· September, 2006

Stories about Economics & Business from September, 2006

India: Agriculture and the Government

  26 September 2006

Recursive Hypocrisy on what really ails Agriculture in India. “To start with, there simply isn't any real investment in technology or innovation in this area. Farm credits, crop insurance and support prices are only measures to help those in misery. What about solutions that result in yields which would make...

Hungary: Economic Problems

  26 September 2006

Edward of A Fistful of Euros writes that the Hungarian prime minister “is now in a double bind”: “If he goes through with a hard set of reforms the Hungarian economy will shrink […] and his government will tremble, while if he doesn’t reform as stated […] then the economy...

Estonia: Reaction to a Headline in the Economist

  26 September 2006

Edward Lucas, the Central and East European correspondent of The Economist, writes about Estonia and other “small” countries: “Small countries are often more interesting than big ones, and size may be one reason that the Baltic states and Slovenia have done rather well in the past 16 years. Politics works...

Morocco: 5000 micro companies

  25 September 2006

Samir says that the Moroccan Minister of the Social Development, Family and Solidarity, has come up with an innovative plan that addresses both needs of unemployed and handicapped people who need work and communication technology. One of the projects is to create 5,000 small companies providing moving “publiphones” on behalf...

United Arab Emirates: Etisalat obstructing business

  25 September 2006

Going back to the early seventies, companies left Beirut because of the civil war and re-located largely to Cyprus, Athens, Dubai, Bahrain. Many of those which had gone to Cyprus & Athens re-re-located because telecommunications were so bad. Many came on to Dubai because telecommunications were so good. A lesson...

Hungary: Budapest's “Watergate”

  24 September 2006

As the first week of the Budapest protests ends and what seems to be “the Watergate case of Hungary” hasn't been resolved, Henrik of Hungarian Accent writes about “the violence, the lies, the media and the path ahead.”

Notes on Montenegro and Transnistria

  22 September 2006

In his yesterday's Balkans Blog Roundup, Ljubisa Bojic quoted this passage on Montenegro by a Serbian blogger: […] I know how things operate down there. Its also a privatised state – I wonder how long it will be before the Europeans become intolerant of all those Russian businessmen who own...

China: listen to the movie producer

  22 September 2006

The latest movie “The City of Golden Armor” directed by Zhang Yi-Mou was released on September 20, but reporters had not been invited to the movie preview. Buchimifan in Bullog quotes the movie producer Mr Zhang Wei Ping's advice to the reporters: “if you criticise our movies, we won't let...

Russia: Countering Media Stereotypes

  21 September 2006

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog, in an attempt to provide “accurate and fair reporting and analysis—without fear or favor” – of Russia, comes up with a list of “10 Western Media Stereotypes About Russia” and offers alternative views on each item.

Balkans Blog Roundup

  21 September 2006

On September 11, Viktor of Belgrade Blog writes: […] [Serbia] just won the water polo European championship, and here's a short video with the atmosphere from the streets of Belgrade (Kolarceva street, more precisely). It's like this, after all major successes in sports, but this is the first time we...

Belize: US dollars

  21 September 2006

Lee Vanderwalker — who, like most other Belize residents, hoards US dollars — wonders why two visitors to her store in recent times have refused to accept change in US currency.

Trinidad & Tobago: Farewell, BWEE

  20 September 2006

Barbados Free Press says farewell to BWIA — or Bwee, as it's familiarly called — as the Trinidad and Tobago airline prepares to wind up its operations and make way for a new entity called Caribbean Airlines.

Ukraine: News Roundup

  20 September 2006

Foreign Notes covers the following subjects: investigation of the “allegedly illegal discriminatory” value-added tax reimbursements; Party of the Regions anatomy; Vladimir Putin's thoughts on Ukraine; former speaker goes into opposition.

Russia: Svetlana Bakhmina's Appeal

  20 September 2006

David McDuff of A Step At A Time writes about Svetlana Bakhmina's appeal “to have her sentence deferred for nine years, until her youngest child reaches the age of 14.” Bakhmina used to be a YUKOS lawyer and was sentenced to six and a half years of imprisonment in a...

Sri Lanka: Apollo Hospital and Business

  20 September 2006

Pradheep's Blog laments the takeover of an Apollo Hospital in Sri Lanka, implying that the hospital would lose its USP and the negative impact it could have in terms of an investor friendly business environment. “Needless to say this will have a negative impact on the confidence that investors have...