Australia’s National Plastics Plan, first introduced in 2021, has always had an ambitious edge, though some would argue its ambition has at times outpaced the practical tools available to those on the front lines of implementation. The 2022 open-data pilot, launched quietly but with considerable significance, marked the government’s first real push to operationalize transparency […]
Anyone who’s spent time in both a city and the countryside knows the gap isn’t just about scenery or pace of life. Increasingly, it’s about digital opportunity—who’s wired in, who’s building online businesses, and who’s left waiting for a signal. The so-called “digital divide” is talked about often, but when it comes to actually measuring […]
The 2021 amendments to the US Tariff Act didn’t exactly make headlines the way that sweeping trade agreements or high-profile tariff battles do. Yet, for economists, policymakers, and—critically—supply chain professionals, these changes have quietly reshaped how firms are expected to document and disclose the knock-on effects of Section 301 tariffs. The amendments introduced a novel […]
The 2021 enforcement report on the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), published eight years after the regulation’s entry into force, offers a telling snapshot of both progress and persistent gaps in Europe’s efforts to curb illegal timber trade. The EUTR, designed to prevent illegally harvested timber and timber products from entering the EU market, was lauded […]
When we talk about a region’s future, education always comes up. It’s the foundation for nearly every other form of progress, from economic growth to civic engagement. But while politicians and planners love to cite the importance of schools and universities, the actual process of tracking educational service expansion is more complicated than a simple […]
Crises do not strike all sectors equally. Whether it’s a pandemic, earthquake, typhoon, or other sudden shock, the contours of economic disruption—and the priorities for recovery—are shaped by the underlying structure of the economy itself. For governments and agencies tasked with crisis management, the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) system has become a critical tool: […]
Canada’s Bill C-9, enacted in June 2018, quietly but decisively reshaped how the country approaches labour mobility, particularly in relation to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program. It’s a piece of legislation that, while perhaps lacking the headline-grabbing profile of more contentious policy changes, has had a deep impact on the agricultural and technology sectors. […]
If you want to understand what microfinance really does for rural economies, it helps to get beyond the feel-good stories and look closely at the numbers. The narrative of small loans transforming lives is powerful, but the mechanisms—who’s borrowing, what kinds of businesses they’re running, and how those ventures fare—deserve closer scrutiny. Here, ISIC codes […]
In February 2022, Executive Order 14067 was signed, marking a significant pivot in how the United States government approaches digital assets and the ecosystems that underpin them. Much of the immediate media focus fell, understandably, on its implications for consumer protection, financial stability, and the potential development of a central bank digital currency. But tucked […]
The European Union’s Conflict Minerals Regulation, which came into force in January 2021, was already considered by many to be a landmark in the global effort to reduce the trade in minerals that fund violence and human rights abuses. But as with so many regulatory frameworks, the first year of implementation revealed gaps—practical ambiguities that […]
If there’s one thing the pandemic made unmistakably clear, it’s that the way people work has changed—maybe for good. Telecommuting, once a niche arrangement or a perk reserved for a select few, became the norm for whole sectors almost overnight. But now, as the dust settles, the challenge for analysts and policymakers is figuring out […]
When the US Cybersecurity Disclosure Act was signed into law in March 2022, many in the policy and business communities welcomed it as both overdue and, frankly, daunting. The Act’s core requirement—that companies report significant supply-chain-related cybersecurity incidents—was born of growing concern over vulnerabilities that ripple outward from seemingly minor nodes in complex vendor networks. […]
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, revised in 2018, has had no shortage of commentary over the past few years. But with the release of the first full year of reporting data through the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) in 2021, the conversation shifted—from theory and regulatory text to data, and what that […]
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), signed into law in December 2021 and taking effect on June 21, 2022, represents one of the most sweeping efforts by the United States to tackle forced labor concerns in global supply chains, particularly with respect to Xinjiang-origin goods. For apparel importers, this law imposes not only a […]
Circularity in fashion is the kind of idea that gets a lot of attention—endless conference panels, glossy brand campaigns, hopeful talk about closing the loop. But if you want to move beyond slogans and really understand whether the fashion industry is changing, you need to know where to look and how to measure. This is […]
When the Tariff Accountability Act was signed into law in December 2021, it was, in many respects, a formal acknowledgment of something industry participants and economists had been pointing out for years: that tariffs, though often wielded as blunt instruments of trade policy, generate complex and sometimes unintended ripple effects throughout supply chains. The Act […]