· September, 2011

Stories about Economics & Business from September, 2011

Trinidad & Tobago: Expenditure & Accountability

  30 September 2011

“Discussion is revolving around the country’s earnings from our energy resources and the likely size of the next year’s budget, expected to be delivered in early October”: Afra Raymond warns that “without proper control over expenditure, we will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis.”

Cuba: Inequitable Party

  30 September 2011

Generation Y compares the official distribution of “rental properties, cars, businesses [and] houses” to a pinata at a children's party, saying: “What is most worrying is [that] the…existence of such a mechanism will undoubtedly feed corruption, ‘socialism,’ and put into the hands of government sympathizers the fattest strings for when...

United States: Increase in Poverty Rate Amongst Hispanics

  30 September 2011

The American economy is at a standstill and seems stuck on that plateau. The poverty rate is affecting more than 46 million people, 15.1 percent of the population, according to the latest Census figures. Minorities, and Hispanics in particular, are amongst the most affected.

Laos According to WikiLeaks

  30 September 2011

WikiLeaks has released a set of Laos files that confirmed the country’s underdevelopment, endemic corruption in the bureaucracy, and the fragile state of its environment. Here are some online reactions and excerpts of the Laos cables.

Afghanistan: Donor dependence

  30 September 2011

Nick Fielding writes that the US and other donors have provided 90 per cent of Afghanistan's public expenditures in 2006-2010. With the 2014 target date for the withdrawal of US troops, the question is how the government in Kabul would fund its security forces, who use up the lion's share...

Greece: “Europe, come be in my shoes, before judging me”

  29 September 2011

Global Voices in Greek translator Margie Lazou posts an open and unvarnished account of her daily struggles as a single mother in crisis-ridden Greece on her personal blog: “All those people out there in Europe, please, come live here, be in my shoes for some time before judging me.”

East Timor: Tasi Mane Petroleum Infrastructure Project

  28 September 2011

A local Non-Government Organization, La'o Hamutuk, has set-up a special website page to gather information, monitor project updates, and document the resistance of a community to East Timor’s Tasi Mane Petroleum Infrastructure Project.

India: To Be Poor In India

  26 September 2011

Project Why exposes that there is a serious flaw in determining who is poor in India and who will get social welfare benefit from the government. The blogger asks: “what are we trying to do: show the world that we are not poor?”

Timor-Leste eProcurement Portal

  23 September 2011

The East Timor government says it established the Timor-Leste eProcurement Portal to enhance transparency and accountability. The website “allows citizens, donors, NGOs and the press to analyze and search information related with the goods, services or works that (the government) is procuring.”

Russia: Cyber Security Code of Conduct?

RuNet Echo  23 September 2011

The Russian government is attempting to spread the system of Internet controls abroad. Russian bloggers are interpreting these attempts as either the current regime's basic self-preservation instinct, or, even more troublesome, as inadequate thinking about the Internet.

Colombia: President Santos’ Tour of Asia

  23 September 2011

Last week, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos toured Japan and South Korea for seven days with the goal of strengthening commercial ties. In Japan, he signed an agreement to protect reciprocal investments, while the Koreans promised to accelerate the process for a free trade treaty. Bloggers and Twitter users commented on the trip.

Mali : ATT Tending to his Legacy

  23 September 2011

Diawara at Sur les traces de l'empire du Mali [fr] describes the upcoming tight schedule of Malian president  Ahmadou Toumani Touré (aka A.T.T) : “A.T.T is seemingly keen on leaving a good lasting impression as he prepares to depart his (presidential) office. Indeed, his upcoming agenda is heavy on inauguration ceremonies of newly built...

Uruguay: Economic Growth and Happiness

  22 September 2011

According to a forecast by the Intentional Monetary Fund, Uruguay's economy will expand 6% in 2011. Rosario Queirolo in Razones y personas: repensando Uruguay (“Reasons and people: rethinking Uruguay”) comments on the relationship between economic growth and general satisfaction in Uruguay.

Cuba: Image of a Free Woman

  22 September 2011

Rebeca Monzo examines the new image of the Cuban woman, saying: “In official spheres they speak of the revolutionary woman, mother, comrade, worker, housewife. But what’s certain is that, more and more, our women suffer transformations that are detrimental to their appearance and self-esteem.”