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The Big Picture

Macroeconomics, Socioeconomics, Geopolitics, Business and Government, Secular Trends and Big Picture Themes

To Buy Happiness, Purchase an Experience – VIDEO

by Carmen Nobel, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, YOUTUBE VIDEO – Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending Conventional wisdom […]

By Liu-Yue Lam | 04 Sep 13 | Also posted in Food for Thought, Fortune Cookie Wisdom, Statistics, Tools and Resources | Comments (0)

Four-way Latin America bloc strikes deal to remove all trade tariffs

From Reuters, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile said on Monday they had wrapped up negotiations to remove all trade tariffs […]

By Liu-Yue Lam | 03 Sep 13 | Also posted in Latin America | Comments (0)

Recognizing the End of the Chinese Economic Miracle

By George Friedman Major shifts underway in the Chinese economy that Stratfor has forecast and discussed for years have now drawn the attention of […]

By Aidualc | 02 Sep 13 | Also posted in Asia, Food for Thought | Comments (0)

Syria and the Limits of Comparison

By Robert D. Kaplan, Stratfor, Because so many war plans simply do not survive the reality of war itself, each […]

By Liu-Yue Lam | 31 Aug 13 | Also posted in Africa / Middle East, Food for Thought | Comments (0)

Wedding Bells in Romania

I was invited to attend the wedding of one of our Romanian staff in June, and I jumped at the […]

By Aidualc | 30 Aug 13 | Also posted in Eastern Europe | Comments (0)

Obama’s Bluff

By George Friedman, Stratfor, Images of multiple dead bodies emerged from Syria last week. It was asserted that poison gas […]

By Liu-Yue Lam | 28 Aug 13 | Also posted in Africa / Middle East, Food for Thought, North America | Comments (0)

Global Shipping Contends with Oversupply Problems

Summary The global shipping industry is oversupplied. Because supply far exceeds demand, shipping rates have plummeted, as have the prices […]

By Aidualc | 26 Aug 13 | Also posted in Food for Thought | Comments (0)

In China, an Unprecedented Demographic Problem Takes Shape

From Stratfor, Summary Chinese society is on the verge of a structural transformation even more profound than the long and […]

By Liu-Yue Lam | | Also posted in Asia, Food for Thought, Trends, Patterns, Indicators | Comments (0)

Europe’s zombie banks: Blight of the living dead

“PROBABLY the most successful monetary-policy measure undertaken in recent times.” That is Mario Draghi’s self-effacing judgment on the outright monetary […]

By Aidualc | 22 Aug 13 | Also posted in Eastern Europe, Food for Thought, Western Europe | Comments (0)

Hauling New Treasure Along the Silk Road

By KEITH BRADSHER, New York Times, AZAMAT KULYENOV, a 26-year-old train driver, slid the black-knobbed throttle forward, and the 1,800-ton […]

By Liu-Yue Lam | | Also posted in Asia, Commodities, Eastern Europe, Finding Oxstones, Food for Thought, Private Equity, Trends, Patterns, Indicators, Western Europe | Comments (0)