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Thursday, 25 August 2022

The death of the business card? Plus: The digital EUR could be put into action next year + Private jet shortages spelling disaster for footballers

Time to bid farewell to business cards? The future is here — kind of. A new networking trend is making professionals across different fields ditch the old business card for what is admittedly a pretty cool, albeit somewhat creepy data exchange experience, the Wall Street Journal says. Derek Peterson, technology chief at Boingo Wireless merely brushes people’s phones to share contact information. Not sorcery, but close: Peterson had a chip installed under his skin by a company called (brace yourselves) Dangerous Things. Nice party trick, but imagine the awkwardness when there’s poor cell service.

Not everyone though is opting for fully virtual solutions. Some prefer hybrid ones, such as paper cards with printed QR codes, or NFC chips encased in rings while many (sometimes older individuals) are still opting for more traditional methods, the Journal says.


The return of the trustbusters: Private equity firms may soon come under fire when the US’ antitrust landscape wakes up from its decades-long slumber to launch a sweeping crackdown on buyout groups, the Financial Times writes. Flush buyout firms make bns off of massive M&A transactions, antitrust officials are now weighing a major shift in competition policy that could potentially change the way the markets have been working for decades. The crackdown involves not only looking at whether a single transaction is in violation of the law, but whether the private equity industry itself poses a threat to business in the country through its “roll-up” and buy, strip and flip strategies — which leaves industries rife with monopolies and shuttered-down businesses.

The ECB could decide on whether it will launch its own digital currency next fall. An investigation by the European Central Bank (ECB) into the pros and cons of launching its own central bank digital currency (CBDC) is set to wrap up in October 2023, an ECB official tells Reuters. Central banks around the world — including our own — have been considering building their own hard currency-backed e-currencies as they look to bring more stability and regulation to digital money markets and facilitate payments.


Our thoughts and prayers go out to the UK’s top football teams, which are grappling with a private jet shortage. Many English Premier League clubs have had to change their travel arrangements at the last minute, due to a surge in demand for chartered air travel in the UK, Bloomberg reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Coaches have already blamed this issue for poor on-field performances: After Chelsea lost 3-0 to Leeds United earlier this month, manager Thomas Tuchel said that changes in travel arrangements had hampered his team’s preparations. Chelsea could not find a large enough jet to fly all its performers and trainers to the game, so Tuchel and other staff members had to use a bus.

The number of private plane departures from airports has increased considerably from pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the European Business Aviation Association cited by the business information service, which made it more difficult for football clubs to arrange last-minute travel. Since matches tend to be spaced close together, teams try to give their players as much downtime as possible between training and games. For wealthy clubs, flying to games is more convenient and time-efficient than taking a coach or rail and risking traffic or service delays.

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