Is Canada Tarring Itself? Oil development is changing the country’s political life

Is Canada Tarring Itself?

By JACQUES LESLIEMARCH 30, 2014

START with the term “tar sands.” In Canada only fervent opponents of oil development in northern Alberta dare to use those words; the preferred phrase is the more reassuring “oil sands.” Never mind that the “oil” in the world’s third largest petroleum reserve is in fact bitumen, a substance with the consistency of peanut butter, so viscous that another fossil fuel must be used to dilute it enough to make it flow. Read more of this post

War Marx Right? While Marx’s prediction of our political future was finally discredited with the fall of communism, is his view of our economic future being validated?

Was Marx Right?

INTRODUCTION

In the golden, post-war years of Western economic growth, the comfortable living standard of the working class and the economy’s overall stability made the best case for the value of capitalism and the fraudulence of Marx’s critical view of it. But in more recent years many of the forces that Marx said would lead to capitalism’s demise – the concentration and globalization of wealth, the permanence of unemployment, the lowering of wages – have become real, and troubling, once again. Read more of this post

Pizza Hut goes premium in Korea; Korea’s largest pizza franchise to differentiate itself; Special prizes motivate Pizza Hut employees

Posted : 2014-03-30 14:15

Pizza Hut goes premium

Korea’s largest pizza franchise to differentiate itself

Lee Seung-il, managing director of Pizza Hut Korea
By Chung Hyun-chae
The buzz phrase in the food service industry these days is to “go premium” as restaurants realized it is difficult to stay in business by offering only conventional products and services. Read more of this post

Sea change for commodities as Arctic melt transforms trade routes; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expected to reveal that warmer sea temperatures by 2050 could open up new channels across the Arctic Northern Sea Route

Sea change for commodities as Arctic melt transforms trade routes

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expected to reveal that warmer sea temperatures by 2050 could open up new channels across the Arctic Northern Sea Route

Global warming could mean that at current rates the NSR will remain open to shipping for around 125 days per year, up from an average of about 50 days at the moment. Photo: Alamy Read more of this post

Welcome to China’s political gamble of the century; President Xi Jinping has put the burden of modernisation squarely on the single ruling party. It is quite an experiment

Welcome to China’s political gamble of the century

President Xi Jinping has put the burden of modernisation squarely on the single ruling party. It is quite an experiment

Timothy Garton Ash in Beijing

The Guardian, Sunday 30 March 2014 20.30 BST

As export-hungry Europeans have feted president Xi Jinping on his imperial progress across the continent over the past week, how many have realised just how extraordinary is the political experiment he is leading back home? In essence, he is trying to turn China into an advanced economy and three-dimensional superpower, drawing on the energies of capitalism, patriotism and Chinese traditions, yet all still under the control of what remains, at its core, a Leninist party-state. He may be a Chinese emperor but he is also a Leninist emperor. This is the most surprising and important political experiment on the face of the earth. No one in the 20th century expected it. No one in the 21st will be unaffected by its success or failure. Read more of this post

In Thailand, Copyright Enforcement Comes as a Shock

In Thailand, Copyright Enforcement Comes as a Shock

Copyrights Come Into Fashion as Music Publisher Seeks Fees; Rap on Ownership

JAMES HOOKWAY

March 30, 2014 10:31 p.m. ET

PHRA PRADAENG, Thailand—The land of fake Rolex watches, knockoff DVDs and counterfeit Viagra is now discovering copyright, and it is coming as a bit of a shock for many Thais. Read more of this post

Bad loan writedowns soar at China banks; Financial strains mount as $9.5bn removed from balance sheets

Last updated: March 30, 2014 7:59 pm

Bad loan writedowns soar at China banks

By Simon Rabinovitch in Shanghai

China’s biggest banks more than doubled the level of bad loans they wrote off last year, in a sign that financial strains are mounting as growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows. Read more of this post

Necessary changes for success in AEC; “How can leaders transform their companies’ cultures so they succeed at the next level, in an increasingly competitive environment?”

Necessary changes for success in AEC

The Nation March 29, 2014 1:00 am

“How can leaders transform their companies’ cultures so they succeed at the next level, in an increasingly competitive environment?” That was the first question asked of 25 senior executives at a recent workshop offered by 1-2-Win, ENPEO, and Vivo Coaching. Read more of this post

China’s largest private shipbuilder Rongsheng loss deepens, in talks with banks

China Rongsheng loss deepens, shipbuilder in talks with banks

9:30pm EDT

(Adds details, quotes)

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) – China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group, the country’s largest private shipbuilder, posted a second straight annual loss on Monday due to shrinking orders and said it was in talks with 10 Chinese banks about the repayment of loans. Read more of this post

Langkawi set to lure the rich and famous with a mixed development of RM4bil

Published: Monday March 31, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Monday March 31, 2014 MYT 5:17:28 AM

Langkawi set to lure the rich and famous with a mixed development of RM4bil

BY TAN SIN CHOW

Shaharul Farez (left) briefing Albukhary Group chairman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhar y and Najib on the RM4bil GDV Perdana Quay Masterplan. Read more of this post

China seizes US$14.5bil assets from Zhou’s family, associates

Updated: Monday March 31, 2014 MYT 8:08:34 AM

China seizes US$14.5bil assets from Zhou’s family, associates

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan (US$14.5bil) from family members and associates of retired domestic security tsarZhou Yongkang, who is at the centre of China’s biggest corruption scandal in more than six decades, two sources said. Read more of this post

Credit markets open to Argentina for first time in years: ministry

Credit markets open to Argentina for first time in years: ministry

7:34pm EDT

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina has been approached by financial institutions offering it loans at favorable rates, the economy ministry said on Sunday, marking a tentative reopening of international credit markets for the first time in over a decade. Read more of this post

Malaysia’s first-ever animation theme park to open in 2015

Malaysia’s first-ever animation theme park to open in 2015

Monday, March 31, 2014 – 09:17

Ivan Loh

The Star/Asia News Network

IPOH – Malaysia’s first ever animation theme park is set to open its doors to the public by the end of 2015. Read more of this post

What Europe Can Learn From the U.S. Bank Crisis; Stress tests will not be credible until the European Stability Mechanism can directly recapitalize banks

What Europe Can Learn From the U.S. Bank Crisis

Stress tests will not be credible until the European Stability Mechanism can directly recapitalize banks.

BENN STEIL And DINAH WALKER

Against a backdrop of stagnant euro-zone economic output and declining inflation, expected to fall below 0.6% for this month, European Central Bank officials signaled on March 25 that they were willing to take far more aggressive action to drive down borrowing rates for private business. That includes negative rates on deposits at the ECB—meaning banks would be charged for keeping reserves there—which would, in theory, encourage banks to lend funds currently parked at the central bank. Read more of this post