Burning Man is probably the most famous art festival in the world. What started as a bonfire ritual for a small group of friends held on San Francisco beach in 1986, has evolved into an iconic event. Held annually for one week before the Labor Day weekend, the festival attracts over 60,000 participants each year and yields over $8 million in tickets and contributions.This preprint reveals some preliminary results from the economic analysis of Burning Man that is based on the unique data from over 500 surveys collected during several Burning Man events between 2012 and 2018.The paper’s main findings demonstrate that Burning Man is not some hippie get-together with lots of booze and drugs. Instead, it is a lucrative and exclusive event that is attended by bright, wealthy and well-educated people, both from the United States and abroad. A typical Burner is a 32-old childless male with a college degree and an average annual income above $100,000 who attended Burning Man at least two times before and who spends between $5,000 and $6,000 on tickets, fares, gear, and supplies.

Being a combination of the conference call, talkback radio, audio podcast, and an online video chat, Clubhouse is a new social networking app that gained over 10 million users and over $100 in valuation in just 8 months. Unlike other social networks, it offers a real-time streaming audio chat that does not ask users to share any unnecessary information like exchanging text messages, conducting video calls, or sharing photos. Instead, Clubhouse users can listen to real-time conversations, contribute to these conversations and create their own conversations for the others to listen and to interact with. Often nicknamed a “Silicon Valley’s hottest start-up”, Clubhouse positions itself as an “exclusive” and “alternative” social network that attracts various celebrities and people who just want to talk to each other. Launched in March 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic with its social distancing and lockdowns, Clubhouse offered its users a space for the digital group psychotherapy where people could solve their problems by talking them through with strangers. However, it is unclear what is going to happen to this new social network in the post-pandemic world after all of its hype eventually evaporates. This paper discusses the possible underlying motives for the Clubhouse creation and its real purposes. Moreover, it looks at the three possible scenarios of its further development.

COVID-19 pandemic instigated a digital revolution in academia and higher education. Social distancing, months-long quarantine, as economic shutdown will help the majority of people working in academia and higher education not only to complete their personal transition to the fully functional and operational online tuition, but also to understand that online defences, online entrance and final exams, as well as online academic jobs are as effective and meaningful as those conducted “in real life”. Due to the crisis induced by the coronavirus epidemic, innovations in academia and higher education that would have normally taken several years due to the various contradictory administrative regulations are now introduced promptly in a matter of days. This is a clear example of the Schumpeterian ‘creative destruction’ in making that will forever change the status quo in academia and higher education.

The coronavirus pandemic will deeply affect the tourism and travel sector. It is already clear now that its economic impact would be more severe that in the case of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003. Although not as deadly as SARS, coronavirus infection has a longer incubation period and leaves about 85% of the infected without any (or with just mild) symptoms which makes it more difficult to track and to contain. Moreover, it appears to be much more contagious than its predecessor. The goods news is that most people recover from the disease and develop antibodies that can protect them from getting infected again (natural vaccination). Those cured might become the key element for the post-virus recovery strategies of tourism organisations. People with the acquired immunity to the virus would be capable of travelling freely without spreading the disease. Airlines, hotels and gastronomy should aim at this group offering them discounts and special offers. However, the problem is how to effectively ensure that everyone who claims to be cured from COVID-19 is telling the truth. Health tracking bracelets, apps, and other advanced technological solutions should be put in place. Recent best practices from Hong Kong, mainland China, or India might be applied.

This paper focuses on the paradigm that explains the link between energy transitions and financial transformations. In particular, it attempts to shed some light on the following question: How did the transition from wood to coal affect financial development in late 18^th and early 19^th century Britain? The results demonstrate that the energy transition in Britain during the 1^st Industrial Revolution constituted an important moment in the country's financial development and can be used as an example of how an energy innovation can foster the financial development of particular countries or regions.