Economy

What might the Arab uprising mean for the world? No one knows the answer to this question. But this should not prevent one from making a guess at the range of uncertainty.

Two men have been injured in what officials say was an accidental shooting at a central Illinois gun show.

Every time there is a new shooting tragedy the spokespeople from the NRA have to create a response. I’ve heard enough of them to anticipate their verbiage. Here is my impression of an NRA supporter’s response.  I think it will go a little like this:

On February 18, the Associated Press reported that the base salary for David Nelms, chairman and CEO of Discover Financial Services Co, increased to $4.55 million in 2010, up from $1 million the year before. He was also awarded a $1.7 million bonus.

The West has to deal with tyrants, but it should do so on its own terms

LESS than two years ago, at the G8 summit in L’Aquila in Italy, prime ministers and presidents sat down to talk about world trade and food security with Muammar Qaddafi. Today Libya’s tyrant is paying mercenaries to shoot his people in the streets like “rats” and “cockroaches”.

A Promising New Financing Model to Accelerate Social Innovation and Improve Government Performance

Current approaches to government funding of social services create significant barriers to innovation. Funding streams tend to emphasize inputs rather than program objectives and are often overly prescriptive, requiring grantees to use a particular delivery model. In many cases, program outcomes are not rigorously assessed, allowing unsuccessful initiatives to persist for years.

The sun is waking up from a long quiet spell. Last week it sent out the strongest flare for four years – and scientists are warning that earth should prepare for an intense electromagnetic storm that, in the worst case, could be a “global Katrina” costing the world economy $2,000bn.

The Libyan Investment Authority owns 3% of the FT, 7.5% of Juventus and a host of prime London properties

Libya's vast oil reserves have enabled it to invest more than $70bn (£43bn) around the world – making it a major shareholder in companies such as the Financial Times, Fiat and Juventus football club.

Investments in cleantech made through the Recovery Act (Stimulus bill) through the end of 2010 have created or saved nearly 1 million green jobs, according to a report released today by the Economic Policy Institute and the BlueGreen Alliance. 

One man’s quest to tap Afghanistan’s taboo biofuel

In a world of More, Better, Faster, Cheaper, studies are starting to trickle in about multi-tasking that, frankly aren’t looking so hot.

It’s an odd world we live in, isn’t it?