Thinking about adding cryptocurrency to your investment portfolio? The number of Americans investing in cryptocurrency has increased. But as a new FTC Consumer Protection Data Spotlight suggests, the number who report getting stung by cryptocurrency investment scams has skyrocketed. You’ll want to read the Data Spotlight in detail, but here are five facts that suggests caution before sinking your savings into cryptocurrency. Consumers report losing millions to cryptocurrency scams. Since October 2020, nearly 7,000 consumers have reported losses to cryptocurrency scams totaling more than...

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What is the blue economy and how is it contributing to the overall economy? The blue economy encompasses all industries and sectors related to oceans, seas and coasts, whether they are based in the marine environment (e.g. shipping, fisheries, energy generation) or on land (e.g. ports, shipyards, land-based aquaculture and algae production, coastal tourism). It is a broad, fast-moving segment of our economy, where over the past decade significant steps have been taken to modernise and diversify. Alongside traditional sectors, innovative...

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Today, the European Commission is proposing a new approach for a sustainable blue economy in the EU for the industries and sectors related to oceans, seas and coasts.  A sustainable blue economy is essential to achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal and ensuring a green and inclusive recovery from the pandemic. Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal said: “Healthy oceans are a precondition for a thriving blue economy. Pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction, coupled with the effects of the climate crisis, all...

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Imagine you plan to invest your savings and are looking for a firm or sector with a sustainable business model or a project that can make a real difference in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Where do you get reliable information to assess and compare projects from different companies? "Data gaps make it difficult to assess firms’ exposure to climate risk." To give investors access to decision-useful information to effectively price and manage climate risks, there is an urgent need to...

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Inheritance taxation can be an important instrument to address inequality, particularly in the current context of persistently high wealth inequality and new pressures on public finances linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new OECD report. Inheritance Taxation in OECD Countries provides a comparative assessment of inheritance, estate and gift taxes across the 37-member OECD, and explores the potential role these taxes could play in raising revenues, addressing inequalities and improving the efficiency of tax systems in the future. The...

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The 2020 ECB Forum on Central Banking addressed some key issues from the ongoing monetary policy strategy review and embedded them in discussions of major structural changes in advanced economies and the post-COVID recovery. In this column, two of the organisers highlight some of the main points from the papers and debates, including whether globalisation is reversing, implications of climate change, options for formulating the ECB's inflation aim, challenges with informal monetary policy communication, relationships between financial stability and...

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Today, the European Commission adopted the EU Action Plan: “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil” – a key deliverable of the European Green Deal and the main topic of this year's EU Green Week. It sets out an integrated vision for 2050: a world where pollution is reduced to levels that are no longer harmful to human health and natural ecosystems, as well as the steps to get there. The plan ties together all relevant EU policies to tackle and prevent pollution,...

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