Category: Economy

Good Ol’ Boy At Apple, Tim Cook’s Unique Path To CEO With A Conscience

Post author By lmacret
Post date March 13, 2016

Apple CEO Tim Cook in San Francisco last September Karl Mondon/TNS/ZUMA

ROBERTSDALE — There are few clues that this is the home town of Apple chief executive Tim Cook, the place where he said his “most improbable journey” began and where he forged the beliefs that today put him at the center of a national debate over privacy. His name is not noted on the town’s welcome signs along the main drag, Route 59. There’s nothing in the local chamber’s brochures, and the local paper rarely has anything about him. His old high school keeps a glass case celebrating former NFL running back Joe Childress, Class of 1952, but not the […]

Tags apple, fbi, gay, homosexuality, privacy, Robertsdale, south africa, tim cook

Economy

What’s Really Driving The End-Of-Cash Clamor

Post author By
Post date March 12, 2016

The future? frankieleon

The temptation to get rid of coins and paper bills is evidence of the failure of the monetary policy of central banks, which has led to negative interest rates.

Tags bitcoin, digitalization, ECB, End of Cash, france, imf, qe, Quantitative easing

Economy Society

The Pitfalls Of Positive Workplace Feedback

Post author By
Post date March 8, 2016

Johnny Magnusson/Free Stock Photo

BERLIN — Employees at German companies say they don’t get enough pats on the back, their superiors too stingy in praising a job well done. But even amid such rising expectations for positive reinforcement, some experts warn that managers must dole out praise in moderation. Too much approval, for a variety of reasons, can prove […]

Tags ceo, Corporation, Feedback, Gerd Bucerius, germany, human resources, management, Praise, Work ethics

Economy Society

How French Art Police Are Hunting ISIS Antiquities Racket

Post author By
Post date March 7, 2016

Cella of the Temple of Bel (destroyed in 2015) Bernard Gagnon

NANTERRE — He’s got Palmyra on his mind. Sitting as his desk in the judicial police office in Nanterre, near Paris, Ludovic Ehrhart is staring at his holiday pictures: four black-and-white snapshots of the ancient Syrian city. He put them up last summer, just after ISIS started to destroy it. He’s been to Palmyra twice, […]

Tags Akhenaten, antiquity, france, Nefertiti, painting, Picasso, robbery, sculpture, theft, tutankhamun

Economy Eyes on the U.S. Society

Marketer’s Ruse: How To Foment Popularity

Post author By
Post date March 6, 2016

A deep love Grant Robertson

Restaurant, cell phone and clothes: People usually buy what others appear to want, so companies use the illusion of low supply to create new demand. But there are paradoxes to human instincts and desires.

Tags abercrombie, apple, brand, demand, germany, line sitting, marketing, queueing, waiting

Economy Future Society

Arianespace, A Clever European Challenger To SpaceX

Post author By
Post date March 3, 2016

Arianespace launch in May 2015 Official Instagram account/ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE

European rocket company Arianespace doesn’t get the attention of Elon Musk’s U.S.-based upstart SpaceX, but its approach may be better equipped for the long haul.

Tags aerospace technology, aircraft engineering, Ariane rocket, Arianespace, france, silicon valley, space race, spacex

Economy Society

Drug Rehab Comes To War-Torn, Opium-Rich Afghanistan

Post author By lmacret
Post date March 2, 2016

Afghan drug addicts lay on their beds during their treatment at a hospital in the capital in 2012. Ahmad Massoud/ZUMA

KABUL — Here at Pol-e Sokhta, in a spot in western Kabul where hundreds of drug addicts gather each day, Afghan government workers have become a regular presence. The government workers have been given the mission to round up the city’s drug users and move them to a former NATO base, less than 10 kilometers away. The Afghan ministries of counter-narcotics, public health and economy have joined together in the initiative to provide treatment for drug addicts at the camp. Salamat Azimi, Minister of Counter Narcotics, says the state has the means to treat thousands of drug addicts, and will […]

Tags afghanistan, Camp Phoenix, campaign, drug addiction, drug business, drug users, narcotics, rehab center

