Worldcrunch
-Analysis- NEW YORK — In the celebrated sci-fi comedy “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a supercomputer determines that the answer to life, the Universe, and everything is the number 42. The really difficult task, however, is figuring out what the question was in the first place. Sometimes I feel like interest rate hikes are […]
Brazilian governments again are guilty of spending too much when exports and revenues were booming. A view from neighboring Argentina, where bad economics is endemic.
BEIJING — After enjoying years of double-digit growth, China’s luxury car market has screeched to an unprecedented slowdown with a growth rate of less than 6% for the first half of 2015. But there is one notable exception to the slowdown: the Beijing Benz Automotive Co. (BBAC) — the joint venture between the Chinese state-owned […]
If and when Colombia’s FARC guerrillas stop fighting and peace comes to Colombia, the socio-economic benefits will be multiple and unstoppable. There is only one choice.
It’s home economics, not geopolitics.
The European airplane giant has just opened its first U.S. assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama. Airbus is banking on lower labor costs and an aging American aircraft fleet.
There are billion-dollar fines, but the humiliation is what really hurts the bottom line. This is the lesson VW faces amidst the emissions scandal snowballing in the U.S.
The Mexican government’s recent actions suggest the ruling party yearns for the days when it governed unchallenged through cronyism. But order comes at a price.
Egypt and China made billions worth of energy and infrastructure deals during al-Sisi’s recent visit to Beijing, another sign of growing economic and political ties between the two countries.
Despite some hopes inside and outside of Greece that a political coalition will emerge in Athens to lift the country out of crisis, the nation’s deeper forces do not bode well.
In the provinces of Northeast China, the planned economy of the Mao Zedong era are still firmly in place.
Google is at the Frankfurt auto fair for the first time. What does this mean for German car industry? Will the Silicon Valley giant position itself as a partner or competitor?
When Rio de Janeiro won its Olympic bid back in 2009, Brazil was hailed as a nation on the rise. Now, it is the wrong place at the wrong time to host the 2016 Summer Games.
SAO PAULO — João Batista, a 45-year-old builder, has been unemployed since December. Jailson de Lima, 46, is luckier: He still manages to find construction work from time to time but doesn’t earn enough to pay rent, which has been on a relentless rise. Cristiane dos Santos, 27, lived in a hostel for some time […]
Italian energy giant ENI has reported an unprecedented discovery of gas reserves off the coast of Egypt. It’s no quick fix for the troubled Egyptian economy.
Good times and bad times seep across Latin American borders, as Brazil’s economic crisis begins to slows exports and manufacturing in neighbors like Argentina.
As vegetable wholesalers around Buenos Aires ignore government calls to moderate prices, angry shoppers may resort to their last weapon.
China’s recent currency devaluations have set off a series of economic consequences, both intended and otherwise. And the reach is more global than ever.
What were once quaint and distinguishable summer beach towns have become Disneyfied versions of themselves, identical places to buy knockoff brands and chain store coffee.
This week’s currency setbacks for the world’s second-largest economy have created a financial ripple effect across the globe, with stock market nosedives and raw material prices dropping to dangerously low levels.
Hundreds of thousands of Asian university graduates in both the the U.S. and China are opting for startups and business ventures, not finance or industries, as the path to riches.
TEL AVIV — Despite its ongoing problems, the Palestinian economy has recently shown significant signs of recovery. It’s particularly evident after a period of deep recession, economist Yitzhak Gal notes in an article published by a Tel Aviv University journal. The Palestinian Authority has faced the threat of collapse and, with it, the destruction of […]
STUTTGART — Experts are hailing it as a global novelty, and inventors are celebrating it as the “innovation of an era.” The new euro coins that will be released in spring 2016 have a ring of blue plastic minted into them, and the oddity is expected to make them a desirable export. Coins are typically […]
CAIRO — Etisalat, the smallest of Egypt’s three telecom companies, has gone no-holds-barred in its latest challenge to Vodaphone, “borrowing” one of the latter’s former mascots, a genie, to take several not-so-subtle jabs at the market leader’s star-studded, sing-songy Ramadan ad. In the Etisalat spot, a narrator asks the genie (who’s all decked out in […]
Concepcion is the first place in Colombia where the vast majority of transactions involve electronic banking via mobile phones, staying well ahead of even northern Europe.
Three key factors in the world’s leading economies may slow growth again, and emerging economies could bear the brunt.
CAIRO — Egypt has been bombarded with a constant stream of messages this week about the miracles the New Suez Canal will bring. Not all of the claims hold up to scrutiny. Claim: The new extension will allow two-way traffic along the canal. Reality: This is sort of true — 60% true, to be more […]
Banks are back, the stock market has reopened and all economic signs (including the banks and stock market) are disastrous. Normalcy has returned to Greece! The more serious truth is that the deal signed last month by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras — which includes new austerity measures in exchange for a third bailout to […]
For China’s State-Owned Enterprises, new reforms are aimed at linking senior management pay to the company’s performance.
A German exodus from the church may be chalked up to a small bookkeeping change to federal tax rules. It begs some big questions.
This week we shine the spotlight on Chile: PACT OF SILENCE Testimony provided by a former army conscript has turned national attention to a nearly three-decade-old human rights case and prompted Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to demand an end to the shroud of secrecy that has covered this and other crimes committed during the 17-year […]
-Analysis- BEIJING — Included among Fortune“s recently-published Global 500 rankings of the top corporations worldwide are 106 companies from China, a new record for the country, and now second only to the United States in terms of representation on the prestigious list. But it’s imporant to note that the Global 500 rankings only reflect revenues […]
The Italian aperitif Aperol, served with sparkling wine, has now charmed France, a country with no shortage of its own spirits.
Latin American-style populism is gaining traction in Europe, just when states like Cuba and Venezuela may be heading toward moderation and sensible economics.
It gives new meaning to the concept “community policing.” The explosion of smartphones is allowing people to fight crime from their pocket, wherever they may be. We take a look at five crime-fighting apps from around the world: ITALY: STANDING UP TO THE MAFIA Addiopizzo, a citizen’s organization founded a decade ago on the Italian […]
With the agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program and end sanctions, a look at the energy economics of this new world order. With politics everywhere, as always.
TEHRAN — She could be the future of Iran. It has been a long parade of investors and foreign CEOs in the office of Nazanin Daneshvar, a young female engineer who founded the e-commerce company Takhfifan (Persian for “discount”). She welcomes such visitors, and foreign journalists, who have come to Iran to discover a country […]
President Barack Obama is restoring United States influence on the American continent, a reminder of the importance of neighbors.
The world’s second-largest economy is now Brazil’s top customer for oil, but also its most important buyer of soybeans, iron ore and cellulose.
PARIS — It’s the time of year when bike dealers are all smiles. For three weeks, the Tour de France provides the best advertising possible. But it’s a different story this year and both wholesalers and shopkeepers look a little glum. They fear that cyclists from the Movistar or Katusha teams might win too many […]