In 1967, the Ministry of Education limited the use of kamishibai to Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) schools, its rational being that little formal research had conducted into the impact of kamishibai in education. As a result, nowadays, kamishibai stories are predominantly, but not exclusively, used in EYFS education. They cover a wide array of topics, from folktales to academic subjects such as science, through to more contemporary questions such as the environment, tolerance, peace, etc.

Kamishibai is also known as a “storybox theatre”, and the latter acts as a frame for the pictures, thereby intensifying their power and facilitating the audience’s concentration when listening. Similarly, sliding pictures in and out at different speeds together with half-revealing them, then pausing for dramatic effect, constitute techniques conducive to better focus and concentration. Additionally, for some years now, kamishibai, have been used in a participatory style: the audience is not (only) a quiet, passive recipient. Kamishibai storytellers may read a commercially published story whilst, now and then, interacting with the audience and incorporating their perspectives. In higher schools, older participants can be instructed to collaborate to create a kamishibai storyline and its storyboards, then to perform in front of an audience. Such scaffolding learning activities not only enhance social competences but also foster a confidence-boosting feeling of empowerment. This is exactly what pupils from Mikawa Junior High School in Nagasaki experienced in 2017 after listening to Hiroyasu Tagawa’s first-hand experience as an atomic bomb survivor. It is worth noting that whilst some tsunami, nuclear plant or Nagasaki/ Hiroshima survivors’ stories are also passed onto younger generations via kamishibai created by artists who have listened to survivors’ own memories (eg Never again, a “Peace through kamishibai” story available in 17 languages), others are the creations of the survivors themselves, eg Yoshi Tabata, who outlived the March 1933 tsunami, Hiroshi Suenaga, who survived the Nagasaki bombing on 6 August 1945, Yoko Oka who survived the Fukushima disaster in March 2011 and Mieko Matsuno, who survived the March 2011 tsunami. Not

unexpectedly, some kamishibai stories (such as Matsuno’s) also provide children with easy-to-understand information about self-protection in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis.

Unsurprisingly, establishments other than EYFS schools use kamishibai as pedagogical tools. Foreign language schools, such as Kanda College of Foreign Languages in Tokyo, use them as their key theme for projects with partner institutions abroad. Some non-profitable organisations (NPOs) use them to establish and maintain cross-cultural links with other countries. For example, Niigata N Net set up a volunteer group in 2009 called “Dream Bridge” to produce multilingual kamishibai to be used as a recreational and learning tool by early years educational institutions in places as diverse as Sri Lanka, Madagascar, South Africa etc.

Other Japanese organisations focus on the transmission of culture between generations. For example, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Archaeology (HPMA) has facilitated the production of kamishibai stories designed, and used, to raise visitors’ awareness of ancient culture. Similarly, via community support projects, several NPOs, eg Green Leaf, aim to transmit endangered indigenous dialects to younger generations through kamishibai. In 2009, 8 Japanese dialects featured in the UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger ; hence, for example, Tora Mistuhashi makes and performs kamishibai to spread understanding of Ainu culture and tradition.

Like any other countries, Japan is changing and some changes may not be for the best. One issue arising from almost constant exposure to digital media is that human contact diminishes, especially amongst the young. Some educators believe this may delay speech development at EYFS, hence kamishibai have been adapted and tailored to meet the needs of individual children who present specific developmental and learning disorders. Another challenge is Japan’s ageing demographic. Since the turn of the century, care homes for the elderly have increasingly turned to participatory style kamishibai. The latter not only fosters the warmth of human interaction, but also provides stimulation that proves extremely useful when senile dementia and other age-related symptoms set in. Stories based on the past, either of a serious or light-hearted nature, are helpful in triggering conversations linked to personal experiences at different stages in life.

Admittedly, there has been a revival of street kamishibai storytellers in recent years, but their numbers are nowhere near those in the 1920s. Some, like Tokyo Kirara-za, a volunteers’ kamishibai troupe, do perform in hospitals, orphanages and schools for the physically and mentally handicapped but predominantly present their stories outdoors, in

front of families. Many adults in the audience admit to harbouring fond childhood memories of kamishibai stories, but could it also be that kamishibai “appeal to the yearning of many people today for a time when life moved at a gentler pace” in Japan?

 

Kamishibai elsewhere

A single Internet search will yield a myriad of examples to support the claim that, although non-Japanese people, often thanks to Pokémon in the late 1990s, may have become familiar with Japanese manga well before they heard of kamishibai, the latter story-telling medium has been embraced by other peoples. The manga and anime market is big business worldwide; hence, given the contributions made by Kamishibai to the comics genre, some readers became aware of kamishibai via manga.

Although, between 23 May and 26 August 2019, the British Museum in London staged the largest manga exhibition ever held outside Japan, a glance at the map of events organised worldwide for World Kamishibai Day on 7 December 2018 reveals that England does not feature on the list of participants and the same conclusion may be drawn from the list of speakers at the Kamishibai International Symposium in May 2018 in Slovenia.

Kamishibai also constitutes an ideally versatile and user-friendly tool for intercultural projects between pupils from two countries.

