Uncertified ‘inadequate’ licenses abound in South Korea amid recession; Number of licenses surges 7-fold to nearly 7,000 in S. Korea

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Number of licenses surges 7-fold to nearly 7,000 in S. Korea

Yoon Jin-ho, Choi Hee-suk

2014.03.03 17:52:58

Uncertified ‘inadequate’ licenses abound in South Korea amid recession. The youth struggling to get a job, the employed people worried about job insecurity, and baby-boomers who have not prepared enough for retirement are flocking to win licenses, only to waste time and money.  Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

The battle of the taxi apps may soon end in China

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

The battle of the taxi apps may soon end in China

Staff Reporter

2014-03-03

The Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority yesterday decided that from March 1, taxis will be forbidden from using taxi app services during morning and night peak hours. This could mark the end of the battle between China’s taxi app operators, China News Service reports. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends, TMT Trends

World’s first physical bitcoin store opens in HK

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

World’s first physical bitcoin store opens in HK

Staff Reporter

2014-03-03

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Asia Nexgen CEO Ken Lo at the opening of the world’s first physical bitcoin store in Hong Kong on Feb. 28, 2014. (Photo/Xinhua) Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Household debt – Korea’s Achilles’ heel

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

2014-03-03 17:21

Household debt – Korea’s Achilles’ heel

Gov’t urged to focus on supporting low-income people
By Kim Rahn
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Debt is a big part of life for most Koreans. Many borrow to purchase or lease houses, start or grow businesses, or pay for their college tuition. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

How Messaging Apps Make Money

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Mar 3, 2014

How Messaging Apps Make Money

JURO OSAWA

While WhatsApp has so far kept its messaging service simple and free of advertisements, rival apps like Line, Kakao Talk and WeChat have been scrambling to find ways to make money through additional services like video games and official accounts for corporate users. For those apps, one big challenge is to make sure that those efforts to generate revenue won’t undermine their appeal as communication and social networking tools. Read more of this post

Filed under TMT Trends

When Start-Ups Don’t Lock the Doors; For new tech companies, developing features and acquiring users tends to be a priority over securing customer data, leaving them vulnerable to security breaches

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

When Start-Ups Don’t Lock the Doors

By JENNA WORTHAM and NICOLE PERLROTHMARCH 2, 2014

Young tech companies have a long list of to-dos. Signing up users and raising money are usually at the top of the list.

Much further down? Data security. That neglect has recently come back to bite many hot new applications and web services — and their users — and has them rushing to improve their products after breaches and holes were discovered. Read more of this post

Filed under TMT Trends

Learning From the Doers: Developing Country Lessons for Advanced Economy Growth

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Learning From the Doers: Developing Country Lessons for Advanced Economy Growth

Anusha Chari, Peter Blair Henry

NBER Working Paper No. 19934
Issued in February 2014
From 1980 to 1992, emerging and developing countries grew by 3.4 percent per year. Their annual rate of growth increased to 5.4 percent between 1993 and 2012. No such increase occurred for advanced nations, whose average growth from 1980-2012 was roughly constant (excluding the impact of the 2008-09 Recession). Developing nations turned themselves around by embracing discipline—sustained commitment to a pragmatic and flexible growth strategy. Three illustrations of discipline through the lens of trade, fiscal, and debt reforms in the developing world offer relevant, practical lessons for recovery in advanced economies and continued catch-up growth in developing nations.

Filed under Investing Process

What to watch for at the annual session of China’s faux parliament

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

March 2, 2014 5:06 pm

What to watch for at the annual session of China’s faux parliament

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing

Each year in early March, thousands of delegates to China’s official lawmaking and top political advisory bodies gather in Beijing to rubber-stamp laws and policies decided by the country’s ruling Communist party. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Japan’s gamble with casino licences sets pulses racing

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Last updated: March 2, 2014 5:45 am

Japan’s gamble with casino licences sets pulses racing

By Jonathan Soble in Tokyo

At the Japan Casino School in Tokyo, students can train as blackjack dealers or take specialised English courses so as to better direct the world’s gamblers to place their bets. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

China’s mobile sector grows up superfast

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

March 2, 2014 6:28 pm

China’s mobile sector grows up superfast

By Daniel Thomas, Telecoms Correspondent

The bustling shopping streets of Shanghai drive home the image of a country glued to mobile devices, often at the expense of passers-by shouldered out of the way by workers hurrying past with smartphone in hand. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends, TMT Trends

Hasso Plattner, SAP’s software pioneer still sailing on; The chairman of the German group says steering change there is harder than setting it up

March 7, 2014 2 Comments

THE MONDAY INTERVIEW

March 2, 2014 4:11 pm

Hasso Plattner, SAP’s software pioneer still sailing on

By Paul Taylor and Chris Bryant

image001-6Database race: Mr Plattner has chosen to pursue his passion for sailing with smaller boats Read more of this post

Filed under TMT Trends

Web-Enabled Toothbrushes Join the Internet of Things; Devices Link to Smartphones to Record Brushing Habits

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Web-Enabled Toothbrushes Join the Internet of Things

Devices Link to Smartphones to Record Brushing Habits

SAM SCHECHNER

March 2, 2014 10:35 p.m. ET

Your trusty toothbrush is the latest household device to be connected to the Internet. Sam Schechner takes a look at two of the latest offerings and what they tell you about your oral hygiene. Read more of this post

Filed under TMT Trends

Li Ka-Shing Dismisses Talk of Retirement

March 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Li Ka-Shing Dismisses Talk of Retirement

Hong Kong Tycoon’s Flagship Company Gets Boost From Its European Expansion

CHESTER YUNG and TE-PING CHEN

Updated Feb. 28, 2014 7:09 a.m. ET

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Li Ka-shing’s appearances are among Hong Kong’s most-watched events. Bloomberg News

HONG KONG—Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.0013.HK +0.86% said Friday he is still helming his corporate empire and has no plans to retire, despite increasing concerns about his health as he turns 86 later this year. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

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