We are a little more than a month away from OPEC’s next meeting in Vienna on December 4, 2015.
OPEC altered the course of the oil markets last year when it decided to cast aside its traditional role of maintaining balance through production cuts. Instead, it pursued a strategy of fighting for market share, contributing to an immediate rout in oil prices. WTI and Brent then went on to dive below $50 in the weeks following OPEC’s decision.
In the last 12 months, Maria Sorkhi started a photography business, Sima Mahboobifard began selling leather bags, and the Dendo brothers – Rony, Luay, and Duraed – began their photography and videography business, while Bassam Jabar set up a business to sell his artwork.
At first glance, these are just everyday stories of entrepreneurs in Australia. What sets them apart is that they have only been in Australia since 2013. They arrived not as wealthy business migrants, but as penniless refugees from Iran and Iraq.
Franchising is a pervasive business model in contemporary Australia. Many of the best-known brands, including those in fast food, retailing, coffee, car maintenance, and other services are or have become part of franchise operations. According to the Franchising Australia there are almost 1200 franchising formats (brands) operating and an estimated 70000 units operate as franchisees while 9000 units are franchisor owned and operated.
The industry represents around 4% of Australian businesses and directly employs around 460,000 people, according to Franchising Australia 2014.
The Labor Party’s guidelines on the “sharing economy,” released last week, are a positive development for those concerned with the unfettered growth of businesses like Uber, Airbnb and others in the so-called “collaborative economy.”
Concern had centred on the propensity of these platform-based businesses to operate with scant regard for existing legal frameworks and industry norms –- as typified by Uber’s global assault on any regulatory barrier it perceives as inhibiting its freedom to operate or expand.
October has been billed as a pivotal month in which indebted shale companies would see their credit lines cut, precipitating a faster consolidation in the industry that would sow the seeds of a rebound.
Despite cries of foul play, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that the UK steel industry has lost its edge – it was actually lost a while ago. The official line – low prices and a global glut brought on by excess Chinese supply and low demand – is true to some extent. However, it tells only part of the story.
Airbnb, Dropbox and Reddit are all companies that emerged out of tech accelerators. These incubators of talent have been a crucial component in turning tech start-ups into businesses that can stand on their own two feet. As well as giving needy new companies financial support and office space, they play an important role in helping them develop through mentoring.
It is now not uncommon for 11-year-olds to be diabetic. I see one reason for it every time I check out at my local Safeway in Washington. The candy is right there at the cash register, waiting to be eaten.
It’s time to think small when it comes to identifying growth areas in the global economy. For the past 15 years, since coining the BRIC acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the world’s biggest emerging economies have been the focus for discussion on growth opportunities outside of western developed markets. However, with a slowdown in China and a credit downgrade for Brazil, it is getting harder to view the BRICs story as a simple, grand narrative of gilded opportunity for investors and businesses alike.
Earlier this month, US companies operating in Europe got some unwelcome news: the Data Transfer Pact between the European Union and the United States, more commonly known as “Safe Harbor,” is invalid.
For over 15 years, Safe Harbor had ensured that companies with EU operations could transfer online data about their employees and customers back to the United States despite stark differences between US and European privacy law.
