Money and How the Economy Affects Its Value

The value of our money is determined by factors such as interest rates, exchange rates, and inflation. Money can easily lose value if the economy is performing poorly and international trade is taking place with countries that have stronger currencies than ours.

With all this in mind, we shall think about just how the value of money is affected by what is going on in the world.

 

World Economies

It is what is going on with the global economy which impacts interest rates and inflation, whilst the currency exchange rate becomes the factor that indicates the economic health of a country.

A currency that is valued higher will mean that a country’s imports are less expensive whilst its exports are more expensive. This means that traders in the country with the higher value exchange rate benefit financially, but only if they can sell their product which becomes more expensive. Also, these rates affect investor confidence when it comes to investing in a certain country or currency. Nobody wants to see their investment become worth less.

A strong currency is also beneficial for people who like or need to travel abroad. Whilst a weak currency is good for jobs, it is not good for those who travel internationally or use imported products.

Britain and the US invented “protectionism”. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Britain had the most protected economy in the whole of the capitalist world. The protection would promote British manufacturers to allow them to compete with more superior European companies. The US would go further and develop a theory known as the “infant industry argument”, which would protect and nurture young industries until they were in a position to compete on the world stage. The man to thank for that was Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury Secretary of the US, who would subsequently appear on the ten-dollar bill.

 

Interest Rates

The Central Bank will react to predicted rises in inflation and raise interest rates. It is higher interest rates that will be responsible for moderating the growth of an economy. In this sense, they are artificial but still something everyone has to deal with. The effect of a higher interest rate is that it will result in a reduction in inflationary pressures and cause the exchange rate to rise.

The effect of rising interest rates on the economy is concerning, as it has doubled in less than a year. It is also considered to be in a continuous battle with inflation. The only way that a saver can hope to earn a decent profit on their investments or deposits is when their interest rate is above inflation. However, as someone trying to afford a mortgage, you will want interest rates to be lower so that the cost of borrowing is less. This is quite a balance to maintain and is certain to benefit some and create financial hardship for others.

 

Exchange Rates

Exchange rates are determined by the current account on the balance of payments and so are economy influenced. Other factors that determine them include interest rates, investor confidence in the markets, and an economy’s growth. For example, if any economy was worried about the future of its economy, it would tend to sell its currency, which would then lead to a fall in its value.

 

So, you can see how closely linked the state of the economy, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rates, and the level of employment can be. It is not an easy task balancing all these so that an economy can prosper and everyone is kept as financially well off as possible.

The companies that are set up in certain countries will only be encouraged to stay in the longer term if they can trade at profitable rates with other countries. Whether or not they do will impact jobs. The confidence to invest will affect where the money is going and who is benefitting from that money. Interest rates affect the saving and lending of money in terms of returns on investments and the affordability to take out a loan or mortgage. Beneficial exchange rates are important to those involved in international trade or travel. All these factors working together makes for an economy a government can be proud of and something which will affect how electable they are in the future.

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How To Travel Safely In The Covid Climate

The Covid-19 global pandemic is the most serious concern for travelers right now. With new cases being reported every day, it is quite difficult to plan a trip.

Staying safe when traveling means that you should avoid visiting areas that are considered to be high risk for the virus. Though it might be difficult to find out which areas are high risk, there are some places you should not visit if you want to remain safe and avoid getting infected with the Covid-19 virus.

How Safe is it to travel during the Covid-19 Global Pandemic

With the outbreak of Covid-19, our lives have drastically changed. That includes travel plans. With the latest updates on the pandemic’s spread, it is safe to say that we need to be cautious when traveling. Wearing PPE kits, masks, and gloves (you can visit sites like Unigloves to see some options); sanitizing hands timely, and maintaining social distance might help us remain uninfected while traveling.

The current level of risk is at 6/10 for low-risk countries and 8/10 for high-risk countries. We should make sure that we are abiding by all quarantine and safety procedures before traveling anywhere abroad. Be aware of how you prepare your travel itinerary prior to your travel plans. This could entail procuring extensive knowledge about your country of travel and the protocols they need to follow as per the government advisory. If you have a stable internet connection (if not you can look at certain Spectrum internet prices and plans for yourself) at home, your quest to get the proper details in regards to the country you’re travelling to can be fulfilled in a jiffy!

It is important to know how to prepare for your trip before you go through security checkpoints. This includes checking the latest government advice on any country you are visiting, where they advise travelers on things like staying away from crowded public spaces and avoiding contact with locals who may be carrying the virus.

