Home | Allianz Knowledge

Finance
More Europe, less spending!

To find our way out of the debt maze, we need to drive European integration and ...
more
Environment
Superfloods: how to predict and protect

In an era of massively widespread floods, geographer Robert Wilby suggests ways ...
more
Mobility
Road safety: protecting the most vulnerable

Cyclists and pedestrians are in greater danger than ever, prompting Allianz to ...
more
Demography
Thai prosperity

Thailand is on an economic roll following recovery from the devastating floods ...
more
Environment: Interview
One step ahead of the floods

Why has Switzerland coped with flooding better than its neighbor Germany? ...
more
Demography
Could Europe's crisis lead to civil war, EU collapse?

Celebrated Austrian author Robert Menasse warns the Allianz Cultural Foundation ...
more

A Spanish and a Greek flag fly behind a statue symbolising European unity outside the European ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance In the euro we trust? A recently published study by Allianz International Pensions reveals which ... more

Allianz Open Knowledge on mobility: an aerial view of the Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge in Sao Paulo

Allianz open knowledge on mobility: a crowded platform in Sao Paulo's metro

Allianz open knowledge on mobility: a traffic jam in Sao Paulo

Allianz Open Knowledge on mobility: The National Stadium, which will host the 2014 World Cup, under construction in Brasilia.

Allianz open knowledge on mobility: a mural protesting against 2014 World Cup construction in Rio de Janeiro.

Allianz Open Knowledge on mobility: A labourer walks in the construction site of the new Terminal 3 at the Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo.

Allianz Open Knowledge on mobility: a wall between forest and slums on the hills around Rio de Janeiro

Allianz open knowledge on mobility: a boy picks up spilled grain from the road in Brazil

Allianz Open Knowledge on mobility: an aerial view of the Acu superport in Brazil

Allianz Open knowledge on mobility: An Amazonian Indian protests against a hydroelectric dam

Allianz Open Knowledge: A boy walks on the Trans-Amazonian highway in Brazil.

Mobility Brazil's infrastructure: challenges and ... Inadequate infrastructure is slowing Brazil’s development. See the challenges the country ... more

Most Viewed
Most Commented

People hold signs as they participate in a labor activists march in Lansing, Michigan. / Credits: Reuters

Finance American manufacturing set for a comeback A new report from Euler Hermes cites several key factors that could help drive ... more

an image of schoolchildren as 'unemployees' / Credits: Reuters

Demography Youth unemployment is Europe’s biggest crisis The future of the entire European project, warns Allianz CEO Michael Diekmann, ... more

Essential knowledge, delivered direct Newsletter & RSS
To receive our monthly newsletter or subscribe to our RSS feed, visit our Subscription Center.

To join the discussion and comment, log in.

For questions or feedback, please contact us.

Learn more about the Knowledge Site here.

Container ship Edith Maersk crosses the Suez Canal at East Port Said Port / Credits: Reuters

Motorists drive over "C" signs marking the start of the congestion charging zone before the scheme ... / Credits: Reuters

Mobility LEDs illuminate the future for car headlights LED headlights offer advantages over traditional lights but cost has confined ... more

China invested more in clean energy than any other nation in 2012, coming ahead of the United ... / Credits: Reuters

Environment China leads world in clean energy The world’s biggest consumer of energy is also the world’s biggest investor in ... more

A girl looks at a pot of regular hard-boiled eggs, next to a pot of hard-boiled eggs cooked in ... / Credits: Reuters

Holocaust survivor Betty Stein, 92, (R) is helped by coach Irina Jestkova as she plays ping pong at ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance A currency for caring TimeBanks creator Edgar S. Cahn explains his vision of a barter system that ... more

A view of mountain slopes and waterfalls in Hawaii / Credits: Reuters

Environment Record CO2 highs: back to the climate future The last time there was this much CO2 in the air was three million years ago. ... more

A security guard walks next to the Planalto Palace designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance Beyond the bond curve When traditional economic indicators such as the bond curve are no longer ... more

Grandmothers chat as they take care of their grandchildren on a street in Xiangfan, China. / Credits: Reuters

Demography: Video Prosperity strategies in aging societies Yves Leterme, deputy secretary general of the OECD, discusses his prescriptions ... more

Two young supporters of France's rugby team wave french flags before the start of the Rugby World ... / Credits: Reuters

Demography: Video Why are the French having so many children? High female employment and cultural trends help explain France's high birth ... more

