Stories about Economics & Business from June, 2009
‘Buy Indonesia’ campaign
A campaign was launched encouraging Indonesian consumers and companies to patronize locally-made products and services.
Estonia: Budget cuts and GDP decrease
A Fistful Of Euros points at the link between budget cuts and GDP decrease in Estonia.
Russia: Paradoxes of population growth
LJ user about:blank comments on [RUS] recent research comparing Russian population growth with average income in various regions and cities 1990-2009, coming up with the interesting result that the country's second and third cities, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novogorod, are making moderate progress in comparison to many other less developed...
Latvia: IMF, ECB and the EU Commission at odds
A Fistful Of Euros describes how the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank may be taking another line on the currency peg of the Lat to the Euro and the country's future inclusion into the Euro zone.
Ecuador: State Contracts With President's Brother Raise Concerns
Contracts between the state petroleum company and several private companies raised some eyebrows when it was discovered that the brother of current president Rafael Correa was a member of some of the private enterprises. Even though Fabricio Correa has been emphatic that the contracts were won legally, it is still causing the government to look bad.
Russia: Crackdown on casinos and gambling
Eternal Remont discusses the Russian government's current crackdown on the country's casinos and gambling industry.
China's Stimulus Package and its Effect
China elections and governance has a series of article on the China's economic stimulus package and its effect. Part one is An introduction to China's stimulus package. Part two is The green dragon soars on the wind: Chinese stimulus and the environment. Part three is Migrant workers and social unrest....
Bangladesh: Grameen – Workable Idea Worldwide
Naveen Bachwani at Grey Matter is fascinated by the works of Grameen Bank and Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh. His idea of Microcredit and Social business has been replicated in many countries and can work in any country of the world.
Nigeria: Good days with Nigerian telecoms sector are over
Jeremy discusses the latest trends in the telecoms sector in Nigeria: “The Nigerian telecoms sector has finally hit market forces and the mathematic of where supply and demand cross at a competitive pricing point.”
Russia: Letter to Khodorkovsky
Jeremy Putley posts an open letter to Mikhail Khodorkovsky (who turned 46 on June 26) at A Step At A Time.
Russia, Nigeria: Nigaz
Eternal Remont writes that “Gazprom has created a joint venture with Nigeria's state-owned NNPC gas company” and that the new company's name is Nigaz. License Plate Poetry has a poem on this – “But no, my dear, Russia is not racist” (via @jilliancyork).
Dominica: Campaign Financing
Chris at Dominica Weekly thinks that “the issue of campaign financing is as important as voters identification and cleaning of the voters list before the next general election is held.”
Jamaica, Barbados: Updates on H1N1
Yardflex.com says 19 Jamaicans have been infected with the H1N1 virus, while Barbados Underground cautions that Swine Flu can't be blamed for everything.
Singapore: Infamous Burger King ad
Burger King has a new sandwich offering in Singapore called the “Super Seven Incher.” To promote the new product, a local ad agency produced an outdoor ad which is now getting a lot of attention and criticism around the world.
India: Over-indebtedness And Microcredit
Siddhartha Chowdri at Center For Financial Inclusion Blog comments that over -indebtedness and borrower delinquency are to blame for failure of the Micro Finance Institution in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Czech Republic: No Olympics in Prague
Due to the economic crisis, Prague has abandoned plans to host the 2016 Olympics, CzechFolks.com reports.
Israel: 7th Most Internet Connected Country in World
Israel is the world's 7th most internet connected society, reports Lirun of East Med Sea Peace. “It means many things,” he writes: “Freedom of information, freedom of expression, freedom of e-activism, freedom of e-entrepreneurship, freedom of media verification, freedom of online association and congregation. It's unlimited…”
Dominica, Venezuela: The Motherland?
Following Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's visit to the island, Dominica Weekly says: “Many Dominicans have focused narrowly on the lavish developmental aid of Chavez than focusing on the fundamental issue at hand: do we support Chavez’s ideology and his vision of the motherhood of Latin American and the Caribbean.”
Cuba: Hurricane Victims
As hurricane season gets underway, Generation Y focuses on the plight of “Caletone, a town near Gibara that doesn’t even appear in the Atlas of Cuba [that] is still deep in destruction.”
Thailand: Thousands affected by train strike
Thousands of passengers were affected by the two-day nationwide train strike launched by employees of the State Railway of Thailand. The workers were protesting a cabinet resolution which they claim would lead to the privatization of the railway company. A survey shows that majority of Thais are upset with the strike.
Russia: “Summer in Saratov”
OpenDemocracy.net posts Olga Bakutkina's text on the economic problems in Saratov.
