Stories about Economics & Business from November, 2011
Ukraine: Starbucks, Social Media Marketing, and “Language Issue”
Tetyana Bohdanova writes about social media marketing and the "language issue" in Ukraine - and a recent scandal caused by what turned out to be a fake Facebook page of Starbucks.
Ukraine: Tymoshenko Called “Unindicted Co-Conspirator” in Lazarenko Case
Ukrainiana comments on a former Assistant U.S. Attorney calling ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the case of another Ukrainian ex-PM, Pavlo Lazarenko, who is currently serving a 9-year sentence at a U.S. federal prison: We [U.S.] jail your former PM [Lazarenko] = prosecution. You [Ukraine] jail your former...
China: United States Begins ‘Pacific Century’, Online Nationalism Follows
As the US quickly asserts its position in the Asia-Pacific region, nationalist sentiment has leapt at similar speed from somewhat marginalized online communities to the top of China's largest blog portals.
Petition for ‘Support a Debt-Free Timor-Leste’
An online petition opposes the plan of the East Timor government to obtain foreign loans next year. East Timor is urged to learn from the mistakes of other developing countries whose economies were crippled by huge foreign debt.
Brazil: Real State Speculation Threatens Sacred Ground
Sagrada Terra Especulada (Sacred Speculated Ground), a Brazilian collective that advocates for indigenous land rights, is promoting a documentary [pt] and a petition [pt] in defense of the Pajé Sanctuary, close to Brasilia´s Pilot Plan. Real estate speculation [pt] threatens this area of savannah with the construction of a so-called...
North Korea Opens its Door for Tourists, But Cellphones are Not Allowed
North Korea, one of the world's most reclusive states, opens its door a tiny crack for tourists to earn hard currency. But tourists are forbidden from bringing cellphone, sending an email and talking to ordinary North Koreans. A travel blogger from the Tripified.ca left sarcastic comments on North Korea's tourism...
China's Real Estate Bubbles
Sascha from Chengdu Living has written down some frontline observations of the real estate bubble in China.
Bulgaria: Protest Against Shale Gas Extraction
The Nov. 16 protest against Chevron's extraction of shale gas in northeast Bulgaria had been organized through Facebook event. The poster on this photo reads: “Why did you sign, Boyko [PM Borisov's first name] – out of stubbornness?” Protesters chanted slogans against the government, calling them “traitors” because of the...
Argentina: New Foreign Exchange Controls
At the end of October 2011 the Argentine government launched a series of regulatory measures designed to control foreign exchange. The country's bloggers comment on and analyse the measures, which aim to slow the inflationary tendency of the US dollar against the peso.
Brazil: Toxic Documentary on the Amazon
Brazilian journalist Felipe Milanez (@felipedjeguaka) published [pt, en] a documentary about the Amazon in the series Toxic – “the various ways in which we detonate our planet” – of the Vice website. The documentary features the environmental activist Zé Claudio Ribeiro da Silva who was killed in May 2011.
Cuba: Walking the Streets
Generation Y blogs about Tony, a street vendor who “has passed through all the stages of the emerging private sector in Cuba” and wonders, even in this period of entrepreneurial “revival”, “why [it] has to be plagued with so many absurdities, so many limitations.”
Jamaica: Lessons from “Occupy” Protests
Pray, laugh, love! says that there are valuable business lessons to be learned from the the Occupy Wall Street protests: “Ultimately…the protestors would’ve been able to call public attention to their plight and send a very strong message to corporations that enough is enough. Importantly, it shows what can happen...
Cameroon: A Cameroonian Artist in London
Commenting on an exhibition organized by Illy, an Italian coffee maker in London, bonaberi.com blog reports that [fr] : “The Cameroonian Alioum Moussa takes part in the exhibition as he was requested to design one of the new boxes of Illy [coffee]. “
Brazil: Online Campaign to Protect Xingu Against Belo Monte
A new movement called Gota D'Água (Drop of Water) [pt] has launched an online campaign to discuss Brazil's energy planning through the analysis of the Belo Monte dam project. The campaign includes a video featuring public figures and a petition, that has already gathered 1923 signatures, to be handed over...
Bermuda: “Occupy” Movement at its End
Respice Finem comments on the de-occupation of Wall Street, here.
Haiti: Cholera Compensation or Opportunism?
Stanley Lucas has a few questions about a court case that is seeking to compensate Haitian cholera victims, saying: “At worst, it seems an opportunistic attempt to capitalize on a tragic situation for fund raising purposes. What is equally concerning is [the] approach to this challenge. Rather than offer the...
Trinidad & Tobago: Fight at Project Launch
B.C. Pires comments on a fracas that broke out, allegedly among rival gang members, at the launch of a government project: “It would be shocking if it wasn’t par for the course. The shameless use of the UNC-yellow-like orange in the attempt to, um, curry the favour of the semi-literate/fully...
Greece: Send Your Tale of the Financial Crisis
Sendyourtale is a Greek blog that invites readers, in the manner of the PostSecret project, to send in their personal tales of the financial crisis, to be published anonymously in Greek and English.
Russia: FC Anzhi Makhachkala and the Yeltsin Era Money
The January 2011 acquisition of a Russian Premier League soccer team, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, by Suleyman Kerimov, a billionaire politician native to the volatile region of Dagestan, is the most recent display of how the wealth accumulated in the Yeltsin era is being used. Donna Welles reports.
Eurozone Crisis: Where Will the Economy Go?
Economists would be hard pressed to forecast the future of Europe's bailouts and the consequences of the current financial crisis. While opinions differ, reactions abound online to try to make sense of what future awaits the Eurozone.
Sri Lanka: Perils Of Promising Jobs
Serendipity is concerned that the Sri Lankan government is unable to create the promised jobs for graduates and the blogger asks “whose responsibility is it to provide jobs for all unemployed Graduates?”