Watery Sunshine

a blog about the promise of globalization, clouded by nationalism and greed. will the fog lift, or are those thunder clouds on the horizon?

Thursday, June 9, 2011

In Gurgaon, India, Dynamism Meets Dysfunction

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Although India is considered to be as economically promising as China, and its population is predicted to surpass China's in coming yea...
Thursday, May 5, 2011

Chesapeake Bay Candle Struggles to Open U.S. Factory

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Chesapeake Bay Candle is a major player in the multibillion dollar scented candle industry.  In spite of its name, all its candles are made...

Skin-Deep Gains for Amazon Tribe

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The plant on the left is urukum, which is used to make a pigment dye for Uruku lipstick, made by Aveda on the right.  Aveda, a unit of E...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011

GE Remodels Businesses in India

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Like many multinational companies, GE has struggled with India.  High levels of bureaucracy, corruption, and differing consumer needs and t...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Internet Start-Ups Cater to India's Affluent

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Although India is home to many internet-based or IT companies, there's surprisingly little e-commerce happening within the country.  Th...
Monday, April 11, 2011

Finding Top Talent in China, India, Brazil

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In rapidly growing countries such as Brazil, China and India, tapping expatriates is becoming obsolete. Instead, global businesses are loo...

China's Crackdown Signals Shift

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The artist who designed the Bird's Nest stadium for the 2008 Olympics (and then boycotted the opening ceremony), and more recently i...

How to Get a Real Education at College

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Here's a wonderful essay from Scott Adams, Dilbert's creator, on why entrepreneurship education is so important, and why busines...

Yep, it's Spring in Dayton

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Taken at 7 AM this morning, University of Dayton RecPlex.
Friday, April 8, 2011

Disney to Open Park in Shanghai

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It will be "authentically Disney but uniquely Chinese." That is how company officials are describing Shanghai Disneyland, which b...

CHART OF THE DAY: Reminder, The Deficit You're Freaking Out About Is Bush's Fault

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As we head for a possible government shutdown, I wondered why the budget deficit was so high and why the government is in so much debt. The...
Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Auto Industry's Castoffs Benefit From New Owners

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Just as Ford is finishing up its sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to the Indian firm Tata, the brands are experiencing a renaissance in sales....
Tuesday, April 5, 2011

India Graduates Millions, but Too Few Are Fit to Hire

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In spite of the fact that there are thousands of new college graduates in India, very few of them are landing employment. The reason is ...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Groupon's Big China Gamble

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  On Monday, Groupon launched its operations in China, the world's largest Internet market.  In doing so, the company faces daunting ch...
Monday, February 28, 2011

Hong Kong’s Couples Invited to Wed at McDonald’s

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In 2006, Hong Kong changed its marriage law to permit for weddings to be held outside places of worship or City Hall.  Since then, weddings...
Friday, February 25, 2011

Foreign Investment Ebbs in India, and Questions Begin

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Although India's economy is growing at a healthy 9 percent per year, and a growing middle class is consuming goods at historic levels, ...

Russia's WTO Membership Faces Rocky Road

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Russia remains the only major world economy that is not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).  In large part, this is because Russ...

Dollar's Fall Rocks Far-Flung Families

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The U.S. dollar is struggling.  Against all major world currencies, a dollar buys less currency today than it used to.  Within the U.S., th...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Alabama Sock Town Suffers as Cotton Soars

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Fort Payne, Alabama, calls itself the "sock capital of the world."  Ten years later, about one in eight pairs of socks came from ...
Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Huawei waits for White House review before selling unit

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It was the deal that almost slipped under the radar screen -- in May, Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei purchased U.S. startup 3Leaf S...
Monday, February 14, 2011

Groupon in Japan Faces Growing Pains

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Groupon isn't just a hit in the U.S. -- it's rapidly expanding overseas as well, with 50 million subscribers in 35 countries.   Par...

Rising China Bests a Shrinking Japan

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It's official -- China is now the world's second largest economy, displacing Japan from a position it's held since 1967. At t...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011

WTO finds Boeing got billions in illegal subsidies, but how many billions?

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While most are familiar with the bruising battle between Airbus and Boeing for market share as the only two competitors left in the large p...

Auto Maker Nissan to 'Significantly' Reduce Exports From Japan

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At Nissan, a move in the value of the dollar versus the yen by one yen in either direction is worth around 18 billion yen, or $219 million,...
Wednesday, January 19, 2011

In Nigeria, Used Cars Mark a Step Up for Middle Class

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The World Bank predicts that the number of middle-class Africans, whose income exceeds their basic needs, will rise to 43 million by 2030 f...

