Can you imagine your life without technology? Seems hard, as today it is a crucial part of our life. For most of us technology, and the Internet in particular, is a tool of communication, sharing information, studying, work and even shopping. But is there something more that a regular person can get out of it? Should we try to explore this area more? Turing Society’s answer is a definite yes. Turing Society is a non-profit organization, that wants to teach you how to easily solve problems through technology and use it to your own benefits. They are aiming to create a community of non-tech background students, teach them tech literacy, encourage mutual help and learning and connect with other bright and interesting people in the field. Rostra had a pleasure to visit one of the events held by the Turing Society in Amsterdam – TuringX. The main topic of the talk was the answer to a seemingly obvious question – why technological literacy is a must-have in our modern society? Peoples’ mind and way of thinking are changing, however, most of the people are still afraid of technology– said Teodor Cataniciu, social entrepreneur, co-founder and chairman of Turing Global, and the first speaker at the conference. A good example of people not believing in technology can be seen in 1995 article in Newsweek, where Internet was called a fail. Technology is not growing linear anymore, now, it is experiencing exponential growth, meaning that, the better the new product is, the faster it will grow and develop, being proportional to the current value of it. For example, for the same price in the past, you would get a computer with much slower speed and fewer functions. Basically, technology is changing so fast, that the products we have been using used 2-3 years ago already seem to be outdated. More and more questions can be answered and problems are solved by simply opening your laptop. So why should we wait for others to do it for us? Why should we wait for something good to be invented, when we can create it ourselves? The quote that Teodor and our next speaker used describes really well the main idea of this lecture: “The best way to predict the future is to create it ourselves” (P. Drucker). The second speaker, Dennis Tan – a CEO and co-founder of Dashmote – called our times “The age of technology” and gave several reasons to back it up. First of all, he believes that everyone has an impact and can change the world. Comparing to the past, where people mostly provided only for themselves, this generation more and more often asks the question – What am I doing and how am I contributing to the society? What can I give to the world? Moreover, he mentioned a “tech wave”. The term tech wave applies to the technology development, which started with increasing computer power, goes to Internet of things, artificial intelligence and in the end to robotics. All of these technology aspects appeared not so long ago, like 5-7 years, and are still developing. So technology can be divided into current, that people are using now, and in progress, the one still not used on daily basis (like nanotechnology). Finally, he claimed that we are now in a so-called “transformational time”, where we are searching for new, more efficient ways of doing the same things. Think about Instagram. Maybe 10 years ago you would gather all your friends and show them pictures in your photo-album, printed. Now, you can share and create your own “photo-album” online through this app or any other social media channel you use. In all corporations, digital capabilities are crucial in increasing profits of the company, as it allows them to keep be up to date and innovative. The next speaker – Jesse van Leth, a technical evangelist at Microsoft, shared his view on what to expect from the tech future and what fields of technology will be in demand. He started with saying that before people were asking “what if…” questions like What if we are able to fly to new countries? What if we could communicate without actually seeing each other? Nowadays, we are asking ourselves another question – “what’s next”? Jesse claims that solutions to tomorrow problems started way before, around 15 years ago. The main advantage of you as a firm is the ability to look in the future and make products that can be moved forward and changed for the future. People do not know that they need your offer until you just give it to them, so predicting peoples’ future needs is an important part of doing business. Also, in order to imply innovative idea you have to have only two things – right people and the right environment. An interesting fact, that Instagram has only 13 employees. As you can see, best innovations and ideas can be created not only in large corporations but in a right group of people, as mentioned above. Another thing to keep in mind, while suggesting your innovation to the world is that everything was already thought of before, someone probably already tried what you want to do, but just lacked something. According to Jesse, Innovation and technology face three main problems: limits of time, limits of humankind and limits of computation. Not everything you have in mind can be actually created, at least not now. As a new trend, Jesse says that we will go from having visible things to invisible, which, in fact, already started. Just think of the lamp that you can switch on by clapping, or of the new iPhone headphones, where there is no wire. Summing up, technology can be a key to solving many problems. In our fast-changing world, it is important to stay updated on all the innovations and imply some of them to your life, as it definitely makes it easier. Moreover, technology can be used not only in our regular life but also if we want to start a company, share our idea with the world or improve the business we already have. Among other events, Turing Society offers Coding hour, Exponential workshops and the Bootcamp. Information about the events and application deadlines can be found on the website or on the facebook page of Turing society. Turing team tries to convince you that technology can be easy and approachable for everyone. Well, we can believe them, but we can as well try ourselves.

The excitement we derive from the announcement of our favourite music artist coming to our country to perform is one we have probably all experienced. After the announcement, you immediately check whether you are able to go, if the venue is nearby, which of your friends would be willing to join, and how much the tickets cost. While searching for all the information, you listen to the music of the particular artist and are looking forward to an evening filled with that music. Due to the early excitement for the concert, failing to buy a ticket when ticket sale starts is a huge disappointment for many of us. Pop and rock concerts have become more popular than ever and the demand for these concerts is enormous. Unfortunately, there is limited supply. As in the classic demand and supply model, it is possible to increase the price if demand exceeds supply and that is exactly what is currently happening in this market. A lot of people benefit from music fans’ high willingness to pay, by offering tickets for sold-out concerts online with a huge profit margin. Last year, people paid €1760 to see Adele perform in Amsterdam, while the original price was only €124. In the UK and The Netherlands there is no regulation for secondary ticketing, and lots of music fans are outraged by the fact that ‘ticket touts’ are thus able to charge a price that high. What is exactly going on in the market for concert tickets and is there a problem the government should engage in? The marketplace First of all, it is important to understand the marketplace for concert tickets, to begin with the supply. In many European countries, North America, and Australia, the market is dominated by Live Nation’s subsidiary Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is a primary ticket outlet that sells tickets for their clients’ concerts. Besides Ticketmaster, a few small parties are active in the market as well. These parties are mostly small venues that sell the tickets for concerts at their own music hall. Ticketmaster, therefore, has sufficient market power and has more than once considered to sell concert tickets by online auctions. The reason why the company has not implemented the auctions yet is still a bit vague, since auctions would have brought prices closer to actual market prices and would definitely have increased Ticketmaster’s revenues as well. It is often thought that the monopolistic company does not implement auctions because they can increase their profits more by providing a platform for secondary ticketing, whereby they will earn revenues from both the original and the second-hand sale. The secondary ticketing platform brings us to the demand side of the market. As mentioned before, the demand for concert tickets has grown substantially, and music fans are willing to pay a really high price to attend their favourite artist’s concert. A concert is often seen as a once-in-a-lifetime experience and also contains emotional value, which could be considered priceless. The emotional value varies per person, and some people are willing to pay ten times the original price, because they think the experience is worth it. These differences in willingness to pay lead to profitable secondary ticketing. Chances for arbitrage Usurers see a chance for arbitrage if they can buy concert tickets for the original price and sell them for a much higher price on platforms such as TicketSwap and Ticketsnow.com. The existence of these platforms is not the problem at all, since you could have bought a concert ticket and due to circumstances are no longer able to go and want to get rid of your ticket. It is the fact that arbitrators misuse the facility that is undesirable. It is difficult to trace whether people are buying tickets for themselves or for resale, and therefore it is hard to combat. The fact that, for example, Ticketsnow.com is one of Live Nation’s subsidiaries makes it even harder to understand. Ticketmaster states that they just created such a platform to make sure their customers buy real tickets instead of being cheated by people who sell tickets they do not have, but in the meantime, they are making profit with what seems classic supply and demand. The role of Live Nation in secondary ticketing has been examined several times and research shows that a conflict of interests is not the case. The Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) did not find sufficient evidence for any wrongs by Ticketmaster, Seatwave, Mojo, or Live Nation and states that the high prices are only caused by scarcity and popularity. And so the problem remains: the authorities state the problem is caused by demand itself, and that there is nothing they can do about it. Possible solutions More and more music artists become aware of the fact that some of their fans are not able to attend their concerts because of budget constraints and therefore want to fight the high prices themselves. Personalisation of concert tickets is an often used action to prevent arbitrators from buying tickets they are not going to use themselves. On for example Radiohead’s request, the tickets for their 2016-world tour were only sold by name. The British band wanted to give all fans equal chances for buying a ticket. Each customer could therefore buy a maximum of two tickets by name and for a predetermined price. The downside of this arrangement is that people who turn out to be unable to go cannot get rid of their ticket anymore, and it becomes more difficult for groups to get tickets for everyone who would like to join. Discontent fans in the UK want the government to intervene. They ask for consumer protection concerning secondary ticketing, since that turns out to be effective in other countries such as Australia and Belgium. In the Netherlands, there has actually been a legislative proposal for such regulation, but the Senate still has to decide on whether to accept it. What the Australian and Belgian government have decided on, is a sort of maximum price. On secondary markets, concert tickets may only be sold for the original price plus a 10% bonus. People can now resell their ticket if they are unable to go themselves, and the 10%-margin covers transfer costs. If the secondary ticket price exceeds this maximum, music fans can recover the amount they paid too much from the seller. In case of rejection to recover, the seller will face a lawsuit or penalty. In Australia and Belgium, purchasing tickets simply for the profits of reselling them decreased. So why have governments facing this problem not implemented this arrangement yet? Simply because some politicians argue that resellers are not doing anything wrong. What we see is a very good example of supply and demand, whereby prices increase due to scarcity. Music fans decide for themselves that they want to pay an above-average price for a concert, and the seller is not to blame for one another’s willingness to pay. However, the extraordinary high prices seem to be unfair, but as long as people are willing to spend much more money on a concert ticket, the only thing we see is an increase in producer surplus, a decrease in consumer surplus, but no form of deadweight loss.

