Stories about Economics & Business from November, 2010
China: bridge-blog posts original documentary of rural life
C. Custer, of bridge-blog ChinaGeeks, has posted his first original documentary of life in China's rural northeast. Plans are also underway for a second project, entitled Finding Home, which will look at the kidnapping and selling of children in the People's Republic.
South Asia: Steep Bandwidth Price
The cost of Internet bandwidth has to be reduced across Asia, which remains more than 300% expensive than the western hemisphere, argues Abu Saeed Khan at LIRNE Asia.
Philippines: Netizens dislike new government tourism campaign
Netizens are up in arms over the government’s new tourism campaign. Various blogs, facebook statuses, and twitter accounts have all become sites of disgust towards the new tourism country branding. Because of negative public feedback, the government announced it will develop a new tourism slogan
Vietnam: Which is the tallest building?
David Everitt-Carlson from Vietnam writes about the construction of the country's two tallest buildings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities.
Korea: Concerns loom over volcanic activity on Baekdu Mountain
In South Korea, public concerns are looming over the possible eruption of volcanic Baekdu Mountain, located on the border between North Korea and China. Experts predict that Baekdu’s damage could be ten to a hundred times greater than that caused by the April 2010 eruptions in Iceland.
What does Fiji's government want from Fiji Water?
Fiji Water, the expensive beverage in a square bottle, has created one of the richest brands in the world. Does Fiji’s military government want a piece of it?
Bermuda: Political Financing
Vexed Bermoothes says “it is time to address political finance in Bermuda.”
U.S.V.I.: Smoking or Not?
News of St. John says that “a new ‘No Smoking’ law went into effect this week but it's not being enforced”, adding that there is “confusion about the law”.
El Salvador: Canadian Mining Firm Files Lawsuit Against Seven Anti-Mining Activists
Voices from El Salvador's Weblog reports: “Tension in the debate over Pacific Rim’s efforts to mine gold in Cabañas continues […] In this latest episode, Pacific Rim has filed a lawsuit against seven anti-mining activists in Cabañas, the province where Pacific Rim’s El Dorado property is located, accusing them of...
Brazil: dreams of competing with China
Writer and analyst Bradley M. Gardner weighs in on billionaire entrepeneur Eike Batista's plan [pt] to bring Apple’s manufacturing process to Brazil. Gardner writes that Batista “wants his country to be China”, where Apple's products are currently manufactured. He adds that he “wouldn't put it past” Batista, the world's eighth-richest...
Brazil: Dilma Rousseff and the ‘currency war’
Enéas de Souza, blogging at Sul21 [pt], examines how president-elect Dilma Rousseff will deal with the huge surge in Brazil's currency that has led Goldman Sachs to classify it as the most overvalued in the world.
Russia: One-Year Anniversary of Magnitsky's Death
On the one-year anniversary of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky's death, Robert Amsterdam writes: “No one has ever been held accountable for Magnitsky's death: no charges, no arrests, no trials, and no justice, despite the mountains of evidence and even the names of the ‘untouchables’ made public. Instead, with a familiar Russian...
Chile: Protests Against Mining Industry
The Latin Americanist writes about recent protests targeting the government and the mining industry: “Chile’s mining industry has come under increased scrutiny since the mine collapse that left the 33 miners trapped underground for about seventy days. Unfortunately the reform promised by President Sebastian Pinera has been slow to materialize.”
Russia: Controversy as Cyrillic Domains Hit the Open Market
This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet. On November 11, 2010, registration for Internet domains in Cyrillic script, the writing system used by Russian and other Eastern European and Asian languages, went on the open market. Prior to this, Cyrillic domains could be registered only...
Dominican Republic: Retail Stores use the Internet
Joan Guerrero comments on how retails stores [es] in the Dominican Republic are using social media.
Mozambique: Anger at multinational pollution in Maputo
An aluminum smelter near Maputo owned by multinational company BHP Billiton began today a “bypass” operation. Campaigners say this means that polluting emissions from the Mozal Plant will go unfiltered for 4-5 months, near a metropolitan area of over 2 million. Blogger JPT at Ma-schamba blog [pt] called this “corporate...
Mongolia: Global chains are rumored to enter the market
Bilguun writes about unconfirmed rumors of Starbucks opening a branch or five in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, along with that of McDonalds’ – the blogger notes these are often deemed as the modern barometers of globalization and international recognition of a country.
Ecuador: Preparing for the 2010 Census
Ecuadorians are getting ready to participate in the 2010 Census that will take place on November 28.
Russia: Anti-Corruption Blogger Claims Officials Stole 4 Billion Dollars
Alexey Navalny‘s website navalny.ru is down after publishing materials on Transneft, Russian oil pipeline operator. The compromising materials claiming that top officials were involved in stealing over 4 billion dollars from the government budget, however, are available at his LiveJournal account [RUS] and several mirror websites (here and here).
Slovakia: Netizens Discuss Chinese Highway Construction Offer
The Slovak minister of transport is reluctant to let the Chinese companies, which offer extremely low prices, enter Slovakia's highway construction market. Tibor Blazko reviews the Slovak netizens' reactions.
Estonia: Pensioners’ “Relative Wealth”
AnTyx does some “number-crunching” and concludes that “on average, British pensioners are 76% better off than Estonian ones.”
