Are credit markets getting frothy again?

March 20, 2014 Leave a comment

Are credit markets getting frothy again?

Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

image001-12

SETH KLARMAN, who runs Baupost Group, a big hedge fund, is worried. In his latest letter to investors, he writes that “a sceptic would have to be blind not to see bubbles inflating in junk-bond issuance, credit quality and yields.” Recalling the credit boom, he adds that “here we are again, mired in a euphoric environment in which some securities have risen in price beyond all reason…and where caution seems radical and risk-taking the prudent course.” Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Brazil’s presidential election: Winning hearts and likes; Social media will play a big part in this year’s campaign

March 20, 2014 Leave a comment

Brazil’s presidential election: Winning hearts and likes; Social media will play a big part in this year’s campaign

Mar 15th 2014 | SÃO PAULO | From the print edition

image001-11

IN JUNE Brazil’s elites received a rude introduction to the power of social media. Protests, many convened via Facebook, saw millions take to the streets to air disaffection with politicians. Those same politicians now want to harness social networks for their election campaigns. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Dallying with a monster: In failing to snuff out vigilantism, Mexico is running big risks

March 20, 2014 Leave a comment

Dallying with a monster: In failing to snuff out vigilantism, Mexico is running big risks

Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

image001-7

THE rule of law has long been a stranger to the sweltering lowlands known as the Tierra Caliente in the Mexican state of Michoacán. The site of battles over land in the 1940s and 1950s, the area suffered an exodus of migrant workers to California. In the 1970s the drug trade took root there, attracted by the proximity of the port of Lázaro Cárdenas and the remoteness of the federal government in Mexico City. Not content with trafficking methamphetamines, the latest mafia to lord it over the Tierra Caliente, the whimsically named “Knights Templar”, established a tight grip over its invertebrate society, co-opting local authorities, extorting protection money and raping women. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Egypt’s tourism firms: It’s murder on the Nile

March 20, 2014 Leave a comment

Egypt’s tourism firms: It’s murder on the Nile

Mar 14th 2014, 11:08 by A. F. | CAIRO

image001-6

KARIM EL SHARKAWY, the boss of Tarot Tours Garranah, one of Egypt’s biggest tourism operators, clocks in every morning at the firm’s offices in Cairo, and expects his staff to do the same. Strict timekeeping is a new experience for his employees. But the company, like its rivals, is having to do all it can to contain costs as it suffers a fierce downturn with no end in sight. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Fighting corruption in India: A bad boom; Graft in India is damaging the economy. The country needs to get serious about dealing with it

March 20, 2014 Leave a comment

Fighting corruption in India: A bad boom; Graft in India is damaging the economy. The country needs to get serious about dealing with it

Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

image001-4

IN THE early hours of February 20th 2010 Uday Vir Singh, an Indian forestry officer, bluffed his way past a private militia guarding a dusty port called Belekeri. For months suspicious-looking convoys of trucks had been thundering across India to the port’s quays on the country’s west coast, just south of the Goan beach where the super-spy mayhem which opened “The Bourne Supremacy” was filmed. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Newer posts →