Economy Society

Legalizing It In Jamaica: Marijuana Laws Mellow In Land Of Rasta

Post author By
Post date February 26, 2016

In Grange Hill, Jamaica Greg Walters

OLD HARBOUR — Jerry and his brother Steve, both in their thirties, thin and gnarled, are farmers without land. They live in Old Harbour, a dusty village in Saint Catherine Parish, an hour west of the capital Kingston, and rent small plots from area landlords and grow fruits and vegetables that they sell on the […]

Tags cannabis, ganja, growing, jamaica, legalization, tourism

Economy Ideas

Why Globalization Cannot Be Stopped

Post author By
Post date February 25, 2016

About to drop Yogendra Joshi

Trade in goods and even services may be slowing for now, but globalization retains its momentum with migration and an unstoppable flow of ideas. Blame human nature.

Tags argentina, economic growth, free trade, giacomo rizzolatti, globalization, international, mondialization

Economy Future

NREL, The Mega Colorado Lab Leading Renewable Energy Revolution

Post author By
Post date February 25, 2016

A wind turbine more than 260 feet above the ground at NREL US Dept of Energy

On the dusty, deserted plains of Colorado, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) works with researchers and the world’s top companies to create the consumer economy of the future, which will be much more environmentally conscious.

Tags COP-21, efficiency, environment, new technologies, renewable energies, united states

Economy Future

China Gets Its Wires Crossed With Electric Car Boom

Post author By
Post date February 24, 2016

An electric fueling station in Beijing Luo Xiaoguang/Xinhua via ZUMA

A rash of state subsidies in China has helped multiply electric car sales, but it has also warped industrial policy and undercut the market.

Tags Auto Mobile Industry, car, china, electric, Energy Vehicle, hybrid

Economy Geopolitics Ideas

Why An Imperfect China Is The World’s Last Best Hope

Post author By
Post date February 19, 2016

Investors are seen in a stock trading hall in Beijing, China, in 2009. Li Xiaoguo

From the Middle East to Europe and the United States to Asia, from geopolitics to economics, the world has fallen into widespread chaos. But there is cause for hope.

Tags China's growth, economics, foreign affairs, france, geopolitics, global chaos, globalization, international relations, refugee crisis

Economy Future

Electric Future, Taking On Tesla In The South African Bush

Post author By
Post date February 17, 2016

Touring on the Letamo Game Farm Letamo Game Farm gallery

LETAMO GAME FARM — After the depressing outskirts of Johannesburg, with its paved-over shopping centers, garages and the smell of greasy chicken, the countryside isn’t all that much better. At the local gas station, there are men in bush hats and shorts, all khaki and autumn-colored, looking like they’re either going for a friendly day […]

Tags batterie, letamo, liberty won, lite, south africa

Economy Geopolitics

Universal Income, A Utopian Ideal Or Economic Pragmatism?

Post author By
Post date February 16, 2016

At the French unemployment office Pole Emploi

Given our growing concerns about ‘traditional’ employment, some say paying people a basic living income should not be linked to work. The idea is appealing, but requires a leap of faith few politicians are willing to take.

Tags basic, benefits, france, income, universal

Economy

Why Hong Kong Is So Crucial For China’s Global Ambitions

Post author By
Post date February 12, 2016

Growing in Hong Kong Pasu Au Yeung

-Analysis- HONG KONG — “Super Coordinator” has quickly become the term-of-choice for the Hong Kong government to define its relationship with mainland China. Pronounced for the first time last June by Leung Chun-ying, the Chief Executive of the former British colony, the expression is used to emphasize Hong Kong’s crucial role in linking the mainland […]

Tags china, Chinese Mainland, Financial Center, Maritime Silk Road, Super Coordinator, Trade Hub

Economy Future

20,000 Cables Under The Sea The Internet Needs To Survive

Post author By
Post date February 11, 2016

Aboard a submarine cable ship Alcatel Lucent screenshot

Our connected lives don’t happen as if by magic. Nearly 99% of intercontinental traffic, such as Internet and telephone, is made possible by giant underwater cables buried deep on the ocean floor.

