Employment During Recessions

An article from IMF looking at unemployment pattern during COVID-19 and the 2008 crisis. The pattern is similar. The lockdown didn't affect those who are highly skills and educated, as expected because they are teleworkers. Those who are heavily affected are the poor. The key is always the level of education.

https://blogs.imf.org/2020/07/23/unemployment-in-todays-recession-compared-to-the-global-financial-crisis/

Teleworkable = Work From Home

Dominant Currency and EMDEs

Recent article on dominant currency for Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDE) from the IMF Blog. There is a vebinar as well. Will COVID-19 be the game changer for the Dominant Currency Paradigm? Great topic for research.

https://blogs.imf.org/2020/07/20/currencies-and-crisis-how-dominant-currencies-limit-the-impact-of-exchange-rate-flexibility/

Design a Simple Game

Below is a useful link to designing a simple game - April 2020 publication. Beta-test your game. Get feedback from video game tastemakers.

https://www.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Game

Pitfalls of Sukuk

I borrow the title of one of the article I am currently reading on Sukuk below. There is also a time line for Sukuk Industry in Malaysia. I am still waiting for the Retail Sukuk from the Economic Recovery Plan - Sukuk PRIHATIN. Drop me a note if I miss anything.

A Quote from Winston Churchill, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” The concept of 'Hikmah', perhaps?

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317950429_The_Pitfalls_of_the_Malaysian_Sukuk_Industry_Issues_and_Challenges_in_practice

The Chronicle of Sukuk.

Sukuk FAQs

Found a 2015 Slide on Sukuk at the link below. Quite informative.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/14269166/

A Short Story

A Meta Analysis on Sukuk

Found one article that conducts a meta-analysis on Sukuk. The article was published online in 2018. 148 articles are covered, including mine, ^_^.

You can read the article in the link provided below. A good summary, informative and quite recent. 

Hope one day, everyone would be Sukuk Literate.

https://www.abacademies.org/articles/sukuk-as-a-financial-asset-a-review-7134.html

Bibliometric on Sukuk, published in 2019, Elsevier

Bullish Sentiment Driving Gold Prices

Gold is a safe-heaven investment, especially during crisis. The coronavirus pandemic causes investors to pile into gold. The current gold prices reflect an increase of 535% since 2000, according to the article here. The analysts expect prices to breakthrough the USD$1,800 per ounce soon. 

Why the sudden rush to gold? Two reasons. Both are economics.

First, gold as a store of value.

Second, gold as a store of wealth.

How much should you allocate you portfolio to gold? Experts say 5% to 10%.

Whatever you want to do, seek advice. Read. Do a bit of Research.

100 Year Gold Prices

Gold Buble 1980. A Historical Lesson.

A Double Digit Recovery Post Covid-19 for China

China has recovered better than expected from the health crisis.

The economic crisis that follow suit was mitigated by the Stimulus packages. However, the pattern shows that the economy is mainly driven by the manufacturing sector. Whilst the statistics shows positive growth, unemployment is on the rise. The growth is uneven.

The solution? Increase domestic consumption. Boost consumers confidence.
Almost every other day, there would be news on China's growth recovery and potential policy side effects. You can read here. There are links to previous articles as well.  All are 2-minute read but worthwhile.

Chemical fiber company in Hebei province, China.

Utusan Malaysia is Back

The newspaper stop production in October 2019, but now it is back. You can read the story here.

An Excerpt on Utusan Malaysia's History:

"It also has a digital presence on Facebook under Utusan Online, and also a website.

Utusan Malaysia was first published as Utusan Melayu in Jawi script in 1939 in Singapore.

It was founded by Mr Yusof Ishak, who later became the first president of Singapore, and Mr Abdul Rahim Kajai, known as the father of Malay journalism."

 Bangkit Semula. Methaporic and 'Covid-19ly.'

The Story of HAUSBOOM

Hausboom is a sparkling fruity drink. Malaysian brand. Halalan and Toyyiban. Here is the interesting story how the drink, now being marketed in 20 countries around the world. 

The Drink.

Fly Me to the Moon

Just Listen.

Fly Me To The Moon

Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a, Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words, please be true
In other words, in other words
I love you.

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Bart Howard

Detailed Sukuk Information

If you are interested to read the Prospectus and a short video highlighting Sukuk/Islamic Finance, you can visit this Blog.

There is a short video as well explaining Islamic finance. 

The Prospectus is also available. 

Global currency issuance - USD. Cross-Border Issuance - RM

Art of Poetry

Artsy-Crafty.

7 Steps to Write a Business Plan

Here is an article on Writing a Business Plan.  There is also a short 3-minute video to help you. 

