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INCRA: Germany’s Top Sovereign-Debt Rating Secure Only With Reform
Written by
Our colleagues at the Bertelsmann Foundation in Washington, D.C. have published a new INCRA report. Serious risks to France’s rating; Italy cited for good euro-crisis management WASHINGTON, DC/BERLIN (November 20, 2012) – A downgrading of Germany’s top sovereign-debt credit rating can be avoided only if the country continues to implement fiscal […]
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A Tale of Two Systems
Written by The Singapore Globalist
The recent public scuffle (see YouTube video above) between a mainland Chinese family and Hong Kong commuters may have been a mere indication of a broader cultural clash. It took little to ruffle nationalist feelings – prior to this, girls snacking on trains were not seen as sparkplugs for protests. The […]
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Laos: Different Face of Poverty
Written by AsianTrendsMonitoring
On the cusp of Vientiane’s entry into the WTO, a third of its population continues to live below the global poverty line of US$1.25 a day. The author Johannes Loh describes his observations during a research trip to Vientiane as part of the Asian Trends Monitoring team. Laos is a […]
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Adding Insult to Injury: Natural Disasters and the Poor
Written by Bhumika Ghimire
As Hurricane Sandy made landfall in my home state of New Jersey, eight members of my immediate family and myself were huddled in our basement. Power was out and there was no heat. When I went to my room on the second floor to get blankets for my daughter, I […]
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Solomon Islands: young people flock to the city in search of jobs
Written by Morioka
In search of employment opportunities, young people from the outer provinces of Solomon Islands flock to Honiara – the country’s capital – in massive droves. There, they bunk with their extended relations who live in peri-urban settlements and in overcrowded housing. The only source of drinking water is from a […]
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Mining and Elections in Ecuador
Written by EduardoVarasC
There is a phrase that President Rafael Correa often repeats. The last time he used it was on his official visit to Chile on October 25th 2012. On that occasion, visiting an open copper mine in Antofagasta to see how the mineral extraction process works, he said: “We cannot be […]
