On the pursuit of emissions-free clean mobility - Electric vehicles versus e-fuels.

With the passing of every second we get closer to a society that is more cognizant of the effect carbon dioxide emissions are having on our planet, and that is more willing to take part in sustainable efforts to combat this and ever more interested in investing in cleaner technologies like electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are marching strongly into a market that is currently dominated by internal combustion engine vehicles, the current main fuel of which is a known contributor to most of the emission related climate problems that we now find ourselves in. Moving ahead, it is important that any move from internal combustion engines to more nascent technologies like EVs is sustainable and not detrimental to the environment. There is an ongoing debate between proponents of so-called e-fuels (being synthetic fuels made from atmospheric carbon dioxide, water, and renewable energy) and EVs wherein e-fuels are largely accused of being a half-measure while EVs are thought to contribute more in terms of brake and tire emissions than the ICE vehicles. This raises the question of whether there should even be a complete replacement of the combustion engine vehicle fleet or that should there be a 'mobility mix' similar to how we currently refer to an energy mix with power grids. This article offers some perspectives by critically analyzing and diving deeper into these pressing concerns to answer some of these questions.

Cryptocurrency liquidity and volatility interrelationships during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We examine the interactions between cryptocurrency price volatility and liquidity during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence suggests that these developing digital products have played a new role as a potential safe-haven during periods of substantial financial market panic. Results suggest that cryptocurrency market liquidity increased significantly after the WHO identification of a worldwide pandemic. Significant and substantial interactions between cryptocurrency price and liquidity effects are identified. These results add further support to the argument that substantial flows of investment entered cryptocurrency markets in search of an investment safe-haven during this exceptional black-swan event.

Creating universal health care in Ireland: A legal context.

In this paper we establish a working definition of, and develop a legal rationale for, the insertion of a constitutional Right to Health (RTH) protection in the Constitution of Ireland. We propose that a legal framework exists for the judicial enforcement of a right to health in Ireland, as based on parallels drawn between Irish case law and that of RSA, a comparable common law constitutional democracy with a developed jurisprudential approach to its constitutional RTH. When modelled after precedential international provisions, this right strengthens and defends health policy goals (such as universal health care) through a common-law system of governmental accountability. Additionally, national rights to health have observable correlations with improved public health, and it stimulates institutional initiatives. The 1937 Constitution of Ireland includes several personal, social, and economic rights, and a RTH would complement the existing right to primary education as a socio-economic right. We note these considerations were discussed during the legislative proposal made in the 32nd Dáil for a constitutional RTH, which emerged in response to Ireland's ongoing efforts toward health policy reform.

Pandemics, vulnerability, and prevention: time to fundamentally reassess how we value and communicate risk?: CITIES, HEALTH and COVID-19: Initial reflections and future challenges.

For over a decade, pandemics have been on the UK National Risk Register as both the likeliest and most severe of threats. Non-infectious 'lifestyle' diseases were already crippling our healthcare services and our economy. COVID-19 has exposed two critical vulnerabilities: firstly, the UK's failure to adequately assess and communicate the severity of non-communicable disease; secondly, the health inequalities across our society, due not least to the poor quality of our urban environments. This suggests a potentially disastrous lack of preventative action and risk management more generally, notably with regards to the existential risks from the climate and ecological crises.

Any port in a storm: Cryptocurrency safe-havens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Controlling for the polarity and subjectivity of social media data based on the development of the COVID-19 outbreak, we analyse the relationships between the largest cryptocurrencies and such time-varying realisation as to the scale of the economic shock centralised within the rapidly-escalating pandemic. We find evidence of significant growth in both returns and volumes traded, indicating that large cryptocurrencies acted as a store of value during this period of exceptional financial market stress. Further, cryptocurrency returns are found to be significantly influenced by negative sentiment relating to COVID-19. While not only providing diversification benefits for investors, results suggest that these digital assets acted as a safe-haven similar to that of precious metals during historiccrises.

The contagion effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from gold and cryptocurrencies.

At the beginning of the 2020 global COVID-2019 pandemic, Chinese financial markets acted as the epicentre of both physical and financial contagion. Our results indicate that a number of characteristics expected during a "flight to safety" were present during the period analysed. The volatility relationship between the main Chinese stock markets and Bitcoin evolved significantly during this period of enormous financial stress. We provide a number of observations as to why this situation occurred. Such dynamic correlations during periods of stress present further evidence to cautiously support the validity of the development of this new financial product within mainstream portfolio design through the diversification benefits provided.