Alternatively, you could charter a private jet for you and your family/friends to avoid the extra crowds and long lines. You’d be less likely to catch the flu this way. When you fly privately, the aircraft is usually thoroughly cleaned both before and after you board. Prior to your family boarding, the aircraft would be disinfected by a COVID 19 cleaning specialist team and checked over by your crew. Also, the crew is specifically trained in COVID 19 protocol and wears masks when all passengers are present. Now, if this has piqued your interest and you’re curious to know the estimated private jet charter cost, you could look into websites like jettly.com.

4 Effective Tips to Stay Safe in the Covid-19 Global Pandemic Climate

  1. Be aware of your surroundings, especially if it’s crowded, and take measures to avoid contact with people who are coughing or sneezing.
  2. Wash your hands frequently and try to avoid touching your face.
  3. Drink plenty of fluids.
  4. If you feel sick, stay home.

The Most Efficient Way To Deal With The Different Health Safety Procedures In Different Countries

Every country has different health safety procedures, so there is no one country with the best procedures.

The most efficient way to deal with the different health safety procedures is to be aware of what they are and follow them accordingly.

The idea that health and safety can be learned is terrifying for some. However, being aware of the different procedures can help ease fears and make people more comfortable. These procedures include everything from personal hygiene, to entering a building, to leaving a building.

What Healthy Precautions Should You Take when traveling in Covid-19 climate?

Precautions when traveling in Covid-19 climate are not restricted to just vaccinations. There are other aspects that need to be considered before traveling to Covid-19, such as dressing appropriately and getting the right travel insurance.

After the Covid-19 virus global breakout, many people were infected with it and died. Due to the virus being a global pandemic, there were no treatments available at that time. To avoid being affected by the virus, you should be aware of how it is transmitted and take appropriate precautions when traveling.

Visit the government website here to find out more about Covid-19, the countries at risk, and what you should do before you head out.

Lastly, visit your doctor and get a travel health care certificate before you head out.

Traveling Back Home Again? Here’s How You Can Keep Your Health Insurance Overseas Active (in certain countries)

Getting your health insurance overseas active is not as difficult as one might think.

When you are traveling overseas, it’s probably not the time to be thinking about what will happen with your health insurance. But don’t worry. There are some options that will keep your health insurance active.

If you have an ex-pat policy with an international insurer, it will cover you anywhere in the world and is a popular option for people who spend more than six months abroad in a year. However, this coverage does come with a higher premium and less coverage for certain benefits like mental health care.

The first and most important thing is to avoid areas with a high concentration of people. You should also avoid crowded shopping malls, schools, and other public buildings. Even if you must travel through these areas, try to limit your time there as much as possible. In order to prevent contact with infected individuals, wear one of those disposable face shields at all times while outside of your home or hotel room.

It’s important not to touch your mouth, nose, or eyes while outside because this exposes you poorly covered wounds and could lead to contracting Covid-19. Lastly, the best way to stay safe in the Covid-19 global pandemic is to purchase a Covid-19 vaccine if you’re at high risk of contracting the virus.

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Asking For a Pay Rise: How to Do It

Professionals tend to get paid more, but they also get stuck in a cycle of self-sabotage, making it almost impossible to be as successful as they wish. In our recent post “Treating the ‘Why Me?’ Problem”, I talked about how to ask for a raise, and today I want to talk about some different ways to deal with other kinds of self-sabotage. Ask for a pay rise, and you’ll be told you’re greedy, or too demanding, or you’ve been around too long.  But is it such a bad thing to ask for a pay rise? If you’re doing your job well, and if you’re behind your team, who’s to say you don’t deserve one?  Just because you haven’t asked doesn’t mean you don’t deserve one.  That’s the crux of the problem, and that’s the problem many find themselves in.

How much should you ask for in salary? Should you start by asking for a pay rise, and if so, when? When you ask for a pay rise, you have to be prepared to negotiate an acceptable amount, but is it possible to ask for more without getting a negative response? Is it wise to ask for a pay rise at the same time as asking for a pay review, or should you wait until after that has taken place?

Know the worth of your work

Imagine you’re working hard for your boss all week long, and you finally get a chance to ask for a pay rise. How do you know if you’re even worth what you earn in your job? The challenge is definitely not an easy one. Do you need to have a lot of experience to earn the promotion? Are the other employees in your department as productive as you? If so, are they paid more? Who decides what prices you, or your colleagues, should be paid?

