Stories about Economics & Business from March, 2010
Chile: President Piñera's Unsold Shares in LAN Airlines
Chilean president Sebastián Piñera made a campaign promise to sell all of his shares in LAN Airlines by the time he took office on March 11, 2010, something he has yet to fulfill.
Spain: MyWorld Video Winner tackles unemployment
The BBC's video contest My World Video has come to a close, and from the hundreds of submitted entries, they've selected their winner: Frederico Teixeira of Samapayo in Spain who made a 2 minute video on the unemployment situation in his country. The simple video shows his reflection in a...
Africa: Crowdfunding in Africa
Erik writes about crowdfunding and seed funding in Africa: “We’re starting to see a few angel investors like Sean Murphy of Chembe Ventures making their way around the continent, but they are not nearly enough to fulfill the capacity of ideas and individuals who need startup capital.”
Pakistan: Intervention Of The Judiciary
Faisal Naqvi Monsoon Frog writes about the economics of judicial interventionism in Pakistan.
Haiti: Debt Forgiveness
Repeating Islands links to a Business Week report that confirms the Inter-American Development Bank “has agreed to forgive $479 million in debts owed by quake-ravaged Haiti”.
China: Singing farewell to Google
Google has formally closed its mainland Chinese search engine and rival Baidu will not need long to pick up the slack; nonetheless, former users of Google.cn search braved the cold air to show their support outside the company's Beijing headquarters, singing an anti-Internet censorship protest song while they were at it.
Haiti: The Real “Slavery”
“Exploitation of child domestics is a global problem, not a Haitian ‘slavery’ issue”: The Haitian Blogger republishes a piece by Ezilidanto that exposes the real “slavery” in Haiti.
E.U.: Debate Over the Euro
Is the euro dead or dying? economist and blogger Dominique Thiébaut asks [Fr] on his blog, Changes et Matières Premières. He weighs the odds a “sarkofranc” or “markel” might succeed the European currency, currently at the mercy of some members countries’ financial straits as well as international speculators.
Haiti: Mourning relatives and coping with legal ordeals
Haitian blogger Espas Aysien writes a post [Fr] focusing on the difficulty for Haitians to mourn the death of hundreds of thousands relatives in Port-au-Prince and neighboring cities.
Haiti: Reconstruction for Haitians or with Haitians
Haitian Alterpresse republishes a letter [Creole] from Haitian social organisations which openly criticise the Donor's Conference which took place in the Dominican Republic on March 17th. According to them, it will not lead to a long-term development project nor include the population in the reconstruction scheme. Here is the French...
Serbia: Architectural feats from a world exhibition
Nothing against Serbia writes about the Serbian pavilion at the 1900 Paris world exhibition and posts pictures to illustrate it.
Russia: Bank Employee Spoils Credit History for $0.26
Blogger logra published the recording of her conversation with a Russian bank employee who called her and in a strikingly impolite manner said he would spoil her credit history for the debt of 26 cents on her account. Logra's post gathered almost 3500 comments, seriously undermining the reputation of the...
Lebanon: World's Richest Man Dropped By
A collaboration between Qifa Nabki and Maya Zankoul resulted in a comic strip about the visit of the world's richest man, the Mexican of Lebanese origin, Carlos Slim Helou, and who was “fêted in the Lebanese press for demonstrating the inherent superiority of Phoenician DNA in producing successful traders.”
China: Revaluing the One-Child Policy
Amidst talk of an aging society and a depleting demographic dividend, appeals for a reconsideration of China’s One-Child Policy were voiced during the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Russia: Andrei Loshak's Text on Corruption
Andrei Loshak's much-discussed text about corruption and “the normal functioning of an irrational system” in Russia has been translated into English by OpenDemocracy.net (the Russian-language original is at OpenSpace.ru).
Mali: Fabric weaves an economical and cultural support
Through videos, we see and learn about the cultural importance and economical boost that working with fabric is giving some people and organizations in Mali. Women's groups, artists and tourism all seem to be benefitting from the tradition of fabric dying and mudcloth painting.
Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: The Law is an Ass
From Barbados, B.C. Pires comments on the political goings-on in Trinidad and Tobago, saying, “There is only a small difference between prosecution and persecution.”
Bermuda: Lack of Confidence
“I don’t think anyone has any real confidence that Government will act to restrain its spending, or plan to work down the debt without strangling the community with taxes”: Bermuda's budget debate has eroded Vexed Bermoothes‘ confidence.
Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados: The Order of Things
Barbados-based B.C. Pires posts some observations about the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister's statements “that a war is on between the PNM government and some elements of the construction sector”: “No matter which way you look at it, everyone in these small islands is firetrucked.”
Bahamas: Natural Energy?
Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith wonders whether natural gas can solve the country's power problem.
Bermuda: Coming to Term
Bermudian bloggers comment on term limits. Politics.bm: “The requirement to prove Bermuda status for entry is draconian and unnecessary…”; Vexed Bermoothes: “I believe that term limits are very dangerous, particularly combined with all the other mixed messages sent by this Government towards international business.”
