Bankers’ pay has become bit of a Ponzi scheme, claims Ed Balls

Bankers’ pay has become bit of a Ponzi scheme, claims Ed Balls

Shadow chancellor echoes business secretary, saying most top executives and bankers would do the work for half the money

Andrew Sparrow, political correspondent

The Guardian, Sunday 16 March 2014 16.52 GMT

Pay for bankers and top executives has become “a bit of a Ponzi scheme” and most of them would do the work for half the money, Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, has said. Read more of this post

India Muslims on tenterhooks over election; Muslims made up just 13 per cent of India’s 1.2bn people as of 2001 – the most recent year for which official data are publicly available

March 16, 2014 10:05 pm

India Muslims on tenterhooks over election

By Amy Kazmin in Bhopal, India

In Bhopal’s Darul Uloom – or House of Knowledge – madrassa, a school offering secular and religious education in an elegant, 127-year-old mosque, the teachers are increasingly apprehensive about the outcome of India’s forthcoming parliamentary election. Read more of this post

Humbled financiers reassess their culture

March 16, 2014 9:07 pm

Humbled financiers reassess their culture

By Patrick Jenkins

Geoff Taylor has been round the block. He used to monitor the production line risks facing sportswear group Nike and jeans maker Levi Strauss – checking the solidity of trainer soles and the sturdiness of denim seams. Read more of this post

Companies adapt to local African markets; “Some of our customers try to put black mascara on their lips – they don’t know what it’s for”; Samsung recently brought out extra-loud stereos to appeal to Nigerian consumers

March 16, 2014 1:33 pm

Companies adapt to local African markets

By Katrina Manson in Nairobi

While big companies are beginning to tailor their marketing messages – increasingly choosing local models, languages, music and food to reach target audiences – some are also beginning to adapt their products to the tastes of local African markets. Read more of this post

Cameron’s Britain has lost America’s respect; The “special relationship” has been compromised by one side that is no longer sure of who it is

Last updated: March 16, 2014 6:02 pm

Cameron’s Britain has lost America’s respect

By Edward Luce

The “special relationship” has been compromised by one side that is no longer sure of who it is

Dean Acheson remarked in the 1950s that Britain lost an empire and had not yet found a role. For the next half-century it found a niche as America’s global lieutenant – harnessing its influence in Washington to punch above its weight elsewhere. Events in Crimea over the past three weeks have underlined how fast even that is fading. Once America’s “go-to” ally, the UK is not even third on today’s priority list. When it comes to handling Vladimir Putin, Germany, France and even Poland rank ahead of David Cameron’s government in Washington. Read more of this post

Megawati’s Brilliant Move May Turn Out to Be Double-Edged Sword for Candidate Jokowi

Megawati’s Brilliant Move May Turn Out to Be Double-Edged Sword for Candidate Jokowi

By Johannes Nugroho on 05:58 pm Mar 16, 2014

Megawati Soekarnoputri has finally announced that her party Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle will be nominating the popular governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, as presidential candidate. Lauded by many as having put aside her own ambition to run for the job, Megawati has indeed made a cornerstone decision that will please many within and outside the party known as PDI-P. However, its timing and circumstances may be a two-edged sword for Jokowi himself. Read more of this post

Indonesian Stocks Enter Bull Market on Jokowi Presidential Bid

Indonesian Stocks Enter Bull Market on Jokowi Presidential Bid

By Yudith Ho & Harry Suhartono on 06:15 pm Mar 14, 2014

Jakarta. Indonesia’s benchmark stock index entered a bull market, the rupiah reversed losses and bonds rallied as Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo was nominated as a presidential candidate. Read more of this post

India lays down the law on financial management

Updated: Monday March 17, 2014 MYT 8:31:18 AM

India lays down the law on financial management

BY YAP LENG KUEN

THE spate of resignations at India’s financial institutions indicates the government’s seriousness in ensuring that top management either perform or perish. Read more of this post

Welcome to the 19th Century; Putin and the new Bonapartes see a weak and retreating West

Welcome to the 19th Century

Putin and the new Bonapartes see a weak and retreating West.

March 16, 2014 6:41 p.m. ET

‘You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext,” declared John Kerry on March 2 as Russia began its conquest of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Though he didn’t intend it, the U.S. Secretary of State was summing up the difference between the current leaders of the West who inhabit a fantasy world of international rules and the hard men of the Kremlin who understand the language of power. The 19th-century men are winning. Read more of this post