Technology: Choice of Margins vs. Market Penetration for Apple
The conventional wisdom regarding Apple is that it has lost its way and these complaints have only grown louder following the release of the company’s two new iPhones, the 5S … Continue reading
Pakistan: Iran’s Plan to Develop Gas Pipeline and Refinery Unlikely to Amount to Anything
Energy shortages are fast becoming the norm in most nations and nowhere is this truer than in Pakistan where energy demand far outpaces resources and supplies. These shortages hurt multiple … Continue reading
The Koreas: North and South Exchange Words; Likely Much Ado About Nothing
The increasing terse back and forth between North and South Korean leaders has raised alarms in the world’s diplomatic centers and press rooms. While there is always a slight chance … Continue reading
Industry: The Consistent Strength of the Defense Market Continues to Provide Opportunities
The basic assumption behind multinationals corporations (MNCs) is that a weakness in one geographic region – setting aside the vicissitudes of market sectors – can be compensated by a corresponding … Continue reading
Mongolia: Domestic Politics May Strip Rio Tinto of Share of Mine
Mongolia, the sparsely populated landlocked Asian country, is one of the world’s fastest growing economies; according to the International Monetary Fund, its inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 12.7 … Continue reading
United States: Start of Negotiations on the International Services Agreement but Impact Could be Limited
Services liberalization – long a pillar of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Round – made a comeback earlier this month when the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced it would … Continue reading
Japan: LDP Implements Spending Measures Taking Country Into Deeper Debt Hole
One of the primary goals of the newly elected Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government is to reverse Japan’s long-standing economic woes. However, given the scale of this problem, its unlikely … Continue reading
Technology: Google continues its Advance on Apple’s valuable Mobile Customers
Sales of Apple’s iPhone5 do not seem to have matched the company’s expectations forcing it to significantly reduce orders of components from its suppliers and hurting its stock price and … Continue reading
China: Increased Government Spending Raises Economic Projections but is it Sustainable?
Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) surveys undertaken by Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the multinational banking and financial services firm HSBC show that China’s economic growth may be rebounding … Continue reading
Japan: Economic Recovery Not Possible Without Improving Global Conditions
The Japanese government released new data on Monday showing the country’s economy entering yet another recession – the third since 2008 for the world’s third largest economy. This unattractive pattern … Continue reading
All Sorts of Things 