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Joanna Lumley: Nepal’s National Treasure
Considered a “national treasure” in Nepal for her support of the Gurkha Justice Campaign, Joanna Lumley has few if any qualms when it comes to using her fame to promote good causes. As a high-profile activist, she backs Survival International
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Overall Tax Cost and Compliance Burden Lower for Businesses around the World
Paying taxes has become easier over the past year for medium-sized companies around the world, the latest report from the World Bank Group and PwC finds. The time it takes an average company to meet its tax obligations dropped by
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JK Rowling: Inspiring Words Matched to an Inspiring Life
When the first edition of a book published in 1997 already fetches upward of twenty-thousand pounds, it is sure to have represented a literary milestone. Such is indeed the case with JK Rowling’s peerless masterwork Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone
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Working Together to Boost Innovation in Central Europe and the Baltics
Innovation is a critical driver of long-term economic growth and the right public policies are crucial to boost innovation. Through lending projects and advisory services, the Bank is assisting new European Union member states and candidate countries to unlock their
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Executives: Smart Carbon Pricing Policies Can Drive Investment in a Cleaner Future
The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Synthesis Report warns of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 70 percent by 2050, on pace for carbon neutrality by the end of the century. Businesses know how to cut emissions and
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Set Up for Failure: UK Prime-Minister Approaching Point of No Return
Be careful what you wish for. As UK Prime-Minister David Cameron bravely insists on pushing through far-reaching reforms of the EU labour market – doublespeak for introducing checks on the free movement of people across the union – his yet-to-be
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Elif Shafak: Exposing the Moralising Slappers
Born in 1971 to a diplomat mother and philosopher father, Elif Shafak was destined for intellectual greatness. She did not fail to heed the call and today is Turkey’s most widely read and celebrated female author with thirteen books to
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Forbidden Pleasures: France Flouting EU Budget Rules
“A budget proposal written by poets and alchemists.” That’s how a visibly annoyed EU diplomat in Brussels described the 60-page draft budget for 2015 France submitted last week to the European Commission. While the document speaks of “substantial efforts at
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Frans Timmermans: A Knowledgeable Pragmatist
He is rather unassuming and speaks softly without carrying a big stick. Dutch foreign affairs minister Frans Timmermans, however, has put his small country back on the world map after his predecessors beat a retreat to behind the dikes and
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World Investment Forum: Seeking Ways to Unlock the Idle Trillions
As the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, business and government leaders from across the world gathered this week in Geneva for the biennial World Investment Forum (WIF). The UNCTAD-sponsored four-day event brought together
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