Between 4m and 6m sex workers in #China operate in generally hazardous conditions, with no legal recognition + subject to arbitrary measures—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 15, 2013
Torture, assault + 're-education' camps loom large; lack of compassion 'not stopping social decay, roots of problem' tinyurl.com/c9s33dr—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 15, 2013
Filed under Economic Development, Law, Urban Life
Hundreds of Chinese automotive companies now operational in #Detroit, facilitating West-East #technologytransfer + selling basic auto parts—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 13, 2013
#Shanghai #Automotive #Industries, #China's largest carmaker, set up in #Detroit in 2012 w/out any #publicity of note tinyurl.com/bqjxrko—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 13, 2013
Filed under Business, Economic Development, Technology
BRICS' newest member now has 5m+ youth unemployed despite commodities boom, 2% growth in Q4 '12; trickle-down economics 'would be welcome'—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 09, 2013
Legendarily unequal society has seen wealth of political classes + well-connected 'escalate out of sight' 1990- tinyurl.com/cgdnaps #RSA—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 09, 2013
Filed under Business, Economic Development
One of the most impressive and downright profound articles anywhere to be found in The Economist in 2013 is that authored by telegenic Yingluck Shinawatra, the present prime minister of Thailand. In Connect more than the dots, Shinawatra, whose broadly populist Pheu Thai Party (‘Pro Thai Party’) ascended to power just three years after its 2008 inception, shows herself to be a thinker of some vision. Moving beyond the predictable themes of greater integration within the ASEAN bloc and economic triumphalism, the Kentucky State University alumnus underscores the importance of a sustainable form of capitalism where even the poorest have a genuine stake in society.
Politicians are not of course omnicompetent, and it would be harsh to judge Shinawatra by the practical implementation of her ideals barely eighteen months after she first assumed office. But within this context, we at Mediolana cannot help thinking about the Siam Center, a shopping colosseum profiled in the April 2013 edition of the redoubtable Monocle magazine. This mall of malls, located in the Pathum Wan neighbourhood of Bangkok, recently underwent a €45m facelift to coincide with its fortieth anniversary. And this makeover seems to have been successful, with more than 200,000 visitors coming through its doors every weekend day.
The revamped Siam Center is in many ways highly representative of the changes taking place within Thailand’s economy and society -and herein lies the problem. In a country where recent legislation to boost the minimum wage to ฿300 or €7.75 per day hauled pay up by as much as 40%, affluent consumers are spending several times this amount on ice-cream in a 400 outlet temple to consumerism. This rich-poor chasm would be problematic at the best of times, but in the context of sustainability and equity as being emblematic of the ‘ASEAN Way’, it is severely undermining what should otherwise be a compelling and necessary message.
There is an ever-broadening consensus that business (and more broadly, economics) as usual is no longer enough; seeing the example of post-development nations such as Japan, it is evident that we already know the ending of certain societal models. The Shinawatra/Siam Center dichotomy illustrates the challenge that many emerging markets with superb ideas and great prospects will face in the forthcoming years: realising their visions.
Filed under Business, Economic Development, Economics, Politics
Referendum for residents of historic #Dubrovnik results in default approval of €1.1bn golf-themed development around #UNESCO-accredited site—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 29, 2013
Golf courses, hotels and apartments will tower over medieval fortress and pristine bay; government 'miscalculating' tinyurl.com/cm97pbp—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 29, 2013
Filed under Culture, Economic Development, Environment
Inquest begins into whether construction permits obtained for collapsed garment factory in Bangladesh; 230+ dead, 1k injured #Outsourcing—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 27, 2013
#Bangladesh now hub of low-cost, entry-level industrial manufacturing as Chinese wages and inflation 'soaring'; global brands 'omnipresent'—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 27, 2013
Industrialisation in #Bangladesh has come at huge environmental, social cost; safety record 'some kind of sick joke' tinyurl.com/d5pasn7—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 27, 2013
Filed under Business, Economic Development
On 1st July 2013, the European Union will gain a twenty-eighth member: Croatia. This broadly banana-shaped republic with one of the most stunning coastlines anywhere in the continent will become only the second constituent member of the former Yugoslavia to sign up to what is still in nominal terms the most affluent economic bloc in the world.
However, Croatia – a nation of just 4.28 million people – will be acceding to the EU under very different circumstances to those countries which rode the credit bubble wave of the 2000s and enjoyed massive but ultimately fatal injections of credit into their economies. With the European Union struggling to expand its institutional balance sheet fast enough to prop up the collapsing eurozone periphery, Croatia is unlikely to enjoy any obvious short- or even medium-term financial benefits of membership.
This matters because Croatia is currently undergoing a severe economic crisis despite not being part of the EU or eurozone: an estimated 30% of Croatians now live in poverty, with the Akcija Čista hrana or Clean Food Movement operating as an alternative food bank: specially-labelled grocery bags of food are left adjacent to municipal bins for usage by the country’s poorer citizens. Things are so bad that Croatia has spawned a not insignificant Occupy movement of the kind more usually associated with large cities in the neoliberal United States or United Kingdom.
Given that many of Croatia’s strategic assets are likely to be acquired by its European partners following accession, we at Mediolana are left wondering: has the country really embarked on the right course? Could Croatia have charted a different path by following the old Yugoslav model of being close to several power blocs whilst retaining that vital element of political (and ultimately, economic) independence? Would partnership agreements with the EU, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina is an observer member), ASEAN and Mercosur have constituted a new, more viable future?
Filed under Economic Development, Political Science, Politics
#HP, #Skanska and #Volvo amongst other multinationals making a beeline for #Poland, which is attracting skilled workers from across the #EU—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 15, 2013
#Poland's economy 'largely unaffected' by the global financial #crisis to date; economic growth slows to 1.2% in 2013 tinyurl.com/d3oc3j5—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 15, 2013
Filed under Business, Economic Development, Economics
#China and #Australia circumvent need for US #dollar in bilateral trade by agreeing direct currency swaps; 元200bn facility 'big statement'—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 08, 2013
#China is #Australia's biggest trading partner, providing a reliable purchaser of iron ore, coal and uranium for 'old school' development—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 08, 2013
US dollar increasingly sidelined by emerging markets for intra-#BRIC, intra-#APAC, intra-#NextEleven trade tinyurl.com/crjg8t8 #currency—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 08, 2013
Filed under Economic Development, Economics, Political Science
#SaudiArabia labour market reforms may see up to 2m South Asian workers employed in 250k SMEs lose their jobs, displaced by #KSA nationals—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) March 28, 2013
Unemployment in #KSA officially estimated at 12.2%, despite huge oil wealth; Saudi nationals historically reluctant to take entry-level jobs—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) March 28, 2013
Saudi youth unemployment is 'much, much higher' than national average; #KSA authorities 'apprehensive' of #ArabSpring tinyurl.com/bm4y8nz—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) March 28, 2013
Filed under Business, Economic Development, Economics