It has been 5 years since the start of the renovation of the Roeterseiland Campus (REC) in 2011. This means that majority of UvA students, including us at the FEB, has never seen the campus without some part of it being under construction. Scaffoldings, detours and noise have become a part of the REC experience. This period, however, is now coming to an end as a big part of the projects has been finished and the remaining ones will be finished soon so it will not be too long for us to see the campus as it is. Still, despite some efforts on the side of the UvA, most of us found out about the changes by having lectures at Amsterdam’s most random locations and by being forced to enter buildings at REC with detours that go through Rotterdam. Therefore, here I will summarise what has been done in the last couple of years, what can inconvenience us at the moment and what are the plans for the coming months. What’s been done Probably the biggest project was the renovation of the B/C/D Building. The reconstruction of the massive structure towering above Nieuwe Achtergracht started in 2011 and ended in 2014. In september the same year, the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Science has been moved there. The building contains many lecture rooms and classrooms as well as study facilities, which have provided more space for the crowded campus. Despite the modern design, there were several shortcoming, including not always so great access to electricity, which is a must in today’s universities. The Central Student Council has even organised an event, during which the students who found the most electric socket would be rewarded. For now, the problem has been solved with extenders. Two other big projects especially relevant for the FEB were renovations of the E Building and the new Library Learning Center (LLC). The former has been finished last year and consisted of rearranging and renewing the offices on the upper floors and overhauling the E-Hall with the new Sefa Store and Student Desk. The latter is now home to 800 study places and almost 200 computers, accessible to every UvA student. However, with the big amounts of students at the campus, the library is very often overcrowded. This can be very frustrating, especially for the FEB members, for whom LLC is one of the main study spots and especially just before and during the exam weeks. Luckily, there are more than enough electric sockets at LLC. CREA cultural center has been moved from the city center (Oudemanhuispoort area) to the renovated diamond factory. The building is host to many rooms that allow CREA and many student organisations and bodies to organise cultural and academic events for 30.000 UvA students and many others. CREA is also home to the Central Student Council. Opposite from CREA, on the other side of the canal, is the Lab Building that witnesses academic research in areas such as psychology. The interior of the building has also been renovated. What is being done At the moment, only two main projects are underway. Firstly, the G Building (Behind the E Building) is having its roof renovated. The interior has already been finished in February and, according to plans, the exterior will be finished by the 21st of October. This means that it will soon stop annoying anyone trying to put their bike in the underground shed. Secondly, the A Building (the tall glass-and-metal building next to Roetersstraat) is supposed to be finished by July 2017 and will become home to the Faculty of Law in years 2017 or 2018. With its conclusion, the REC renovations will (hopefully) be over. Several words on the future of the campus Why did the renovation of Roeterseiland Campus begin in the first place? Until recently, UvA was scattered around the whole city of Amsterdam. This has resulted in big costs of maintenance and security of the properties. As a result, UvA’s administration has decided to concentrate within 4 main campuses: the Inner City Campus (Oudemanhuispoort) with the Faculty of Humanities; Roeterseiland Campus with the Faculties of Economics and Business, Social and Behavioural Sciences, and Law; the Science Park with the Faculty of Science; Academisch Medisch Centrum (AMC) with the Faculty of Medicine. This move, however, has its downsides: UvA has to sell some of its older, traditional buildings (the sale of Bungehuis has sparked the 2015 protests), which have become part of the university’s identity, while three faculties (Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, and Law) had to be moved. As a result, the administration has to make sure that changes are as smooth as possible and students don’t lose their sense of being a part of a bigger student community. This is especially true for us at the FEB as the sense of community is not strong enough here and may become even weaker as we will have to share the campus with the two big UvA faculties. As to the aesthetic values of the renovation, architecture is like art and so everyone should decide by themselves what is their opinion. Either way, if you are really frustrated by all the chaos and inconveniences of the renovation, look at it this way: you’re the generation of students that is witnessing one of UvA’s biggest transformations. If you want to find out more about the renovations, past and present, go to this link.

Philanthropist, the 7th richest man in the world from 1979-1983, politician, community leader and drug lord. Pablo Escobar can be described using so many different adjectives, most of which is worthy of a Tony Stark description. It’s true that Escobar built an empire doing illicit business, but it’s undeniable that he was a great businessman and entrepreneur; to the point where some of his practices are actually described in business books: focus on reducing distribution costs, franchising and, most importantly, the courage to follow his gut. When the well known TV series Narcos premiered, a lot of curiosity about Pablo’s life and the relationship with his community came up. It’s understandable for Europeans and Americans not to understand the type of relationship Pablo had with his community, but for South Americans it is something embedded in our society. Since the state is not able to supply the basic needs for most of the population, drug lords normally serve as a replacement: from cable TV to water, they supply the people in need with everything the state cannot provide them. Of course, that this doesn’t come without a price. Just like in Narcos, the communities suffer from violence and an uncertain routine, that goes from weekend parties sponsored by drug trafficking money to helping the drug dealers hide from the police in their houses. So, if it doesn’t come as a straightforward conclusion for you why most Medellin supported Pablo in the beginning of his “career”, and why until today there’s a neighborhood with his name in Medellin, don’t worry, it means you live in a welfare state. Businesswise, it’s pretty clear why Escobar became rich in such a small period of time. He identified a demand that was not being met by its supply: the cocaine market in developed countries.With the disco era frenzy for the drug, Escobar realized that with his privileged location, corrupt Colombian police and supply of the prime matter for his production (coke plant) he could meet this demand, and make a lot of profit from it. At a certain point in his business history, 4 out of 5 lines of cocaine that were used in the U.S. were originated from the Medellin Cartel. Differently from what is shown on the Tv series, Pablo never had to battle for his market with other cartels; he had a more ingenious way of solving the competition problem: he bought and built multiple airports in central and south america, which gave him control of all the cocaine being transported to the U.S. So even if the drug was produced by other Cartels, it was transported by him, which, of course, had a cost. Not only in distribution Pablo excelled, but also in regard with strategical moves in the market. Realizing that the competition for the cocaine market was growing, he decided to negotiate his surrender with the Colombian government in a prison designed by him, where he could run his business safely, and if not ironically, with the protection of the Colombian government. Of course, his relationship with Colombia would end in not such a pretty way, after all. After the “Hunt for Pablo” started, Pablo responded with a lot of violence and no care for civilians. Thousands were killed, millions were spent, and, after a few years, Pablo ended up being killed by a DEA agent Javier Pena (even though some conspiracy theories say he committed suicide). Besides being the source of a good business class, Pablo’s history should also be the example of a much more relevant discussion: the legalization of drugs. At some point, Escobar was making 2,1 billion dollars per year and spending 5000 dollars a week for rubber bands to stack up his cash. This humongous amount of money was neglected by government taxes because what he was selling was illegal. But what if it was? We actually don’t have to imagine that – after Colorado legalized marijuana, the state tax revenue originated from marijuana sales have reached almost 1 billion dollars for the year of 2015. In the next few weeks more than 7 states in the U.S. will vote in favor or against the legalization of both recreational and medicinal use of marijuana. I would tell them to consider all the last great examples of countries and states that legalized not only marijuana, but also different drugs, but maybe all they need is a Netflix and chill session watching Narcos.

