Post-World Cup South Africa: Will It Soon Be BRICS ???


To many outsiders, South Africa has long been an unstable business environment with an economy overly dependent on natural resources.

Now, the government and a new breed of entrepreneurs are optimistic that they can change perceptions and climb the industrial ladder.

A group of companies is working in sectors like clean energy, aviation, engineering, military contracting and mining, hoping to benefit from positive growth forecasts for the region.

Published
Categorized as Markets

New Delhi Using FaceBook To Police Traffic Chaos: Kudos AND Criticisms


New Delhi is famous for its snarled traffic and infamous for its unruly drivers —

aggressive rule-breakers who barrel through red lights, ignore crosswalks and veer into bicycle or bus lanes to find open routes.

Now, the city’s overburdened traffic police officers have enlisted an unexpected weapon in the fight against dangerous driving: Facebook.

The traffic police started a Facebook page two months ago,

Majulah Singapura / Onward Singapore: 45 Years of Independence


In honor of the 45th anniversary of the independence of Singapore,

Economy Watch will be on a somewhat abbreviated publication schedule this week.

Be sure to check in for both Features and In the News to keep your finger on the pulse of the world political economy.

Majulah Singapura – Onward Singapore !!!

Published
Categorized as Markets

“Dynasty Trusts” Build Permanent Aristocracy in America


Americans have always assumed that wealth comes and goes.

A poor person can work hard, become rich and pass his money on to his children and grandchildren.

But then, if those descendants do not manage it wisely, they may lose it.

“Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations,” the saying goes, and it conforms to our preference for meritocracy over aristocracy.

This assumption is now being undermined, however, through the increasing use of so-called dynasty trusts.

Hyper-Corrupt Military Contractor Confirms Cheney/Bush Image


From the moment, George W Bush and his controller, “Vice-President” Dick Cheney began the post 9/11 drumbeat for war against Iraq,

we argued it was NOT about oil – everyone knew the post-insane Kuwait invasion of 1990 sanctions had been a “success”,

at least in crippling the Iraqi oil industry for years, as well as millions of Iraqis, above all children –

but, even worse, about no-bid contracts for the former and future employers of Cheney and Bush,

Central America’s Largest Eco-Sphere Faces Multiple, Pressing Threats


Great sweeps of Guatemalan rain forest, once the cradle of one of the world’s great civilizations, are being razed to clear land for cattle-ranching drug barons.

Other parts of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Central America’s largest protected area, have been burned down by small cities of squatters.

Looters and poachers, kept at bay when guerrilla armies roamed the region during the country’s 36-year civil war, ply their trades freely.

IMF & EU Demand Greek “Solution” Include Debt-Crazed National Railway


Losses at Greece’s national Hellenic Railways are mounting at the rate of 3 million euros ($3.8 million) a day.

Its total debt has increased to $13 billion, or about 5 percent of Greece’s gross domestic product.

Now, as a condition of Greece’s financial rescue, the International Monetary Fund is demanding that a solution be found.

The fund and the European Union, which also chipped in to provide the bailout, are requiring that the debt of Hellenic Railways,

Lending to European Businesses Fell in June: ECB


Loans to European companies fell in June – a sign that economic expansion remains tepid,

according to data issued by the European Central Bank in July.

Growth in so-called M3, a measure of bank deposits, short-term debt and other elements of the money supply, rose at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in June after declining 0.1 percent in May.

The average growth for the last three months was zero, the E.C.B. said.

Long-Term Decline in US Standard of Living: Rockefeller Foundation


The economic insecurity of the American families is greater than at any time on record, according to a new report from the Rockefeller Foundation.

One in five Americans, the report found, has experienced a decline of 25 percent or more in available household income in the past – Cheney / Bush / Obama – decade. 

The typical American experiencing such a plunge will require six to eight years just to climb back to previous levels of income.

Turkey’s New “Eastern Face” Attracts Muslim Markets


Well-heeled Syrians had already been coming to the ancient Turkish industrial city of Gaziantep, drawn here by Louis Vuitton purses and storefront signs in Arabic.

But local shop owners say Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish-led flotilla to Gaza in May has solidified an already blossoming friendship between Syria and Turkey, the new hero of the Muslim world.

“People in Syria love Turkey because the country supports the Arab world, and they are fellow Muslims,”