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"I would like to ensure that what we negotiate is implemented on the ground. With tariffs coming down as a result of trade liberalisation, the real task is about the regulatory barriers for trade, getting access to services and investment, opening public procurement markets, enforcing our companies′ intellectual property rights."

Trade after the crisis: what is Europe′s global role?

By: EBR | Friday, May 13, 2011

Trade flows may have bounced back from pre-crisis levels but the crisis invites us to shift the focus of trade policy. I would argue that the crisis has indeed changed the landscape for trade policy. So, I would like to draw three lessons of the crisis.

Antwerp will henceforth bundle cargo destined for inland China and send it by train, irrespective of whether the cargo comes from Europe, West Africa or even the Americas. Once in Chongqing the goods can then be distributed anywhere in China.

10,000 km rail link the Port of Antwerp to China

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, May 10, 2011

No government in Belgium (just a care taking one, since more than a year) but a blossoming economy for the small country that lodges the capital of the European Union, Brussels. The second Belgian city, Antwerp, now has a direct rail link to Chongqing, one of the world’s biggest industrial regions

Finally, once the electricity is produced by the sun or wind, it cannot be stored because battery technology is not currently up to the task. Hence, we must immediately "use it or lose it."

The Green Energy Economy Reconsidered

By: EBR | Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The fundamental question that green energy proponents must answer is this: if green energy is so inevitable and such a great investment, why do we need to subsidize it?

Is it any surprise, therefore, that there exist today areas of Greece where the government no longer exercises sovereignty? One such area is the village of Keratea, near Athens International Airport. Keratea’s inhabitants, supported by anarchist “freedom fighters” from the greater metropolitan area, have been engaged for two months in nearly daily pitched battles with the police, using firebombs, stones and rubble.

Greece′s Rule of Lawlessness

By: EBR | Thursday, April 14, 2011

Greece’s public debt may reach 150% of GDP this year, an alarming possibility that has captivated outside observers. But in the final analysis, the major issue confronting Greece may not be its solvency, but its governance.

Credit rating agencies have been widely blamed for their role in the financial crisis which has swept the world since 2007. They are accused of over - estimating borrowers’ capacity to pay back their loans and also of conflicts of interest, being paid as consultants by the banks whose debt they rate.

Standard & Poor′s: Greece and Portugal worth less than Egypt!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, April 1, 2011

The EU member states Greece and Portugal saw their credit ratings slashed by rating agency Standard&Poor's on Tuesday. The cut, places these countries below Egypt, still involved in a revolutionary process, with a toppled leader and the army in power.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn currently supports this idea, suggesting that the IMF accounting unit SDR – Special Drawing Right – could become a global currency. As a result all participating countries of the IMF together could be the liable counterparty of such bonds – like it has now been implemented in the ESFS – The European Financial Stability Facility. Each country would guarantee for all others! Is this fair and intended?

The IMF as a Global Lender of last Resort

By: EBR | Tuesday, March 29, 2011

High volumes of currency reserves, which are currently invested in debt obligations denominated in Dollars, are looking for more secure investment opportunities.

Replacing lost production and rebuilding lifts output in a nation’s geographic areas less affected by the disaster as they provide the resources to rebuild and compensate for lost output in the most-affected regions.

Japan: The Economic Consequences of Disaster

By: The Globalist | Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The world's attention is riveted on Japan in the wake of last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami. As the world grapples with the scale of human misery wrought by the disaster, Peter Morici* examines the tragedy's economic impact on Japan and the world as a whole.

Social media tools offer a new test for leaders when it comes to dealing candidly with employees, especially amid economic insecurity

Trusting a CEO in the Twitter Age

By: EBR | Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The days are long gone when organizations could control the message internally or build a wall between themselves and the outside world. Today what's inside is soon outside, posted on blogs and message boards—or simply Twittered during meetings.

“the EU should efficiently spend the money that is already at its disposal rather than look for new ways to increase taxation. We do not need more revenues but more efficiency in spending the present EU budget.”

Grassroots campaign of European taxpayers against Commission proposal for EU tax

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, February 24, 2011

European taxpayers are joining forces to stop the European Union imposing an additional fiscal burden on Europeans: EU tax. Plans for an EU tax are currently being considered by the European Commission and hailed by the European Parliament.

They called it the American Dream — and, for a long while, it seemed to be working. Alas, this is no longer truly the case.

The ′Untied′ States of America

By: The Globalist | Friday, February 18, 2011

For long, I have been at risk of committing a major typo: accidentally mischaracterizing the United States as the Untied States. I often considered adding this word twister to my auto-correct list. Given the divisiveness currently dominating US politics and society, perhaps it’s wise that I didn’t.

The first and foremost rule, or tip, in any traveling tips is to make a checklist of all the things you would need to carry. This checklist can be very important, as you don′t end up missing something essential, and your last minute travel arrangements are made simpler and time saving.