UvA Recap – by Artur Rymer The summer is officially over but this doesn’t mean that renovations at Roeterseiland Campus are as well. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the devilish construction that has sprung up next to Buildings D and E. The reactions to the new scaffolding-bridge include disbelief, amusement, lack of confidence in its ability to withstand autumn wind in the Netherlands and several short, yet forceful profanities. A new bridge that will connect both sides of the canal is responsible for the works in the area. These are to end in the beginning of October, with the bridge being assembled on the 8th. Until then, I advise extreme caution when wearing stilettos. University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) have been working together since 1998 and as of 2003 have a joint Executive Board. This might end soon, as the Executive Board has decided that by the 1st of January 2017 a decision about the future collaboration between the two schools has to be made. This comes after two consultant firms have evaluated the partnership, with the conclusion that, although education and research benefit from it, the joint administration does not bring the expected improvements. We still have to wait a bit for the outcome, however, splitting two universities with almost 80.000 students after almost 20 years of cooperation can prove challenging. Economics Recap – by Michel Mijlof One of the most important events about economics in the Netherlands happened on Tuesday, the 20th of September 2016. Traditionally, on the third Tuesday of September, the Dutch parliament is showing their plans for the upcoming years. Economic plans are one of the major issues on this day, called ‘Prinsjesdag’.  All the plans are read out loud by the King of the Netherlands, which is called the ‘Troonrede’. This year, the plans are relatively positive compared with previous years. The Dutch economy has recovered from the last crisis and is even slightly growing. For example, the consuming power will be higher next year. Furthermore, in other countries, the economic recovery is still on a low level due to Brexit and, of course, the historically low interest rates. For instance, the Federal Reserve keeps their interest rates for the September also unchanged at a percentage of 0,25 to 0,5. The same thing holds for the Bank of England who is keeping their interest rate unchanged at the level of 0,25 percent. The inflation rate in the European Union is also very low with an average of 0,2 percent. However, there are a lot of differences within the EU. For example, there was a deflation of 0,8 percent in Slovakia whereas Belgium had an inflation of 2 percent.  For the Netherlands it was 0,1 percent. Business Recap – by Magdalena Wiśniewska Twitter shares jumped by over 20% after reporting the takeover approaches. Potential buyers are Google and Salesforce.com. Co-founder Ev Williams claims that company should consider its options while still in a strong position. Snapchat parent company, just renamed to Snap Inc., is planning on selling hardware, starting this fall with camera-equipped sunglasses. Facebook shares fell 1.6% dragging the S&P 500 down, as the social media company overestimated viewing time for video ads. Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to disagree over output limits of oil, leading to decline in S&P energy index, while U.S. Federal Reserve decided not to raise interest rates in the near term causing unobvious fluctuations in other indices. A survey run by the Federation of Small Businesses in Great Britain suggests a huge fall in confidence index after Brexit vote. The FSB chairman states that business confidence-weakening result of Brexit made the index fall into the negative territory, with more pessimistic than optimistic business owners in the pool. Harry Potter’s Muggle Home for Sale – by Magdalena Wiśniewska The House that was used as a setting for Harry Potter’s childhood shootings in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” is now on sale. The house supposedly located at 4 Private Drive in the village of Little Whinging in Surrey in reality exists on Picket Post Close in the Bracknell suburb of Martins Heron. Recently renovated, the three-bedroom building is priced for $619,486. Harry Potter fans will be now able to check how life was like for the young wizard – if they wish, they will be able to set up their bedroom in the cupboard under the stairs, which actually exists in the reality. Bayer-Monsanto Merger – by Hải Đăng Vũ There goes the saying, “Cash is king”. Bayer has successfully agreed to terms with its acquisition of Monsanto for a record-breaking $66 million deal of this year, all of the purchases in cash. This takeover move from Bayer will potentially increase its market share in the market up to more than 20 percent in the agrochemical industry. Along with their biggest counterparts, namely DOW Chemicals, DuPont, Syngenta, these companies constitute relatively more than half of the global demand for the industry. Bayer’s primary attempt on this deal is to diversify its portfolio, especially in the corn market, in which Monsanto currently owns more than a third of United States’ domestic usage. However, there is considerable concern over the overlapping production lines that both conglomerates combined are holding the majority of, including seeds and pesticides. Therefore, it comes to no surprise that this deal is deemed controversial by many of the antitrust regulators, as this consolidation (seemingly monopolization) of these products would substantially damage consumers’ rights. Responding to the allegations, Bayer is committed to compensate $2 billion if the deal is not approved per legal process. The global acquisition record transaction belongs to Vodafone for its successful possession of Mannesmann in 1999, topping at inflation-adjusted $287 million. Liberty Media’s Formula 1 Takeover – by Nando Slijkerman For all the car lovers, Formula 1 is a known concept. This month, racing giant Formula 1 has been taken over by Liberty Media for 7 billion euros from private equity investor CVC. The 85-year-old Bernie Ecclestone, who was the founder of the Formula 1 races, is also selling his five percent share of the racing company. Ecclestone will still be the managing director of Formula 1 for three years. Liberty will first buy nineteen percent share. The remaining part will be bought when the competition authorities and the FIA agree. Liberty Media sees a lot of opportunities in the race events. Stakeholders expect that Liberty Media will make changes within the daily operations of Formula 1. Except for the Netherlands, where upcoming racing talent Max Verstappen causes a growing interest in the races, Formula 1 is has not been in the pole position in the US for a long time anymore. Big competitors like NASCAR and the Indy 500 are making it a difficult race for Formula 1. People from the US find these more spectacular and also the races take place on more convenient part of the day. To get Formula 1 more attractive for citizens of the United States, Liberty Media is considering two races a year in the States instead of one. Liberty is owned by billionaire John Malone, and is currently the biggest television company. They are also the owner of the Dutch Ziggo and Discovery. Politics Recap – by Brunno Fontanetti Americas As the November elections start to approach, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump seem to be in a fierce competition for the leading in the polls conducted in the USA. After Clinton’s health issues were disclosed to the public, a general preoccupation on how it can affect her performance in the Oval Office made some undecided voters to switch their votes to Trump. In the most recent polls conducted by CBN, the candidates appear virtually tied. Let’s just hope for the sake of world peace that Clinton gets her ObamaCare and uses it to be well soon. Brazil couldn’t be out of the political news recap, after all, the political scenario is more exciting then a House of Cards episode. Last month the official impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff was approved by the congress and now her vice-president, Michel Temer, who articulated all the impeachment process with the congress house leader, took office. He already started making some big changes: abolishment of the Ministry of Culture, a big reform in Education and the replacement of all the previous ministers. Side note: it’s the first time since the dictatorship we have only white males as ministers and no Ministry of Culture. Europe In the last few months, the attacks of ISIS in Europe have become more frequent, which has brought quite a lot of consequences upon the continent: besides the police-army power that has been deployed in major cities, more specifically around touristic attractions, a big shift of political support towards the extreme right has been observed. Marine Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, and Matteo Salvini in Italy are just few leaders of the extreme right in Europe. Some examples of their proposals are: the Nexit (Netherlands exit – at least he was creative), the abolishment of the use of Burqa in France and stricter laws on immigration in Italy. Why need Donald Trump when you have this amazing trio, right? Asia Going a bit more to the East, I couldn’t finish this recap without talking about the most powerful spoiled kid in the world: Kim Jong Un. Apparently he decided to start playing with his nuclear weapons as a response to the American economic and political sanctions. One of the sanctions was the decision of installing an anti-missile base in South Korea. But let’s be fair: who likes their parents watching you while you are playing with your toys? Moreover, it appears that the switch to the right-wing was not Europe-exclusive. In Japan the conservative party won the congress elections with vast majority. One of their proposals is a change in the constitution in order to make the army more active, which means, that Japan’s army, since World War II allowed only to defend the country, could again take initiative in war scenarios. This could mean either taking more protective measures against North Korea or trying to regain their position as leaders in Asia. Have You Registered as an Organ Donor Yet? – by Leonie Ernst All around the world there has been a shortage of donor organs for years. Every year 150 people in the Netherlands die because of this shortage. D66-politician Pia Dijkstra thought of this as 150 needless deaths. Therefore, she wanted to convince the House of Representatives of the Netherlands to change the current regulation concerning organ donor registration, and the 13th of September she succeeded to do so. The House of Representatives of the Netherlands accepted her legislative proposal, with the smallest majority possible (75 in favour, 74 against, 1 representative was absent),  to change the donor registration system from not being an organ donor unless you register, to automatically being one even if you do not. Dijkstra’s proposal now has to be approved by the Senate before the current system will permanently change into an Active Donor Registration-System. Dijkstra states that in the current system, people do not take organ donation into consideration, because there is no need to make the decision. Because of this, the shortage remains. By implementing this new system, every citizen still has the option to refuse or leave the decision up to someone else, but one who does not decide is automatically a donor. It is important to realize that all choices are reversible. The Senate will decide on the matter on the 27th of September. Bomb Explosions in New York and New Jersey – by Yana Chernysh On Saturday, the 17th of September, two explosions took place in the US. One being in New Jersey during the day and the other one in New York in the evening. Pipe-bomb-type devices were placed in garbage bins. The explosion in New Jersey took place on the route of a mass marathon. Luckily no one was near the bomb, when it detonated, because of the technical delay of the marathon. It was cancelled afterwards. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about New York. The garbage bin, where the bomb was placed, was situated in the central street of Chelsea neighborhood, which is full of bars, clubs and restaurants. 29 people were injured during the explosion. Now they are all safe and out of hospitals.   Another bomb was put in the bin on another crowded street of New York as well. However, it was defused by the police. Moreover, several other bombs were found on the marathon route in New Jersey, after the police investigated the area. First, the authorities claimed that these explosions are not connected to each other and there is no reason to be worried. That being said, Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was charged after having a shootout with the police and afterwards was linked to the explosions in New York and New Jersey. The investigation aimed at finding out whether Ahmad was working alone and what was the motive for this act, is still ongoing. West Bank Story – by Raffaele Di Carlo Last Wednesday, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House. The two long-time allies discussed once more the situation of the negotiations between Israel and Palestine, and Obama expressed particular concern about the settlements that keep expanding on the West Bank, home to more than 2.7 million Palestinians. At the start of his presidency, Obama had already voiced his opinion that the Israeli settlement operations were a major obstacle to peace and had to be discontinued as soon as possible if a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was to be reached, however Wednesday’s meeting had a much milder tone. At the end, Obama even offered Netanyahu a $38 billion deal in military aid: where such an impressive budget – which constitutes the largest US contribution ever given to any country – might be allocated is no wonder. While Obama’s words seem to advocate for the emancipation of the Palestinian people from Israel’s post litteram colonization and a peaceful partition of the “Promised Land” between its factual and “theoretical” owners, his actions seem to move in another direction: a report from Associated Press, with data from Israel’s Bureau of Statistics, shows that 12,288 building operations were initiated as of June 30th since Obama’s election. The reason? It very much depends on whom you ask. Many argue that interrupting the settlement will be a slow, gradual process, and that Obama’s words at least show good intentions. Others suggest that, with his presidency almost over, Obama might be making a move to secure a seat in a certain glass building in New York, and still maintain the status quo as he leaves the White House. The Uprise of the Vlogging Bully – by Michael van Rhee Several Dutch cities have recently seen an increase in nuisance caused by young men, sometimes humiliating the police in the process. These are often vloggers with a large following on YouTube, whose success attracts young kids to their cause. The resulting national uproar has sparked a debate about YouTube’s controversial business model, which sees advertisers finance channels with a great amount of subscribers, even if the content on those channels is vulgar. Vulgar or not, YouTube remains cautious when it comes to removing videos — that is, some videos. A renowned expert in recognising and removing pornography (or even just a nipple), it’s clearly a little more careful when that one magical term — freedom of speech — comes into play. For the moment, things seem okay, but we need to seriously think about new regulation, if only to stop policemen from being harassed.

