Stories about Economics & Business from August, 2011
Kenya: Mocality Launches Daily Deals and Mobile Apps.
Watch a video of Moses Kemibaro's interview with Joshua Mwaniki, the Country Manager for Mocality in Kenya, on the impending launch of Mocality Deals: “In addition to the deals, Mocality recently also launched mobile apps for both Apple’s iOS (i.e. iPhone, iPad and iPod devices) on the App Store and...
Bermuda, Jamaica: London Burning
Jamaican diaspora blogger Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac and Bermuda's Respice Finem blog about the London riots.
Russia: Arctic and the Northern Sea Route
Mia Bennett at Foreign Policy Association writes about an ongoing international conference, hosted by Russia, about the future of Arctic resources and the opening of sea routes in the Norhtern Sea.
Haiti: Jobs Needed for Progress
Love Haiti suggests that “the hardships facing Haiti today may be compared to the Great Depression of the United States”, explaining: “The point of this analogy is simply to state that school/education should not be at the top of Haiti's agenda, a country confronted with a housing crisis, an unprecedented...
North Korea's Emerging Wealthy Class
The North Korean Economy Watch wrote about the North Korea's growing entrepreneurial class. The post, quoting Andrei Lankov's anecdotal evidence and a taxonomy, defines the North Korean new rich as a group consists of high-level officials who have gained wealth through illegal means or from their business activities encouraged by...
Yemen: Pressing Humanitarian Needs and Deteriorating Economic Situation
The United Nations Security Council has issued a statement expressing grave concern about the situation on the ground in Yemen, including pressing humanitarian needs and a deteriorating economic situation following months of protests calling for the overthrow of the Ali Abdullah Saleh regime.
Argentina: The Economy and Cristina Fernández's Reelection
Bloggings by boz looks at how the economy might affect Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's reelection in the upcoming October presidential elections.
Bahamas: The Female Perspective
“Environmentalism, Bahamian social woes, immigration and even the financial crisis…from what is unmistakably a feminine perspective”? ARC highlights a new exhibition by the country's leading female artists.
Puerto Rico: Reasons for Riots
B.C. Pires and Gil the Jenius comment on the riots in London, with the latter saying, with regard to Puerto Rico: “It [the cause of rioting] boils down to two basic factors: a population that feels dissatisfied with its government and a government trying to suppress the populace. Oppression can...
Should Thailand Raise the Minimum Wage?
One of the campaign promises of newly elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her Pheu Thai Party was to double Thailand’s minimum wage. The new pay scale will be implemented next year but the business sector is opposed to it. Here are some reactions from bloggers
Sri Lanka: A Queue of 3,500 Job-Seekers
Anushka Wijesinha at Groundviews posts photos and video of a 1.5km long queue of more than 3500 Sri Lankan job seekers, which indicate that unemployment is posing a serious threat in Sri Lanka's economy.
Trinidad & Tobago: Love, Freedom & Humanity
“The real tragedy is people who have no one to love them. I can hardly imagine how long it’s been since anyone has reassured them, you are real. You are important. You are loved. If you don’t have this then food and money and life mean nothing. That is why it...
Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko's Trial and the Legacy of “Gassy Shenanigans”
In the first post on the newly-launched Bordering on Lunacy blog, Euan MacDonald writes about the trial of Ukraine's ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko – “who is guilty, apparently, of the heinous crime of being in government when Viktor Yanukovych wasn't president of Ukraine.”
Haiti: Tackling the Housing Problem
Toussaint on Haiti maintains that “kicking people out of the IDP camps without providing them with an adequate alternative will not solve the [housing] problem”, adding: “The only solution is for the government to provide some form of public housing [and] engage in serious agrarian reforms that will provide real...
Cuba: Burden of the Embargo
Iván García says that “who suffers the consequences of the embargo most is the average Cuban, not their rulers.”
Sierra Leone : Agrofuels versus Food Security
Michelle Nougoum, in a post published on on afrik.com [fr] points out another case of land leasing in Africa for the purpose of agrofuels in Sierra Leone : “[The Swiss firm] Addax et Oryx intends to exploit 57 000 hectares of lands that is home to 13 000 people for...
Poland: Story of a Bazaar
Michael Dembinski of W-wa Jeziorki tells the story of the Warsaw Bazar Różyckiego – once one of the few marketplaces in communist Poland where sought-after western goods could be purchased
Ukraine: People as Expendables
Taras of Ukraïniana comments on two recent mine accidents in Ukraine, causing 38 deaths, and posts a video [ru] of a miner who says that mine-owners treat their employees as expendables.
China: When the Concept of Tibet Enters the Stock Market
Tibet 5100, high-end mineral water brand, makes its profit by hooking with the China Railway Bureau and is now listed in Hong Kong's stock market. Michelle from interlocals.net translates the story originally written in Chinese at inmediahk.net.
Chile: Starbucks Baristas Hunger Strike for Higher Wages
Chilean Starbucks workers have revealed that their country's baristas are paid less per hour than the cost of a cup of coffee. Three employees are now on hunger strike demanding better working conditions, but Starbucks has yet to even respond to their requests.
Russia: Putin Critical of US Economy
Robert Zeliger of Foreign Policy Passport draws attention to a statement on US economy by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, where he reportedly says that the US is “like a parasite” on the world economy.