Tags Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, cable ship, Fiber optic cable, france, Ile de Sein, internet, submarine, Telecommunication

Economy

Chinese Super-Rich Storm Los Angeles Real Estate Market

Post author By
Post date February 8, 2016

Up for grabs Ringo Chiu/ZUMA

In the past year, the greater Los Angeles area has seen a surge in the number of Chinese buyers interested in the area’s real estate — in particular, those mega-properties valued above the $15 million mark. The trend has been confirmed by both L.A.”s high-end real estate brokerage firm, John Aaroe Group, which has recently […]

Tags housing, John Aaroe, luxury, properties, real estate, united states

Economy Food / Travel Society

The Growing Appeal Of “Ugly Food”

Post author By
Post date February 7, 2016

Les Gueules CassÃ©es products in French supermarkets Gueules CassÃ©es Facebook page

There was a time not long ago when imperfect produce was discarded for its aesthetic shortcomings. But now concerns about food waste are giving some not-so-pretty products a new lease on life.

Tags food industry, food waste, france, gueules cassÃ©es, supermarkets, Tous antigaspi

Economy Eyes on the U.S.

American Banking Hegemony, A View From Europe

Post author By
Post date February 4, 2016

The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street Richard B. Levine/Levine Roberts/Newscom/ZUMA

More than eight years after the beginning of the financial crisis, U.S. banking groups are dominating the financial world more than ever. This leadership has technical, political and legal grounds. But it also relies on one quintessentially American quali

Tags banks, crisis, economy, subprimes, united states, wall street

Economy

Rio Olympics: Mass Unemployment Fears As Works Wind Down

Post author By
Post date February 2, 2016

Builders work on the construction site of the Olympic and Paralympic Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015 Xu Zijian/ZUMA

RIO DE JANEIRO — If the much-criticized but equally awaited Rio Summer Olympics have had one advantage, it’s that they have shielded the Rio de Janeiro construction industry from the massive layoffs seen elsewhere in Brazil. But as the August launch of the Games approches, so does the fear that some 35,000 workers are going […]

Tags brazil, employment, financial crisis, investment, olympic games, sanitation, sports

Economy Geopolitics Ideas

Brazilian Lessons For Argentina, Cut Deficits Or Face Doom

Post author By
Post date February 1, 2016

Brazilian colors in Buenos Aires Hernan Pinera

Fiscal deficits cannot be ignored or maintained through creative financing mechanisms, given their potential to turn into long-term debt able to sink entire economic programs.

Tags argentina, da silva, deficit, inflation, kirchner, macri, macroeconomics, rousseff

Economy Future

Venom To Cure Disease, On The Frontier Of Modern Snake Medicine

Post author By
Post date January 31, 2016

A biologist shows a drop of venom that comes from the fangs of a ''Yarara'' snake in Buenos Aires, Argentina. [E]Martin Zabala/Xinhua/ZUMA

A European program has been researching how the pharmaceutical industry could use the peptides found in venomous creatures for new therapeutic medicines.

Tags france, medecine, mini proteins, peptide, pharmaceuticals, venom, Venomics

Economy Society

Foreigners Accept Red Tape To Buy Property In Vietnam

Post author By lmacret
Post date January 30, 2016

Ho Chi Minh City Paul Arps

Vietnam has come a long way since the real estate bubble burst a few years back.
Buyers are scooping up properties since a new law opened the market to foreigners.

Tags estate, foreign, property, vietnam

Economy Future Society

Why Top Software Developers Choose To Go Freelance

Post author By lmacret
Post date January 27, 2016

Coder James Knight, a former Google employee, shown on a rooftop in Brooklyn, 2015 Chris Goodney

NEW YORK — James Knight recently made an unorthodox career move for a 27-year-old coder: quitting a well-paid job writing software for Google to go freelance. No more catered lunches, gold-plated benefits or million-dollar views from the search giant’s Manhattan office. Knight is willing to sacrifice those perks because, he says, as an independent he’s pulling down about twice as much as he did at Google — and with more freedom. In March, Knight and his wife plan to hopscotch across Europe while writing code for a dating app and a self-portrait app, among others. “I’d rather control my own […]

Tags coding, computer industry, freelance, google, software, Toptal, united states

Economy Geopolitics Terror in Europe

The Multi-Billion-Euro Pricetag Of Shutting Down Schengen

Post author By
Post date January 26, 2016

Will Bakker

With six European Union countries instituting new border controls, the end of three decades of free movement comes with a heavy price.