On 20th of September SEFA conference was held in Amsterdam in order to find out what Sharing Economy is, how is it applied in our society and what future it faces as a new economy model. Several speakers were invited to the event and this article will guide you through the conference with speakers information and the most crucial points of their presentations. The first speaker to be giving his speech was Harmen Van Sprang, a co-finder of ShareNL, which is a Dutch network for the collaborative economy. He started his presentation with giving examples from personal life, that actually answer the question: What sharing economy is? One of such examples is a concept of “home sharing”. Simply speaking, you just exchange houses with another family/person for a certain period of time. You do not need to pay anything, as this experience is beneficial for both of you. Another example of sharing economy can be AirBnB or Uber. Nowadays, there are more and more start-ups, that are based on a sharing concept. Moreover, government and already famous corporates are trying to renovate the existing business model by implementing sharing economy. Speaking about ShareNL, the goal of this company is to provide society with information, through media, presentations and summits and also helping businesses to implement the concept of sharing. Harmen Van Sprang believes that sharing economy can lead to sharing society, which results in everyone having access to everything they need. Dividing economy into traditional and collaborative (sharing) is a topic that was discussed by several speakers during the conference, so the discussion of it will appear in the article later on. From Harmen’s point of view, the advantages of sharing economy over traditional are 3 words: social, sustainable, saving money. Going in depth, social advantage means that people are communicating with each other personally, sustainable means that this economy exists because of peoples willingness in the first place, as it directly works as demand-supply. Finally, saving money means that sharing a car ride or renting your car out for a day or two, for example, brings one person additional profit and the other one saved budget. One of the key points of this type of economy is using what we are already offered in a more sustainable way. This concept is highly flourishing in Amsterdam, as it is now named (along with Seoul) City of Sharing. The second speaker to be presenting was Michael Visser – founder and CEO of Konnektid, a platform that allows people to share knowledge and skills in their neighbourhood. Speaking about his personal experience and the idea of Konnektid coming to him, Michael Visser claimed that university education is a closed and centralized system, when it should be personalized and be a life-long experience. The key point of this speaker was that sharing economy does not end on the physical assets, but it can be extended to sharing personal experience and knowledge with other people. Next speech was made by Jan Jonker – professor at Radbound University. He gave a more theoretical background on the term “sharing economy” and supported the key concepts stated by previous speakers. The main question that collaborative economy is asking is: “How people can create economic activity among themselves?” Sharing economy, in words of Jan Jonker, connects two ways of thinking, which result in asset becoming a collaboration. The key point of the new economy is organizing shared value, or, in other words, value creation. This means, that people themselves have the capability of creating an economic value, using their own assets, by simply sharing them with others. Several drivers of sharing economy are mentioned: personalized, enabling technology, availability, affordable and reliable. These terms combined give a perfect environment for developing of collaborative economy, and are also the main pulses of this type of economy at the same time. The opinion of Jan Jonker is that this type of economy is here to stay and it will be developing and growing each year, gradually replacing the traditional economy. However, he stated that traditional economy will still have place in the modern world. More information can be found in Jan’s book. The first female speaker of the event, Carlien Roodink, openly shared her personal experience with establishing a platform that would strengthen the interrelationships between humans. She was largely inspired by the fureai kippu currency of Japan that was first created 20 years ago, where local citizens could earn their artificial credits by helping out elderly people in their neighborhood; which could be transferred to their own personal usage in the future. WeHelpen, an initiative created based on this idea, was formed to construct a network of shared community where any kind of assistance could be found directly on its website. Registered users could either ask for support or even actively seek to help others in the community in which they will be legitimately compensated for their own work. With the ongoing development of the Internet, numerous major breakthroughs in technological advancement are enabling the shared economy to exist and operate, as reaching out to people is now is now just as easy as at your fingertips. Another highlighted example of utilizing technology into making shared economy possible is the invention of SnappCar application. Pieter van den Wall Bake, community supporter of the company, described that cars are also underused assets which needs to be more fully utilized, thereby decreasing CO2 emissions arising from car production, saving spaces for cities, and improve the automobile efficiency as cars are less being kept idle. However, this idea would not be made possible without the fundamental economic principles that modern-day economists take into account: trust. While mutually benefiting from trust, as he explained, the psychological side of this feeling of security between strangers is also to keep people more engaged and making themselves spiritually more youthful. People are now becoming more conscious about the world and their influences that each individual created on it; therefore stepping forward is inherently essential to the existence of future generations. The current economic global challenge is how to deal with sustainability, and as such, sharing economy is taking its first steps towards answering that problem. Sharing economy has always been around us over the course of history, and we are somehow unconsciously doing them every day, Koen Frenken – Professor in Innovation Studies at the Copernicus Institute, asserts. However, rather than an informal and small-scaled economy, the real sharing economy that is often discussed nowadays are between any economic agents, which is facilitated by the use of Internet. Security is also ensured as well, either by the infamous rating systems on numerous mobile phone apps, or through other alternatives such as insurances and guarantees. He discussed the evolution of the shared economy will start to unfold, where in the future businesses stepping in to the industry will benefit substantially by the transition of a consumer-to-consumer basis to a consumer-to-business-to-consumer (C2B2C) model. Although this remains a heightened political debate of creating a balance between traditional economies and these newcomers, we are definitely seeing a positive development of sharing economy, not just for private profits (increased welfare), but also planet (decreased pollution) and people (more socialization). In his research, sharing economy induces an odd process called ‘“reverse” technological assessment’; i.e. only when the industry is considered growing then the legal framework can be built, subsequently a normative debate about it, and finally scientific researches. So after all of the happenings during the rise of the sharing economy during the past decade, what are political institutions reacting to the unanticipated success of these business models? Marja Ruigrok, VVD party chairman of Amsterdam, agreed with the statement of the city of Amsterdam for encouraging and embracing these sharing initiatives. A pro-active, open mindset and cooperation would both mutually beneficial for the businesses and the governments in building an entrepreneurial and innovative Amsterdam. Despite having consented to a common framework to deal with the uprising economy (which could be found on municipality website), the role of the government is to create an equal playing field for all entrepreneurs, so it is in need of the government to do more research, understanding the mechanisms of sharing economy and connecting related partners and entrepreneurs to form a network to build a common discussion platform for the benefits of all involved parties. Local authorities have also initiated other projects such as sharing its own knowledge to businesses or even sharing its own physical assets (such as car-parking spaces or office buildings) to those in need. In addition, a cooperation with renowned international businesses such as AirBnb for holiday rentals, with a threshold of maximum 60 days per year for renting out, is also being implemented. However, the challenges remains on the stability of other economic variables, for example ensuring safety net or employment security when this economy starts to play a major role in the economy. Whatever the consequences may be, these sharing principles that she believes on making sharing economy a success are: that it is social, safe, sustainable, data-sharing and inclusive.

