Stories about Economics & Business from February, 2011
Mexico: Achievements and Challenges for Artisan Women
Adele Hammond writes about artisan women in a village outside Oaxaca: “[…] the women we work with are committed to creating better lives for themselves and their children, despite the challenges of sometimes not having enough to eat or sufficient money to pay for their children’s needs. The BEST part...
Cote d'Ivoire: Crisis Update
Martin discusses the impact of the political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire on his business: “The spreadsheet where I keep track of cashflows in the real estate business has unfortunately, but unsurprisingly gotten a little bit more interesting lately. Things were fine and dull until November, but then the crisis hit...
Ukraine: “Reasons For Not Believing Today's Authorities”
Foreign Notes provides a loose translation – here and here – of the “30 reasons why it is difficult to believe today's authorities,” which were published in the Feb. 11 issue of the Ukrainian weekly news magazine Korrespondent.
Cuba: Cigar Fest
Havana Times and Repeating Islands blog about Cuba's Cigar Festival.
Africa: Africa 2.0: Achieving Growth Through Innovation
Loy announces Africa 2.0 conference: MIT Sloan Africa Business Club presents it’s inaugural conference “Africa 2.0: Achieving Growth Through Innovation”.
Africa: How tech entrepreneurs can succeed in Africa
Mkaigwa explains how African tech entrepreneurs can succeed: “I am not the first to write about the seeming shortcomings that the African Internet tech scene is currently undergoing. A state in which many competent and talented coders, programmers and creatives with working products just aren’t making viable and sustainable profit....
Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago: The Gay Agenda
Could prioritizing the gay agenda be diverting attention from more pressing issues? Iván's File Cabinet explores the possibilities, while gspottt says the Trinidad and Tobago government “has its priorities on GLBT issues wrong.”
China: Debating with Shaun Rein
Dan from China Law Blog opens a debate with CNBC's Columnist Shaun Rein, who enjoys representing Chinese point of view and recently wrote an article on “Why A Fast Appreciating Yuan Won't Help US Economy.”
Arab World: The Uprisings Continue
It's revolution time across the Arab world, with people rising and calling for political, economic and social reforms. Rallies, demonstrations and protests across the region are flooding our timelines, with heartbreaking news of how one Arab government after the other is using the same tactics to quash protests and silence the voices of dissent. Here are reactions from around the world as people watch the developments unfold.
Azerbaijan: Corruption crackdown
In the wake of popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the oil-rich former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan has unexpectedly launched a crackdown on corruption. Politics By Other Means analyses the move.
Jamaica, B.V.I.: Non-Indigenous Species
Lemurs in the Caribbean? Labrish Jamaica calls on Sir Richard Branson to do the right thing.
Inflation in Argentina: “It’s not inflation, it’s just a sensation”
In a post about inflation in Argentina, Simon Kofoed from argen-times writes: “Argentines all over the country are suffering the consequences of rising daily costs and are well aware that in this country, ‘prices go up by the lift and come down by the stairs’; if of course they ever...
Venezuela: Netizens Comment on Possible Gasoline Use Restrictions
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced possible measures to start rationing gasoline. This matter constitutes a very sensitive issue for Venezuelans, since Venezuela is a country with one of the world's lowest gasoline prices. After the announcement, bloggers and Twitter users reacted in different ways.
Colombia: Truck Driver Strike Causes Road Chaos in Bogotá
Since February 2, 2011, Colombian truck drivers have been on national strike due to certain government reforms. On February 15, the issue became one of the most discussed on citizen media sites because of traffic congestion in the capital, Bogotá,
Serbia: Government Website Broken Into Due to 12345 Password
Belgraded.com writes about the most recent awkward situation that the costly website of Serbia's Ministry of Ecology and Urban Planning has found itself in: “The site was the target of public ridicule once again couple of hours ago when someone noticed that the username/password combination for logging on to the...
Russia: Photos From Coal Miners’ Towns in Perm Region
Alexander Belenkiy (LJ user macos) posts photos (RUS) taken in the neglected – but not yet fully deserted – coal miners’ towns in Perm region, where the first mine appeared in 1797 and the last one closed in 2000: “All this resembles today's Abkhazia or wartime Grozny.”
Croatia: Google Flees Red Tape
Viktor Markovic/@Belgrade reports: “Google fled Croatia because of red tape http://www.croatiantimes.com/index.php?id=17021.”
Russia: 2011 State Budget Funding for Media Companies
LJ user sart posts info (RUS) from the Russian Federation's 2011 budget (RUS, .zip, 322MB) on the state funding allotted to media companies: e.g., VGTRK gets nearly 19 billion rubles (approx. $628 million), and TV-Novosti, a company that owns RT (Russia Today), gets over 11 billion rubles (nearly $380 million).
China and Mongolia: Goliath and David?
At East Asia Forum, Justin Li discussed the Sinophobia in Mongolia caused by high dependence on China for trade and investment. In another article on the Forum, Julian Dierkes questioned Li's claims, and highlighted that significant shift in Mongolia's ‘third neighbour’ policy is possible. In a separate but related article...
Ecuador: Judge orders Chevron to pay $8.6 billion fine
“The eighteen-year lawsuit against Chevron came to a climax when a judge ruled that Texaco (now owned by Chevron) was liable environmental damages in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The court decreed that the oil company pay a reported $8.6 billion fine and apologize publicly or risk doubling the damages figure,” reports...
Eritrea: Invest in Eritrea blog
Invest in Eritrea is a blog about business and investment activities in Eritrea.
