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International Economies

World

China’s Black Market City

In mountainous Wenzhou “the emperor is far away” and the freest of markets reign.

Bradley Gardner Reason Dec 2011 15min Permalink

Business World

A Giant Among Giants

As it approaches a public offering, how Glencore—founded by the legendary fugitive March Rich—cornered the market for just about everything by working with dictators and spies.

Ken Silverstein Foreign Policy Apr 2012 25min Permalink

Arts World Food

KFC's Big Game of Chicken

How KFC brought fried chicken to China and Africa as U.S. sales slumped.

Diane Brady Businessweek Mar 2012 10min Permalink

Business Tech

Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class

How the U.S. lost out on iPhone work.

Charles Duhigg, Keith Bradsher New York Times Jan 2012 20min Permalink

Best Article Business

The Shadow Superpower

The world’s fastest growing economy isn’t China; it’s the “unheralded alternative economic universe of System D” aka the $10 trillion global black market.

Robert Neuwirth Foreign Policy Oct 2011 10min Permalink

Business

Commodity traders: The trillion dollar club

Who simultaneously did business with the U.S. government, the besieged Syrian regime, and the Libyan rebels last month? The group of 16 trading houses that collectively are “worth over a trillion dollars in annual revenue and control more than half the world’s freely traded commodities.”

Joshua Schneyer Reuters Oct 2011 35min Permalink

Business

The Non-Scenic Route to the Place We’re Going Anyway

On the current state of the global economy and the inevitable decline of the U.K. and the U.S.:

A decade-long slowdown would accelerate this shift in global wealth and power and would be a grim thing to live through, but from a world-historical perspective it might not be a game-changer: it might just be the non-scenic route to the place we’re going anyway.

John Lanchester London Review of Books Sep 2011 10min Permalink

Best Article Business World

It's the Economy, Dummkopf!

As Europe, led by Greece and Ireland and followed by Portugal and Spain, tumbles towards economic catastrophe, only one nation can save the continent from financial ruin: a highly reluctant Germany.

Michael Lewis Vanity Fair Sep 2011 40min Permalink

Business World

A Constant Feeling of Crisis

What it means to be an entrepreneur in Argentina, where economic crashes are a way of life.

Max Chafkin Inc. May 2011 20min Permalink

Business

The Hot-Money Cowboys of Baghdad

On the investors betting big on the Iraqi economy, which they believe has nowhere to go but up.

Steven Lee Myers New York Times Magazine May 2011 Permalink

Business

How to Make Money in Microseconds

How automated ‘execution algorithms’ are taking the world’s markets on a wild ride that few economists can even understand, much less control.

Donald MacKenzie London Review of Books May 2011 20min Permalink

Politics World

Why Egypt's Progressives Win

An opinion piece on the structural causes of unrest in Egypt; the business fraternity, globalization, and the fate of Egyptian women.

Paul Amar Al-Jazeera English Feb 2011 Permalink

Business World

When Irish Eyes Are Crying

How a nation went bankrupt. “Ireland’s regress is especially unsettling because of the questions it raises about Ireland’s former progress: even now no one is quite sure why the Irish suddenly did so well for themselves in the first place.”

Michael Lewis Vanity Fair Mar 2011 Permalink

Business Politics World

Can Europe Be Saved?

How the dream of the Euro became a nightmare.

Paul Krugman New York Times Magazine Jan 2011 25min Permalink

Politics

North Korea's Dollar Store

Inside Office 39, a state-run counterfeiting operation designed to keep Kim Jong-il flush.

David Rose Vanity Fair Aug 2009 20min Permalink

World

Being Eaten By the Dragon

Western execs on what it’s like to be taken over by a Chinese firm.

The Economist Nov 2010 10min Permalink

Business World

As Nations Age, a Chance for Younger Nations

The world’s population is rapidly getting older. How China and other countries stocked with young workers are taking advantage.

Ted C. Fishman New York Times Magazine Oct 2010 10min Permalink

Business World

Inside the Knockoff-Tennis-Shoe Factory

The number one item confiscated by U.S. customs for four years in a row: fake shoes. As brands continue to crack down, counterfeiters continue to up their game.

Nicholas Schmidle New York Times Magazine Aug 2010 Permalink

My Kushy New Job

Lessons learned while temping at an Amsterdam coffee shop.

Wells Tower GQ Aug 2010 25min Permalink

Best Article Business World

The Billion-Dollar Shack

A reporter heads to Nauru, a tiny island nation in the Pacific, to track down the hub of a worldwide money-laundering operation—a shack filled with computers, air-conditioners, and little else.

Jack Hitt New York Times Magazine Dec 2000 20min Permalink

Politics World

China Storms Africa

China is securing sub-Saharan Africa’s natural resources at a staggering rate. With the buying spree comes contracts, workers, and of course, politics. (Part 1 of a 6 part series, rest here)

Richard Behar Fast Company Jun 2008 Permalink