When the Pokémon series made its grand international debut in the mid-1990s, only very few people would’ve predicted that the then revolutionary virtual monsters would still be going strong some twenty years later. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what we witnessed throughout this year’s summer, this time in the form of Pokémon Go — a mobile video game that took the world by storm. Unless you spent your summer living under an Onix, you’ll have noticed the complete and utter chaos that this brought about in the world. Hell, you might even have caught a few Pokémon yourself! Marketeers were all too quick to spot the forthcoming hype, and this is what ultimately made companies decide to join in on the fun themselves. Which are these companies? How long-lasting was the effect? And most importantly: will it ever return? Find out in this Pokémon Go summer roundup. A hype like never before Who could’ve seen this crazy phenomenon coming? Not many people, that’s for sure. If anyone, then probably those who were already familiar with Ingress — Pokémon Go‘s ancestor video game, which also used data from Google Maps to create a so-called ‘augmented reality’. However, even the most fanatic Ingress players couldn’t have foreseen the incredible mayhem that would come from an innocent Pokémon game, that’s for sure. Chaos in public places, suspicious-looking situations in neighbourhoods, Pokémon Go road signs being stolen, traffic accidents… Hell, even Pokémon hamburgers! (And let’s be honest here: who doesn’t want a piece of that?) The hype was enormous. So big, in fact, that many companies started seeing moneymaking opportunities. Now, before we get to the piggybacking companies, let’s first talk about the actual developers of the game: Niantic, an American software development company based in San Fransisco, California. Niantic was formed in 2010 by Keyhole, Inc. founder John Hanke as Niantic Labs (an internal startup within Google) before it was spun off of Google as an independent entity in October of 2015. During the spin-off, Niantic announced that Google, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company would invest up to 30 million dollars in it to support the growth of the company and its products, while in February of 2016, Niantic announced that it had secured an additional 5 million dollars. While adding more support for the growth of the company, this investment enabled Niantic to bring in industry pioneers to its board — a strategic move that set up what would later prove to be their breakthrough work: Pokémon Go. In addition to topping app store charts in most regions, Pokémon Go became the most downloaded app in a first week ever. Just shy of a month post-launch, Pokémon Go had been downloaded more than 100 million times, with daily revenues exceeding 10 million dollars. Ka-ching! Nintendo, being the developers of the first few Pokémon games, gave off a license to Niantic to develop Pokémon Go. It’s also a major shareholder of The Pokémon Company. However, it’s clearly not the developer of Pokémon Go, and so it was surprising to see that Nintendo’s shares doubled in value shortly after the release of the game. By the end of July, they had already dropped by nearly 20%, but this only happened after Nintendo had clarified that they weren’t involved in the game. This suggests that the public must’ve thought that Nintendo were the developers of Pokémon Go — a remarkable finding. Great success or no-go? The first outside company to jump on the Pokémon bandwagon was the McDonald’s chain in Japan. McDonald’s made clever use of the option to buy in-game locations on Pokémon Go‘s digital gameboard, striking a deal with Niantic for an unknown (but undoubtedly large) amount of money. The result: 400 McDonald’s locations in Japan became PokéGyms (where battles can be held), while the remaining 2,500 locations became PokéStops (where items can be bought). The nature of these locations was originally decided in the development stages of Ingress, with the most popular locations becoming PokéGyms, and the others becoming PokéStops. After this announcement, the share value of McDonald’s Japan rose to an all-time high, and McDonald’s later expanded on this idea by applying the same trick elsewhere in the world. As far as I’m aware, this is the first time in history that a company has ever paid money for a location in a video game, but it could well prove to be a new business model that we’ll be seeing more and more frequently in the future. After all, these hotspots attract people to specific locations, where they might decide to spend their money while they’re at it. Media Markt employed a different (and much cheaper) tactic to attract more customers to its cause: it bought an in-game item called an ‘incense’, which lures Pokémon to a specific location for half an hour. In fact, it did this every thirty minutes, so you might as well say that there was an increased chance of finding Pokémon in the Media Markt for most of the summer. It also used its social media channels to inform its customers about the Pokémon that had already been signalled, a tactic that Burger King and Albert Heijn employed as well. In fact, the latter even launched a website showing a ‘Pokémappie’ in order to do this, although it never really seemed to be working. Other companies undertook various other initiatives: Bavaria organised a classic pub-crawl in Amsterdam, catching Pokémon on the go, while DierenPark Amersfoort let in customers for free, attracting 5,500 people as a result. It just goes to show that a new marketing campaign can come from just about anywhere! And oh, let’s not forget about telephone companies; if anyone profited from Pokémon Go, it’s them. (Funnily enough, even the national police invested in Pokémon Go; by buying these incenses, it aimed to attract wandering players to neighbourhoods that could do with some extra social control.) Sadly, it wasn’t all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, though. As you would expect with any hype, there were some serious downsides to the whole phenomenon as well, the most notable of which were stampedes in various places all over the world. Central Park in New York was one of the most popular locations of all, but we had a Pokémon capital city of our own in seaside resort Kijkduin (nearby the Hague). I’m not sure how much fun it must’ve been to go to the beach there, but oh well… More in store Although Niantic has recently tried to keep some of the buzz alive with the release of Pokémon Go Plus (a watch-like device that’s supposed to enhance the experience and extend the hype a little bit), figures show that the game is already past its peak. However, that’s not to say that this is the end of augmented reality video games; in fact, this particular genre of video games might well be in its very infancy. The success of Pokémon Go will undoubtedly spark the imagination of other major developers, making way for big leaps of improvement in the years to come. As young kids, actually catching Pokémon ourselves seemed like a dream too good to be true, and yet that’s exactly what so many of us spent countless hours doing over the course of this year’s summer. Enjoy it while it lasts, because the next augmented reality video gaming sensation is probably already under way!

AirBnB era We all know AirBnB. And if we are not a hotel manager or a neighbour to a constant AirBnB apartment with loud tourists – we all love it. Why wouldn’t we? Even if we don’t use it, who doesn’t love having alternatives both for earning some quick money out from your place when you need it, while sleeping at your best mate’s couch for a few nights, and for staying in the city centre of the big capitals at a decent, student-friendly price. But I believe that there is more to it than just a way of renting the place. I travel around Europe quite a lot and lately I have noticed a fascinating switch in preferences of what we look at when we consider which hotel to choose – more and more often we are willing to pay not for luxury and comfort, but for originality, authenticity and creativity, and sometimes even for weirdness. Now let me illustrate what I mean by giving a few examples of the most random accommodations I have lately encountered. Places you would never tell your mum you slept Crazy Artist’s Caravan When I was visiting my friend in London in a bigger company, one couple decided to get some ‘let’s see the crazy side of London’-type of experience. AirBnB came with the rescue offering a night in a caravan, located in the shady suburbs, and owned by somebody who I cannot describe differently than a person at the edge of being an artist and having a compulsive hoarding disorder. They said they were really scared at some point. They also said it was just purely awesome. Bookworms’ paradise My own personal dream at this very point and one more from the AirBnB offer – an apartment above the bookstore at Wigtown, Scotland’s National Book Town, with included invitation, or actually even an obligation, to run the bookshop while visiting: sell books, organise events, readings, parties. ‘So wait, you have to pay to work there?’ you’d ask. Yes, indeed. Hotels that don’t really look like hotels In Amsterdam itself, a pretty good example of a hotel turned into a playground for adults is the Volkshotel, which offers rooms looking like a small, erotic cinema, pretending to be a Japanese hot tub or mimicking a tent somewhere in the jungle. The very similar pattern, you can find at The Propellers Island City Lodge in Berlin, with rooms fully decorated by mirrors, turned upside down, shaped as a prison cell or allowing you to sleep in a coffin. Dutch Harlingen offers a room located on a Crane, in Tokyo you can sleep in an old plane turned into a hotel, in capsules of the size of a wardrobe and in a place run almost fully by robots. Not even mentioning the obvious Japanese fads, as full Hello Kitty themed rooms. Sweden suggests a 2×2 cabin located in the middle of the lake, with land connection only by a floated canoe. Carey Ciuro Let’s just ask ourselves the question: why? Because this is not something that obvious and easy to explain. Why would anybody be willing to pay for working in a bookstore or spending a night in a prison cell, while instead she could just get a comfy, elegant, high-standard hotel room for even a lower price? One answer could be the constant need to feel special, that the Millennials generation is constantly accused of. We are not happy with a simple good solution, we do not want what anybody can get and we are willing to pay to get something better, unique and impressing in the eyes of others. We expect constant appraisal, things to look good on Instagram and sound even better when told as a story. Another reason could be the latest society’s consent for adults to enjoy things previously reserved for children. However as adults do not need to ask for consent or resources, their versions are always a version ‘plus’ – if a trampoline park for adults, then huge, if a summer camp designed for the grown-ups, then with definitely more attractions than a campfire. Then why sleepovers would be any different from that? We are adults, nobody will forbid us to go a little bit crazy and have fun, especially now when it is fashionable to do so. We can keep guessing, coming up with psychologically and sociologically possible reasons, but the truth is that as with any other trend, we can never be sure where it came from. The bad news is that if we cannot answer the question ‘why?’ we cannot foresee if the trend will last. Well, the good news is that there is still an adventurous kid in many of us.

