Gaps

• How will all this affect the economy and the financial markets?
• Incumbent politicians have an incentive to call an election when the economy is healthier, to enhance their chances of being re-elected.
• There are also significant gaps between the time any electoral “hand-outs” are implemented and their effects on the economy.

Elections and markets

• The effect of elections on financial markets is similarly capricious.
• A study from 2000, which looked at 33 countries including the US and UK, found evidence of higher returns before elections.
• It’s hard to detect a meaningful and long-lasting effect either from the elections or changes in political leadership, particularly other events can often move markets more.
• FTSE 100, political leadership and UK elections The next figure looks at the US elections and stock market uncertainty, as measured by the Vix index, aka the gauge of investor fear – anything above 20 is considered to represent nervous times.
• The US stock market has tended to be lower before elections, before rising during and also after the elections.

• This seems to support the idea of investor uncertainty before elections.
• Yet the inconsistency returns when you look at the month after elections, with the dollar usually slightly weakening and the pound slightly strengthening.

What it means

• Yet that’s not to say the elections will be irrelevant to the markets in 2024.
• In the long run, however, what will ultimately matter for financial markets will not be short-term policies or electoral pledges, but the state of the economy.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• One study even called the care delivered to many vulnerable patients “inhumane.” Seismic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – particularly the shift to telehealth – only exacerbated that feeling.
• In response, many health systems now emphasize “relational medicine”: care that purports to center on the patient as a human being.
• Seeing each person before you as someone of infinite value is fundamental to many faiths’ beliefs about medical ethics.

Divine dignity

• For doctors today, this might mean taking care not to inflict shame on a person with a stigmatized illness like substance use or obesity.
• A 1981 Islamic code of medical ethics, for instance, considers the patient the leader of the medical team.
• The doctor exists “for the sake of the patient … not the other way round,” it reminds practitioners.

Seeing and hearing the whole patient

In undergraduate classes that I teach for future health professionals at the University of Pittsburgh, we focus on communication skills to foster dignified care, such as setting a shared agenda with a patient to align their goals and the provider’s. Students also read “Compassionomics,” by medical researchers Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli, which aggregates the data showing caring’s impact on the well-being of patients and providers alike.

• However, even health professionals steeped in these practices can encounter people whose humanity they struggle to see.
• The course evaluation is based on a project in which students interview a friend, relative or neighbor about their experience of illness and care.
• Ultimately, they identify one element of the person’s care that could have been improved by attending more to the person’s individual needs and listening to their story.

Listening with both ears

• Down the road at Chatham University, I work with physician assistant students who are about to enter clinic for the first time.
• These students complete a workshop including many of the same communication exercises, including “listening with both ears”: listening not only to the patient, but also to what they themselves say to the patient, considering how it will be received.

• Many of them report using patient-centered skills in challenging situations, such as validating patients’ concerns that had previously been dismissed.
• Yet they also report a work culture where effective communication is often seen as taking too much time or as a low priority.
• The emphasis on technology and a rapid pace of treatment leaves scant room for caring, whether in Heschel’s day or ours.

Jonathan Weinkle is affiliated with American College of Physicians and American Academy of Pediatrics.

• Worldwide, ocean-based industries such as fishing, shipping and energy production generate at least US$1.5 trillion in economic activity each year and support 31 million jobs.
• This value has been increasing exponentially over the past 50 years and is expected to double by 2030.
• But the sheer size of the ocean has made tracking industrial activities at a broad scale impractical – until now.

Operating in the dark

• For example, many vessels carry a device called an automatic identification system, or AIS, that automatically broadcasts the vessel’s identity, position, course and speed.
• These devices communicate with other AIS devices nearby to improve situational awareness and reduce the chances of vessel collisions at sea.
• They also transmit to shore-based transponders and satellites, which can be used to monitor vessel traffic and fishing activity.

Shining a light on activity at sea

• Remarkably, we found that about 75% of the fishing vessels we detected were missing from public AIS monitoring systems, with much of that activity taking place around Africa and South Asia.
• These previously invisible vessels radically changed our knowledge about the scale, scope and location of fishing activity.
• We estimate that the number of wind turbines in the ocean likely surpassed the number of oil structures by the end of 2020.

Supporting real-world efforts

• Fishery managers in developing countries can use our data to monitor pressure on local stocks.
• Our data can help enforcement agencies identify illegal activities and target patrol efforts.
• – Sanction-busting trade: Our data can shed light on maritime activities that may breach international economic sanctions.
• For example, United Nations sanctions prohibit North Korea from exporting seafood products or selling its fishing rights to other countries.

The study described in this article was funded by Oceankind, Bloomberg Philanthropies and National Geographic Pristine Seas. The European Space Agency made radar and optical imagery freely available, and Google provided computing resources and technical support. Jennifer Raynor has worked at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Global Fishing Watch.

This article analyses the European crisis management framework for banks. It concludes that key areas for improvement are the crisis management options for small and medium-sized banks as well as preparedness for systemic crises. The European Commission’s reform proposal represents an opportunity to implement the lessons learned over the last decade.