Stories about Economics & Business from May, 2006
Trinidad and Tobago: Government not promoting local technology
“The one thing that is being wasted in this country more than money is the minds of our young people,” argues aka_lol of Trinidad and Tobago's Initiative Against Crime. “There has never been a government in our history who promoted local technology beyond their lips…. This country will continue to...
Belarus: Russian Ambassador on Pipeline
TOL's Belarus Blog writes about an interview with the Russian ambassador published in the Belarusian edition of a Russian paper: according to him, “Russia […] is firmly determined to take away the gas pipe (Beltransgaz) from Belarusans and have it under Gazprom’s control.”
Aruba: This week in politics
Aruba Girl summarises a busy week in Aruban politics: a member of parliament from the opposition AVP resigned, the justice minister said he would resign next year, and then the government announced that import duties on many goods would be doubled or tripled. “Now that … our national debt is...
China: Merchant life
A post today on Raymond Zhou's Not only movies blog looks at the lives of the largest group of foreigners in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou's expatriate community: African and Arab traders.
Mongolia: Textile Export Drop
neweurasia reports that Mongolia's textile exports to the United States have suffered tremendously since quotas on textiles were lifted in 2005.
Mongolia: Windfall Profits Tax
Luke Distelhorst reports that Mongolia's controversial windfall profits tax on mining is now law and he carries the reaction from Ivanhoe Mines, a major investor in the country's mining sector.
China: Technorati learns Chinese
Welcome news on Danwei today of Technorati's announcement of a partnership with public relations firm Edelman which will see an increase of the blog aggregator's services to include five new languages. While Chinese is one of the languages on the list, a focus on mainland users brings with it some...
DRC: Coup Attempts and More Questions on the Upcoming Elections
Free and Fair Elections? Joseph Kabila, the founder of the PPRD (the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy), has overseen an interim administration established by the 2002 peace agreement. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's first post-conflict presidential elections are set to be held on July 30th after months of...
The garments industry riots in Bangladesh
Whether we accept it or not, we all are chained humans, there is a master above us and we are a master of someone. And the exploitation continues. The truth is no hero or revolution is going to break the chain saving us anytime soon.
Iran: Bribing System
Karmand writes about bribing system in Iran. This blogger says if you are an employee either you get bribe or you keep silence about it. Blogger adds in country everybody is in competition to become rich and there is no rule in this competition (Persian). According to blogger humanity &...
El Salvador: Violence, Economics
The blog of “El Salvador/CNY Companion Diocese” reports that there were twenty two murders in El Salvador just on Sunday and Monday of this week. “The government claims to have deterred violence in many different locations. The numbers don't support their assertion.” Tim Muth posts an excerpt of the IMF's...
Argentina: Music and Misinformation
This week, Argentinean newspapers informed readers that some Internet users had reached an agreement with CAPIF, the company that represents record companies in Argentina, to pay an amount of money as a compensation for the songs they had illegally downloaded from the Internet. The news coverage shows clear differences between...
Kyrgyzstan: HIPC
Kyrgyz students call for their country not to join the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
Mongolia: Mining Issues
Chris of For Optimists and Philosophers writes about mining issues in Mongolia.
Belarus: Dzerzhinsky Monument Opens, Airspace Closes
Iryna of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about tomorrow's opening of a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky at the Military Academy in Minsk: “Throughout his 12 years in power, Lukashenka has paid homage to “the best” that the Soviet Union had to offer. He does it to feed the nostalgia for Soviet...
China: Migrant laborer shortage
The change of the labor market is one of the subjects China-based blogger-correspondent Fons Tuinstra tracks regularly at China Herald, and a post today looks at a newly-released study which offers, if not new insights, at least a wealth of useful demographics.
Trinidad & Tobago: Minty messages
Elspeth Duncan contemplates the charms of Trinidad and Tobago's iconic KC Dinner Mints, known for the “often grammatically challenged love messages” on their wrappers. (Among the messages Elspeth recalls seeing are “A women in love” and “True love never die”). To satisfy her curiosity about the circumstances of their composition,...
Ukraine, Russia: Financial Aid for Mothers
As Vladimir Putin promises to increase financial aid to Russia's new mothers in order to change the demographic situation for the better, Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes points out that in Ukraine, the significantly increased payments have not led to a baby boom.
Russia: Ad Agency's Owner Advertises Himself
Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about a new entertainment for Smolensk residents: they are making bets on whether the guy who put billboads of himself all over town manages to win his wife back this way.
Indonesia: Weakening Currency
Yosef Ardi at Indonesia Today discusses the reasons for the fall of Indonesian Rupaiah.
Malaysia: Electricity Rates
CompetitiveMalaysia is surprised that Malaysia's electricity rates are higher than Taiwan's. “If such a high cost country in Taiwan able to keep their electricity rate low. There is no reason that Malaysia, a petroleum production country unable to do that.”