XXI century did not bring universal peace and justice everyone was hoping for. Instead, on top of the usual, very slow pace of improvements, for the past couple of years we seem to have been witnessing one of the biggest crises of democracy in modern times. With many elected politicians’ inability to deal with social, economic and demographic problems that affect our societies, more and more people respond negatively when asked whether they believe that democracy is the best political system. This shift away from the liberal democracy model is rather surprising when you consider the fact that it took decades, if not centuries, to achieve it, and, on top of that, required enormous sacrifices. The aim of this article, however, is not to discuss arguments presented by opponents and proponents of democracy. Rather, its goal is to examine, review and compare another political system that has recently been proposed as a successor of democracy. That system is technocracy. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, technocracy is a “government by technicians who are guided solely by the imperatives of their technology”. In theory, a purely technocratic government consists of people who are specialists in their fields, who have been chosen for their positions based solely on their merit, who have not been previously involved in politics and who make rational decisions that are not influenced by politics. For example, in such a government, the post of the minister of economy would be occupied by an experienced economist, who would focus on long-term economics goals and stability rather than on short-term goals that would increase chances to win the next elections. Ministry of justice would be led by an experienced and objective lawyer who would ensure justice and the rule of law, no matter the contemporary political landscape. Minister of health would be a doctor who, from their own experience, knows what issues the healthcare system has to deal with and solves them, whether the solutions are popular or not. And so on and so forth. Proponents argue that technocracy would ensure that those in power make decisions which are rational, based on research and data and which aim at achieving long-term goals that are beneficial for the society. This is often put in opposition to the (current) situation in which responsible politicians are only a minority among a horde of power and money-hungering “particrats” who make decisions that are short-sighted and that ensure their and their party’s victory in the next elections rather than the society’s and individuals’ well-being. Therefore, technocracy sounds very appealing, doesn’t it? No more pointless politicking and empty promises and more necessary action. But is technocracy really a solution to the weaknesses of democracy? Technocratic model of governance relies on two key assumptions. Firstly, decisions made by experienced specialists and based on research and data are always correct. This, however, is not the case. Specialists in power would also make mistakes because decisions made by governments often involve so many variables that not all of them can be taken into account, because research can turn out to be wrong and because they would still make mistakes just like every other human being. Second assumption is that a specialist in their field is a person best suited for decision-making in that field. Certainly, they would be very well prepared for the job but sometimes an outsider with fresh perspectives is more suitable. For example, if healthcare system has financial problems and is inefficient, then a doctor, however experienced, might not be the best candidate. Instead, a business manager could be the person more appropriate for necessary reforms and reorganisation. On the government level, flexibility is a very valuable trait that can ensure finding the best (or the least worst) solution for many problems. On top of that, technocracy’s greatest strength, which is the fact that government members are chosen on the basis of their merit rather than their political standing, is also its greatest weakness. In democracy, when casting (or not) a vote, we do not only exercise our civic rights and responsibilities but we also exercise control over our government. If it doesn’t meet society’s expectations, then in the next elections it will lose power. In pure technocracy, on the other hand, citizens do not have the possibility of exercising such control, as leaders are chosen based purely on their merit, not popular support. Thus, if a technocratic government were to stop making the right decisions, it would be much harder for people to force it out of the office and regain influence over their country’s policies. Does this mean we should discard the technocratic model of governance altogether? Not at all. As usual, the truth probably lies in the middle and so we should look at and combine the best parts of both democracy and technocracy and in this way diminish their weaknesses. And this is already happening and to some extent has been happening since the dawn of democracy. In areas where specialisation is absolutely necessary for making proper decisions, people experienced in those areas are put in charge. For example, we have independent courts and tribunals which require many years of education and practice before one can join them. Another example is more relevant to us, economics and business students. Elected governments tend to appoint as ministers of economy, finance or treasury people who are specialised in those areas. After all, a person who does not understand the effects of a change in taxation should not make any decisions related to taxes. Additionally, in most of the developed democracies, the majority of governmental institutions (councils, committees, ministers etc.) is supported by apolitical advisors whose sole task is providing officials with the correct knowledge, data and predictions on which the politicians should base their policies. On top of that, developed economies usually have financial and economic institutions such as central banks, which are independent of contemporary politics, focus on long-term growth and stability and are led by the best of economists. As you can see, some ideas of technocracy are already present in our society and in the last several years we could witness first experiments with that form of governance. Governments of Mario Monti in Italy in years 2011-2013 and of Lucas Papademos in Greece in years 2011-2012 (both are economists), are often called technocratic. They were appointed in the midst of economic and political crises in both of those countries with the aim of stabilising the situation. The aim that democratically elected governments have failed to achieve. However, whether those technocratic governments achieved their goals will not be discussed in this article. Rather, the point here is that technocratic ideas are being taken into consideration and more and more countries begin to experiment with them, especially during the times of crises. To summarise, implementation of pure technocracy would not solve the many problems of democracy and would be a step backward rather than forward. Still, many of its aspects and ideas are certainly worthy of consideration, further discussion and, eventually, combining them with the current model of liberal democracy. It would certainly be an improvement if there was a universal custom that a newly elected government chooses specialists for posts in their respective fields (which quite often is already the case). This would allow for better and more responsible decisions being made, while retaining the control over government in the hands of citizens. Democracy indeed has many weaknesses but we should improve it, also by looking into ideas such as technocracy, rather than discard centuries of efforts aimed at achieving the society’s freedom. As Winston Churchill once stated: “Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…”

Economics Recap – by Magdalena Wiśniewska Brexit approved by the referendum In June national referendum the majority of British voted in favour of leaving the European Union, which is expected to have a robust impact on the world economy. After UK leaves the EU it will have to renegotiate the trade terms with both the EU and the WTO, and all the other partners outside of the organisations. The UK trade equals over $1.3 trillion a year and cannot be eased by attempt to strengthen the bonds with comparatively small India and China. The renegotiation is supposed to last at least several years. Quantitative Easing continues The level of QE was expanded from €60 to €80 billion and during August the ECB bought public and private sector assets worth €60 billion. Moreover, as an extension of QE programme, an additional component to asset purchase programme added on 8th of June, corporate sector purchase programme (CSPP), kicked off. CSPP is a sign of a further loosening of ECB’s monetary policy. It will allow the ECB to buy primary bond issued by EU companies and existing corporate bonds from secondary market. After the kick-off, the Central Bank was criticised for buying huge amounts of bonds in the secondary market on its very first day. As a result of the programme, the Eurozone corporate-bond market yields felt to the lowest rate in over a year and the level of the ECB’s role as a corporate sector lender has significantly raised. FED interest rates remain constant On the July 27th the Federal Reserve opted not to raise the interest rates, at the same time upgrading its perception of the economy’s state. The FOMC has kept its overnight interest rate target in the 0.25%-0.5% range. The labour market was claimed to strengthen due to indicators pointing to growth – nonfarm payrolls that rose from 11,000 to 287,000 over the one-month period. The statement noted that inflation remains mired and is expected to remain low in the short-term and then rise due to the decline in energy prices turns and the labour market strengthening. Potential rates hike is expected in September. Financial markets were assigning virtually no chance for a hike at this meeting, and the Fed has been sharply attuned to those expectations. Brexit’s Effect on Asian Markets – by Hải Đăng Vũ In a 15-page memorandum published by Tokyo earlier this week during the G-20 summit, Japanese officials demanded its counterpart in the United Kingdom to commit to a transparent and seamless process of withdrawal from the European Union (EU), with “predictability” and “certainty”. Japan also wants to ensure that the Brexit negotiation procedures should be undertaken whilst minimizing adverse effects on Japanese businesses and investments to UK. Tokyo also voiced its support in maintaining the “single passport” system, which promotes free movement of investment and capital between UK and EU; sending warnings that a large-scaled relocation of Japanese businesses will be necessary if the policy cannot be sustained. While no official responses have been heard from Westminster, this document could potentially stimulate other Asian economies to take substantial steps towards anticipating post-Brexit scenario. During the summer, China has also recently announced their intentions to work out some provisional negotiation deals with the United Kingdom. As much as their colleagues in Japan, Chinese officials also dislike the “uncertainty” picture of Brexit that is being portrayed by worldwide media. However, multiple private investors openly expressed their optimism towards cooperatively establishing a better future for both parties. South Korea also quickly responded to this unanticipated result, by outlining a bilateral trade agreement after an emergency council meeting being called shortly after the event. A rescue package was also secured to alleviate the repercussions causing by its lacking export industry. Asia emerging markets, are having mixed reactions to the detachment of UK from EU. Modest global interest rate will continue to cement India’s strong position as investment-friendly consortium, albeit exports and foreign investments to UK will be hit substantially. Meanwhile, South East Asia conservatively asked local experts for close observation on the happenings of Brexit before making any adjustments to their economic strategies with EU and UK. Business Recap – by Michel Mijlof The summer was quite volatile for most assets markets. Especially June was a very volatile month for the Dutch stock market AEX. It started at 446 index points on the 1st of June and went down to 419 two weeks later. After this downfall, it went up to almost 450 index points on the 23th of June but at the very end of the month, it fell again to 411 index points. Other European stock markets had similar movements. One of the main reasons is, of course, the uncertainty about Great Britain leaving the European Union. Additionally, the oil price also went down during summer from $53 to $42. Furthermore, there were some news within the mergers & acquisition sector. Ahold and Delhaize merged this summer to become the greatest supermarket in the Benelux. Ahold is the main supermarket in the Netherlands whereas Delhaize is one of the biggest supermarkets in Belgium.  Moreover, some new IPOs are announced at the end of the summer, namely the one of TakeAway.nl. The popular company delivers food to many people in Europe, including the Netherlands. In the banking sector, there was a crisis with the oldest bank in the world namely Monte dei Paschi di Siena located in Italy. The Italian banks have a lot of bad outstanding loans and the Brexit referendum result had a negative effect on the banks within the Eurozone.  