German election wide open as race enters final stages

Significance The volatility of the election is underscored by the fact that first the Greens and then the CDU have led the polls since April. The election outcome will rest on the support of wavering centrist voters. Impacts A government led by the SPD is unlikely to pursue significant changes in relation to fiscal policy. As over 50% of voters will vote before election day, it will be difficult for the CDU to reverse polling trends significantly. Given the tight polling, foreign influence on social and mainstream media could determine the election result.

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 588-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Phillipov

Purpose – The increasing frequency with which food and beverage producers feature in mainstream media, including television cooking shows, provide opportunities and pitfalls for using media to promote artisan food and beverage businesses. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these, as experienced by a group of food and beverage producers who appeared on the popular Australian television show, Gourmet Farmer. Design/methodology/approach – Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 14 of the producers featured on the show, plus textual analysis of relevant segments of the show. Findings – While all of the producers felt that food television offered a good promotional tool, those who were most familiar with the practices of media production and whose businesses offered experiences through which viewers could access (or imagine) a “taste” of the Gourmet Farmer life tended to be more satisfied than those who were less familiar with the practices of media production and who expected a greater focus on their products and production practices. Practical implications – The development of media skills is essential for artisan producers to get the best outcomes when using media to promote their businesses. Originality/value – The experiences of food and beverage producers using food television to promote their businesses have not previously been the subject of thoroughgoing research. This paper offers new insights into how artisan producers can best capitalize on the opportunities offered by food media.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Marianne Matthee ◽  
Albert Wöcke

Subject area Macro-Economics. Study level/applicability Undergraduate and MBA. Case overview The COVID 19 pandemic-related restrictions devastated South Africa’s economy in 2020 and although the restrictions were generally less damaging than in 2020, the government had to budget for vaccinations and rebuild the economy. Public service unions had just announced that they were demanding an increase of 4% above inflation for their members and that they were preparing for a strike. They were bitter about the fact that the South African Government had withdrawn from the last year of a three-year wage agreement in February 2020 and their members had not received an increase for the two years. These demands and Finance Minister Mboweni’s response to them had to consider the structural and cyclical impact on the fiscus and economy. Expected learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the general objectives of fiscal policy and stakeholders’ interests; understand the tradeoffs in fiscal policy and the implications of taking a position; and make recommendations based on reasoned judgements about those recommendations. Complexity academic level Undergraduate and MBA level courses on Macro Economics. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 10: Public Sector Management.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmet Eren Yıldırım ◽  
Mete Dibo

PurposeThis study analyzes the impacts of income inequality after direct taxation on the gross domestic product as a fiscal policy tool in the development process.Design/methodology/approachThe model of the study is based on Munielo-Gallo and Roca-Sagales (2013), which examined the fiscal policy, income inequality and economic growth simultaneously. The study uses two models to analyze the relationship between income inequality and gross domestic production under direct taxation by employing autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model for selected emerging market economies.FindingEmpirical results reveal a negative long-run relationship between variables in some countries in line with the literature, despite a positive relationship in others. Moreover, the results exhibit the negative impact of income inequality after direct taxation on the gross domestic product decreases.Originality/valueResults of the study highlight the importance of direct taxation on income inequality concerning the reflects on economic growth. It suggests that when the income distribution is fairer, it may positively affect the gross domestic product. The study provides a new perspective to the related literature by investigating the role of income inequality under direct taxation for gross domestic product.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽  
Jacob Groshek ◽  
Li Zhang

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine one of the largest data sets on the hashtag use of #fakenews that comprises over 14m tweets sent by more than 2.4m users.Design/methodology/approachTweets referencing the hashtag (#fakenews) were collected for a period of over one year from January 3 to May 7 of 2018. Bot detection tools were employed, and the most retweeted posts, most mentions and most hashtags as well as the top 50 most active users in terms of the frequency of their tweets were analyzed.FindingsThe majority of the top 50 Twitter users are more likely to be automated bots, while certain users’ posts like that are sent by President Donald Trump dominate the most retweeted posts that always associate mainstream media with fake news. The most used words and hashtags show that major news organizations are frequently referenced with a focus on CNN that is often mentioned in negative ways.Research limitations/implicationsThe research study is limited to the examination of Twitter data, while ethnographic methods like interviews or surveys are further needed to complement these findings. Though the data reported here do not prove direct effects, the implications of the research provide a vital framework for assessing and diagnosing the networked spammers and main actors that have been pivotal in shaping discourses around fake news on social media. These discourses, which are sometimes assisted by bots, can create a potential influence on audiences and their trust in mainstream media and understanding of what fake news is.Originality/valueThis paper offers results on one of the first empirical research studies on the propagation of fake news discourse on social media by shedding light on the most active Twitter users who discuss and mention the term “#fakenews” in connection to other news organizations, parties and related figures.