One of the first scholarly articles on educational kamishibai published in English outside of Japan is dated March 2003 and was written by an American author, Lee Gretchen, who was teaching English abroad: “Kamishibai, a vehicle to multiple literacies”. However, kamishibai really grew in popularity worldwide after the publication, in 2005, of Japan-born Allen Say’s book entitled Kamishibai Man; the French version came out a year later. Since then, the worldwide appeal of kamishibai has undeniably grown. An International Plurilingual Kamishibai competition was launched in 2018 by a French educational organisation called DULALA (meaning From One Language to Another) which is officially accredited by the French Ministry of Education and seeks to promote bilingualism/plurilingual education for all children. South America has been hosting an International Festival of Kamishibai for a few years and several countries hold their own kamishibai festivals, targeting both children and adults, eg Slovenia and Croatia. Kamishibai stories can be purchased online in France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Canada, South America, etc. The target audience is not only pre-school children but also pre-teenagers. Some stories are available in up to four languages (especially French, Spanish, Dutch, Hugarian, Italian, German); some come in three levels of difficulty and with companion audio CDs. Kamishibai stories, especially for educational purposes, constitute a flourishing market and fee-paying kamishibai workshops aimed at parents, librarians, (trainee) nursery, primary and secondary school teachers, speech-therapists, people working in leisure centres, care-homes for the elderly, etc. run in many countries, eg Italy, France, Spain, Peru. Kamishibai are actively used in classrooms and libraries for children’s literacy development; their use is even encouraged by the Chilean Ministry of Education. As both learners and tutors focus on the pictures and narratives instead of each other, kamishibai stories also facilitate a non-confrontational, non-awkward approach to address human problems, including diversity, gender awareness (in Italy), sex education (in India), obesity etc.. Kamishibai also constitutes an ideally versatile and user-friendly tool for intercultural projects between pupils from two countries.

Finally, the use of kamishibai as a therapeutic tool should not be ignored. It is used with addicts presenting mental health issues, with people presenting specific learning difficulties and/or autism.

 

Conclusion

In 1985, Sakuramoto, a Japanese author wrote: “because kamishibai is a simple and straightforward integrated art form, […] it can be used extremely effectively as a teaching tool for winning hearts and minds […]. Many years of putting this idea into practice confirm it”. Indeed, and whether it serves as a pedagogical medium or for entertainment, whether in Japan or elsewhere, this ancient art form somehow remains both relevant and strangely reassuring in the face of today’s fast-changing world.

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About the Authors 

Throughout her life, Japan-born and bred Megumi Bailey has been involved in Early Years Foundation Stage education through her family-run schools. After teaching science in Japanese high schools, she moved to the UK. Since 2001, she has been teaching Japanese at the University of York on the Languages For All programme.

Géraldine Enjelvin has been a university lecturer in England for over 25 years. She has trained primary foreign languages teachers and currently teaches French to undergraduates at the University of York. Her 2018 publication on kamishibai led to her June 2019 hands-on workshop at York Festival of Ideas with Megumi Bailey.

New Drunk Drinking Laws In Canada Can Drive You Crazy

Under the updated law, known as C-46, which became effective in December, police can stop any driver, anyplace, in any way, shape or form and request their example. Besides, you could get referred to regardless of whether you haven’t driven a vehicle in two hours.

“The bill makes it an offense to have a BAC (blood liquor fixation) or BDC (blood medicate focus) of 100 mg of blood inside a couple of hours after driving,” Joanna Baron, a criminal lawyer and national chief of the Runnymede Society, let me know. “You could ride at 6:00 pm with a BAC of zero, get back home, have a beverage at 6:30 pm, and be captured in your home at 8:00 pm.”

These drunk driving Canada laws now can either make the things good for the citizen or vice-versa.

 

Sincere goals, Bad Policy

Canadian experts are shielding C-46, calling attention to that traffic fatalities are the main source of death and damage in Canada.

“I accept these changes will bring about fewer street passings and less Canadian families crushed by the impacts of a disabled driver,” said David Taylor. Common libertarians are less intrigued. Aristocrat said C-46 dissolves the assumption of honesty and is “obviously illegal.”

“Drinking and driving is a scourge and prompts silly passings in Canada, as in the United States,” Baron stated, “however the administration’s authoritative reaction is a stunning infringement of fundamental common freedoms unwarranted by proof.”

 

Other Canadian lawyers communicated comparative concerns.

“This is an extreme takeoff from past law, which protected individuals against warrantless pursuits without reasonable justification,” said Toronto-based criminal guard lawyer Michael Engel, soon after the law passed.

What Might Enforcement Resemble?

You drive your family to an eatery. Your better half wishes to drive so you can have a couple of lagers, which you do. Somebody who saw you drive to the eatery is worried since little youngsters are with you. They call the police, who arrive and oversee a breathalyzer.

As per the law, criminal specialists state, police could refer to you on the off chance that you bombed the moderation test. It would be occupant on you to demonstrate in court that you never had a drop of liquor before landing at the eatery.

“In the event that [the police] come and discover you at the eatery they can remove you from the café in spite of the reality you’ve been drinking at the café, perhaps you weren’t going to drive away,” Paul Doroshenko, a Vancouver criminal legal advisor who works in alcoholic driving cases, revealed to Global News. “It is significantly dumb, so a great many people expect it can’t be. However, that is the thing that the law is currently, you will witness it—I promise it.”

Taylor added that the “two-hour rule” got passed to avoid “certain guards in alcoholic driving cases,” which appears another method for saying it’s simpler for the state to win indictments when natives don’t have fundamental common freedoms.

History recommends that minorities get most influenced by the extended police powers.

 

Other Canadian pundits concurred that police would be bound to target minorities.

All things considered, before Americans get excessively energized, they should realize that Taylor safeguarded Canada’s two-hour decide by pointing out that 16 U.S. states have such laws, resolutions that have been maintained by U.S. courts.

It is driving while alcoholic is an impractical notion and genuine wrongdoing. It ought to get indicted all things considered, however not by stripping natives of social equality and stacking the deck in support of the state.

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