Berlin Demographic Forum Video: Arne Carlsen / Credits: Allianz

Demography: Video How lifelong learning is remaking education Arne Carlsen of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning explains how ... more

Environmental activists protest against the World Bank's participation at the 2010 U.N. climate ... / Credits: Reuters

Builders work on a home construction in the US. / Credits: Reuters

Finance The three pillars of the US housing recovery The beleaguered US housing market shows signs of recovering. But are gains ... more

Fishermen, with the help of a crane, pull sardines onto a fishing boat using the purse seine ... / Credits: Reuters

Environment Plenty more fish Balancing sustainability and the needs of the fishing industry is a difficult ... more

Allianz Knowledge on environment: In the 1960s, fishing vessels caught about three million tons of cod every year. Today cod stands as a synonym for the global fishing crisis.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: Instead of buying depleted species like Red Snapper or Rock Cod, consumers can look for tasty alternatives. Choosing the well-managed Wild Atlantic Striped Bass, a fish similar in meat texture and taste to these endangered species, will have no impact on your taste buds but a huge one on the marine ecosystem.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: Lobster is actually better bought from a farm than from the sea.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: Shrimp farming is considered very problematic, especially in Asian countries, because farmers destroy valuable wetlands like mangrove forests to make room for their breeding cages.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: The constant overfishing of large predator species like tuna, shark, or swordfish leads to an increase of smaller prey species, lower in value. Once the big ones are gone, the small varieties become the new catch.Between 1950 and today, we have systematically worked our way down the food chain, fishing out the top predators one after the other.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: Trawl nets not so much catch but harvest fish.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: Trolling - lines with bait attached are drawn behind the fishing vessels.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: A school of wild salmon in a river.

Allianz Knowledge on environment: Modern methods of catching tuna fish with large trawl or drift nets are notorious for their large amount of bycatch. Whales, dolphins, and sea turtles die pointlessly.

Environment Sustainable fishing: Why and how? Overfishing is a serious threat to the oceans. Sustainable fishing, improved catching ... more

Fishermen unload fish from a ship's storage freezer at Peru's northern port of Chimbote / Credits: Reuters

Environment Protecting planet ocean Conservationist Kerstin Forsberg has developed in Peru unique, grassroots ways ... more

Manfred Stefener, inventor of the portable fuel cell, in his laboratory. / Credits: EPO

Mobility: Video Clean power: portable fuel cells The first fuel cell for portable use delivers efficient, reliable and clean ... more

SAS Norway has reduced top speed during some of its flights to reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions ... / Credits: SAS Norway

Mobility Efficient aviation: The sky is the limit Air travel's popularity is soaring, a problem for the climate. To reduce fuel ... more

Allianz knowledge on mobility: Ecotech's Ming Cheung poses with fuel oil converted from plastic waste.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: A worker checks a methane gas pipeline installed at a trash dump in Indonesia.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a worker in a factory making alternative fuel yaretanol.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a sticker on the side of a car running on cooking fat

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a Cuban farmer with a bag of biogas

Allianz knowledge on mobility: human feces used to make biogas in Rwanda.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: Audi TDI models which could run on e-diesel fuel made from waste water, CO2 and sunlight.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: by-products of the whisky making process used to make butanol.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: waste beer can be used as an alternative fuel feedstock

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a Kenyan slum cooker fueled by trash

Allianz knowledge on mobility: rice husks used to fuel a cement factory

Mobility How waste makes alternative fuels Waste not, want not. See examples of waste products being recycled into alternative fuels. more

In 1972, Jørgen Randers' "The Limits to Growth" sparked a heated debate. Four decades of data ... / Credits: Reuters

Demography The world in 2052 Jørgen Randers, co-author of the controversial 1972 report 'The Limits to ... more

To promote the use of clean energy, LED lights illuminate Mexico City's Latinoamericana Tower as ... / Credits: Reuters

Environment Joachim Faber on the German Sustainability Code Joachim Faber, chairman of the Deutsche Börse, spoke to Responsible Investor on ... more

allianz knowledge on demography: A woman sells fish at a street market in Lagos

allianz knowledge on demography: A vendor sorts vegetables next to a railway track as a train passes by, in Dhaka

allianz knowledge on demography: Visitors stand in front of a portrait of the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen September 5, 2010

allianz knowledge on demography: Students attend a rooftop evening class in a private school in a slum area in Karachi

allianz knowledge on demography: Indian soldiers march past the historic Red Fort during the full-dress rehearsal for India's Independence Day celebrations in Delhi August 13, 2012.

