Archive
High unemployment forces Tunisians into smuggling
With a new constitution hailed as the most liberal in the Arab world, Tunisia seems to be on a path to democracy. Staggering unemployment and economic woes, however, have led to
Tough times ahead for Tajikistan
Tajikistan’s year ahead is fraught with political and economic risk, even as the nation hopes to join the Eurasian Union, which launches in 2015. Border disputes with the neighboring post-Soviet
Norway’s falling housing prices threaten growth
Negative prognoses based on falling housing prices may not, in fact, spell disaster for the Norway’s economy. Yet, dependency on oil is a continuous policy problem that the new government
Investment in carbon industry increasingly exposed to environmental risks
Ignoring environment-related risks could trigger the next financial crisis. Oil companies and other carbon industry investors are exposed to some $7 bn in liabilities as a result of investing in “stranded
Risk management is at the core of strategy development
Strategy does not just happen. It is the result of a systematic process and risk management is at the core. Strategy is a dynamic process characterized by three distinct stages:
U.S. Fed holds the fuse to Singapore’s bubble time bomb
The United States’ monetary policy has far-reaching, sometimes unintended consequences, and these past few years have seen unprecedented liquidity injections from the Fed. One way the stimulus manifests itself is
U.S. Congress allows R&D tax credit to expire
If the credit is extended sometime in 2014 it may not affect companies’ research departments, but it still will throw uncertainty into earnings reports and tax management. On January 1,
Five political risk factors affecting oil markets in 2014
Predicting oil trends was always a precarious job, and 2014 will not be any different in that regard. But the year ahead could bring developments with longer-term consequences for the
China’s territorial sovereignty dispute is all about energy
China seeks energy security through its territorial claim to the possibly ‘natural resource rich’ areas of the South China Sea, jeopardising diplomatic relations with the remaining five countries, who also
Central African Republic’s president leaves, but problems remain
The past year has been volatile and violent in the Central African Republic, and things do not seem to be improving. Political and military changes are essential to avoid disaster.