Recap with Rostra

Good morning and welcome to today’s Recap with Rostra!

Exams are behind us and block 1 is already over. Personally, I feel it went by surprisingly quickly. A blink of an eye and I’m late with the newsletter again (to be fair, this one’s smooth sailing so far). But again, maybe it’s just me.

Ofc, exam results are a secondary topic with Halloween being on top of our minds. To prepare myself for the intro I searched for some *interesting* Halloween trivia. What I hoped for was the percentage of people who pretend they're not home when trick-or-treaters knock (21%), but instead, I can tell you which of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills played in Halloween (1978)… The answer’s Kyle Richards and hopefully it will save someone’s pub quiz.

- Mikołaj Kuczmarski, Elizabeth Palii, Riad Guliyev

⚡ Rostra in the Flash

Woosh-woosh, here is a recap of our recent articles!

• If you’re up to an economic-philosophical article about human labour, make sure to check out this piece by Santiago. Find out how the value is created and wealth is amassed through labour's contribution, subjective values' significance, and capital's infinite growth.

• In this article Ekin talks about Israel's efforts to shape its image on the global stage. Usage of social media platforms, celebrities and branding campaigns… Try to apply your critical thinking skills and overlook the attractive pictures. Explore more about it.

• Everyone knows about Switzerland because of chocolate, ski resorts and banking systems. Oh, about the last one… Here Alessandro discusses Swiss difficulties in efficiently regulating banks and ensuring financial stability, as evidenced by the near-collapse of Credit Suisse, one of its leading financial institutions.

• What is hiding behind those shades of pink? Lilith talks about Klarna, Europe's largest Buy-Now-Pay-Later provider in this article. Find out about Klarna's new way of challenging traditional finance, consumer debt, and the culture of credit cards in the United States.

- EP

🚀 Post-exam Zen

In the last issue, we talked about the different study techniques and their application. Now that exams are for at least 3 weeks a thing of the past, let’s take care of our overworked minds and relax a bit.

In their paper, Hamdani et al. evaluated the effectiveness of relaxation techniques in reducing anxiety and stress, with positive results for both (SMD of -.54 and -.48 respectively). Here are the methods in question, each simple with little to no prep required.

Deep breathing

You can’t go wrong with the classic. Deep breathing is a simple, yet effective way to relax the body and mind. It involves taking slow, deep breaths from the diaphragm. This helps to slow down the heart rate and lower blood pressure, while also helping to improve mood and sleep quality.

Progressive muscle relaxation

It is a technique that involves tensing and relaxing different muscle groups in the body. This helps to relieve muscle tension and promote relaxation. It is thought to work by reducing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the "fight or flight" response. Just hold your muscles tense for 5 seconds, then relax for 10. Simple as that!

Meditation

For those looking to exercise their mind, we have meditation a practice that involves focusing your attention on the present moment and letting go of other thoughts. If you feel it might be too much to begin with, try transcendental meditation.

Visualization

It is another technique that’s slightly more demanding for the mind and involves creating a mental image of a relaxing scene. While there, try to experience the sounds, sights and smells in the scene. It is thought to work by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the "rest and digest" response.

It is worth noting the benefits of those techniques are cumulative, so you’ll get the most out of them over time with systematic use. Perfectly in time for another exam week!

- MK

🗒️ Rostra Recommends

For those looking for a Ted Talk…
Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, discusses the key ideas behind the customer adoption strategy of the popular language-learning platform. A riveting and inspiring presentation will supercharge your creativity for the week.

For those looking for a Career Event…
SEFA Career Week, the largest on-campus career event at the University of Amsterdam, is back with another edition. This 5-day event will immerse you into company case studies, workshops, presentations, and boat tours. A great opportunity to get your career off the ground and reach new heights.

- RG

🎓 The UvA Corner

The first block has run to an end. We sincerely hope that your exams went well! Now it’s time to put our spooky hats on and get ready for Halloween and a scary Period 2 🎃

Naturally, if you prepared an amazing costume this year, send it to our X/Twitter account @rostra_econ so we can all admire it.

• If you’re thinking about some parties with your fellow students… Check out information about the Halloween Party from Mercurius!

- EP

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