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World economy 14th May 2014

Alibaba Continues Net Video Spree by Starting Production Firm

BEIJING | By Liu Ran via Caixin | E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. has taken another step forward in the online video business by establishing a video production business. China Vision Media Group Ltd., which is 60 percent owned by Alibaba and listed in Hong Kong, registered Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. in Hong Kong on April 3, a source who works at Alibaba said. The legal representative of the new company is Dong Ping, the chairman of China Vision.

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World economy 13th May 2014

EU rules against Google in ‘right to be forgotten’ case

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | The EU highest court backing the right to be forgotten has taken Google by surprise. The Internet giant cannot longer refuse to erase personal information of citizens who request it. The sentence, which is setting a crucial precedent in the history of the Web, has raised an intense debate about censorship and the boundaries of tech giants. From now on, no matter how powerful online providers are, in EU soil they will need to comply with European law unless they have “legitimate” reason to do otherwise.

Alibaba

World economy 7th May 2014

What Is Alibaba Worth? That Depends on Tencent

BEIJING |By Jeffrey Towson via Caixin | The valuation of China’s largest e-commerce company is tied to its market share, margins and return on capital, factors its rival can easily impact. Far the low-end of predictions have put Alibaba at US$ 80 billion to US$ 100 billion. The majority of estimates are in the US$150 billion range. And a few analysts are making headlines with predictions of US$ 250 billion and above.

gary becker

World economy 5th May 2014

Gary Becker: the importance of being born at the right time

WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | The last time I interviewed Gary Becker in his office I told him: “I hope to visit you here in ten years.” It had been almost ten years—December 1996—since I had visited him in his office. He smiled and said: “Well, I hope to be around in ten years.” Unfortunately, his wish was not fulfilled. The interview was on June 7, 2006, so he had just around 7 years and 10 months left to live. Becker, however, had exactly the same appearance the first time I had met him in 1996. He was still playing tennis and swimming.

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World economy 2nd May 2014

Piketty’s Wealth Gap Wake Up (Part II)

KANSAS CITY | Via Truman Factor | Marx’s Das Kapital focused on depreciation. It was Marx who coined the term “primitive accumulation” meaning privatisation and fraud. Piketty’s analysis is completely different from Marx, despite the fact that his parents were Trotskyists.

Tres gargantas

World economy 2nd May 2014

PPPs to close infrastructure expense gap

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | If one wants to feel dizzy she may walk over the Grand Canyon’s suspension brigde, climb to the top of the Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric power station in China or just picture the Mecca’s high speed rail crossing the desert. Perhaps one only may need to feel dizzy having a look to the breach of global spending on basic infrastructures: $2.7 trillion a year when it should be $3.7 trillion as reported by the World Economic Forum.

Michael Hudson

World economy 2nd May 2014

Piketty’s Wealth Gap Wake Up (Part I)

KANSAS CITY | By Truman Factor| Karl Fitzgerald of Renegade Economists and Michael Hudson review French economist Thomas Piketty’s new book, Capital in the 21st Century, which is barnstorming the world at the moment. One of his important discoveries is the disparity in wealth is much greater than the disparity of income because of tax avoidance by the rich. They don’t earn an income.

Tesla

World economy 29th April 2014

The driving forces of Elon Musk

BEIJING | By W. Jiapeng, H. Haoyi, Z.Shiyun and G. McCubbing via Caixin | The second time around to China has offered much more promise than the first some two years ago, Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla Motors Inc, said in an interview with Caixin. In three or four years, Musk plans to have cars produced in China, which will mean setting up a joint venture with a local partner, influencing the car industry to move faster in the direction of electric cars.