Allianz knwoledge on demography: Vehicles drive on Jianwai Avenue in Beijing in this August 4, 2010 file photo.

allianz knowledge on demography: Migrant workers chat at their temporary house near a construction site in Guangzhou

allianz knowledge on demography: a lighting bolt strike the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai

allianz knowledge on demography: an e-jeepney drives in Manila

allianz knowledge on demography: Mumbai railway station.

allianz knowledge on demography: worshippers at the blue mosque in Istanbul

allianz knowledge on demography: a night view of mosques in Cairo

Demography The world's fastest growing megacities The most rapidly expanding cities with populations of over 10 million people, according ... more

Demography: Interview Warning: Innovation may produce unexpected side effects The Giannino Bassetti Foundation wants entrepreneuers to think about the ... more

Doctors and medical staff work during knee prosthesis surgery in an operation room at a Swiss hospital.

Sony's lithium-ion battery for its Vaio laptops is seen during a photo opportunity at its showroom in Tokyo.

Clothes are hung out to dry on a street in Venice, June 2012.

The take-off ramp is reflected in the ski goggles of Kasai Noriaki of Japan during a practice jump for the men's HS 134 ski jumping competition at the Nordic World Championships in Liberec, February 2009.

Visitors use keyboard computers as they play video games during a visit at the Paris Games Week show in Paris, October 2011.

Canon cameras with lenses are pictured at the stand of Japanese camera maker Canon on the press day of the world's largest fair for imaging in Cologne September 17, 2012.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka sprays sunscreen on his face between innings during their spring training MLB baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Vero Beach, Florida.

A man walks past Beko, Arcelik and Samsung refrigerators on sale at a store in Istanbul.

Demography Nanotechnology everywhere in daily life Nanotechnology is appearing in all sorts of places you might not expect. Here are some of ... more

Jonny Cohen and fellow members of the GreenShields team sit on a school bus fitted with his ... / Credits: GreenShields

Mobility How one schoolboy could cut 1.8m tons of CO2 Jonny Cohen has been dreaming of making America’s school buses greener since he ... more

Nissan Leaf electric cars are being charged before the start of an electric car rally in Tallinn / Credits: Reuters

Mobility Cheaper batteries will charge e-mobility The holy grail for electric vehicles—affordable batteries—should be a reality ... more

Allianz Knowledge on mobility: a view of the Millau Viaduct in France

allianz knowledge on mobility: An Afghan girl drinks from a water pipe.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a view of a sewage treatment plan in Nicaragua.

allianz knowledge on mobility: a view of a collapsed highway bridge in minneapolis

allianz knowledge on mobility: Indian girls study by candlelight during a blackout

allianz knowledge on mobility: construction of an offshore wind turbine

allianz knowledge on mobility: An Afghan gardener waters plants in front of a satellite dish.

allianz knowledge on mobility: A new gas distribution terminal in the Czech Republic

allianz knowledge on mobility: railway workers check the track along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a view of an aircraft engine and a plane taking off.

allianz knowledge on mobility: a man fishes in a Tokyo harbour beside a container ship.

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a girl in Mozambique reads from a blackboard

Allianz knowledge on mobility: a makeshift clinic in Ossetia

allianz knowledge on mobility: People walk on a footbridge designed by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer

Mobility The infrastructure the world needs The world faces an infrastructure crisis. The basic facilities needed for societies to ... more

A mother and her two-year-old share a kiss. / Credits: Reuters

Demography: Video Women know best Women know best when it comes to child bearing. So they should be asked when it ... more

An eight-month pregnant woman touches her stomach at her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina / Credits: Reuters

Demography Breeding misconceptions One of the problems with "insert prejudice here" is that they breed like ... more

New York City advertisement to fight obesity

Costa Rican heart condition therapy session

peruvian seniors dancing

Children drinking Big Gulp sugary sodas

Workout in San Jose

A lit cigarette

An elderly Spanish lady drinks a beer

A breast cancer patient at a treatment center in Lima

Visitors at an Angry Birds theme park in China

Dog walkers in New York City

A young man covers his mouth while crossing a road

A Palestinian man has an eye check up

London street party

Demography Preventing chronic diseases These are the findings of the Economist Intelligence Unit's report into tackling chronic ... more

Demography The retirement dilemma: save more, or work longer? Multiple factors including longer lifespans, low interest rates and shaky ... more

