Compiled with the help of 6,700 business experts and government officials around the world, "Doing Business 2009" analyzes how difficult it is to comply with 10 different sets of business regulations that affect company lifecycles, from startup to closure. The World Bank's research team examined the number of procedures required to start a business and the ease and cost of transactions such as obtaining construction permits, hiring workers, getting credit, paying taxes, enforcing contracts and declaring bankruptcy. Each category is given equal weight to create an overall "ease of doing business" index and ranking. http://www.doingbusiness.org/
Doing Business 2009 -- Full report now available for download! Azerbaijan was the top reformer in doing business, while Eastern Europe and Central Asia led the world’s regions in regulatory reforms, according to Doing Business 2009. Download the entire 211-page report to learn more about reforms and other changes to the business environment in 181 economies. Download full report (PDF, 4.7MB) or by chapter Also available in Arabic (PDF, 9MB), French (PDF, 5MB) and Spanish (PDF, 5MB) http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/fullreport/2009/DB09_Full_Report.pdf
With the world in economic turmoil and the quest for a new 21st century economy gainig momentum, these reports provide (this report) very usefull information for business people, start ups, entrepreneurs, innovators and inventors who want to be part of the new business wave. A hundred years ago a wave of innovation happened, almost 50 years ago a new wave started in California in what later became Sillicon Valley. The spirit of these entrepreneurs and innovators is still very much alive but lots of them today are simply looking for the best places to set up business. The best of them are the 'hands on' people. Subsidies and bureaucracies are shunned by the best and brightest.
For our Dutch readers we would like to point out that The Netherlands is not even in the first 20 of the best places to do business.
Tokyo, April 7, 2009 – As countries in the East Asia and Pacific region prepare themselves for an expected surge in joblessness resulting from the global slowdown, a ray of hope may be emerging with signs of China’s economy bottoming out by mid-2009, says the World Bank's latest half-yearly assessment of the region's economic health. The latest East Asia and Pacific Update, titled Battling the Forces of Global Recession, says a recovery in China – fueled largely by the country’s huge economic stimulus package – is likely to begin this year and take full hold in 2010, potentially contributing to the region’s stabilization, and perhaps recovery. But with China still heavily reliant on exports to world markets that continue to contract, the Update warns that a truly sustainable recovery in the East Asia and Pacific region ultimately depends on developments in the advanced economies.
How the Crash Will Reshape America (Source: The Atlantic Monthly, March 2009) The current economic crisis is unlikely to result in the same kind of shared experience. To be sure, the economic contraction is causing pain just about everywhere. In October, less than a month after the financial markets began to melt down, Moody’s Economy.com* published an assessment of recent economic activity within 381 U.S. metropolitan areas. Three hundred and two were already in deep recession, and 64 more were at risk. Only 15 areas were still expanding. Notable among them were the oil- and natural-resource-rich regions of Texas and Oklahoma, buoyed by energy prices that have since fallen; and the Greater Washington, D.C., region, where government bailouts, the nationalization of financial companies, and fiscal expansion are creating work for lawyers, lobbyists, political scientists, and government contractors.
No place in the United States is likely to escape a long and deep recession. Nonetheless, as the crisis continues to spread outward from New York, through industrial centers like Detroit, and into the Sun Belt, it will undoubtedly settle much more heavily on some places than on others. Some cities and regions will eventually spring back stronger than before. Others may never come back at all. As the crisis deepens, it will permanently and profoundly alter the country’s economic landscape. I believe it marks the end of a chapter in American economic history, and indeed, the end of a whole way of life.
Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten, authors of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You (Portfolio, 2009). Almost every business-book reader will find a way to take exception to the Covert-Sattersten list. The authors are both executives with Internet bookseller 800-CEO-READ, but they insist that their volume isn't just a come-on to stimulate sales for their business. "It's our attempt at helping the modern businessperson find solutions," says Covert. Finance and economics titles would seem to be a natural, especially in today's troubled financial climate but Covert and Sattersten include almost none. Guys, take a look at the current business best-seller lists, and you'll discover what readers are interested in now. Such titles as Charles R. Morris' The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash (Public Affairs, 2008), or Charles D. Ellis' The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs (Penguin Press, 2008), or Paul Krugman's The Return of Depression Economics (Norton, 1999 and revised in 2009) are hot sellers this week. For an oldie but goodie, you could even include John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash 1929 (Mariner Books, 1954), a paperback best-seller today.
Economic Free Fall William Greider - The Nation - July 30, 2008 Washington can act with breathtaking urgency when the right people want something done. In this case, the people are Wall Street's titans, who are scared witless at the prospect of their historic implosion. Congress quickly agreed to enact a gargantuan bailout, with more to come, to calm the anxieties and halt the deflation of Wall Street giants. Put aside partisan bickering, no time for hearings, no need to think through the deeper implications. We haven't seen "bipartisan cooperation" like this since Washington decided to invade Iraq. The bailouts are rewarding the very people and institutions whose reckless behavior caused this financial mess. Yet government demands nothing from them in return--like new rules for prudent behavior and explicit obligations to serve the national interest. Washington ought to compel the financial players to rein in their appetite for profit in order to help save the country from a far worse fate: a depressed economy that cannot regain its normal energies. Instead, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, the Democratic Congress and of course the Republicans meekly defer to the wise men of high finance, who no longer seem so all-knowing.
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US foreclosure filings surge 48 percent in May Friday June 13, 5:07 am ET By Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer Housing crisis worsens as number of US homes facing foreclosure in May up 48 percent WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of U.S. homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose further last month, with foreclosure filings up nearly 50 percent compared with a year earlier, a foreclosure listing company said Friday. Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48 percent from 176,137 in the same month last year and up 7 percent from April, RealtyTrac Inc. said. One in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest number since RealtyTrac started the report in 2005 and the second-straight monthly record. Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but 10 states. Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan had the highest statewide foreclosure rates. Metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounted for nine of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure. That list was led by Stockton, Calif. and the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida.
Business Workers Get Fewer Hours, Deepening the Downturn By PETER S. GOODMAN Published: April 18, 2008 Shrinking of hours and pay for millions of workers appears to be a bigger contributor to the economic decline than loss of jobs and the risk of layoffs.
The top 10 risks for business The greatest strategic challenge facing leading global businesses in 2008 will continue to be regulatory and compliance risks, according to "Strategic business risk: 2008 — the top 10 risks for global business" (pdf, 764kb). This is closely followed by global financial shocks, workforce and consumer aging, and the rise of emerging markets.
Dismal Scientist - Recession Watch The U.S. economy contracted late last year, and may spend the first half of 2008 in recession. Moody’s Economy.com tracks the data every day to determine how long and how deep the downturn will be—as well as its effect on the global economy.
The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 The United States tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008. Switzerland is in second position followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Singapore, respectively. The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report. This year, over 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 131 countries.
Wall St. Journal Teams Up with Microsoft Microsoft, Wall St. Journal in Exclusive Deal Press Release|01/29/08 The Wall Street Journal Digital Network and Microsoft have announced a deal, through which Microsoft is the exclusive third-party provider of paid search and content (contextual) ads. The Wall Street Journal network of high-profile, high-impact sites includes The Wall Street Journal Online, Barrons.com, Marketwatch.com, and more. The addition of these sites will bring an additional 20 million unique viewers each month to the extended Microsoft network, and serves more than 330 million page views per month specific to the highly sought-after financial services audience for advertisers.
