Stories about Economics & Business from March, 2011
Russia: “iPad 2 Smuggling in Full Blossom”
Profy writes about the attempts to smuggle iPad 2 into Russia.
Haiti: Monsanto's Agenda
Haiti Grassroots Watch takes “a closer look” at Monsanto's seed distribution in the wake of last year's devastating earthquake.
Jamaica: Enquiry No Laughing Matter
As the Manatt Dudus Enquiry is extended for the third time, GWAP comments: “A Commission that should have cost Jamaican tax payers JMD $37 million has now skyrocket[ed] to JMD $78 million!”, while Pray, Laugh, Grow thinks the whole debacle is anything but funny.
China: Inflation and Fear
Foreseeing the rocket raising inflation, Chinese people are storing up daily necessities, such as Laundry Detergent, at home. Fauna from ChinaSMACK has captured the situation and translated netizens’ response to the inflation fear.
Bangladesh: Online Payment Options
In Bangladesh, Paypal is not available and international online payment/receipt via credit card is restricted, which is a problem for the startups who want to sell products from Bangladesh and receive payment. T solve this problem Hasin at “The Storyteller” writes about merchant account providers, who helps users to charge...
China: Panic buying continues
Following panic buying of salt earlier this month, the last few days have seen residents of Shanghai buying up laundry detergent, soap, toothpaste and shampoo out of fear that companies are about to raise prices for those and other similar goods. This photo from angry Shanghai microblogger Yin Zhuonan shows...
China: Red flag on Wall Street
Co-founder of Chinese fund management firm CDH Investments Wang Gongquan stopped by the New York Stock Exchange building today to snap a picture of the flag of the People's Republic of China, flying over Wall Street to mark popular Chinese online security company Qihoo 360 Technology‘s IPO. Wang was mocked...
Russia: Blogger Translates Articles on Alexey Navalny
LJ user vadda translates from English into Russian two recent texts about Alexey Navalny, a prominent Russian anti-corruption activist: one text, by Andrew E. Kramer, appeared in the New York Times on March 27 (the Russian translation is here; 266 comments); the other, by Julia Ioffe, was published in the...
Comparing Nepal's Growth Rate With India and China
Chandan Sapkota, a researcher at a Kathmandu based think tank compares Nepal's growth rate with neighbors India and China. He discuses Nepal's growing trade deficit and also its over reliance on India for imports.
Russia: 2010 Cyber-Crime Market Research
Group IB, Russian cyber-security research company, publishes [ru] Russian Cyber-Crime Market in 2010 report. According to the research, Russian hackers commit nearly 35 percent of all cyber-crimes. DDOS-attacks (from $90 to $300 per day of attack) are falling in price which makes this method of cyber-warfare more accessible to online...
Cuba: Is the Internet an Equalizer?
Havana Times examines the Internet in the context of socialism.
Bermuda: Development vs. Conservation
“Can we please stop pretending that that the Tucker’s Point SDO is about saving tourism? It’s about developing real estate”: Vexed Bermoothes says that “there has been a drought of information to justify abandoning the various conservation protections on the land.”
China: Opinion Battle on Baidu's Copyright Infringement
More than fifty Chinese writers have formed an alliance protesting against copyright infringement by the Baidu Wenku platform, a Chinese version of Google Books which allows users to read, share or download books for free.
Macedonia: Personal Steps Against Economic Crisis
Bojana Jankovska blogs [MKD] on how she deals with the economic crisis at a personal level: make a deal with family members to use electrical appliances during “cheaper” hours of the day, possibly cancel central heating, locate the cheapest neighborhood store for regular grocery shopping, and lock your credit card...
China: Can we tolerate Baidu’s “evil” stand on IP rights?
Peking University professor, Hu Yong, comments on the recent debate on Baidu Wenku's copyright infringement in China Media Project.
Russia: BBC Russian Service's Last Broadcast
Christya Riedel writes on Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog that on March 26, “the BBC Russian Service ceased its radio broadcasts after 65 years on the air because of drastic budget cuts implemented by the British government.”
Puerto Rico: 2010 Census figures
Doctoral student and blogger Deepak Lamba-Nieves is starting to analyze the latest release of 2010 Census figures for Puerto Rico: “Although the main story has been the population loss registered from 2000 to 2010 in the island as a whole (- 2.2%), the municipal-level figures provide a more complex landscape...
Bahamas: BTC Privatized
Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick Lowe says that the government's privatization of the public phone company “deserves a hip, hip, hooray!”
Japan: The Importance of Getting Back to Normal
As more time passes since the devastating Earthquake that shook Japan on March 11th, people in Japan are feeling the need to return to normal and put the disaster behind them. Although for many Japanese who lost their homes or loved ones this will be quite difficult, those who weren't as unlucky feel the need to do their part and help the economy get back on its feet.
Portugal: Is there still Government?
In order to aggregate the latest tweets on the political crisis in Portugal, Rui Ramos created the website aindahagoverno.com (Is there still Government?) [pt]. The Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned on March 24, after the Parliament rejected the government's latest proposal for an austerity package aimed at avoiding an economical...
Taiwan: Call for Energy Policy Review
The ongoing Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in Japan has alerted people in Taiwan about the safety of nuclear power plants in their own country. In order to transform current concern into long term government policy, many netizens are demanding the Taiwanese government conduct a comprehensive review on the country's energy and industrial policy.
