Worldcrunch
SIMFEROPOL — One year after Russia annexed Crimea, oyster farmer Sergey Koulik is exultant about both the future and the past. “Russian Crimea means new markets, more business and state funding,” he says. “Crimea’s return to the mother country is a good history lesson for all of Europe.” Koulik owns the only oyster farm in […]
Ambitious and unafraid to anger foe or friend, the 38-year-old Speaker of Parliament may be Greece’s most powerful woman. And fighting corruption is at the top of her agenda.
Scandals and stagnation, crime and curbs on democracy are spreading across the region. Are things about to take a sharp turn back to the bad old days?
It’s the consultants …
The announcement of major layoffs for Tesla China, the entrepreneur’s electric car company, prompts a deeper analysis of Musk as manager.
President Rousseff has abandoned big spending projects in favor of currency devaluation to fuel exports. Will it save her presidency? And more importantly, this BRICS nation’s floundering economy?
MOSCOW — I’m going to share my own observations about myself, yes, but also about my neighbors in the countryside. I spent last summer in a 100-year-old house outside of Moscow. In between writing articles, I maintained two beehives and pruned old apple, cherry and currant trees. I harvested. I made jam and extracted honey. […]
Just as companies are graded by social rating agencies on their environmental record, they’re now being judged on whether they have ties with Israel. It’s the latest weapon in the ongoing “BDS” Boycott movement to protest Israel’s
-OpEd- TEL AVIV — Israel’s high-tech industry has experienced a major boost in recent years. The 2014 numbers are notable: a record $3.4 billion in investments and mergers and acquisitions valued at $7 billion. There was also an increase in venture capital funds raised, totaling approximately $914 million. None of this is by chance. The […]
New restrictions and the plunging ruble change the calculus for visiting migrant workers, who have helped fuel Russia’s past growth. Yet another sign of a fragile national economy.
Greeks are used to making history, and they’re at it again. What will last month’s election victory of Alexis Tsipras and his anti-austerity Syriza party mean for the future beyond Greece? And more specifically, could it mark a turning point for the urgent global issue of environmental change? A not-so-subtle fil rouge exists between economic […]
TEL AVIV — Israel’s diplomatic campaign against the Palestinian Authority and last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza are no doubt among the factors contributing to Israel’s current economic slowdown. A study by economists Joseph Zeira and Tal Wolfson from the Israeli-Palestinian think tank Aix Group offers some data illustrating the differences between the recession […]
Latin American countries have used a decade-long revenue boom to boost prosperity and stabilize their economies. But there is a *productivity problem*.
Moscow sees huge new business opportunity in northern shipping routes. But figuring out the best ways to travel via the Arctic is a massive, and chilly, undertaking.
Demonizing the rich, a pastime of Colombia’s political Left, doesn’t help social progress. Yes, the rich must pay a high share of taxes, but capital and opportunity cross borders like never before.
Yes, an open mind in Europe is necessary, but debt reduction isn’t even in the Greeks’ own interest. It’s time to change the way Greece works.
BOGOTA — The significance of Uber goes well beyond its specific function, which is to connect willing drivers with people who need to move around in a safe, comfortable and punctual manner. The deeper message of the controversial digital application — and others like it — is in the changing way labor and service markets […]
A German take on new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who looks ready to peddle his sense of alienation beyond Greece’s borders? If so, Europe itself is at risk.
The anti-corruption activist, under house arrest in Moscow, says that Putin is pursuing war in Ukraine to consolidate his power and fulfill his ambition to be Russia’s “president for life.”
MOSCOW — When Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating began to rise last year, patriotism crept into Russian consumer preferences, branding experts say, so much so that companies are now catering to this newfound domestic pride. Branding agency Depot WPF recently developed a new design for a juice brand, using elements of traditional Russian painted […]
A mini boom in Chinese-language studies has hit Cambodia, which not only trades with mainland China but also counts many ethnic Chinese among its business leaders.
Revelations of massive corruption at Petrobras come with more than economic consequences. The credibility of the entire state is at stake. All eyes are on President Dilma Rousseff.
He’s coined everything from the PowerBook to Blackberry to your kitchen mop. There’s a method to his magic.
Most carmakers know that the real money isn’t in the car itself but in its parts and components, which are increasingly high-tech. Those who invest in development will win the revenue game.
As prices on oil and other raw materials drop, the cycle of what some call “macroeconomic populism” is hitting a rather tough patch, especially for Argentina and Venezuela.
MOSCOW — If you happen to produce widgets in Russia and sell them in foreign currency, your time has come. Konstantin Babkin, president of a company that produces tractors, is convinced that the ruble should have been devalued long ago. “An excessively strong ruble already killed our airplane construction, food and light manufacturing industries,” he […]
KUCHING — For eight years now, Irwan and his buffalo have worked through the neat rows of palm trees at the United Plantation in Teluk Intan, a town three hours drive north of Kuala Lumpur that overlooks the Straits of Malacca. For just less than 450 euros a month, he collects large clusters of oil-rich […]
Intellectual property laws in China are used (or simply ignored) for the short-term interests of Chinese companies. But that must change if the nation wants to compete globally.
PARIS — Initially a welcomed spark for a global economy in need of a boost, the drastic fall in the price of crude oil — losing half its value since mid-2014 — has now begun to destabilize markets and worry investors and political leaders around the world. Still, this rapidly evolving situation is prompting some […]
The “devs” who code our digital world are so rarefied and vital they can dictate their own terms. Companies do anything to recruit them, but like birds, they tend to fly. A look at this singular species.
YANGON — Burma is ready to boom. The Asia Development Bank estimates that per capita income in the southeast Asian country could increase sixfold by 2030. And another report predicts that the Burmese are poised for a level of economic growth far ahead of the global pace. The evidence of this newfound prosperity in Burma, officially known as Myanmar, is on full display at this Yangon shopping mall, where it’s easy to find products from Thailand or Hong Kong. Just two years ago, none of this would have been possible because foreign products were banned under the military junta. University […]
-OpEd- SÃO PAULO — The ongoing corruption and money laundering scandals at Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras have badly tarnished the image of the company. Once considered as a sort of national treasure, the public firm faces almost daily revelations about kickbacks paid to politicians from oil sales as part of a scheme to buy […]
Though China is officially atheist, Christianity is growing, with believers now outnumbering communists. That’s good news for a huge Bible publisher that supports charities in China and Africa.
The U.S. offers the weakest worker protections, Brazilian employees are entitled to serious severance, the UK’s mandatory notice period is the longest. A quick tour of the global pink slip.
Since 2000, China’s car industry has grown twentyfold. And to maintain strength in the market, German carmakers are creating designs exclusively for Chinese sensibilities.
The past few years have seen Switzerland forced to reveal secret banking details to national authorities. That means a brutal job for the bankers of Geneva
As China faces a glut of graduates with fewer employment opportunites, its education ministry is pushing student entrepreneurship, even if it means dropping out.
Though some top executives have learned the art of apologizing, others compound their company’s PR problems by failing to take responsibility. Welcome to the “aquarium!”
If nothing else, the United States and Cuba stand to earn plenty of cash with a future end to sanctions feeding booms of American exports, Cuban tourism and infrastructure development.
The French may never abandon the notion of mealtime as sacred, but it seems they love their crumpets and chips. France is now the second-largest importer for British food products.