By David Brunat | LATAM CORRESPONDENT | There are more SIM cards in Costa Rica than people in the country. In 2012, the Central American nation had a penetration of 116% in active mobile phone lines. No wonder why Latin America is becoming the new El Dorado for leading telecoms and device manufacturers.
BEIJING | By Zhu Yishi at Caixin | The war between the country’s two Internet giants, Tencent Holding and Alibaba Group, in the mobile Internet arena has escalated. The Internet giants enter the mobile Internet industry with different strengths but a similar determination to come out on top.
SAO PAOLO | By Mike Konczal via Marcus Nunes’ Historinhas | Should we endure a mini-recessio, i.e. more bubbles, with lower employment and output, to fight a thing called “financial instability”? I had no idea that Sweden has gone all-in on raising interest rates to fight “financial instability.” (Alas poor Lars Svensson!) Simon Wren-Lewis has details, Krugman has more, and Peter Orszag had a great column about how New Zealand is instead using regulations to fight worries about the financial system.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Black Friday is not about retailers getting rid of their goods stock nor the savviest customers obtaining the best bargains. This buying frenzy that has spread from the U.S. to many other countries is more of a retail theater in which buyers ‘feel’ they are paying a low price and brands design their products with the discount built in. They don’t make a river of money. Still, this is the busiest shopping day of the year. If you need to run errands, buckle up.
LONDON |By Barclays analysts | The interim nuclear deal concluded this weekend marks an important first step that could eventually lead to the normalization of relations between Iran and the west. However we believe the path to a final deal, one that would lead to the removal of the most sweeping sanctions, remains challenging given that some key stakeholders could act as spoilers.
MADRID | By JP Marin Arrese | Prices like the weather inescapably lead to widespread demurral. They always look either overly hot or unduly cold. Yet the current debate on potential deflation seems largely shrugged off in Spain, even confronted with a CPI dwelling in minus territory. A predictable reaction in a country that scores a solid record of relentless price hikes.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | The U.S. labor market picture is firming -the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment aid unexpectedly fell last week-, although underemployment is still about 15%. We talk with Carl Camden, President and CEO of staffing company Kelly Services about how changes in the workforce and the economic crisis mean an opportunity for his sector.
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes | The difference between the RBA and the BoJ, the Fed or ECB is that while all four central banks have inflation targets, the RBA also has an implicit income target. If central banks determine aggregate demand, the only way to hold them genuinely responsible for what they actually do is for them to explicitly and directly target it: also known as NGDP targeting.
BEIJING | By Qin Jin via Caixin | A ‘buy local’ push sparked by security concerns is hurting foreign and helping domestic makers of electronic gear.
MADRID | By Francisco López | Everyday, more and more analysts warn about the risk of a “Japanization” of the Eurozone, and they even foresee the possibility to watch a long period of low growth in an environment of high indebtedness and reduction in prices. But, what exactly are those risks?