The World Economic Forum has released its latest Global Risks 2012 annual report and warned of severe income inequality as the biggest global risk. According to the panel of experts put together by the World Economic Forum, global warming and failure of regulation make up the other top three global risks.
1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally every year. While carelessness is the main source of blame for food waste in the developed world, the annual food waste in developing countries often comes down to poor infrastructure development and post-harvest losses.
Organised crime syndicates in Italy, i.e. the mafia, are now the “number one bank” in the country, claimed a report by anti-crime group SOS Impresa on Tuesday.
US President Barack Obama is planning to form a government task force that will enforce US trade rules around the world, though people closer to the matter claim that the task force’s specific purpose would be to target and monitor China for possible trade and commercial violations.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has championed the rights of investors to veto executive pay, saying that it’s wrong for salaries of the top echelons “to keep going up and up and up”, even when they fail to deliver results. Instead, Cameron calls for greater empowerment of shareholders, especially when it comes to voting rights on top pay packages.
In 2011, the total investments in renewable energy in Africa rose from $750 million in 2004 to $3.6 billion. By 2020, this sum is expected to grow to $57 billion – a staggering 1,583 percent increase in nine short years. Will Africa be able to do what it takes to ensure its energy future?
First, the bad news. Although Africa has vast fossil and renewable energy sources, only twenty percent of its population has direct access to electricity and in some rural areas, four out of five people are completely without power.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has offered Scottish people the opportunity to vote on a possible breakaway from the rest of the United Kingdom, but only if the referendum occurs within the next 18 months and be legally binding without any option for greater devolved powers, reported the BBC on Monday.
A quick preview of the key economic events for the upcoming week:
Last week’s economic and employment data from the world’s largest economy, the United States, brought much relief for global markets.
According to Fed data, the United States gained 200,000 payroll jobs in December, while official unemployment continued its downward trend, dipping to its lowest level in 3 years at 8.5 percent.
Monday, January 9
Remember the Occupy Movement, the campaign against the ultra rich “1 percent,” corporate greed, socio-economic inequality? Latest research has found that the United States holds a disproportionate amount of wealth in the world, with American’s making up 48 percent of the world’s “1 percent.”
China’s State Council Information Centre is planning to broadcast a 24-hour television channel in New York starting sometime in the first quarter of this year, in order to wield greater cultural influence overseas as well as to curb the spread of foreign influence on Chinese society.