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Internet Recession Watch: Finance/Mortgage Ads Dropping? Peter Kafka | October 11, 2007 2:52 PM Last month, we were surprised to see that some of the biggest mortgage advertisers had increased their online spending in August, even as the mortgage market collapsed. This seemed to suggest that our thesis -- that mortgage woes would hurt the online ad business -- might be overly gloomy. September's spending report, however, supports our original concerns. Nielsen/Netratings again reports (pdf) that mortgage/financial advertisers represented four of the top 10 web advertisers in September. Of the four, Experian Group Limited increased its spend 7%, to $44.7 million, and NexTag Inc. remained about flat at $50 million. But the other two advertisers recorded drops: Countrywide Financial (CFC), which had been slowing its rate of increase throughout the summer, dropped a modest 1.5%, to $34.9 million. And Low Rate Source's ad spend plummeted from $51.7 million to $22.9 million -- a 56% drop.
Key Trend Alert: Investing in the Future By Buying Up Foreign Companies, Emerging Economies Show their Power By Michael Akerib In the 16th century, Machiavelli was one of the few to have the foresight to see the importance of political change in terms of its potential to revitalize the economy. He called these agents of change the "new princes" and saw in them enemies of the established order, whether they were consciously trying to be or not. Today's new princes are the BRIC economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China - gradually establishing themselves as economic heavyweights with major political ambitions threatening the economic weight of the European Union and the United States. A key indicator for monitoring the development and international economic standing of a country are the flows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The table below summarizes the situation of the four BRIC countries in 2005. In many cases, the outward flow has been carried out by government-owned natural resource companies often in pursuit of national policies rather than profits alone through the capture of distribution outlets. The creation of "national champions" that can become major global players and influence strategic decisions in developed countries are, increasingly, being considered by countries that do not want to stay at the edge of development.
Moody's Investors Service is among the world’s most respected and widely utilized sources for credit ratings, research and risk analysis. Moody’s commitment and expertise contribute to stable, transparent and integrated financial markets, protecting the integrity of credit. In addition to our core ratings business, Moody’s provides research data and analytic tools for assessing credit risk, and publishes market-leading credit opinions, deal research and commentary, serving more than 9,300 customer accounts at some 2,400 institutions around the globe.
Business Drop Foreseen in Median Price of U.S. HomesBy DAVID LEONHARDT and VIKAS BAJAJ - Published: August 26, 2007 Many government officials and housing-industry executives had said that a nationwide decline would never happen.
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Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. Ferociously tracking more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as taking to the streets of world cities, digital cameras at hand. To ensure true ‘glocal’ coverage, the central office is in close contact with more than 8,000 Springspotters in over 70 countries worldwide. The full colour, monthly Springwise (and related trendwatching.com) newsletters, to which you can subscribe for free, get sent to more than 210,000 business professionals in more than 120 countries. So whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, head of a start-up, management consultant, marketing manager, business development director, trend watcher, or anyone else interested in creating or expanding companies, Springwise will instantly inspire you by getting the world’s most promising young ventures right in front of you
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Winkelen in het internettijdperk (Ruimtelijk Planbureau) De imposante ontwikkeling van het commerciële internet sinds het midden van de jaren negentig, trekt de aandacht van zowel wetenschappers als beleidsmakers. Internet wordt beschouwd als een innovatie die maatschappelijke en economische processen rigoureus heeft veranderd. Zo biedt het internet bedrijven een nieuw informatie-, communicatie-, transactie- en, in het geval van digitale goederen, zelfs een distributiekanaal. Ook voor consumenten biedt het internet vele nieuwe mogelijkheden, waarvan telewerken, e-shoppen en e-learning de meest in het oog springende voorbeelden zijn.
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Google groter merk dan Microsoft UTRECHT - 24/04/07 Google is groter dan ooit. Het bedrijf voert nu de wereldranglijst van waardevolle merken aan en heeft daarmee Microsoft van de troon gestoten. Het merk Google is 66,4 miljoen dollar waard, volgens de prestigieuze marktonderzoeksfirma Millward Brown. Het bedrijf publiceerde vandaag voor de tweede keer zijn jaarlijkse 'Brandz' top honderd van sterkste merken. Google stond vorig jaar nog op de zevende plaats en was toen ruim 37 miljoen dollar waard.
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