A new study predicts that rising energy costs that have followed in the wake of Russia's war with Ukraine could push millions of people around the globe into extreme poverty.
In a joint research effort between the United States, China, the UK and Netherlands, the study from the journal Nature Energy assessed the impact of the war and found that energy prices have jumped 4.8 percent with the surge in the cost of coal and natural gas directly linked to Russia's invasion.
Low income-communities that were already facing issues like food insecurity are now at even greater risk of falling into extreme poverty, with countries like Poland and the Czech Republic, facing greater hardships with their economies heavily dependent on energy resources like coal.
In the U.S., consumers spent 14.3 percent more on energy last year than they did in 2021. Electricity prices alone rose 11.9 percent over the 12 months ending in January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The study estimates that 141 million people around the world are at risk of falling into extreme poverty as costs continue to rise.
"Unaffordable costs of energy and other necessities would push vulnerable populations into energy poverty and even extreme poverty. Understanding how global energy prices are transmitted to households through global supply chains and how they are affected is crucial for effective and equitable policy design," the researchers wrote.
With inflation and prices still on the rise, it might be worth considering a carpool app. One of them, Singapore-based Ryde, just went public in the U.S.
Full Glass Wine Co., the company behind Bright Cellars, Wine Insiders, and Winc, knows you fell in love with home delivery during the pandemic – and it’s investing millions into making it even better.
It might sound counterintuitive, but the Fed cutting interest rates three times this year could cause inflation to spike and actually be worse for markets and the economy as a whole.
Imagine a world with just a handful of mediocre beer options. Terrible, right? That was the U.S. before the explosion of craft breweries, the Samuel Adams founder says.
March was a blockbuster month for jobs, with 303,000 new positions – and paired with slower wage growth, an economist and a portfolio manager agree this could be the ‘best of both worlds.’