Significance The results have destabilised relations within the alliance involving the League, Brothers of Italy (FdI) and Forza Italia (FI), and increased speculation that FI may ally with moderate parties instead. The election results reflect the popularity of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government of national unity. Impacts The stability of Draghi’s government may boost Italy’s chances of influencing reforms to the EU’s fiscal policy framework. The election result reflects the wider recovery in business confidence already evidenced in Italy. Based on polling trends, Giorgia Meloni’s FdI is in a strong position to be the leading populist party after the next election. Meloni’s rise could increase tensions between FdI and the League, as the latter is accustomed to being the dominant party in the polls.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benny Nuriely ◽  
Moti Gigi ◽  
Yuval Gozansky

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the ways socio-economic issues are represented in mainstream news media and how it is consumed, understood and interpreted by Israeli young adults (YAs). It examines how mainstream media uses neo-liberal discourse, and the ways YAs internalize this ethic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome its limitations. Design/methodology/approach This was a mixed methods study. First, it undertook content analysis of the most popular Israeli mainstream news media among YAs: the online news site Ynet and the TV Channel 2 news. Second, the authors undertook semi-structured in-depth interviews with 29 Israeli YAs. The analysis is based on an online survey of 600 young Israelis, aged 18–35 years. Findings Most YAs did not perceive mainstream media as enabling a reliable understanding of the issues important to them. The content analysis revealed that self-representation of YAs is rare, and that their issues were explained, and even resolved, by older adults. Furthermore, most of YAs' problems in mainstream news media were presented using a neo-liberal perspective. Finally, from the interviews, the authors learned that YAs did not find information that could help them deal with their most pressing economic and social issue, in the content offered by mainstream media. For most of them, social media overcomes these shortcomings. Originality/value Contrary to research that has explored YAs’ consumerism of new media outlets, this article explores how YAs in Israel are constructed in the media, as well as the way in which YAs understand mainstream and new social media coverage of the issues most important to them. Using media content analysis and interviews, the authors found that Young Adults tend to be ambivalent toward media coverage. They understand the lack of media information: most of them know that they do not learn enough from the media. This acknowledgment accompanies their tendency to internalize the neo-liberal logic and conservative Israeli national culture, in which class and economic redistribution are largely overlooked. Mainstream news media uses neo-liberal discourse, and young adults internalize this logic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome the limitations this discourse offers. They do so by turning to social media, mainly Facebook. Consequently, their behavior maintains the logic of the market, while also developing new social relations, enabled by social media.


Significance Efforts to investigate the former president’s tax returns, together with a separate congressional investigation into the events of January 6, are raising questions over the extent to which documentation and personal testimony can be withheld from Congress under the principle of executive privilege. Impacts Congress will seek testimony from Trump administration officials about alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election result. State prosecutors are seeking access to Trump’s tax records as they examine possible conflicts of interest while in office. A Biden refusal to endorse Trump claims of executive privilege risks further partisan division over the January 6 investigation.


Headline PERU: Uncertain election outcome will strain nerves


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Duberry ◽  
Sabrya Hamidi

PurposeDespite the growing interest in AI, the scientific literature lacks multinational studies that examine how mainstream media depict AI applications. This paper is one of the first empirical studies to explore how French and English-speaking mainstream media portray AI during a pandemic. The purpose of this study is to examine how media define AI and how they frame this technology.Design/methodology/approachThe authors selected five media outlets and extracted all news articles that mentioned AI over a period of 30 days. The authors constituted the sample to ensure a mix of global, national and local media newspapers. The authors included Le Temps (Switzerland), Le Monde (France), The Guardian (United Kingdom), Politico Europe (Europe) and the New York Times (USA). The authors used the NexisUni database to collect the news articles. This resulted in a sample of 54 articles, which the authors then refined to 35 articles mentioning at the same AI and COVID-19. They then manually coded to identify media frames about AI.FindingsAlthough no news article provides a definition of AI, most articles highlight two main characteristics: information processing and adaptability. This paper also shows that the coverage of AI in US newspaper is more optimistic than pessimistic. European newspapers offer a more balanced perspective of the risks and benefits associated with the technology, and highlight its use mainly in the context of the COVID-19. Media framing changes according to the evolution of the pandemic. While the USA were not yet heavily affected by the virus, Europe experienced the peak of the crisis. The authors argue that the framing of AI follows that of the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited in terms of timeframe (30 days) and media outlets (5). It would be useful to extend this sample to verify the results, and also conduct interviews among journalists to understand their motivations and understanding of AI.Originality/valueDespite the growing interest in AI, the scientific literature lacks multinational studies that examine how mainstream media depict AI applications in society. This paper is one of the first empirical studies to explore how French and English-speaking mainstream media portray AI during a pandemic.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2020-0393


Keyword(s):  

Headline GERMANY: Fiscal policy will be central in election


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