| Patriotic and Anti-imperialist Trends in Latin America
The first three months of 2007 have added further impetus to the wave of anti-imperialist, progressive, and patriotic sentiments which swept across Latin America during the preceding year.
In the 13 months between November, 2005 and December, 2006 there were 14 national elections in the region with results, generally speaking, favorable to the forces of the left.
The rate and rhythm of the change which is occurring differs from country to country, and this is only natural, given the wide variety of social and political trends, all of which require different strategic approaches. However, the distinguishing feature of this new progressive cycle has everywhere been its ability to breach the defenses of that hegemonic, seemingly all-powerful, school of thought of contemporary capitalism known as neoliberalism.
On the Dissolution of Ukraine’s Parliament
The ultimate reason for Yushchenko's dissolution of the parliament is that he was pressed against the wall and had few other options left, other than leaving the political stage. He was not allowed to appoint his own chairman of the SBU, and two of his candidates for minister of foreign affairs were refuted. His veto on the Law on the Cabinet of Ministers was overruled. His strongest argument is that the new constitution does not allow deputies to leave one faction for another and stay in parliament. They should resign their mandate and offer their seats to the next member on the party list in such a case (as is done, for instance, in Sweden), he argues. The driving force behind the dissolution of the parliament has been Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been campaigning for it ever since she was excluded from the new government last August.
Harness the Power of China’s $1 Trillion! - Gala Edition
And throughout all this, China's mountain of cash — that $1 trillion dollars we mentioned a moment ago — is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds. It has already reached $1.1 trillion. And now with China's trade surplus expected this year, it should soon top $1.3 trillion. So that brings us back to the truly big news that we talked about a moment ago: Beijing has just announced it's forming a new investment company to move a big chunk of that trillion-dollar cash hoard into stocks. Look. The Magellan fund has $50 billion in assets, which is massive. It's so massive, in fact, that whenever the Magellan fund wants to invest some of that money, it has to tiptoe into the markets to avoid driving stock prices higher. Now compare that to China's reserves of $1.1 trillion, which is twenty-two times larger.
Internationalization of the Cypriot Banks
The recent developments in Cyprus banking are driven to a large extent by the banks desire to grow through further internationalization in the region. This article addresses the issue of internationalization for the Cypriot banks and suggests actions for increasing their capabilities in this area, given that internationalization is a major pillar of their strategy. Successful internationalization requires significant international experience which often accumulates over time by doing the right things, i.e. servicing relevant countries and relevant markets. When the target region is South East Europe, servicing developed countries like the UK, does not help to accumulate relevant know-how, as economic conditions, business practices and cultures are very different. Furthermore, servicing overseas clients from home may not have any significant contribution to experience, if the target markets are broad local markets such as SMEs and retail customers.
Nigeria: The Forthcoming Election - a Transition Into Hope Or Despair?
As we are about to go into another election, I have been agonizing about the prospects which this transition holds for our nation and the teeming population of our people, most of whom still wallow in abject poverty and have seen their aspirations and dreams shattered from one political dispensation to the other. We have been told that the economy has performed well in the past 8 years. Statistics have been brandished to convince the most ardent cynics and critics that good times are back. There has been celebration of an economic performance that is characterized by jobless growth, diminishing quality of life, high unemployment, dilapidating infrastructure and an expanding poverty cycle. But really, of what significance is an economic growth and development that does not translate into social development? Let the statistics convey whatever picture the owner may want to paint.
Fed Not Expected To Change Rates
While the Fed is not expected to change interest rates at this meeting, the central bank could modify its statement describing current economic conditions to take notice of the weaker data since January. The federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, has been at 5.25 percent since last June when the central bank capped a two-year, credit-tightening campaign with its 17th consecutive quarter-point rate hike. .
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