An elderly man exercises in the "pensioners playground" in Hyde Park, London. / Credits: Reuters

Demography The good news about getting old The largest ever study of the health of people aged 85+ dispels the gloomy ... more

Devotees pull a huge idol of "Ganesh", the Hindu deity of prosperity, on a road in Mumbai. For Mark ... / Credits: Reuters

Mobility: Interview Why mobility is the God particle of future cities To imagine the cities of the future we must first understand a new kind of ... more

A girl rides on the back of a motorcycle at a busy street in downtown Hanoi. / Credits: Reuters

Mobility Road safety challenges demand behavioral change The Allianz Center for Technology’s latest report spells out the components of ... more

A coalition of partners from the automotive industry tested eight driver assistance systems that ... / Credits: Shutterstock

Mobility Helping hands for drivers improve safety A four-year study has revealed that road safety is definitely improved by ... more

A one Euro coin is displayed in water over a map showing Greece in this picture illustration taken ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance How to escape the euro crisis To fix the financial system and emerge stronger European countries have to ... more

A protestor holds a picture of former U.S. President George Washington crying as several groups ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance The first battle in a much larger war Beyond the fiscal cliff there are mighty confrontations on the horizon, ... more

A man walks past a board showing graphs of Japan's stock price indexes outside a brokerage in Tokyo. / Credits: Reuters

Finance An end to boom and bust? Economist Larry Kotlikoff believes Limited Purpose Banking can prevent future ... more

Gasoline drips off a nozzle during refueling at a gas station / Credits: Reuters

Mobility How to make fuel from thin air Bob Jennings may be a modern-day alchemist, turning air into liquid gold. The ... more

Environment Energy storage: power from the Alps Allianz Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) and Allianz Suisse are insuring one of ... more

The Saphonian wind energy device created by Saphon Energy has no blades and is, the company claims, ... / Credits: Saphon Energy

Environment A solution for inefficient wind power? The Saphonian is a wind energy device like no other. Saphon Energy CEO Hassine ... more

German company NTS's giant kites produce electricity

The StatioilHydro HyWind floating offshore wind turbine

Sarah Ervinda Rudianto's award-winning bioreactor is installed

Sun Coal Industries presents an organic alternative to coal

"A liter of light": solar bottles project

The MIT's "solar leaf"

Berkeley Lab's virus coated electricity generator

Agronomist Marcelo De Coud shows a type of algae used to make biodiesel a biofuel factory in northeast Buenos Aires, Argentina

Environment Creative alternative energy solutions Aside from conventional renewable energy solutions, there are also some creative and ... more

Environment: Interview Move to alternative energy stuck in the starting blocks Armin Sandhövel, CEO of Allianz Climate Solutions GmbH explains why investors ... more

Allianz knowledge on environment: Aquamarine Power's "Oyster" generator

Allianz knowledge on environment: Graphic showing how the Oyster wave power device works.

Allianz knowledge on environment: The Pelamis sea snake wave power device in trials

An artist's impression of a wave power farm using Pelamis sea snakes

Allianz knowledge on environment. the Seagen tidal power device deployed in Northern Ireland.

Allianz knowledge on environment: an artist's impression of a SeaGen tidal power farm

La Rance tidal power plant in France

Allianz knowledge on environment: Atlantic Resources AK-1000 tidal energy turbine for renewable energy.

Allianz knowledge on environment: a diagram of a pumped storage plant and reservoir

Allianz Knowledge on environment: A view of the Lac d'Emosson reservoir and dam in Switzerland.

Allianz knowledge on environment: the Itaipu hydroelectric dam supplies renewable energy to Brazil and Paraguay

Allianz knowledge on environment: a huge turbine is lowered into place in the Three Gorges hydrolelectric dam.

Environment Examples of water power at work See the machines and methods turning wave, tidal, and offshore wind energy into clean ... more

National Geographic writer Dan Buettner presents the secret of the long lives of the people in ... / Credits: TED Conferences LLC

Alanna Shaikh, global health expert and TED Fellow explains to the TEDGlobal 2012 audience how she ... / Credits: YouTube TEDTalks

Demography: Interview TEDGlobal 2012: How I’m preparing to get Alzheimer’s Don’t be scared of dementia, prepare for it, says global health expert and TED ... more

An ethnic Buyi farmer carries stalks of rice at Pianpo Village in Guizhou province. China has over ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance China promoting microinsurance across nation Life microinsurance has been developing rapidly in China since 2008; now, the ... more

