MEXICO FD | By David Brunat | Think small, invest big. That’s the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report advice on Latin America. While the continent’s larger economies are apparently shrinking or stalling, the usually forgotten small fishes continue to grow and have become very interesting places for business.
MADRID | By JP Marin Arrese | Markets are largely disregarding the Tea Party zealots’ threat to shut down both the Federal administration and the country’s ability to honour its obligations. They bet a last-ditch attempt to find a compromise, will break the current deadlock.
WASHINGTON | By Jerome C. Glenn via BBVA Openmind| Although many of the trends and possible future developments explained in this chapter can be quite depressing, based on sixteen years of research on the 15 Global Challenges identified by The Millennium Project, I have come to the conclusion that we have the resources and ideas to address them, and that there is more agreement about how to build a better future than is evident in the media, yet decision-making and institutional capacity — so far — is insufficient to make the decisions fast enough and on the scale large enough to build a better future.
By Ray Kwong | Despite the hoopla around China’s new free trade zone which opened on Sunday, details are sparse on exactly how the promise of economic liberalization will help boost the economy.
THE CORNER TEAM | “Banking Union is a decisive step to overcome fragilities and assymetric shots that we have seen within the euro-zone,” says Thomas Mirow from Nordbank at Global Economic Symposium (GES) 2013, which is being held in Germany’s Kiel.
SAO PAULO | Bu Marcus Nunes | What Japan needs to do is keep doing what Abenomics said it would. Since their explicit target is 2% inflation, they will have to ‘factor out’ the tax increase. In the past they didn’t and we know what happened. If the BoJ’s Kuroda does his job well Japan has a fighting chance to progress, and the median calculation of economists that expect a short-term contraction following the tax will not pan out.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | A game of political chicken between Republicans and Democrats ended in failure on Monday. The U.S. government is partially shutdown, which may cost the economy as much as 1 billion a week. Check out who is affected and who isn’t. And bear in mind this is just an appetizer for the real havoc: the debt crush is announced for October 17.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Look at her dancing, spinning around and quitting. Her name is Marina Shifrin and she used to work for Taiwanese animation firm Next Media (yes, the one famous for its disruptive videos about Internet censorship in China). She says her company is great but basically has sucked her life, and journalism is dead for her. May be online marketing isn’t: her clip has gone viral with more than 1 million viewers so far.
THE CORNER OP-ED | By Ana Fuentes | A parliamentary commission in Spain has recommended that the country puts its clocks back an hour to rationalize working days, starting at 9am and ending at 5pm. And, against what many foreigners think, the aim is not to have more time for naps nor nightlife: most Spaniards still work during their lunch break but don’t get home until 8 or 9. (For the record, they don’t all dance flamenco either.)
THE CORNER’S FRIDAY WRAP-UP | Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer Cicero, who vainly tried to uphold principles in the final civil wars that destroyed the Republic once told his traitor, Catilina: “Quosque tandem abutere Catilina patientia nostra” (How long, O Catiline, will you abuse our patience?). This week that very same Senate in Italy is preparing to expel Berlusconi, who is threatening to topple Prime Minister Letta.