Stories about Economics & Business from February, 2010
Italy: “Tangerines and olives don't fall from the sky”
The first strike of immigrant workers in Italy's history will happen on March 1st, thanks to a broad European initiative to oppose racism and discrimination, and reaffirm the positive role of migrants.
Morocco: The Death of a Newspaper
Jamal Elabiad writes of the possible demise of Morocco's only English-language newspaper, The Casablanca Analyst.
Greece, Germany and the middle finger of Venus de Milo
In the continuing drama of the Greek financial crisis, a row erupted last week because of a German magazine cover that depicted ancient Greek statue Venus de Milo flipping a middle finger at the European Union.
Dominica: Water Needed
News Dominica.com reports on the country's water woes and its impact on the island's agriculture industry, here and here.
Belize: Teachers’ Strike
Teachers are on strike in an effort to secure a pay raise: Belizean reports.
Bermuda: Budget Day
Today is Budget Day in Bermuda. 21 Square “throw[s] out a few thoughts.”
Global: Concerns About Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
The last meeting of negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has provoked the protest of online communities against both its content and the circumstances of their negotiations
Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis: Corruption Watch
Barbados Free Press has its eyes on St. Kitts and Nevis when it comes to transparency and government accountability.
Bermuda: Budget Day
“With a very important budget looming I've been thinking about what the individual parties can get out of it”: Politics.bm considers the upcoming Budget Day in Bermuda.
Haiti: On Beauty
“The problem is not lack of food. It's lack of money. Put people to work. Pay them enough to support the local economy. Pay them enough to eat good local food”: Chronicles of an Unplanned Return writes an uplifting post about “beauty, lightness, and good things” in Haiti.
Greece: Bloggers respond fiercely to financial crisis
Greek bloggers react with uncommon drama, spirit and gravitas to the financial crisis facing Greece. The socialist government elected last October is battling currency speculators while trying to avoid defaulting on the country's debt.
Armenia: Working conditions
Adrineh Macaan details the trials and tribulations of working in Armenia. The blog says that conditions are inconvenient and lacking, hours are long, and salaries sometimes take months to be paid.
Russia: Torrents.Ru Shut Down
IZO reports on some Russian bloggers’ thoughts (RUS) on why “the massively popular Russian file-sharing site torrents.ru has been shut down.”
Jordan: Taxed to Death?
Are Jordanians being ‘taxed to death'? Read Naseem Tarawnah's take here.
Poland: “Plenty of Money”
“Years ago, when the inflation in Poland was in triple figures, we were all multi-millionaires,” writes the POLSKI blog and links to a Flickr set of photos of the Polish banknotes from the 1980s and the early 1990s.
Haiti: Thoughts on Power
Following an incident in which children were reportedly taken from their legal guardians and placed in a UNICEF camp, Tara at The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog says: “I am so sad to have learned (as a result of the earthquake) that most everything in the world is based on money and...
Trinidad & Tobago: Do The Math
Mango Media Caribbean does the Beyonce/bmobile math, following the recent concert in Trinidad: “Great product + poor planning – expert events management + huge advertising spend – marketing thinking = 1 of the most spectacular event/concert failures in recent history…”; while Underground Trini Artiste gives a rundown of his concert...
Barbados: Cricket Industry
From Barbados, Allegiance blogs about the possibilities for a regional cricket sector: “The idea is not for Government to throw money at cricketers or to interfere with the rules of the game. It is about building an industry in which we appear to have a competitive advantage.”
Barbados, Haiti: The Widening Gap
Barbados Underground says that “the recent catastrophic earthquake which rocked Haiti has exposed one of the weaknesses of modern civilization; the failure to narrow the gap between rich and poor countries.”
Bermuda: Accountability
Bermuda's Vexed Bermoothes bemoans the fact that “government’s debt is scratching the ass of $1 billion dollars now”, but takes heart “that some of Bermuda’s institutions are doing their job to blow the whistle and put on the brakes.”
Russia: Keith Gessen's LRB Piece on Khodorkovsky
Robert Amsterdam's Blog and Foreign Policy Association's Russia Blog link to and comment on Keith Gessen's review of Richard Sakwa's The Quality of Freedom: Khodorkovsky, Putin and the Yukos Affair, which appeared in the London Review of Books. On his blog, Gessen explains how to pronounce Mikhail Khodorkovsky's last name.
