· November, 2011

Stories about Economics & Business from November, 2011

Petition for ‘Support a Debt-Free Timor-Leste’

  19 November 2011

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

  18 November 2011

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

  18 November 2011

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...

Bulgaria: Protest Against Shale Gas Extraction

  18 November 2011

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

  17 November 2011

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

  17 November 2011

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

  17 November 2011

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

  17 November 2011

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

  17 November 2011

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

  16 November 2011

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...

Haiti: Cholera Compensation or Opportunism?

  16 November 2011

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

  16 November 2011

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...

Russia: FC Anzhi Makhachkala and the Yeltsin Era Money

RuNet Echo  16 November 2011

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?

  15 November 2011

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

  15 November 2011

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?”