Be considerate about your timing

Depending on your industry, the deadline for submitting your pay details may be up to several months before the official start of a pay period. If you’re an hourly worker, you could be waiting until the end of a pay period to ask your employer for a better wage. But if you’re a salaried worker, some employers may ask for a salary increase during the same period. The subject of a pay raise is a tricky one, especially if you’re asking for it. Not everyone is in a position to ask for a raise, so you may need to be creative. So, how can you beat the system? The most useful approach is to ask for a raise at the right time. If you ask for a raise too early in your career, your boss may not be willing to give you one. If you wait too long, you may have become a liability to the company and may only receive a much lower salary.

Do some investigations in your company’s salary structure

By now, most people have probably heard of the term ‘glass cliff.’ More commonly known as the ‘women’s salary. The term was coined to describe the phenomenon where female executives are more likely to be promoted to a position of leadership when the economy is struggling, and their company is facing hardship than their male counterparts, regardless of actual skills and qualifications. When it comes to negotiating pay raises, the advice you will get is ‘you ask, you negotiate.’ This is misleading. Most people don’t ask for more money. They should, but they don’t. Ask for what you deserve, and be prepared to negotiate.

Do you want to ask for a raise but are afraid you’ll be turned down? You’re not alone, according to a survey by Salary.com. 56% of us will ask for a pay rise in the next year to get more money in the next year, but only 39% are satisfied with their salaries. Another study by PayScale found that more than a quarter of us feel pressured to ask for a raise, but only 2% will ask for more money. Many people are unemployed or in positions that are underemployed. For some people, this means a full-time job that pays well, but for many others, it means that they are working just enough to get by, but they’re not working enough to live a decent lifestyle. For the underemployed, the path to earning more money can be tricky.

 

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Great Driving Roads in China

That makes driving in China so great, and what are the best driving roads in China? There are so many great driving roads in China that it can be difficult to give an objective assessment of all of them. However, there are some roads that are more well-known than others, and that tend to be featured quite often in driving videos. In this article, we will introduce you to some great driving roads in China.

  • Jiamo Highway

The Jiamo Highway in China is one of the most beautiful roads in the world. The drive from Xiamen to Zhuhai is 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) long and takes about 22 hours to complete.

  • Guabi Road

The Guabi road is a mountain road in China that extends for over 300 kilometers (186 miles) and is especially known for being a tourist attraction. It was built in 2008 as a way to get around the mountains of Guandi and Pingshan in Yunnan Province, and it connects the Yunnan and Shanxi provinces.

  • Aizhai Highway

China’s National Highway System (NHS) has more than 20,000 miles of road in the country, and climbing every one of them for a lap makes for a long day. If you can follow along on the Aizhai Highway, that will be all you’ll need to do to get a taste of the scenic beauty of China. This drive is officially only three miles long between the cities of Yecheng and Tianshui, but it’s two hours long without stops, and it’s easy to see why people choose to do it once.

  • Shennongjie Highway

The Shennongjie Highway is a 4.6 km (2.8 mi) highway in the Linyi District of Shandong Province, China, named after the famous Chinese Emperors Shennong and Jiagu. It forms part of China National Highway 104 and connects the provincial capital Jinan to the provincial capital Yantai.

  • Aizhai Highway

Long-distance driving is a must when you’re on vacation—so you’ll want to check out the Aizhai Highway. It’s a stunning piece of roadway that connects Tibet to Xinjiang. It’s a stunning piece of roadway that connects Tibet to Xinjiang. The highway is the only major east-west road that runs through China, so when you want to travel across the country, this is the only option you have. It’s about 2,500 miles long, and it’s one of the highest paved roads in the world (at an elevation of more than 11,000 feet). It’s also well known for its scenic beauty, which is pretty hard to resist.

  • The 24-Zig

It’s a bit of a cliché to talk about the “24-zig”, the 24 kilometers of the Great Wall of China that the inhabitants of the ng Dynasty used to protect their families from the Mongols. While that doesn’t immediately make the Great Wall worth writing about, it’s well worth considering since it’s one of the wonders of the world and a testament to the strength of the Chinese.

  • Chuanzang Highway

Chuanzang Highway, or the Great Silk Road, was the second of the ancient trading routes in the world. It was a road that started in China and linked up with the Mediterranean coast. It was the only road that was open to all countries. You can go from one country to another country on this highway, even if you are not Asian. But you need to know that you need to find your way on this highway.