G.E. to Share Jet Technology With China in New Joint Venture

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When it comes to joint ventures, GE is notoriously shy, prefering to use its own substantial assets to enter a market in order to protect i...
Friday, January 14, 2011

Volvo Mulls China-Made Cars for U.S.

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Volvo is a Swedish car company with a Chinese shareholder and a German CEO.  The company already builds a small number of cars in China fo...

Toyota Tries to Break Reliance on China

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  Toyota has a problem. The automaker, a leader in hybrid cars, is heavily reliant on neodymium (above, being mined), a rare earth metal ...

Starbucks Brews Plan to Enter India

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India remains a huge untapped market for coffee giant Starbucks.  The company plans to grow to 1500 outlets in China in the next five years...
Wednesday, January 12, 2011

McDonald's Bets on Japan Big-Burger Blitz

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Japan's top restaurant by number of outlets, McDonald's, rolled out its Big America 2 campaign last week, featuring the Texas burge...

Laos stock market opens to boost economy

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Sandwiched between Vietnam and Thailand, Laos is one of the world's poorest countries.  The communist government has been trying to lib...
Monday, January 10, 2011

Vietnam Confronts Economic Quagmire

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Although Vietnam's GDP is growing at 7% annually, double digit price increases, a downgrade on the country's sovereign debt, and an...
Saturday, January 8, 2011

U.S. Ban on Mexican Trucking Is Reconsidered

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Under NAFTA, the U.S. was supposed to allow Mexican trucks to operate on U.S. highways as long as they meet U.S. regulations.  Currently, go...
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

W.T.O. Upholds Tariffs on Tires From China

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Last year the Obama administration imposed tariffs of up to 35% on tires from China, arguing that the surge in imports had threatened domes...
Monday, December 6, 2010

U.S., S. Korea reach deal on auto trade Ford will back - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive

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While Korean automakers are selling hundreds of thousands of cars in the U.S., U.S. automakers aren't experiencing nearly the same lev...
Saturday, December 4, 2010

Euro Zone Is Imperiled by North-South Divide

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When economies run into trouble and start slowing down, governments often turn to devaluing their currencies to make exports cheaper, and t...

Sri Lankan Accountants Attract Global Outsourcers

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War-torn Sri Lanka has 10,000 certified accountants, with another 30,000 in training.  Outsourced accounting offices in Sri Lanka are doing...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Fiji Water to Leave Fiji

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Fiji Water, makers of high-end bottled water from the Pacific island of Fiji, is a privately held company owned by a billionaire couple fro...

Wal-Mart International Chief McMillon Seeking Growth in China, Brazil

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Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, sees more opportunity in emerging markets than in Europe, according to the company's Interna...
Friday, November 19, 2010

China’s Censorship Backfires in ‘Li Gang’ Case

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In late October this year, a college student named Chen Xiaofeng was inline skating with a friend on the campus of China's Hebei Univer...
Friday, November 12, 2010

Japan’s Farmers Oppose Pacific Free-Trade Talks

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Japan maintains a 777% tariff on imported rice, as well 252% on wheat, 360% on butter, 320% on sugar, and 38.5% on beef.  As a result, Japa...

Chinese Build 15-Story Hotel In Just Six Days, Rest On Seventh

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Chinese Build 15-Story Hotel In Just Six Days, Rest On Seventh
Thursday, November 11, 2010

Gap Joins a Retailer Rush to the Chinese Market

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With sales in the U.S. sluggish, Gap Inc. is setting its sights on China's fast-growing consumer market, opening a flagship store in Sh...

Free-Trade Pact With South Korea Still Not Finished

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At the G20 summit meeting in Seoul, President Obama failed to reach an agreement with South Korea over the last two sticking points in a pr...
Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Cotton Clothing Price Tags to Rise

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Get ready to pay a lot more for T-shirts and jeans.  Flooding in Pakistan and bad weather in India and China means that there is a worldwid...
Wednesday, October 27, 2010

India’s Soaring Currency Attracts Foreign Investors, but Exports Suffer

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The Indian rupee has climbed 9% against the dollar in the last 16 months.  That has taken a toll on a key Indian export -- textiles -- beca...
Monday, October 25, 2010

Once Banned, Dogs Reflect China’s Rise

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Twenty years ago, there were hardly any dogs in Beijing. In the communist era, dogs were likely to be herders, guards, or meals, rather t...
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