In Beijing, housing price per square meter is as high as $2,000, which means most people who work in the city can’t afford to live there. Government efforts at subsidized housing have fallen short, as China begins to pay the price for its modern
Category: Economy
Op-Ed: Three cheers! The relevant EU states approved the new euro bailout package. There’s just one problem: everybody knows the money is not enough, which is why they are already planning their next steps. Why are politicians ignoring the truth and playi
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China: Gold Vending Machines!
Beijing will be putting into service the first ever gold dispensing ATM during China’s National Day Holiday which begins Saturday. Officials are banking on customers buying gold on the fly out of nervousness about the world economic crisis.
In Mexico City, the Material Girl is getting into the groove – business wise – with an upscale gym called Hard Candy. Madonna may soon expand her exercise-oriented endeavor to Russia, with branches in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
After long development problems, Boeing delivers its first 787 Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways in Japan. The Dreamliner is 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than other planes its size, with other special features including bathroom windows.
At a time when much of the developed world is still mired in a major slowdown, Germany’s 6.2% jobless rate is enviable. But by not counting half the unemployed over the age of 58, Germany might not be giving a true picture of its economic health.
Egypt and Tunisia began 2011 with a revolutionary bang. But over the course of the year their respective economies have gone flat. Leaders from the Arab Spring countries know that stoking economic growth may be the best chance to make democracy last for t
The top German fashion house that bears the name of famed designer Hugo Boss has commissioned a study to try to clarify his role during the Nazi regime. The study says Boss was not Hitler’s personal tailor, though his company did produce SS unifo
China is an eager customer when it comes to Latin America’s raw materials. But it has proven to be far more finicky when it comes to the region’s value-added goods. Even Pollo Campero, Guatemala’s far-reaching fried chicken chain, failed to gain a foothol
German tax advisor Markus Zwicklbauer has stopped paying his taxes. Fiscal authorities can have his money, he says, provided they prove it’s being used for the common good of German citizens – and not “wasted” abroad.
Mounting debt in Greece, Italy and elsewhere in the EU are raising serious questions about the future of the single currency. Things look different in Iceland, after a grave banking crash in 2008 makes the tarnished euro still look like a shiny replacemen
While red and white continue to be the most common colors for wine, pink is starting to gain ground. In France, the world’s leading producer of rosé wine, sales are up thanks to increases in both consumption and price.
Analysis: After last week’s arrest of a rogue trader accused of fraud that cost the Swiss bank $2.3 billion, UBS shareholders could actually wind up benefiting from a new structure that splits off the investment banking from the commercial business. But t
Bolivia may be South America’s poorest country, but it now boasts the region’s most global firm, according to AméricaEconomía’s annual “Multilatinas” list. Another surprise? Brazilian’s Petrobras struck oil last year, but fell in the ranking.
The Chinese Industry Ministry has created a new system for monitoring information on all companies that produce food. With awards to the best and a black list for the worst, it is a long-awaited response to a 2008 scandal involving tainted baby milk.
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Europe’s Debt Crisis: A View From China
Op-Ed: Until now, says a top Chinese economist, Europe’s political leaders have failed to find the courage or foresight to solve the debt crisis. But maybe Madame Merkel is changing her tune just in time.
Germany continues to shoulder much of the load when it comes to Europe’s bailout of Greece. For some Greeks, that’s just as it should be. After all, Germany still has billions of euros in unpaid reparations bills from World War II. Die Welt takes a closer
China is already America’s biggest creditor. Now it’s setting itself up as savior of the euro by buying government bonds and company shares. Just how much money is being invested is still not clear. One thing, however, is: China’s moves are very much calc
CPP Studios, a German media group, has no union. It doesn’t need one. Except for its two general managers, CPP’s employees all earn the same amount. They also have equal say in hiring and other management decisions.
Back at HQ in Switzerland, the $2 billion debacle of UBS’s investment banking arm has focused attention on CEO Carsten Kengeter, who used to work for Goldman Sachs, and made his name in the pursuit of “risk”. Now 17,000 employees are slated for job cuts.
A couple who lost 10,000 euros when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt is now suing the Haspa savings bank that sold them the Lehman-backed derivatives. As the German Federal Court nears a decision, disturbing allegations have emerged about the bank’s
Automakers increasingly focused on female clients have teamed up with top designers to attend to female tastes and needs behind the wheel. Meanwhile, the ultimate marketing “Holy Grail” in the auto business is the car that seduces both m
Citing concerns about both productivity and security, some businesses in Britain have begun to block their employees from accessing social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The French government wants to impose an extra tax on sweetened beverages, both as a way to generate revenue in response the country’s growing deficit – and to fight obesity. Now, the Coca-Cola company, which has 3,000 French employees, is fighting back.
Op-Ed: In a surprise move, Switzerland’s central bank has de facto linked the country’s currency to the fate of the euro. Risky as it is, the bold move is welcomed in a country increasingly united by a common fear of recession.
Volkswagen’s smallest model – the up! – will launch in December. We tested it, and much more than the price is right about this little gem of an automobile.
Analysis: The emergency evacuation of Chinese companies from North Africa is a harsh reminder that firms from China must do a better job of integrating in the local environment to realize their dreams of striking it rich in the Arab world.
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Who Is The Real Christine Lagarde?
Op-Ed: Is the former French Finance Minister and current head of the IMF a Euro-booster or Euro-skeptic? The truth is that the question is misplaced. Lagarde’s recent alarmist speech about European banks is a reminder that her first objective should be so
With the price of gold climbing throughout the financial crisis, a Canadian group grows more eager to mine a huge quantity of gold discovered in the Romanian village of Rosia Montana in the region of Transylvania. But local opponents refuse to given up th
Following a similar proposal last week by American billionaire Warren Buffett, 16 of France’s wealthiest people sign a joint public statement calling on higher taxes for the super-rich to respond the the economic crisis.
Anonymous offshore bank accounts are nearly as old as banking itself. While pressure in Europe may be mounting to crack down on tax evaders, there are still plenty of options — from Asia to some familiar European havens.
Analysis: big questions linger after a week in which French bank shares were walloped on the stock market, and some began to wonder if France was the next country whose finances pose major structural risks.
Op-Ed: A countervailing conservative French economist blames the West’s imploding economy on long-accepted Keynesian policies of boosting consumption via public spending.
Lower salaries and a well-structured bailout have made Ireland competitive again, though its export-driven growth is still vulnerable to the fallout of a reeling world economy. Looking for signs of a way out for us all.
Op-Ed: The worldwide debt crisis means that citizens, governments and the financial world must confront a bitter reality: living on credit has to stop, and dangerous deficits should be forbidden. The transition will be painful. But it’s high time.
After an ineffective weekend flurry of phone calls among world leaders, confidence in governments’ ability to react is eroding. And the uglier it gets, the more politicians will focus on their own skin rather than finding a common solution. Buckle up.
With women long shut out of positions of power in Turkish society, the World Bank has created a new program to offer its official stamp of approval for businesses in Turkey that strive for gender parity.
Analysis: How a toxic mix of public debt, slow growth and paralyzed politics has put the global economy on the edge of another crisis.
Charged with redefining the way well-being is measured in Europe’s biggest economy, German social scientist Meinhard Miegel sees the national debt crises as a sign that people will need to find new ways of being satisfied with less.
After outing some high-profile tax evaders by selling Liechtenstein bank account information to investigators, Heinrich Kieber disappeared. Recently, he turned up in Australia, only to disappear again.