A microscope image of neural stem cells (in green) made by Dr. Tilo Kunath from human embryonic ... / Credits: Tilo Kunath

Demography: Interview How stem cells can extend healthy old age New therapies could regenerate old cells and transform the lives of the ... more

AquaDams protect a highway from flooding in Manitoba, Canada, in spring 2011. / Credits: AquaDam

Environment: Interview Fighting floods with water In a flood situation, how can adding more water help? David Dooleage, inventor ... more

A lightning bolt strikes during a thunderstorm over the eastern German village of Schleiz. / Credits: Reuters

Finance Institutional investors weather the storm in renewables Seeking stable returns, many pension plans and insurers have invested big in ... more

Car engines are shrinking as manufacturers squeeze more power for less fuel and emissions out of ... / Credits: Reuters

Environment U.S. drought sparks food system debate As the drought across America sends food prices skywards for the third time in ... more

An elderly man moves on his wheel chair to the yard of the Canevaro old people's home in Lima. This ... / Credits: Reuters

Demography: Interview World Alzheimer's Day: When memories slowly start to fade Two Allianz experts answer questions about the insidious disease that afflicts ... more

The Senior Corps is one branch of the American Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) that engages people in service and volunteering for their respective communities.

A foster grandparent reads to her client in a classroom.

A senior companion cooks and serves a meal for a fellow citizen.

Volunteers from the Harrison County RSVP ‘Handyman Brigade’ reinforce a front porch for a client in Gulfport, Massachusetts.

German Christa Holland was placed in a women’s initiative in India.

Germany’s Senior Expert Service – the Foundation of German Industry for International Cooperation – is the largest German volunteer placement organization for retired skilled and management professionals.

In 2008, the Senior Expert Service – one of Germany’s largest volunteer organizations for technical experts living in retirement— launched VerA, an initiative to prevent young adults from stopping their professional trainings.

Demography Volunteering opportunity for seniors Active seniors offer experience, skills, and talents to meet a wide range of social and ... more

30-year-old Ken Kanno, team leader (left), and Tadashi Oka (70), 'thinker' and manufacturing ... / Credits: Geoff Johnson

In 2008, scientists from the University of Texas calculated that livestock manure could produce 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

Dutch company Ooms has developed a ‘road energy system’ that is able to harvest energy using water pipes embedded in the asphalt

Stockholm Central Station

Subways in a subway depot.

Lemon tree

A woman runs on a treadmill.

Dancers in a nightclub

A heavy rain storm.

A golf player swinging his club.

Californian Redwood trees.

Environment Weird ways to produce electricity Growing demands and shrinking conventional energy sources call for creative ideas to ... more

What's missing in this picture is the generation that has to take care of both the young and old. ... / Credits: Reuters

Diverse, high-paying and currently in the middle of an employment boom, health-care positions ... / Credits: Reuters

Demography Lifelong learning Enabling seniors to work during retirement can fill gaps in a shrinking ... more

Bismarck's pension dilemma explained in a 300 words video / Credits: AGI / Ray Moore

Demography: Video What is Bismarck's pension trap? Under chancellor Bismarck, Germany introduced old age social security in 1899. ... more

300 Word Video on medical milestones. / Credits: Project M

Demography: Video What was the major medical breakthrough in modern history? Antibiotics? Medical imaging? Ultrasound? Heart transplants or life-saving ... more

How to protect pension savings / Credits: Allianz Global Investors/ Ray Moore

Demography: Video How to protect pension savings Juan Yermo, Head of the OECD's Private Pensions Unit, explains the pros and ... more

The poor financial decisions we make now will haunt us in retirement and are often down to ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance Behavioral Finance 1.0: Money mistakes Behavioral finance combines psychology and financial economics, and examines ... more

A row of piggy banks adorned with the colors of Britain's Union Jack flag. Automatically enrolling ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance Behavioral Finance 2.0: Money solutions Early behavioral finance studied how people make financial decisions and then ... more

Things might look rosy with a full pension pot but people overestimate the actual purchasing power ... / Credits: Shutterstock

Finance: Interview How little a million dollars will buy Don’t be fooled by the illusion of wealth, warns Shlomo Benartzi, co-chair of ... more

Trees are reflected on a raindrop on a leaf near the venue of the 10th Conference of the Parties to ... / Credits: Reuters

Finance Global household assets: Dismal growth in 2011 A new Allianz assessment of the assets and debts of private households in over ... more