Just an hour’s drive from Beijing, the breathtaking Jiayuguan Pass is one of the best driving routes in the world. On its northern side, the mountains of the Tian Shan mountain range tower over more than 3,000 meters above sea level, with some peaks reaching more than 5,000 meters above sea level. On the southern side, the main road winds through the Zhesan Mountains, where snow-capped peaks soar to well over 3,000 meters above sea level. Between them lie some of the most spectacular scenery found in China.

Driving in China can be a challenging experience, especially if you are used to driving in your home country (they say that if you can’t drive in your native country, you shouldn’t be driving anywhere). Even though the roads are fairly good, they don’t necessarily make the trip to the Great Wall of China any easier. Whether you are driving on a major highway or a smaller road, you should expect to drive for several hours at a time and sometimes travel over hundreds of kilometers per day.

 

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Top 3 Pizza Hacks to Try Next

Most people love pizza. It’s one of the most popular foods in the world. And because it is loved so very much, over the years, people have found there to be a variety of different ways to enjoy this favoured cuisine.

You can order it from your favourite pizza place, make it at home (provided that you have the best firewood appliances from companies like Cutting Edge Firewood, the perfect dough, and all the ingredients you need) or you can even get a frozen pizza and cook it in your kitchen. No matter how you like to eat pizza, there are some hacks that can make the experience better.

Though it can make the process more exciting, for some, eating their finished product can be a bit of a challenge. Maybe you’re not sure how to order it properly or maybe you don’t know how to make it at home. However, that shouldn’t be something worth fretting about. In today’s digital age, the quest for culinary inspiration often begins with a simple web search. From family dinners to extravagant feasts, the internet has become our trusted recipe book, and websites dedicated to sharing culinary delights are aplenty. Although websites can be helpful for finding recipes, food blogs offer an even richer variety of dishes. These blogs cater to readers looking for a diverse and nutritious culinary experience, offering everything from a Caesar salad to a mouthwatering Cheese Margherita Pizza Recipe, and much more.

Now we’re here to show you the top three pizza hacks that will make your experience better.

Use a Baking or Pizza Stone

A baking stone, also known as a pizza stone, is a tool that you can use to improve your pizza experience. When you cook a pizza on a baking stone, it heats up more evenly than if you cooked it on a regular pan or baking sheet. This results in a crispy crust and a deliciously cooked pizza, which is guaranteed every time.

If you don’t have a baking stone, you can use a cast iron skillet or a heavy-duty baking sheet. Place the pizza on the preheated baking stone or skillet and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Once cooked, you can enjoy your freshly baked pizza. What’s more, if you don’t have a proper serving platter, you can use your baking stone as an alternative, ensuring that your pizza stays as hot and as fresh as possible.

Don’t Use Too Much Sauce

Pizza sauce is a key ingredient to use while making this type of food, however, it’s important not to use too much of it. If you use more than you need, your pizza will be too wet, to the point of finding it difficult to eat.

A thin layer of sauce is all you need to enhance the flavour of the pizza crust and toppings. In order to get the most out of this cuisine, be sure to use about 2-3 tablespoons of sauce. This is the typical measurement for a 12-inch pizza.

On the other hand, if you’re using a pre-made sauce that has been bought in a shop, be sure to taste it before adding it to your pizza. This is because some sauces can be very salty or sweet, and you may not need to use as much as you first thought.

Get Creative with Your Toppings

Though not much of a hack, one of the best things about pizza is that you can personalise it however you want. If you’re feeling creative, why not try some new and different toppings?

Veggies, meats and cheeses are all great options, but don’t be afraid to get a little crazy with your toppings. Some ideas include:

  • Fruit toppings like pineapple and bananas
  • SPAM
  • Sardines
  • Kimchi
  • Shrimp
  • Buffalo chicken

When it comes to pizza toppings, the possibilities are well and truly endless, so get creative and have fun with it! Who knows, you may even create a recipe that becomes the go-to choice amongst your family and friends.

There are so many different ways to enjoy pizza, and even more ways to hack your pizza experience for a better outcome. Whether you’re looking to make your pizza crust thicker and chewier, or add some new and exciting toppings, there are many things you can try to make your next pizza experience even better.

Trying these hacks will allow you to try something new, and the perfect time to do so is when you are enjoying a wonderful slice of pizza.

So, there you have it! Three easy pizza hacks that will take your pizza experience to the next level. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of pepperoni and sausage or if you prefer something a little more exotic, these hacks are sure to please.

Be sure to give them a try the next time you fire up the oven for a pizza party! We’d love to hear your experiences.

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