News Desk Archives - Page 358 of 401

Coal Campaign Contributions Capture Congress

As President Obama makes ever clearer his incomprehensible desire to do even more for the corporate sector than he has already,

one industry that will certainly be reaping rewards is the coal industry,

whose contributions in the 2010 mid-term elections were even greater than during the Presidential year of 2008.

Facing a host of new health and safety regulations,

Big Coal spent millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign donations to influence the makeup of Congress

Fed’s Zero Interest Windfall for Private Equity Firms

Thanks to the Federal Reserve’s ZIRP – or Zero Interest Rate Policy –

too-big-to-fail banks and private equity firms can,

in the words of Dire Straits, literally get money for nothing.

The politically-connected Carlyle Group, for example, has gobbled up companies.

Last fall, for example, Carlyle announced a $2.6 billion deal for Syniverse Technologies, a voice and data services provider for telecommunications companies.

Top 10 Economy Trends to Watch Out for in 2011

Good news. There is light at the end of the tunnel in the second decade of the millennium as we put the recession behind us. We learnt valuable lessons from the dark days of the 2007/8 economic crisis.

So how will advances in technology – and how we use it, the emerging of under-developed economies and the next generation in the workplace affect global economy trends?

1. BRIC competition

Russia to Remove Duties on Oil Products Exports to Kyrgyzstan

Belarus will receive about $4 billion of duty free oil from Russia in 2011, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced this week – Russia will also remove all duties on oil product exports to Kyrgyzstan.

Russia: Use of Energy as Political Tool

Russia is one of the largest producer and exporter of natural gas and oil – and has a history of using energy to its political advantage.

Guangdong / Shanghai Export Areas Face Worker Shortages, Higher Wages

Two of China’s main export manufacturing areas are suffering from an acute shortage of migrant workers,

giving laborers more leverage over wages and curtailing the expansion plans of some companies.

The shortfall is especially severe in the service and manufacturing industries.

The regions most affected, both of them coastal, are

East London New High-Tech Hub ???

London’s change-makers have often found a home on the City’s eastern fringe—especially immigrants and artists—

but in recent decades their wares have usually been cultural rather than commercial.

In 2008, though, followers of the technology industry began to talk excitedly about a cluster of internet start-ups

in the Shoreditch area, near the ugly Old Street junction, to the north-east of the financial district.

More Chinese Than Indian Students Now in US Higher Ed

The number of Chinese students studying in the United States surged 30 percent in the 2009-10 academic year,

making China the top country of origin for international students,

according to “Open Doors,” the Institute of International Education’s annual report.

The report found that a record high of 690,923 international students came to the United States for the previous academic year —

nearly 128,000 of them, or more than 18 percent, from China.

Five Reasons Why Capital Won’t Come Cheap Anymore

For three decades leading up to the financial crises, capital was cheaper and more available than ever. People became used to low interest rates and ease of borrowing. Now that the tables have turned, how will global investments and savings shift?

As developing economies embark on one of the biggest building booms in history and China boosts its domestic consumption, global savings growth is constrained. To support the changes in the market, global investments must exceed savings to push real interest rates up.

2011 Hot Trends in Digital Marketing

Marketing in the digital space has taken over. The incidental success of social network channels has enabled companies and organizations to reach consumers on a depth and level never before seen in traditional advertising mediums.

More companies and organizations are advertising online as they realize the internet’s potential to zero-in on their target markets and consumers with more flair and efficiency – and lower costs.

Goldman Retreat on Facebook Raises Issues of Media Complicity in 2008 Global Meltdown

Little more than a week after Goldman Sachs offered its most prized clients a chance to invest in Facebook,

the firm rescinded the opportunity from clients in the United States.