Category: http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

Australia, Auto industry, competiveness, Ford, General Motors, globalization, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Tony Abbott, Xi Jinping

Globalization and the Australian Car Industry

It’s been a devastating 18 months for the Australian auto industry and its 50, 000 workers. One by one, the country’s automakers declared that without import protection they couldn’t be profitable and had to close. Ford is the first to go.  Its local CEO Bob Graziano observed that Australian manufacturing costs are four times Asian levels and double those of Europe.  Having lost $600 million … Continue reading Globalization and the Australian Car Industry

Unknown's avatarBarry D. WoodLeave a comment
Che Guevara, Cuba, Ernest Hemingway, Fidel Castro, Havana, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, index of economic freedom, Raul Castro

Cuba’s Dual Currency System Complicates Needed Reforms

Che Guevara, the global icon whose revolutionary image adorns millions of tee shirts, was governor of the Cuban central bank from 1959 to 1961. While stopping short of his fanciful notion of abolishing money, the Argentine-born communist did nationalize all farms and industries, a measure that bedevils the island 55 years later. Cuba’s economy is a wreck. Most of the island’s 13 million inhabitants are … Continue reading Cuba’s Dual Currency System Complicates Needed Reforms

Unknown's avatarBarry D. WoodLeave a comment
alan levy, berlin wall, communism, Estonia, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, lech walesa, lennart meri, mikhail gorbachev, pope john paul II, ronald reagan, vaclav havel

Missing from the Celebration of Freedom—Two Leaders Who Died Too Soon

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA:  As the world marked the 25thanniversary of freedom returning to Eastern Europe, it is sad that two of the wisest post-communisleaders are no longer with us. In the extraordinary events that followed the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Poland was the inspiration. It had elected a non-communist government months before the wall came down. Lech Walesa, Pope John Paul II are true heroes … Continue reading Missing from the Celebration of Freedom—Two Leaders Who Died Too Soon

Unknown's avatarBarry D. WoodLeave a comment
angela merkel, berlin wall, communism, economic transformation, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, IMF, jeffrey sachs, leszek balcerowicz, peterson institute of international economics, ussr

Poland’s Extraordinary Transformation

WASHINGTON:  Twenty-five years ago this autumn two remarkable events took place in Washington. On September 27th, 1989 in the musty embassy ballroom of the Polish People’s Republic on upper 16th Street, Leszek Balcerowicz, finance minister in the new non-communist government, outlined a plan to transform Poland’s economy from communism to capitalism. Shock therapy would be launched in three months. Balcerowicz’s message was breathtaking.  Prices would … Continue reading Poland’s Extraordinary Transformation

Unknown's avatarBarry D. WoodLeave a comment
AGOA, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Jacob Zuma, nuclear, Russia, South Africa, Vladimir Putin

South Africa’s Nuclear Agreement with Russia Raises Questions

WASHINGTON: On the sidelines of a conference in Vienna on September 22d, South Africa signed an agreement for Russian nuclear power plants to be built in the country. The deal could be worth $50billion. Signing ceremony in Vienna: South African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson and Rosatom CEO Sergei Kirienko (photo: Rosatom) Assuming the deal goes forward, they would be the first Russian nuclear reactors in … Continue reading South Africa’s Nuclear Agreement with Russia Raises Questions

Unknown's avatarBarry D. WoodLeave a comment