Tags borders, eu, jean-claude juncker, migration, netherlands, schengen, terrorism

Economy Future

Uber And Taxis Have A Common Enemy: Say Hello To Heetch

Post author By
Post date January 26, 2016

Heetch team (top left), ride (top right) and users (bottom) Heetch's official Facebook and Instagram

Car-sharing in France has gotten complicated. Though Uber was forced to shut down its amateur driver service UberPop, another app is antagonizing competitors by continuing to operate, and working with “suggested” prices.

Tags driving, france, ridesharing, sharing economy, uberization, vtc

Economy Future

The Ethiopian AI Geeks Building Cutting-Edge Robots

Post author By
Post date January 25, 2016

Man and machine in the heart of Africa. Emeline Wuilbercq

ADDIS ABABA — The black-and-white robot stopped and its eyes, two small red lights, suddenly lit up. Rotating about 90 degrees, it recognized the blue plastic ball a few centimeters away, came forward and kicked it. “The robot is Chinese, but the processor is made in Ethiopia,” Getnet Aseffa explains. “A student developed it, and […]

Tags artificial intelligence, ethiopia, high-tech, ICog Labs, programming, robots, technological leap

Economy

Alibaba To Baidu, China’s Internet Giants Duck Responsibility

Post author By
Post date January 24, 2016

Online at an Internet cafe in Huaibei, China Zhengyi Xie/Cpressphoto/ZUMA

-Analysis- BEIJING — Over the last week, Tieba, an online forum of Baidu, China’s largest search engine, has sparked a new kind of online controversy that should be a warning around the world. One of the Tieba bulletin board forums, which had originally been created by patients with hemophilia — a genetic blood disorder — […]

Tags alibaba, baidu, china, microblogging, tencent, tieba, wechat

Economy Future Ideas

Turkey’s Frantic, Failing Quest To Be A Technology Leader

Post author By
Post date January 21, 2016

Taking a closer look in Istanbul. Akk-rus

-Op-Ed- ISTANBUL — Anyone who has ever visited a toy store with a child who doesn’t really know what he wants can understand Turkey“s technological predicament. There is the mad run from shelf to shelf, listening to the child explain why he desperately needs toy after toy. And then, in the end, there is the […]

Tags ASELSAN, electronics, google, intel, R&D, samsung, turkey, volkswagen

Economy Society

Austerity Carnival: Brazil’s Economic Crisis Spoils Party Season

Post author By
Post date January 20, 2016

Carnival dancers in Rio in 2015 Peter Bauza/ZUMA

More than 50 cities have canceled or drastically cut traditional Carnival extravaganza due to public cutbacks. But some say killing the party will only make things worse.

Tags austerity, brazil, celebrations, inflation, Recession, samba

Economy Ideas

The “Zombie” Enterprises Holding Back The Chinese Economy

Post author By
Post date January 18, 2016

Factory in Zhejiang, China Peter

China’s avoidance of market rules have given rise to bloated, wasteful and debt-laden state-owned enterprises that continue to be funded despite their lack of merit. An overhaul of these must be on tap to improve the country’s stagnating e

Tags business, china, market competition, Peter Coy, restructuration, state-owned enterprises

Economy Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

How The Minimum Wage Battle Will Shape 2016 U.S. Election

Post author By
Post date January 15, 2016

Demonstrating in NYC for a raise in the minimum wage. Otto Yamamoto

With the primary season about to kick off, questions about economic inequality — and the fact that even with jobs, many Americans can’t climb out of poverty — are taking center stage.

Tags election, minimum, presidential, united states, wage

Economy Ideas

The Difference Between Chinese And Western Billionaires

Post author By
Post date January 13, 2016

RMB banknotes at Beijing's Bank of China Tpg/ZUMA

A disproportionately high number of China’s so-called “super-rich” came from real estate. It’s the first clue about what’s wrong with Chinese wealth accumulation.

