Wednesday-Night

May 16
Zimbabwe issues a Z$500m banknote, as inflation rockets to unbelievable highs
(The Economist) A BOTTLE of beer may cost half a billion dollars; by next week it could be a billion. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe reached a terrifying 355,000% in March, with prices doubling roughly once a week. It is probably much higher now. In a […]

Last Wednesday Night’s discussion encompassed lunar-based solar technology, reports by Kimon of exciting developments in the New School of Athens global governance initiative, the environment, the economy and, of course, acclamation of the publishing achievement that has given birth to The Metropolitain. It was a full and challenging evening which we […]

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Haiti, among the countries hit hardest by the global food crisis, should return to more homegrown food staples such as corn, experts say. But in this analysis of why the Caribbean country’s food crisis runs so deep, the Los Angeles Times reports that local farmers see such a path […]

See also Tibet and The Olympic Protest Primer

May 11
Don’t coddle Beijing - it must account for its role Darfur: Roméo Dallaire
Many consider it taboo to speak of the genocide in Darfur and the upcoming Beijing Olympics in the same breath. I disagree entirely. I believe the two should be firmly linked in the public’s mind, […]

See also Global Monitoring Report 2008
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Foreign Policy May/June 2008
When China Met Africa (complete article available only to subscribers to FP)
It seemed a perfect match: A growing country looking for markets and influence meets a continent with plenty of resources but few investors. Now that China has moved in, though, its African partners are […]

See also The Economy - What went wrong and what’s next? and Global Monitoring Report and World Hunger

US blights Asia outlook
Emerging Markets - 5th May 2008
By Steve Garton
The credit crunch has not yet played itself out, and Asian economies are not immune from the effects of falling export revenues, leading financiers insisted this weekend. […]

See also Wednesday-Night.com for more current news on the economy and business and don’t miss our updates on Air Canada
April 30 marks the hundred-day countdown to the Beijing Olympics - has everyone seen the news that China plans to clear out students and refugees from Beijing before the Games? Nothing being left to […]

Before doing our usual tour d’horizon of news and events around the globe, we would like to call to your attention much pleasanter local happenings: the Octet Plus (with Holly Jonas and David Oliver) concert on Saturday, 26 April; the Infinitheatre fundraiser (John Mavridis) on Tuesday 29 April - featuring […]

An Xin (a Canadian ex-pat in Beijing) writes:
So much of what is happening here now feels like a kind of déja vu. Once upon a time there was a people that lived on the edge of a great country. They annexed themselves to the country, only to find that their resources were mismanaged and eventually […]

18 April 2008
PBOC chief says China’s reserve growth ‘not desirable’
By Taimur Ahmad
(Emerging Markets) -Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank governor, has said the rate of growth in China’s foreign exchange reserves is unsustainable, but the country cannot significantly change its policy because of uncertainties in the global economy.
In an exclusive interview with Emerging Markets in Washington […]