Most organizations, such as the widely recognized Henley Passport Index, believe the strongest passports are the ones that allow their citizens to enter more countries without a visa. They rank Singapore as the most powerful passport in 2023 because it provides easy access to 194 countries.
The cashless economy has become increasingly prevalent in developed countries such as the U.S. and Japan. Consumers are incentivized to use debit or credit cards through discounts and freebies, and banks and credit card companies collect information on people’s spending habits.
The Japanese government and the bank of Japan have announced that they will renew the ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 banknotes in 2024.
Steep tariffs, challenging geography and government subsidies come to mind when we think about the barriers to international trade. But there are lots of different languages in the world, and translation problems can slow things down, too.
Taobao, China's biggest online retailer, is hiring two people who must be aged 60 years or older to assess new products aimed at middle-aged and senior consumers.
Applicants are expected to have a harmonious relationship with their children, be an influencer in society such as in square dance groups, enjoy reading about psychology and sociology, and have at least one year of online shopping experience.
Retail giant Aeon Co. has renovated 13 outlets across the country to cater to seniors, offering earlier opening hours and services that encourage asatomo (morning friends) get-togethers.
Kohei Nakahara, a store manager, canvassed elderly people who frequent nearby parks to better understand their needs. “We brought what they want to do into our store, and it resulted in them staying longer. We want to make the store a place like a community hall for neighbors,” he said.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, became the world's richest man, defeating Bill Gates, co-founder Microsoft.
The recent surge in Amazon stock has pushed Bezos' fortune to over $90 billion, vaulting him past Bill Gates. Bezos has been chasing Gates for the number one spot for a few years now and finally succeeded in superseding him. But this dream run was short-lived. On Thursday, Bill Gates was crowned again as the world's richest man as Amazon stocks went down by 1%.
Amazon.com Inc. spent its first day as the owner of a brick-and-mortar grocery chain cutting prices at Whole Foods Market as much as 43 percent.
In a sign of how the retailer is changing, the Amazon Echo, a voice-activated electronic assistant, was also for sale, for $99.99—a sharp pivot into electronics for a company known for kale and quinoa. The Echo Dot, a smaller version, was advertised for $44.99.
Yamato Transport Co. has modified its parcel delivery time slots to reduce the burden on overworked drivers handling a sharp increase in parcels.
As of Monday, the door-to-door parcel delivery firm no longer allows noon to 2 p.m. as a designated delivery time so drivers can take a lunch break.
In addition, the company replaced the latest time slot in the day of 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a new slot of 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to avoid the concentration of delivery orders in the final one hour.
Algorithms can learn to collude.
Two law professors, Ariel Ezrachi of Oxford and Maurice E. Stucke of the University of Tennessee, have a working paper on how when computers get involved in pricing for goods and services (say, at Amazon or Uber), the potential for collusion is even greater than when humans are making the prices.