As a result, the Italian bank suffered considerably. Fortunately, other Italian banks came together to the rescue. Other news in the banking sector is about the stress test from the European Central Bank. The Italian bank mentioned before ended up last in this test in which the ECB tests how financially healthy banks would be in case of a new financial crisis. The Dutch banks ended quite well in the test, which is a good sign for the banking sector. Lastly, the worldwide hype of this summer: Pokémon Go also had an effect at the stock markets, especially for Nintendo. After releasing the mobile game, the stock price went up very high but after they announced that their share in the game was minimal, the stock went down very quick and very hard. This is quite a short recap about the most important financial news that happened during the summer. One of the most important things to look forward to, especially in the Netherlands is ‘Prinsjesdag’ where the Minister of Finance will announce the financial plans of the Dutch government for the upcoming year. Moreover, the Presidential Elections in the United States will also be very important for the stock markets in the upcoming markets. EU vs Apple – by Nando Slijkerman Apple, one of the biggest fishes noted on the NASDAQ, is getting an enormous tax claim from the European Union. According to Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager, Ireland has provided illegal government aid to Apple by making extremely profitable taxation agreements for the American computer company. Conclusion: The Irish tax authorities have to recover an amount of 13 billion Euros from Apple. This judgment will probably cause quite a stir between Europe and the United States of America. The US Treasury already let know not to accept the behaviour of the European Commission towards Apple. According to them, the worldwide stabled profits of Apple finally need to be settled according to US tax law, and paid to the US Treasury. The tax rate that Apple needs to pay to the Irish treasury was in some years “very, very low” as stated by miss Verstager. In 2011, the tax rate amounted 0,005% on the profits that the firm booked that year (50 million Euros tax on 16 billion Euros of profit). In fact, that is just 50 Euros on every million that Apple makes! Even kids in high school are paying more than that in taxes for their side jobs, and they most probably do not make a million per year. Despite the enormous amount, Apple can easily pay the bill. Due to the popularity of the iPhones, the company have a liquidity balance of 187 billion Euros! This is the result of the worldwide stabled profits of Apple. If they bring the cash back to the States, Apple needs to pay against a tax rate of 35%. This is way too high in the eyes of the Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Mr Cook is taking the support of several American multinationals which together hold more than 1000 billion Euros of worldwide stabled cash. All in all, a very interesting case. The Rostra team is very curious about the outcome. Pokémon Go – by Michael van Rhee And the ‘Summer hype of 2016’ award goes to… Pokémon Go! Hands down. Who could’ve seen this crazy phenomenon coming? Not many people, that’s for sure. If anyone, then probably those who were already familiar with Ingress — Pokémon Go‘s ancestor video game, which also used data from Google Maps to create a so-called ‘augmented reality’. However, even the most fanatic Ingress players couldn’t have foreseen the incredible mayhem that would come from an innocent Pokémon game, that’s for sure. Chaos in public places, suspicious-looking situations in neighbourhoods, Pokémon Go road signs being stolen, traffic accidents… Hell, even Pokémon hamburgers! (And let’s be honest here: who doesn’t want a piece of that?) The hype was enormous. So big, in fact, that various companies started seeing moneymaking opportunities. More about that in a full article soon. Pokémon Go was developed by Niantic, a company that was formerly part of Google and now receives financial support from Nintendo, which is a major shareholder of The Pokémon Company. Shortly after the release of Pokémon Go, Nintendo’s shares doubled in value, but by the end of July, they had already dropped by nearly 20%. This decline in share value is expected to continue as the hype around the game slowly dies down. Politics Recap – by Artur Rymer On the 14th of July, France once again became a victim of terrorism, when a cargo truck was driven into the crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. As a result, 434 people were injured and 87 were killed, including the driver who was shot by the police. On the 26th of July, in Normandy, two young men, who swore allegiance to Daesh, slit the throat of a catholic priest celebrating a mass. They were killed by the police after the act. Germany also faced several attacks, including the Munich shooting, Würzburg train attack, Reutlingen attack and Ansbach bombing, with a total of almost 15 dead (including the attackers) and almost 20 wounded. It is worth noting that not all the attackers were affiliated with Daesh and the Munich shooting was caused by a right-wing extremist. Terrorist attacks in France in the last two years have caused powerful social tensions in the French society. One of the effects was the so-called Burkini ban, which started when the Mayor of Cannes banned women from wearing burkinis at public beaches. This has spurred a discussion about whether the move was a protection of French secularism or an infringement on human rights. Until further court decisions, the Council of State has reversed the ban. As of the 13th of July, United Kingdom has a new Prime Minister Theresa May. The new government is supposed to lead the Brexit negotiations and the new PM has said that there will be no second referendum and no early elections. Despite that, many still hope that ultimately Britain will stay in the European Union, despite the result of the June referendum. Additionally, there is no clear plan as to when the (in)famous Article 50 should be triggered and what is UK’s idea of a departure from the European Union. On top of that, the Labour Party is in the midst of its leadership contest, however the incumbent leader Jeremy Corbyn will most probably win the party elections, despite the opposition from many prominent Labour politicians. Australia hit the headlines once again due to the abuse of refugees in a refugee facility on the Pacific island of Nauru. The treatment is said to be so harsh that it results in many refugees attempting suicide. Yet again a developed country is under fire for ignoring human suffering and the rights of refugees. July saw both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, during which the two major US parties have chosen their candidates for the autumn presidential elections. Controversial (to say the least) Donald Trump is the official Republican candidate, while Hillary Clinton is the first woman in the US history to be a major party’s presidential nominee. On the 31st of August, Brasil’s President Dilma Rousseff has been removed from the office by the Senate and was succeeded by her Vice-President Michel Temer. If you would like to learn more about what lead to the impeachment, check out the Rostra article on the topic by Brunno Fontanetti. Built on Lies – by Raffaele Di Carlo In the early hours of August 24th, an earthquake of magnitude 6.0-6.2 struck Central Italy, causing the partial or complete destruction of many small towns and villages in the Latium region (around Rome), including Amatrice, famous for being home to the worldwide known recipe bucatini alla amatriciana. Sadly enough, the earthquake happened to strike Amatrice and the surrounding region – otherwise mostly deserted throughout the year – during the yearly festival dedicated to the culinary heritage of the city, which dramatically raised the death toll: as of September 5th, there were 295 registered victims, and as the rescue operations proceed, the body count is bound to rise. The earthquake also caused significant architectural damage to the considerable cultural heritage of the area, including medieval boroughs dating back to as far as the 13th century, and several gothic and romanic churches. The region’s prosecutor’s office is currently carrying out an investigation in order to establish the responsibilities in a tragedy that shouldn’t have happened: although little can be done to secure historical buildings to anti-seismic standards, many residential buildings and even public facilities such as hospitals and schools were found to be unsafe. ¿Plata o plomo? In the Philippines – by Raffaele Di Carlo While worldwide efforts to legalize or at the very least decriminalize drugs increase, there seems to be somebody swimming against the stream: it is the case in the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte recently started his own very personal crusade against drug dealers (and criminals in general) in his country. As of 2013, the trade for illegal drugs in the Philippines was estimated to be worth  around $8.4 billion, with the principal products being cannabis and methamphetamine, of which the Philippines registered the highest abuse rate in the 2011 UN Drug Report. Duterte’s campaign against drug lords and dealers knows no half measures: granting special powers to the National Police and even publicly endorsing action from citizens who own weapons, he declared a full-fledged war on drugs that has already taken its toll. The Inquirer’s Kill List reports 465 deaths related to illegal drug trade between June 30th, when Duterte rose to power, and August 1st. President Duterte stated his efforts are aimed at preventing the Philippines from becoming a puppet to local and international drug lords. However, this means raised unprecedented concern among human rights groups and suggests he might have a sketchier agenda. Japanese Emperor Hints at Prohibited Abdication – by Leonie Ernst In the first week of August, the people in Japan were startled by a video message from their Emperor Akihito. It was the second time during his 26-year reign that he spoke to his people on television. In this speech, he spoke about his doubts concerning his own health and ability to carry out his duties and tasks. What is so remarkable about the speech, is that the Emperor is explicitly prohibited to make political statements. With his doubts about his ability to carry out his job, he hints at a wish to abdicate. For abdication, an amendment of the Imperial House Law would be required. According to it, an Emperor reigns until death. Changing a law is a political action and, therefore, the Emperor is  forbidden to make statements about it. The message caused some confusion in the country. Most Japanese inhabitants think the law should be reconsidered if the Emperor could not fulfil his duties in a satisfactory way, but the other part of the nation thinks the Emperor should follow the law. The reason the Emperor may not involve himself in political issues is his position in the nation. The Emperor is a symbol for the whole nation and is closely related to the national religion Shinto. If the Emperor is involved in politics, he is not a neutral person that symbolizes the unity of the country. The 82-year-old Emperor Akihito said he ‘considers that his fitness level is gradually declining and he is worried that it may become difficult for him to carry out his duties as the symbol of the State with his whole being as he has done until now’. After his message was aired on television, the political debate concerning the revision of the Imperial House Law has flared again and we will see what the decision about this old tradition of reigning till death will be. Olympics in Rio – by Brunno Fontanetti Delayed constructions, the Zika virus, unstable political and economic moment.. and BAM! The opening of the Rio Olympics starts and everything is left behind, amazing everyone that was watching it. It’s true that most people, including me, were expecting this Olympics to be an absolute chaos. Considering the fact I lived in Rio for most of my life, I can tell you: you would be as amazed as I am with the overall result, if you knew the city before the Olympic games. But what ended up coming to light the most was the overwhelming  climate created by everyone involved in the event, including the athletes. Sports wise, it was a memorable event:  more than 50 world records were broken, and, of course, some athletes performance was just a separate show of its own. Michael Phelps won 5 gold (what a surprise) and 1 silver medal and Usain Bolt showed again his dominance in athleticism winning 3 gold medals. Besides the already known athletes, other ones also went to the headlines either for performance, or behavior, during the Olympics. Two Americans made the headlines in Brazil during the event: Hope Solo, because of her picture saying she was ready for the Olympics while using a lot of protection for mosquitos (apparently she was making a joke about the Zika virus), and, of course, Ryan Lochte and his swimming crew, which were recorded on camera depredating a gas station. For Lochte I can’t say much was done by the general public while he was participating since this incident happened after he was already out of the competition, but for Hope Solo, I can say she tasted the best brazil has to offer: very few people that don’t understand Portuguese know about this, but every time she touched the ball, the whole crowd would scream together, in a rising voice, “ZIKA!”. Speaking of Brazilian fans, a lot of compliments and at the same time complaints were made. Some athletes said they were too loud, some said they were really supportive.. Let’s just say some of them weren’t ready for some Brazilian love/hate. Besides all the sports, the parties and the problems, political activism was also a pretty important subject during the event. For example, the Ethiopian athlete Feyisa Lilesa showed his support by making a political gesture while he was crossing the final line of the Male marathon. He was manifesting against the political persecution of the people that are from his region, and for that he might never come back to Ethiopia again. Brazil showed again it’s potential, it’s warmness and receptiveness. Don’t be mistaken: we are still living a pretty rough moment politically and economically. But, as we say in Rio, the best thing about Brasil is the Brazilians. Ah, just a final remark, that cannot go unnoticed: The prime minister of Japan appeared on stage, in the closing ceremony, using a Mario costume! Tokyo 2020 come fast because I’m already missing the Olympics too much. Turkish Coup d’Etat Attempt – by Yana Chernysh During the 15th and 16th of July 2016, a part of Turkish military made an attempt of a coup.However, the attempt was not successful. First, some of the politically important territories in Ankara, Istanbul, Konya, Kars as well as some others were occupied. At night, the access to television and Internet was blocked, moreover, airport in Istanbul was closed and all the flights from and into Turkey were cancelled. An announcement of the power being in hands of attackers was made. The militaries were occupying territories of Istanbul through the night, as well as making several bombings. Turkish Premier minister stated that the opposition will be fought and encouraged people not to give up. A big demonstration was held in favor of the existing government system. Closer to the morning the government started to take the occupied territories back. During the day around 900 soldiers surrendered to the government. Several versions of who was behind the coup are discussed, one of them being that it was planned by the president himself. Now, Turkey is willing to find all the guilty ones and make life as safe as possible for its citizens. For now, started from 20th of July, state of emergency in the country is announced for the period of three months.

