6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends

Opportunity #1 Aging Societies
a). https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-aging-societies-posing-risks-economy-60619596
b). This article explains how aging societies, specifically in Japan pose large threats to their economy because they are still draining the resources from the country but they aren't park of the workforce because either businesses don't want to hire them or they can't work.  However, I believe that there is still room for an opportunity because industry can grow around dealing with the growing aging society which will help give jobs to more people and boost the economy.
c). I think that the people that are most likely to be the customers of the opportunity are the elderly people in the growing elderly population that need to be cared for because they aren't an active part of the workforce.  The prototypical customer would be an elderly person that needs to be cared for and can't become part of the workforce.
d). I think that this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because there's a surplus of elderly people that need people to take care of them and there is a country that needs to fix its economy, if you have more people working and adding money to the circulation of wealth in the country, it will boost the economy.
Why: I thought of this opportunity because I watched an episode of a show where there were a lot of elderly people that didn't have anyone to take care of them and weren't part of the workforce, so I immediately thought of this.

Opportunity #2 Global Shipping Decrease
a). https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shipping-economy/global-shipping-rates-slump-in-latest-sign-of-economic-slowdown-idUSKCN1PJ0BQ
b). This article explains how a recent trend in shipping reflects an economic downturn.  Recently, the shipping of dry goods, raw materials, finished goods, and other globally ordered products is decreasing.  The economic experts say that dry goods are a leading economic indicator.  The fact that global shipping is decreasing leads me to believe that there is an opportunity because that means that people are ordering products within their own countries because it's cheaper which means that domestic shipping is increasing which means that there is an opportunity in the domestic shipping industry.
c). The prototypical customer for this type of opportunity are people who ship things domestically such as domestic producers for all different types of products.  This is a unique and temporary opportunity.
d). I think that this opportunity is relatively hard to exploit because creating a better domestic shipping industry is much harder than it sounds. 
Why: I thought of this opportunity because as I was scrolling through news articles as I usually do to stay informed, I came across this and thought that if global shipping is decreasing, then people still need their products so it must come from domestic shipping.

Regulatory Trends

Opportunity #3 FDA regulations on Juul and other vape products
a). https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fda-moves-tougher-regulation-cigarettes-juul-limit-sales/story?id=59186897
b). This article explains that the FDA is becoming way stricter on vaping products, specifically the juul.  While this product has taken much of the world by storm, the FDA is imposing tough regulations, specifically the flavors of juul pods because they thin that they appeal to younger people.  This leads me to believe that there is an opportunity in the nicotine industry.  I think there is an opportunity to create more products that help people end their nicotine dependencies because all of the popular flavors of the highest selling nicotine product are being banned.
c). The prototypical customer for this type of opportunity is someone who is trying to end their nicotine dependency because their favorite flavor of juul pod is being banned. 
d). I think that this opportunity is easy to exploit because people are always trying to stop juuling and now that the popular flavors of juul are being banned, people will be actively trying to curb their addictions.
Why: I have seen a lot of people try to quit juuling and I feel like there is a huge opportunity for someone to develop a product that enables people to quit juuling.

Opportunity #4 Regulations on types of bitcoins
a). https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-wallet-xapo-leaves-hong-kong-for-switzerland-due-to-opaque-regulations
b). This article explains that the recent regulations on bitcoin make it much harder to invest in bitcoin.  I know that every time there are regulations on bitcoin, they develop a new type of cryptocurrency or blockchain currency.  I think that there is an opportunity with this because it will leave room for tangible currency to grow back to its previous value.
c). I think that the prototypical customer for this type of regulation is someone who can buy the debt that people have from failed cryptocurrencies and help them switch their money into different types of accounts that are made up tangible currency.
d). I think that this opportunity is hard to exploit because switching types of currency always comes with lots of complications and it usually takes a very long time to settle.