Tags alibaba, baidu, billionaires, china, industry, tencent, tycoons, wealth

Economy Society

Freelance Or Bust? Stitching A Safety Net For Workers 2.0

Post author By
Post date January 10, 2016

Where do I sign? David Martyn Hunt

The boom of platforms for freelance workers, on the Uber model, presages a world where the wage system will no longer dominate. This will require new social protections for the good of workers — and the economy.

Tags france, freelance, independent, regulations, worker

Economy

Mexican Money (Big Money!) Goes Shopping in Spain

Post author By
Post date January 6, 2016

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim gobbling up Spanish business Prensa Internacional/ZUMA

Five centuries after Spanish conquistadors took over Mexico, Mexican billionaires are busy buying up chunks of Spain. After four years of recession, it was the perfect match between cash-rich customers and a needy economy.

Tags azteca, caixa, carlos sim, economy, food, investment, market, spain

Economy

Lamborghini In China, Racing To Improve Reputation

Post author By
Post date January 1, 2016

Visitors view Lamborghini sports cars at the 2013 International Automobile Exhibition in Taiyuan. Fan Minda/Xinhua/ZUMA

BEIJING — As it marks the 10th anniversary of its entry into China, Lamborghini is undergoing a major rebranding operation — and one that cuts against the current. While virtually all other luxury carmakers have focused on attracting younger customers, the iconic Italian sports car brand wants to appeal instead to a more mature customer […]

Tags automobiles, china, luxury, rich chinese, sports cars

Economy Future Green Or Gone

Behind The Musk: A Foreign Eye On The Tesla Car Revolution

Post author By
Post date December 30, 2015

Assembling the Tesla Model S at the carmaker's plant in Fremont, California Patrick Tehan/TNS/ZUMA

Perhaps just as fascinating as the electric cars is the company’s founder and the genuinely earnest ideal among employees to make the world a better place.

Tags electric car industry, electric cars, elon musk, germany, green revolution, high-end disruptor, hype circle, sustainable cars, Tesla company

Economy Eyes on the U.S. Food / Travel Future Geopolitics Green Or Gone Ideas Migrant Lives Society Syria Crisis Terror in Europe

10 Most Popular Worldcrunch Articles Of 2015

Post author By
Post date December 30, 2015

Bill Ingalls/NASA/ZUMA

Hey Donald Trump, Hugo Chavez Would Be So Proud CHILE / America Economia, Aug. 25 Jihadism As Nihilism, An X-Ray Of Homegrown Terror In France FRANCE / Le Monde, Dec. 3 The Siberian Fasting Cleanse For Body And Mind RUSSIA / Le Temps, Aug. 17 El Chapo Escape, When Income Inequality Breeds Corruption MEXICO / […]

Tags articles, best of 2015, donald trump, france, journalism, paris attacks, throwback, year 2015

Economy Society

In France, When Islam Enters The Workplace

Post author By
Post date December 26, 2015

Francesco Capirsi

Both private and public French organizations are trying to strike the right balance between respecting beliefs among Muslim employees and keeping company welfare in mind.

Tags delicate, france, issue, muslims, paris attacks, religion, worplace

Economy Eyes on the U.S. Food / Travel Future Geopolitics Green Or Gone Ideas Migrant Lives Smarter Cities Society Syria Crisis Terror in Europe The Endless War

Worldcrunch Staff Picks Our 24 Best Stories Of 2015

Post author By
Post date December 25, 2015

Juan Carlos Hernandez/ZUMA

PARIS — Our fair-minded but ever subjective staff of journalists, translators and editors have chosen what we believe to be the year’s most engaging and provocative stories. Why The Chinese Are So Good, But Rarely Great CHINA / Caixin, Jan .5 That Slippery Euphemism We Call “Cultural Differences” FRANCE / Worldcrunch, Jan. 15 Artificial Intelligence […]

Tags 2015, articles, france, interesting, journalism, news, year