Internet is diverse and it has cavernous depths you don’t want to reach – this is a well-known truth. We all had at least once run across something shocking, disgusting or that we simply wish to unsee. Despite that, we never get used to it, not even after so many years. For me the last strong shock was an article from Buzzfeed[1]. A 4-years old girl from Arkansas turned out to be in love with a pharmacy store CVS. The little one was fascinated with it to the extent that she wished for a CVS-themed birthday party. There were placards with names the way shop assistants have, mini counter-desk, gift-bags full of CVS themed trinkets with personalized receipts as greeting cards and much more. Ok, wait, what can be so special in a pharmacy, especially for a child, you ask? As her mother puts it: ‘Ultimately she loves CVS because she knows it to be a dreamland of snacks, chocolate milk, and toys.’ But the girl is not fascinated with toys, snacks or chocolate milk itself, like children are thought to do. She is fascinated with the idea of buying them and the place where you can do that. She is fascinated with shopping and department store. And even though you may say that I do exaggerate, I believe that this is a good point to stop and look back at what our society has become and where we are heading next. To start with, I am a spender and a lover of pretty things myself. Therefore, I’m not in a position to judge others from a pedestal. It would not be fair. And even though I feel comfy at my little, nicely furnished comfort zone, incidents like this one make me reconsider: am I a materialist or has this old, good term already gained a brand new, more extreme meaning nowadays? After a small research I have reached a conclusion. Materialism still means the same. But there is a growing number of terms to describe its varieties and derivations. I called what I found: ‘A small compendium of materialistic diseases invented by capitalism’: Citing from businessdictionary.com and mayoclinic.org: Consumptionism – consumption of material goods and services unfounded with real needs. Materialistic Hedonism – doctrine assigning the highest and sole value of life to collecting and consuming material goods. Materialism – concept that monetary relations are the basis of all social interactions and relationships. Shopaholism – addiction to shopping. Disposophobia – excessive acquisition and a persistent difficulty discarding  possessions because of a perceived need to save them. And trust me, the list seems to never end and all those syndromes have one thing in common – they are all essentially concerned with unhealthy dosage of need for compulsive buying and possession of things. Is it in the human nature or was it artificially invented or induced for the need of capitalist economy? The answer could be the evidence of existing differences between poor and rich countries, with, respectively, low and high degree of capitalist development, and, again respectively, under and overconsumption problems. Capitalist countries like USA are struggling year after year with unceasing growth of tendency to buy, buy even more and even bigger. And then to waste. On the contrary, the third-world countries are trying to induce consumption in highly frugal societies in order for the economy to develop. On the other hand, there are facts that seem to be in favour of the opinion that consumptionist attitude is an enemy of capitalism. For example, the very simple idea that the consumption cult seems to take away the power from the relative democracy of competition, the figurative supply-demand law, and transfer it absolutely into the hands of giant corporations. Sea Turtle The extreme cases of either life attitudes, like materialistic hedonism, or mental disorders, like, so popular and even to some extent sanctified nowadays in pop culture, shopaholism are depriving people of rationality. Not only rationality during Sunday groceries shopping, but also in life prioritizing. At the point when a small girl’s dream is not going to a playground or having a dog, but a trip to the nearby market, I believe that we should make a stop and reconsider. Whether the girl’s mother is right and we should exploit the fact that gaining happiness from shopping is so simple or maybe, just maybe, reach deeper to the question ‘why is it so simple?’. Because we may find it to be the same as with a pair of jeans at a seasonal sale in the shop around the corner. Both are catchy, but may turn out to be of low quality and short-lived. [1] http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/cvs-ftw#.pbmqm6Rd5g; Retrieved on 28.01.2016, 22:00

The summer holidays are nearly there, especially for students. Everyone is doing their last exams, finishing their theses and preparing their resits. But, the working people do not all have a holiday. The stock markets around the world will continue through the summer. Most of the time, summer period (June and July) is a less volatile period for stock markets because for a lot of investors, especially private investors, it is not their first priority. At the end of the summer, in August, the people are getting back on track with their investments and it leads to a lot of movement in the stock prices. This is also investigated for the past years. But, this year, analysts are forecasting that it will be a very turbulent summer for the asset markets. Investors around the world do not have a lot of faith in the past performance of the stocks worldwide. According to researches, institutional investors and analysts are preparing themselves for a summer ‘full of shocks’. One of the mayor concerns is, of course, the potential exit of the United Kingdom called the ‘Brexit’. More about the impact of the Brexit for the Netherlands can be found in an earlier article written by Antoine Steen. But, due to these potential shocks, many investors are keeping their money in their pockets. Investors lost the faith in a recovery of the Chinese economy and British stocks are avoided. According to a recent research by the Bank of America, asset managers say that among them, 27 percent is fearing the Brexit and is seeing it as the biggest threat for the world economy. They are fearing this threat even more than the devaluating currency of China, the Renminbi. Also, one of the other concerns is stagflation, which is a dangerous mix of low growth and increasing inflation. Michael Hartnett, head of investments of Bank of America, states that the spring break rise is ending. He is seeing diminishing profits of companies in the United States. These decreasing profits are a serious threat for the employment opportunities. He also posits that the upward movement of the US dollar is putting pressure on the emerging markets and markets of raw materials. He is expecting dynamic markets and he is recommending investors not to invest in the S&P500 until the index is back within the range of 1950-2000 index points. Torsten Slok, analyst of Deutsche Bank is saying that markets are underestimating the attractive inflation in the United States and that they do not listen carefully to the central bank of the United States, Federal Reserve. Interest raises are definitely happening in the short run, according to him. Obviously, investors are taking measures for these concerns to avoid big loses during the summer period. Especially for the reason that during the summer, people are maybe not that conscious as in other periods throughout the year. Almost 35% of the investors reduced their risk exposure for stock of the United Kingdom. This has not happened since 2008. This is definitely a sign that asset managers are very alert about the fact that the British people are doing something impossible. According to the same research of the Bank of America, the exchange rate of the US dollar and the oil price developments are also a huge concern. As a result, asset managers are reducing their risk exposure also on these two investments. Assets managers are also having a higher amount of cash, specifically, 5.5 percent. These levels are exceeding the peak during the European sovereign debt crisis and could be compared with the levels during the time of the chaos around the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Normally, firms and investors are holding cash in times of raised uncertainty. Bank of America, as well as Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase recommended investors to minimize their part in stocks. But, there are also some new firms in new sectors, which are growing rapidly. It is just a matter of time before investors are going to buy their stocks. These firms could have a huge potential and this can be a way out of the ‘normal’ stocks during the summer. Besides all the concerns and potential shocks, the main question that remains unanswered is: how could you deal with these problems? Unfortunately, a sole, perfect answer does not exist. But, there are some strategies that you can execute to hedge your investment portfolio against risk. First of all, you should not invest only in one company, one sector or one country. This should be basic knowledge for every investor. If you will invest only in the United Kingdom and there will be a ‘Brexit’, your entire portfolio will devaluate. Same thing counts if you just invest solely in the manufacturing sector. Many manufacturing firms are located in China. As a result, if China will indeed not improve their economy as a whole, your entire portfolio will, again, devaluate. A good way of investing should be such that you spread your risk by investing in different companies across different sectors in different countries all over the world. If one company, one sector and/or one country will hit your portfolio, the value will just diminish for the proportion that you invested in that company, sector or country. Second, investors can use derivatives to hedge the downside risk. A famous strategy is to buy a put option and also earn the underlying asset. In this case, when the value of your asset is falling, you can erase that ‘loss’ by executing your right to sell the put option. The only downfall is that investing in derivatives demands a lot of in-depth knowledge in finance. Concluding, this summer will be very volatile according to many analysts. The inhabitants of the United Kingdom have voted to leave the European Union. The Chinese economy is not growing as rapidly as before. This led to a change in investment decisions and, therefore, the US dollar, emerging markets and raw materials such as oil and gas have a lot of variation in their movements. To hedge yourself against these variations and these risks, you should spread your investment across different areas and/or make use of derivatives. When applying these strategies, you can still enjoy your summer without worrying about your assets.