Tag Archives: Consumers

Making cars in high cost Brazil in response to import taxes

The Economist (Sept 24, 2011) describes a 30 percent increase in tax on cars with an exemption for cars made in Brazil, Mexico or the Mercosur trade block. Thus, even though labor costs in Brazil are 60 % higher than … Continue reading

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Should the Indian govt squeeze foreign acquisitions of its drug companies ?

A Wall Street Journal article (Sept 27, 2011) describes worries by the Indian govt regarding the future impact of foreign acquisitions of its local drug firms – Abbot buying Piramal Healthcare and Daiichi Sankyo buying Ranbaxy Labs Ltd. The worry … Continue reading

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Village Health volunteers and health care success in Thailand

A New York Times article (Sept 27, 2011) describes the role of Village Health volunteers – one million strong in a nation of 65 million, who watch for disease outbreaks, spread warnings wen detected and thus curb infectious diseases. These … Continue reading

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Europe rules regarding airline emissions

A New York Times article (Sept 26, 2011) describes new European rules that restrict airline emissions to 97 % of their emissions from 2004-2006 with a free emissions 85 % of this limit. This number will drop to 95 % … Continue reading

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The impending channel conflict as style magazines link to ecommerce sites

A New York Times article (Sept 26, 2011) describes plans by fashion magazines such as GQ, Vogue and Esquire to link styles they present to sites where readers can purchase clothing. At the same time advertisers in these magazines like … Continue reading

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The New Kindle vs the iPad battle

A New York Times article (Sept 26, 2011) describes the impending release of a new tablet by Amazon.com and the ensuing battle with Apple. Amazon provides content – ebooks, music, entertainment – but adding email and games covers the bulk … Continue reading

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Internet productivity and future employment across supply chains

An article in the International Herald Tribune (Sept 24, 2011) describes a presentation by Yuri Milner, a Russian investor in Facebook and Zynga.  He describes internet based companies generating revenues of $ 100 million per employee compared to 10 to … Continue reading

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Print to order by HarperCollins and small bookstore competitiveness

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Sept 23, 2011) describes the impact of a decision by the publisher HarperCollins to make 5,000 paperbacks available through OnDemand Books LLC Espresso print Machine. The small printer enables a book to be … Continue reading

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Panama Canal Expansion and US Trade and Domestic port Impact

A New York Times article (August 16, 2011) describes the construction in the Panama Canal, scheduled to be completed by 2014, that will permit ships that are 25 % longer and 50 % wider to pass through while relieving the … Continue reading

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Using customer financing of prototype designs to cover manufacturing costs

A New York Times article (Sept 23, 2011) describes Kickstarter – a crowdsourcing website model to fund designs.  Designs are proposed along with a fundraising goal with an “all or nothing” model – if the minimum is not met, no … Continue reading

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