Francesco Franco, from the Nova SBE Economics for Policy Knowledge Center, spoke to ECO and Público, about the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts, pointing out “the impact that the budgetary impulse seems to have on the model used by the IMF to carry out projections”, raising doubts about “whether the effects of the European recovery fund will be included in these projections as well as the Joe Biden's $1900 billion US plan.” Francesco Franco also gave an interview to Jornal Económico about the impacts of a new lockdown on the Economy.

Pedro Brinca, said to Expresso and Rádio Renascença, that the new lockdown will “cause greater indebtedness, leading companies to bankruptcy, and delaying the economic recovery.” On the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom, also to Expresso, he explained that it "is subject to a set of regulations, but without guarantees that both parties will follow it”. "Trade restrictions between UK and EU are expected, increasing the risk for companies", he stressed. UK will "turn to agreements with the Commonwealth, which can have an impact on the competitiveness of Portuguese exporting companies."

Miguel Pina e Cunha, to Money, Money, Money (Expresso), about if it makes sense to impose ceilings on the salaries of those who manage companies, mentioned that "the important thing is to understand how we can increase wages in general and not how we can lower them." The challenge here is to attract the best managers and give them space to better manage companies. How? "Tackle the causes of lower productivity with a higher qualification of managers and workers and have better governance" said the professor.

Pedro Vicente, in an interview to Faro di Roma about the confrontations in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, referred that information and training are part of the solution. According to data collected in 2019, information campaigns on religious extremism decrease antisocial behavior and episodes of attacks. Researchers from the Nova SBE NOVAFRICA Knowledge Center with the Islamic Council of Mozambique tested different policies to combat Islamic radicalization, through religious awareness and vocational training sessions. "In the districts involved in this (in)training laboratory, there have been no attacks by insurgents. This shows that communities must be involved and not repressed” he said.

Afonso Eça, from Nova SBE Finance Knowledge Center, to Sábado and Expresso, analyzed the fast rise of the North American GameStop market shares. Small investors agreed on buying shares through the purchase of stock options, a high-risk operation that consists of paying other investors to be entitled to buy shares at a certain price later", he explained. “Easy access to trade platforms with complex stocks and financial products allows investing with high leverage”, said Afonso Eça. António Nogueira Leite, also to Sábado, said that this movement results in a "problem of regulation of the market" that will lead to "large losses of money". “The market is operating disconnected from the intrinsic value of the companies to be traded", he explained. Both agree that this situation will have regulatory repercussions in the United States.

António Nogueira Leite, stressed to Tempestade Perfeita (Rádio Observador), that this second schools’ closing requires preparation of the recovery of this and the upcoming academic years. “Much of what was promised was not done, so in the coming years it will be necessary to consider the impact this situation will have on children", he stressed. "We should reflect now while the schools are closed on how to avoid a new closure,”, concluded the professor. You can hear the remaining programs here.

Miguel Ferreira, pointed out to Sociedade Civil (RTP2), the main barriers for those who want to be entrepreneurs. He explained that “creating business is important for job creation in the economy. It requires initial capital to start a business and make it grow. Banks are not dedicated to financing entrepreneurship and other types of support are needed”. Additionally, "there is a lack of information regarding the programs available, for example, the one of the single installment of unemployment benefit”, that allows people to receive all subsidy for creating their own business at once. It is an important program, especially now that unemployment levels are almost at 8%”, he defended.

Susana Peralta, in an interview to TVI24, said that if “the Government is going to confine people again, it has to think about ways to help them.” She considers that the aid granted to Portuguese families "has not been very generous." “It remains to be seen if more help will be given to limit the economic damage to families and companies” she stressed. To Dinheiro Vivo, on the increase of people enrolled in employment centers, she said that "2020 was not worse because of public support for the maintenance of employment" and recalls that the "recent surveys answered by companies indicate that there is no intention to fire employees." “But forecasting is a difficult exercise in a year where uncertainty is exponential", she points out.

Pedro Pita Barros, in an interview to Expresso, explained that “home hospitalization can give an important contribution to the financial sustainability of the SNS. However, this measure would not be able to solve all the problems”. To Gabinete de Crise (Rádio Observador) he mentioned four areas of joint action to overcome the pandemic: “the society’s behavior, therapies to prevent infected people going to hospitals, hospital care, and vaccination.” He also stressed that is necessary to understand how to anticipate behaviors. "We have enough reasons for concern to motivate us to develop new tools that will allow us to be ahead of the virus," he said. The january programs can be listened here.

Nova SBE participated in the American Finance Association 2021 Annual Meeting. Our school was represented by Fahiz Baba-Yara, PhD candidate in Finance, that presented New and Old Sorts: Implications for Asset Pricing, Emanuele Rizzo that presented Do Shareholders Gain from Their Right to Sue? Evidence from Federal Judge Turnover and Irem Demirci with How Global is Your Mutual Fund? International Diversification from Multinationals.

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