Business Model Canvas

Lean Canvas Sketching

Ranking Market CPU and GPU

Some information on the latest CPU and GPU ranking. And basic information in you are currently looking for a new machine. Happy hunting. Thanks to Sabri for the information.

Policy Framework for Open Economies

Tobias Adrian and Gita Gopinath wrote on the IMF Blog here.

Below is the Excerpt, for the Inquiring mind:

"...deploying unconventional tools on foreign currency exposure and financial market developments, the communication challenges when multiple instruments are used, among others. The combined work, which will be discussed by the IMF’s Executive Board in the fall, should provide useful insights to policy makers on how to deploy multiple tools with special attention to the form of the shock, the specific frictions, the pre-existing conditions, alongside practical considerations."

Happy Reading. 

Global Economy Recession Post COVID-19

An Excerpt from the World Bank below:

According to World Bank forecasts, the global economy will shrink by 5.2% this year.That would represent the deepest recession since the Second World War, with the largest fraction of economies experiencing declines in per capita output since 1870, the World Bank says in its June 2020 Global Economic Prospects.

Economic activity among advanced economies is anticipated to shrink 7% in 2020 as domestic demand and supply, trade, and finance have been severely disrupted. Emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are expected to shrink by 2.5% this year, their first contraction as a group in at least sixty years. Per capita incomes are expected to decline by 3.6%, which will tip millions of people into extreme poverty this year.

Piktograf Sebagai Bahasa Sejagat

An article (in Malay) on the importance of pictograph here.

Pic. Pictogram. From Pictogram to Ideogram. There are so many things to explore.

Sioux Ideography

For the earth he drew a straight line,
For the sky a bow above it;
White the space between for day-time,
Filled with little stars for night-time;
On the left a point for sunrise,
On the right a point for sunset,
On the top a point for noontide,
And for rain and cloudy weather
Waving lines descending from it.

- Longfellow quoting verses from Hiawatha. 

The Shape of COVID-19 Recession

The Alphabet Soup. Wow - a creative title! 

You can read the article here, published on July 6, 2020.

Alphabet Soup for Breakfast?

 The Shape to Remember in Years to Come...

Game-Based Learning

If you are interested in game-based learning, there are several Tedx Video that you can refer to. I include here 1 short video (2 minutes) as an Introduction.

Designing, copywriting, It skills are indeed the skills of 2030, moving forward. Let's up-skill ourselves.

Commercialization?

Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

If you are coming up with a prototype, the technology readiness level guidance is of great help.

You can refer to the article here.

Steps.

Explanation.

Example.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

"The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”

Eric Ries

Example of MVP Statement

Virgin Airlines is one of the largest British airlines operating internationally that was established, and is owned, by Richard Branson. What was the minimum viable product for Virgin Airlines? It was just one route and one plane flying between Gatwick and Newark.

Example of Sketches

More information here.

Fishbone Ishikawa Template

You can download the template of the Fishbone here. Thanks to Blog Eris.

I am learning the Cause-Effect Diagram, one of the 7-Quality Tools.

The Elaborated Fishbone

Sukuk PRIHATIN - Article in Berita Harian

An article (in Malay) about Sukuk PRIHATIN in Berita Harian. Please read. A short yet clear explanation on how everyone can invest in retail Sukuk. 

On Sukuk

Legal Fees: up to USD200k in Malaysia. 

SukukType Presentation

This is a video recording for the virtual Seminar I attended. It is a concept idea on the Digital-Game Based Learning that I am currently developing. Below is the link.

https://youtu.be/3c4IGfS5xEo

Colossal Cave Adventure

I am currently working on this digital game-based project. While searching for information, I come across the Colossal Cave Game Adventure. Must have miss this one growing-up, because I was not into games during those days. 

But I remember the green screen. If you want to walk down memory lane, this is a nostalgic good-feeling game to play. Enjoy your weekend.

Search Internet. Lots of Information on the Game History. 

Pandemic Bond in China

China was said to be the fastest in issuing COVID-19 bond compared to the rest of the world. But how much is the money raised allocated to solving the pandemic was another issue. Interesting reading here. 

Love the Pic. So Much Life in Green. Sustainability.

OLI - A New Economic Indicator

COVID-19 makes digital platform a necessity. The labor market is transforming. The traditional works are slowly being replaced by online platforms. Most of online jobs are in technology, graphic design and writing. Yes, writing skills. 

Due to the changing nature of work, the Online Labor Index (OLI) is introduced. It has been around for a few years. It is the equivalent of labor market statistics, but mainly cater gig economy workers. Read here if you are interested.

Internet - the Labor Market Matchmaker

GDP-Linked Sukuk, Part II

The article on GDP-linked Sukuk was published in Islamic Finance News way back in 2013.

Please read. It is interesting.

Take your pick.