4 May 2011.
By clicking on this story, you may be a speculator if you thought this information might add value to your knowledge base, or your bank account. The only risk is your time.
Oil and other market speculators basically act in the same way, except they are willing to take monetary chances in exchange for higher profits. For some reason, many politicians and much of the public currently despise that mentality.
3 May 2011.
When Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center on 9/11 nearly ten years ago, they sought to achieve two separate effects. The first was obvious – causing the death of human lives. The second however was symbolic in nature. By attacking America’s symbol of economic might, Osama bin Laden was foreshadowing his true desires – to significantly hurt the US economy.
Three years later, Osama released a videotape where he explicitly stated his intentions to bankrupt the US.
Viral videos are no longer the phenomenon they used to be. Common themes include humor, children, sports and videos that are interactive. More and more companies connect with their consumers and market new products through viral videos. The hit and miss nature means sometimes, a viral video campaign can actually fire back – as was the case for Groupon’s Super Bowl ads that sent their revenues plummeting after the ads aired.
The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture in China is taking immediate action to help farmers facing an oversupply of vegetables that’s lead to a fast fall in prices. On one hand, the drop in prices has been expected by Chinese policy makers to cool off soaring consumer inflation.
The cost to the farmers however, is far too dear. Some are even destroying produce as vegetables from north China ripened early to join a market already saturated with vegetables from south China.
30 April 2011.
No one seems to really know the real cost of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Royal Wedding that took place in Westminster yesterday – but they’re taking a good guess. Some reports put the cost as high as £50 million, and nothing lower than £30 million. That’s still under the £70 million it cost Charles and Di to tie the knot in 1981.
Gas prices are on the rise in the US, land of cheap gas. President Obama and the Republicans have been going head to head over the energy policy – the president wants to repeal oil tax subsidies, House Speaker John Boehner issued a statement that oil companies should “pay their fair share”.
The emerging and developing economies are expected to drive global trade growth by more than 8 percent annually in 2011 and 2012 according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the five largest emerging economies in the world, account for 18 percent of global trade and about 45 percent of current growth. While Brazil, Russia and South Africa focus primarily on raw material exports, India and China’s key exports lie in manufacturing and services.
The emerging markets was a term coined by World Bank economist Antoine W.
A key characteristic of emerging and developing economies is the shift from agriculture to the industrial and services industries. While agriculture is often a vital component for an emerging economy’s GDP, most countries seek to diversify into more high-value industries. One example of this is China. In 2001, agriculture was responsible for 17.7 percent of China’s GDP while industries and services sector made up 49.3 percent and 33 percent respectively.
While emerging and developing economies promise the most growth compared to more advanced economies, its potential is often accompanied by higher risks and greater uncertainty. At an individual level, this uncertainty is higher in countries with volatile social and political environments. However, a global and all-encompassing view of emerging and developing economies indicates rapid economic growth and better investment opportunities, owing to larger markets such as China and India.
