· August, 2008

Stories about Economics & Business from August, 2008

Russia: New LJ Ads

  31 August 2008

LJ user tema is one of the many Cyrillic bloggers who are unhappy with how the new LJ ads interrupt the flow of their posts; he shares a screenshot (RUS) of his blog to illustrate his point. Others are sharing a way to get rid of LJ ads in their...

Poland: “Polish Enigma”

  29 August 2008

MHahn of the Women's International Perspective (WIP) writes on WIP Talk Blog about “the trials and tribulations of life in a transitioning country” – Poland: “It is full of inconsistencies, bureaucratic mazes, masked faces, false hopes, and intense pride, but also an enchanting aura wafting through the crevices, a sorrowful...

Angola: Going, going, gone!

  29 August 2008

The historic Kinaxixi Market of Luanda, the Angolan answer to Corbusian modernism in architecture, has been knocked down to make way for a modern shopping centre. Is this a sign of the times or an example of the devaluation of heritage in the face of economic power? Clara Onofre reports.

Bermuda, Trinidad & Tobago: Reviving the Federation?

  29 August 2008

Vexed Bermoothes weighs in on the call by Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister for regional territories to move towards economic and political integration: “My advice to Bermuda: stay out of it. As a community, we treasure our cultural and family links to the Caribbean. But there’s little benefit to us...

Georgia, Russia, Serbia: The Use (or Abuse) of Some Historical Facts?

  28 August 2008

Serbian bloggers follow closely the situation in the Caucasus region. Many of them compared and analyzed the Kosovo issue and the newest opportunities in South Ossetia. Some of them were careful to express their own thoughts and mainly cited thoughts of politicians. Here is a post by a Serbian blogger who quoted in his blog some pieces of the last statements by Russia's government officials, who linked military operations in Georgia to certain historical events.

Dominica: Agricultural Economy

  28 August 2008

“I strongly believe that if Dominica gets busy developing its agricultural product this could well have other spin-off positive effects”: Chris at Dominica Weekly thinks that going back to the land may well be the way out of the island's economic crisis.

Kenya: Cheers for M-PESA

  28 August 2008

There are reasons to cheer for M-PESA, the mobile banking system in Kenya: “Anyone with a new Safaricom sim card would have noticed two additional menus under the M-PESA section: ‘Buy Goods’ and ‘ATM Withdrawal’.”

Barbados, Antigua: Digicel vs. Stanford

  28 August 2008

The Bajan Reporter is all over the story of telecommunications giant Digicel taking Allen Stanford to court “in order to protect its sole and exclusive rights as primary sponsor of West Indies cricket”. The West Indies Cricket Board insists “that the team that will play England on 1 November represents...

Jamaica: Athletic Subversion

  27 August 2008

“Jamaica's garrison politics found its way onto the Olympics stage in two performances – once in a scintillating display of athletic grace and vigor, and once in a celebratory performance of the “gully creepa”: Abeng News Magazine explains.

Barbados: To Sign or Not To Sign

  26 August 2008

“The buzz issue in the Caribbean media in recent weeks is whether the CARIFORUM members will sign-on to the CARIFORUM/EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)”: Barbados Underground examines a few of the issues.

Jamaica: Patwa Power

  25 August 2008

Annie Paul gives a rundown of Jamaica's outstanding Olympic achievements, making the point that “the phenomenal performance of the Jamaican athletes is also due to the cultural self-confidence they feel…this is not a confidence manufactured by the abjectly self-conscious, respectability-seeking, hymn-singing English-speaking middle classes but one bred out of the...