In a world that is closing up, industrial policy is coming back in force. But to succeed, it will have to be reinvented
Category: Economy
For Lijuan Wang, starting a business in Chile was rewarding but also challenging, for being Asian, female, and ‘working at all hours.’
Information technology was supposed to make everything move faster. We need to rethink the way we use our digital tools to serve our real needs.
A new study shows Germany must look for other ways to convince automobile buyers to switch to electric cars. Shall we say: quota?
Economists say it’s worse than the Great Depression. Money is worthless in the ruined South American country, and too many are going hungry.
Rather than fear the so-called Middle Kingdom, European companies should recognize its rapid ascent as an opportunity.
Opposition to the planned Nord Stream 2 gas project had been limited to Europe. But now the Trump administration is challenging it too — with possible sanctions.
Machines replacing us humans: Depending on where you stand (and where you work!), this may sound like a dream or a nightmare. Societies have long been fascinated by the idea of handing over difficult jobs to robots, but individuals quickly start to fear what that may entail for their futures. For all the talk about […]
French managers are trying to transition from assessing attendance to assessing results, the American tradition. But their are drawbacks.
Long before Uber’s multi-billion-dollar IPO, the ride-hailing app has been shaking the economic and legal foundations of the dozens of countries around the world where it’s landed. Not only has it disrupted the transportation sector, but the San Francisco-based digital taxi service has introduced a whole new way for companies to deliver their services and […]
The country faces dramatic debt levels among small-scale coffee farmers, as prices fall on world markets. Some have suggested a fixed minimum price for this key Colombian export.
Already known for its agricultural output, the South American country would do well to grow its reputation as a leader in sustainable food production.
Ensuring employees’ happiness is picking up as a profession in France, but is it slowly becoming a manipulative strategy to generate more productivity?
Older politicians seemingly face an image problem in some Latin American countries. But in this continent of massive corruption scandals, can age really be the issue for voters?
Inflation and recession are doing little to bridge the South American nation’s deep political divide.
The center-right populist Italian government has recently bowed to Chinese flattery, announcing it was ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that will connect Rome and Beijing on a modern Silk Road. At the end of a long, slow path of decline and political confusion, Rome is in bad need of fresh investment to boost […]
As the two superpowers get closer to an agreement, the global trade regime could suffer. History offers several precedents.
The EU desperately needs a new industrial doctrine — and a healthy dose of R&D spending — to revive its economy and fend off outside competition.
AI, Big Data and blockchain are some of the expensive tools that are necessary for precision farming, but their contribution to cost-effective and greener agriculture is making them essential to any farmer wanting to produce food for world markets.
HOLZKIRCHEN — Holzkirchen-Süd rest stop at 1 p.m., when many drivers stop for lunch. Lawyer Nadia Kluge very slowly approaches a truck, keeps a little distance, and starts a conversation. She explains that she is from the German Trade Union Confederation, works for the “Fair Mobility” counseling center in Munich, and is looking to see […]
Elon Musk’s company has asked Washington to intervene about its top European competitor receiving public subsidies. It’s an odd twist in the larger trade battle, as well as the evolving world of space business.
WASHINGTON — How long must you live, how strong must be your memory, to turn back and say: damn it, this world has really changed. Look at the millennials, they seem to be better educated than the boomers, but they are sui generis in their thinking, seemingly inspired and shaped by memes rather than historical […]
The Trump administration had more than America’s commercial deficit with Mexico in mind when it demanded an overhaul of the 25-year-old North American trade deal.
In southwest France, the ‘eusko’ currency has become the centerpiece of an alternative ecosystem that is not obsessed with economic growth.
MUNICH — Do machines replace humans? Since the beginning of industrialization 200 years ago, we earthlings have been plagued by this fear. From the early uprisings of the weavers to the 1970s “job killer computer” slogan, and up until the 2013 thesis of researchers Michael Osborne and Carl B. Frey, according to whom machines could […]
Researchers are sending remote-controlled aircraft into residential neighborhoods to figure out just who’s burning what in their stoves or fireplaces.
MUMBAI — On December 14, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) abruptly terminated its contract with the Indo-Malaysian consortium L&T-Scomi Engineering Bhd to manage the city’s monorail. The authority said that there had been issues such as poor maintenance of the monorail fleet, as many rakes were found unfit for use. This ended another chapter in the sorry saga of a transportation experiment that was doomed from its very inception. India’s first monorail was flagged off on February 1, 2014, with the hope that it would resolve Mumbai’s transport woes — or some of them, at least. The MMRDA […]
The digital behemoths Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have long sold dreamy ideals. In reality, their business models are very conventional. Their extraordinary power is founded solely on their digital leverage.
-Analysis- Two years ago Chinese President Xi Jinping — in the wake of the twin election victories of Brexit and Donald Trump — arrived at the Davos World Economic Forum as the would-be savior of international free trade. “We should adapt to and guide globalization, cushion its negative impact, and deliver its benefits to all […]
The growing alarm after UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal suffered a defeat in Parliament isn’t just unsettling for British politics. Global businesses are on edge as well. Asian companies, whose operations and investments stretch far into Britain and the European continent, have a lot at stake as they face higher tariffs and costs. Tuesday’s setback will do little to cure the anxiety. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has sought to assure business leaders that their no-deal nightmare scenario could still be avoided, but with only 10 weeks left before the UK is due to leave the European […]
-OpEd- TOKYO — The United States has turned to inward-looking politics, while the unifying force of Europe has waned due to rampant populism and confusion in Britain, Germany and France. The pillars that have sustained global stability are seemingly fading away. Given the situation, we cannot but be wary of confusion stemming from the intense […]
It’s high-time for an economic model that curbs waste while boosting productivity. But don’t expect market forces alone to bring about the necessary shift.
The digital relationship between the Asian neighbors has rapidly evolved over the past decade, and India must now think strategically about China’s ambitions in the way Western countries have been forced to do.
-Analysis- PARIS — Did they really have to set France on fire for just a few cents? More than eight weeks after it began, the revolt of the “yellow vests’ still seems hard to grasp. For extremists on all sides who happily fanned the flames, it looked like the much-awaited beginning of the great revolution, […]
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Europe, The Naive Power
Standing alone against the United States and China, Europe must wake up in 2019. And come together.
LE MONDE Monstrous Times Call For Monstrous Fiction: A French Manifesto Against the omnipotence of “reality-show novels’ and costume fiction, a group of young French authors want to reassert the novel as a contemporary art. SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG The Real Invisible Threat To Democracy: Poverty Even in economically powerful Germany, poverty threatens the social fabric. And […]
If Brazil’s new government liberalizes its economy as vowed, it may also seek new and more dynamic trading partners like Chile and the Pacific Alliance.
LE MONDE Full Translation Of French Anti-#MeToo Manifesto Signed By Catherine Deneuve Some 100 prominent French women artists and intellectuals have issued an open letter in Le Monde condemning the movement to call out inappropriate male behavior that erupted in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. CLARIN Interview With A Recovering Hippie Named Paulo […]
There is a lot of planning behind the Christmas window decorations you find around the French capital, and keeping it traditional matters.
SEOUL — A recently retired senior manager from South Korean electronics giant Samsung is back to work — in China. Referred to just by his last name, Kim, had been executive director responsible for electronic chip design (D-RAM) at the Seoul-based multinational. But just before he was set to begin his senior position at the […]