Business Travel Tips

By: EBR | Monday, January 31, 2011

Do you remember the times, when you got a call from your boss at 5 am, and you had to pack your bags and leave for the airport to take the 7 am flight? That's how hectic and random business travel can be, when you are least prepared for it.

EU Economic Sphere is still there, though its relative and possibly absolute weight in the world economy will decline. This is due, in good part, to demographics, but also because the EU gets lackluster scores in reference to Darwin’s dictum about survival.

The Seven Global Economic Spheres of 2020

By: The Globalist | Monday, January 31, 2011

As the world enters the second decade of the 21st century, one conclusion above all can be drawn: We live in an era where change is both rapid and profound. Jean-Pierre Lehmann, professor at IMD, paints a possible portrait of the world's economic landscape in 2020.

The pipeline has a total annual transport capacity of 11 bcm and its first part, the Greece-Turkey interconnector, already functions since four years. According to the agreement, Greece receives approximately 750 mcm of Azerbaijan’s natural gas per year via the Turkish network, whereas an additional supply of 1 bcm is under negotiation.

The Joint Declaration and how it affects the progress of ITGI

By: EBR | Thursday, January 27, 2011

The common statement of José Manuel Barroso, President of the EC and Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, as well as the agreement for the creation of a joint task force in order to speed up the projects, offered new stimulus to the plans of natural gas transport from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

The latest cyber-attacks on WikiLeaks make the case for the EU to criminalise the software tools enabling such crimes and for setting up a 24-hour alert system where citizens and companies can flag up attacks, EU home affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has said.

′State-sponsored attacks number one risk to cyber security′

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, December 3, 2010

Recently, in a discussion paper prepared by the EU's anti-terrorism co-ordinator Gilles de Kerckhove, "state-driven or state-sponsored attacks" are identified as the number one risk to cyber security. But EU Com. Malmstrom said, "it would be very difficult to prove if a state committed an attack"

2010 Top Taiwan Global Brands Unveiled

By: EBR | Wednesday, November 10, 2010

“The 2010 Taiwan Global Brands Value Survey”, supervised by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs, organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, and co-organized by the BusinessNext Magazine and Interbrand, revealed the Taiwan Top 20 global brand value and ranking

"European Monetary Union won’t succeed if some countries persistently run deficits and weaken their competitiveness at the expense of the euro’s stability."

A plan to tackle Europe′s debt mountain

By: Europe′s World | Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The eurozone crisis has demonstrated the urgent need for tougher and more effective rules, says Wolfgang Schäuble. He sets out how EU countries can cut their deficits in growth friendly ways. The collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the most serious financial and economic crisis in 80 years.

Advertising is still leaching out of newspapers, particularly regional ones. It is returning only slowly to magazines. Billboards are faring better. Yet the greatest old-media winner is television—in most countries the main advertising medium.

The return of Advertising

By: The Economist | Monday, November 1, 2010

As western economies slid towards recession three years ago, media and advertising executives began to ask worrying questions. Would the advertising slump prove structural or cyclical? Would marketing money return to all media, or just a few? The answers are becoming clear.

It takes experience and instinct to know what works. I′ve probably learned my best leadership lessons from my management team. They′re a motley bunch, and at first glance it′s not obvious what makes them coalesce.

Management Is a Dirty Job, but Someone Has to Do It

By: EBR | Friday, October 29, 2010

Maybe it's that I just finished reading "Band of Brothers " by Stephen Ambrose about a bunch of WWII soldiers in their 20s who showed the kind of leadership and courage that make your jaw drop. Maybe its looking ahead and wondering what kind of leadership will take PJA Advertising to its next level

Security experts refuse to talk specifics, but say they know cases where international firms lost out because state-linked rivals appeared to have benefited from spy agency support.

Western firms face growing emerging spy threat

By: Reuters | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

If you are a Western corporation competing with firms from authoritarian emerging economies like Russia or China, your state-linked rivals may be reading your e-mail. While militancy and terrorism make it easy to justify widespread electronic surveillance, some nations may be using it more broadly

Beyond economic sustainability, critics cast doubt on the IMF plan’s political feasibility, arguing that it is impossible for Greece to retrench if it means that the country must do away with entitlements that the population has come to view as fundamental rights, such as generous unemployment and retirement pensions. Such retrenchment would stir public unrest, they say, and leaders would have no option but to default to devaluation.

The Future of the Euro

By: Foreign Affairs | Tuesday, September 7, 2010

When the euro was conceived two decades ago, few people expected it to have to weather a storm as great as the recent global economic and financial crisis. And many observers now think the entire European construct has been so damaged by the crisis that it might not survive.

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EU Actually

A mission impossible for Sébastien Lecornu, Macron’s 5th Prime Minister?

By: N. Peter Kramer

President Emmanuel Macron has again named a close ally, Sébastien Lecornu, as the new French prime minister, 24 hours after a vote of confidence ousted François Bayrou.

Europe

France in fresh political crisis after MPs oust prime minister

France has been plunged into a new political crisis with the defeat of Prime Minister François Bayrou at a confidence vote in the National Assembly

Business