Lego Builds an Empire, Brick by Brick

Lego Builds an Empire, Brick by Brick

By GREGORY SCHMIDTFEB. 14, 2014

In this week’s top-grossing children’s movie, not only skyscrapers but actors built of tiny bricks inhabit a rather dystopian world known as “Lego-verse.”

That new realm, in “The Lego Movie,” which earned a near record-breaking $69.1 million when it debuted last weekend, represents the Lego Group’s first foray onto the big screen. Read more of this post

Politics, Fed could whip up new emerging markets storm

Politics, Fed could whip up new emerging markets storm

Fri, Feb 14 2014

By Natsuko Waki

LONDON (Reuters) – A stabilization in emerging marketsafter January’s rout may turn out be the calm before the storm if political flare-ups and Fed policies provide the spark for the next round of selling. Read more of this post

Rent-seeking culture dampens entrepreneurial spirit

Rent-seeking culture dampens entrepreneurial spirit

Saturday, Feb 15, 2014

The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – Property developers and agents should refrain from using words and phrases like “unnerving” and “not sustainable” when referring to the current state of the property market (“CDL chief calls for review of property cooling measures”; last Saturday). Read more of this post

Over-enthusiasm for emerging markets is just one fashion I have seen in the past 16 years, says Mohamed El-Erian

February 14, 2014 6:10 pm

Emerging-world fashions that change with the seasons

By Mohamed El-Erian

Over-enthusiasm for emerging markets is just one fashion I have seen in the past 16 years, says Mohamed El-Erian

As I prepare to step down from Pimco at the end of March, emerging markets are once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. In Argentina the currency has collapsed, Thailand and Ukraine are riven with political conflict, and Turkey is shaky. Read more of this post

Brazil housing bubble fears as economy teeters

February 14, 2014 4:48 pm

Brazil housing bubble fears as economy teeters

By Samantha Pearson in São Paulo

Thalita de Jesus Moreira had just given birth to her fifth child when she moved to New Palestine, a vast squatter settlement on the outskirts of São Paulo.

Her landlady had left her with little choice, she says – late last year the monthly rent for her family’s bedsit nearby was increased to R$500 ($207), almost as much as the minimum wage her husband was earning as a caretaker at a factory. Read more of this post

Crisis-hit European utilities square up to technological revolution

February 14, 2014 5:15 pm

Crisis-hit European utilities square up to technological revolution

By Guy Chazan

Faced with a grim present and an even grimmer future, Europe’s utilities are being forced to reinvent themselves – and adapt to a technological revolution in home energy services.

Once unassailable incumbents are under pressure as never before, squeezed by the explosive growth of renewables and low wholesale energy prices. Read more of this post

Corporate wealth divisions throw a mirror on society; Evidence growing of a ‘winner takes all’ economy

February 14, 2014 6:06 pm

Corporate wealth divisions throw a mirror on society

By Brooke Masters

Evidence growing of a ‘winner takes all’ economy

For months now, the improving economic indicators in both the UK and the US have not been mirrored in better results from many companies – particularly those that cater to consumers.

That split was heightened this week as the Bank of England unveiled surprisingly bullish economic forecasts in which it predicted UK growth would hit 3.4 per cent for 2014, instead of 2.8 per cent as forecast. Read more of this post

Does Australia have too many accountants

Does Australia have too many accountants?

February 12, 2014 – 4:00PM

Edmund Tadros and Agnes King

It used to be one of the safest career choices. But while Australians are deserting the accounting profession, an avalanche of foreign accounting students has hit our universities, prompting a fight between the government and big firms about how many accountants we actually need. Read more of this post

The real story behind the biggest collapse in modern Canadian legal history; Heenan Blaikie reveals the flaw of the partnership model

Ian Holloway: Heenan Blaikie reveals the flaw of the partnership model

Ian Holloway, Special to Financial Post | February 11, 2014 | Last Updated:Feb 11 2:05 PM ET
So a giant has fallen. Last week, the remaining partners of the law firm of Heenan Blaikie LLP voted to dissolve the partnership and to wind up the business

. Practice groups have decamped to firms that, until a short time ago, were rivals. A rump tried to become the Canadian bridgehead of global firm DLA Piper, but those talks appear to have failed. Read more of this post

The politics behind China’s banned banquets

The politics behind China’s banned banquets

Staff Reporter

2014-02-12

Extravagant banquets may now be frowned upon by China’s ruling Communist Party, but they were once considered one of the most important tools for climbing the political ladder in China, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese. Read more of this post

Private lending crisis cripples coal city of Ordos

Private lending crisis cripples coal city of Ordos

Staff Reporter

2014-02-12

After the housing market bubble burst in the city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia, which led to the liquidation of many of the city’s residents’ financial assets, people who funded the construction of the city have begun demanding a refund for their money from fundraisers, the Chinese-language Securities Times reports. Read more of this post

Watch out Woolies: Aldi’s rapid growth could open the door for others; Aldi has almost doubled its share of the $82 billion Australian grocery market and now accounts for more than 10 per cent of grocery sales

Watch out Woolies: Aldi’s rapid growth could open the door for others

February 12, 2014 – 4:54PM

Sue Mitchell

The rapid growth of German-owned supermarket Aldi in Australia could open the door for more foreign grocery chains, analysts say.

Aldi has almost doubled its share of the $82 billion grocery market and now accounts for more than 10 per cent of grocery sales, knocking Metcash’s IGA supermarket network out of third place. Read more of this post

Canada Clamps Down on Rich Chinese Migrants; Canada closed a controversial immigration program popular among rich Chinese that allowed wealthy individuals to effectively buy permanent residency

Canada Clamps Down on Rich Chinese Migrants

Ottawa Ends Its Immigrant Investor Program Popular Among Wealthy Chinese

JASON CHOW in Hong Kong and

ALISTAIR MACDONALD in Toronto

Feb. 11, 2014 11:34 p.m. ET

Canada closed a controversial immigration program popular among rich Chinese that allowed wealthy individuals to effectively buy permanent residency.

The cancellation of the Immigrant Investor Program, announced Wednesday, is the latest in a series of moves by Ottawa that have been perceived in parts of China and even Canada as limiting the inflow of Chinese people and investment into the country. Read more of this post

The Korea Development Bank (KDB) may see more than 1 trillion won ($933 million) in losses for 2013, largely due to huge loan-loss reserves for financially troubled conglomerates, the chief of the bank said