EconomicsToo

This Guardian article reports that global supplies of salmon have been hit hard by a parasite affecting Atlantic farms meaning there could be as much as a 50% increase in salmon prices. Sea lice are infesting stocks in farms across Scotland and Norway, with rising sea temperatures claimed to be the cause. The consequences of reduced supply will contribute to cost push inflation however many U.K. supermarkets are said to be currently absorbing the initial price rises but some have engaged in 'shrinkflation' whereby consumers will continue to pay prices they are used to but for a smaller quantity.  Whilst the economic consequences are not yet being felt fully and efforts are underway to treat the fish, the short run price of salmon is almost certain to rise very soon. 

Bitcoin is now worth over $1000 USD, a three year high and it actually outperformed all  r eal  currencies over 20016, literally doubling in value. As a cryptocurrency , it could seem a little strange to some how a currency that doesn't actually exist outside of the digital world can perform better than currencies such as the Chinese yuan, the Russian ruble, although it might not be a surprise that it performed better than any currencies called the 'pound' in 2016 (think of the British and Egyptian pounds!). Image source: Bit4coin This excerpt from the WSJ explains bitcoin well, "...it is a digital currency , maintained by a software program that is run on a decentralized network of computers by the so-called “miners” (for a variety of reasons, the largest miners today are all located in China). No one person or entity controls the currency. Every transaction is recorded in a publicly viewable ledger, although user accounts are encrypted. It was conceived as ...