· February, 2009

Stories about Economics & Business from February, 2009

Armenia: No dollars in Yerevan

  28 February 2009

Life in the Armenian Diaspora reports that panicked citizens have been converting their local currency so frantically that there are now no dollars to be found at exchanges in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The blog blames the artificial manipulation of the Armenian dram to benefit government-linked importers.

Hong Kong: Budget report: university students on sale!

  28 February 2009

Financial Secretary of Hong Kong John Tsang made the budget speech for the fiscal year 2009-2010 at the Legislative Council on 25 of February. This is the first budget report after Hong Kong felt the pain from the downturn of global financial crisis. Unlike other areas, our government's finance remains...

GCC: Currency Dilemma for Arab Gulf Consumers

  27 February 2009

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) hopes to achieve a monetary union, with a common currency, by 2010. Bloggers from the region, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, debate the merits of the union and more importantly what name they want for their new currency.

Armenia: Dollar Panic

  27 February 2009

The Armenian Observer reports that many in the country are rushing to change their local currency into dollars and limits have been introduced at currency exchanges.

Japan: Bloggers on the Nakagawa affair

  27 February 2009

Over a week has passed since now-infamous footage of Japan's former finance minister Shōichi Nakagawa stumbling through a 20 minute speech at the G7 meeting in Rome made world headlines and hit the top of YouTube charts. In this post I feature a handful of responses to the speech by Japanese bloggers.

Korea: Economic downturn and which companies have the best chances for survival.

  27 February 2009

While all of us hope the economic downturn is over soon, it seems that it’s a long term battle. Companies are cutting employees or decreasing their business scope. A netizen shares his experience of working at a Japanese company. Different business operation styles are introduced. 일본회사에서 근무하고 있습니다. 대기업에서 근무하다가 ...

Nepal: Load Shedding Woes

  27 February 2009

For a country where there is an average daily power cut of 14 hours it is hard to carry on with normal life. Bibek Paudel discusses the challenges Nepal is facing and who are responsible for this.

Nepal: Strike Culture

  26 February 2009

Freedom In Bhutan discusses the strike cultures of Nepal and comments:”I wonder how illogical, non sensible and irresponsible have Nepalese grown to. I pray my countrymen Bhutanese will never call strike in any circumstances to put pressure on administration.”

Aruba: Calling the Socialists

  26 February 2009

“Some Arubans are also affected because they invested in Stanford's company and are now, as we say in quaint Dutch, sitting with the baked pears”: Arubagirl examines her government's reaction to the Allen Stanford story and wonders where all the socialists have gone.

Taiwan: CECA, economic elixir or poison?

  26 February 2009

CECA? Neither a new game console from Japan nor another evil science project that is going to bring this world to an end? But according to the Government, CECA is coming to save Taiwan's economy from drowning in global financial crisis and the greatest recession in 50 years. However, most people still have no idea what CECA is, and like all the other issues, it is quickly politicized as a new media battle ground set for the continuous fight between KMT, the ruling party, and DPP, the major opposition party. Bloggers again try to ask key questions and explain the issues deeper on their own.

Zimbabwe: How Mugabe Steals

  25 February 2009

Denford Magora reveals how Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe amassed wealth during his tenure. I promised a few days ago to share with you information from impeccable sources on just how Robert Mugabe amassed a fortune during his tenure, “Few people know that, when Mugabe travels overseas, the Chief Secretary to...

Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Injunction

  25 February 2009

Barbados Free Press finds it “interesting” that the Trinidad and Tobago Central Bank and the Colonial Life Insurance Company Limited (CLICO) have been granted an injunction against CL Financial.

Jordan: Economic depression?

  25 February 2009

“I don’t know what is going on lately, but I feel that everyone around me are in a hibernation mood. Businesses are not moving. Everything is running very slowly. People are disappearing and communication channels are off!!” notes Sha3teely from Jordan.

Brunei: Fund drive for flood victims

  25 February 2009

As part of the efforts to collect donations for flood victims, charity drives have been organized in recent weeks in Brunei. The heavy downpour last month caused heavy floods and landslides in the country, affecting homes of more than 200 families, and destroying milllions of dollars in properties and crops.

Japan: Alpha Blogger Awards 2008 (Part 1)

  25 February 2009

On the 20th of February, the 2008 Alpha Blogger Awards were held in Tokyo. Sponsored by Pringles Chips, the event this year was attended by close to 80 people (including the team of GV Japan), awarding prizes to the twelve posts from the Japanese blogosphere in 2008 that received the most votes on the ABA site.