Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Group: Liquidity Glut, Infrastructure Finance Drought and Development Banks

The world economy faces huge infrastructure financing needs that are not being matched on the supply side. Emerging market economies, in particular, have had to deal with international long-term private debt financing options that are less supportive of infrastructure finance.

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Chollywood: Chinese Film Industry Set to Expand Rapidly

The French Lumière Brothers are credited with enabling the birth of modern cinema but since the 1920s this is indisputably an American art form, primarily the domain of Hollywood which soon became the dominant force in an emerging industry. Since

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How Much Does Pollution Cost?

As it becomes increasingly necessary to reduce emissions, organizations and governments are looking for ways to compensate for the harmful effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. How much do the emissions coming from your car’s exhaust pipe cost in

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The IT Scene in China: Alibaba’s New ‘Open Sesame’ Financing

Alibaba is China’s largest e-commerce company. It is a privately owned Hangzhou-based group of Internet-based e-commerce businesses which, amazingly enough, began in 1999 with only a website.  Today, Alibaba is one of the twenty most-visited websites globally, featuring nearly a

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Strategy&: Meeting the Big Data Challenge

Recent research on Big Data should sound an alarm bell for companies. On the one hand, there is a link between usage of Big Data and the quality of corporate performance. On the other hand, very few companies are actually

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World Bank Reaffirms Commitment to the People of Egypt and the Country’s Development Priorities

World Bank Regional Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Inger Andersen, affirmed support to the people of Egypt and the country’s development priorities and underscored the Bank’s commitment to exploring new projects and scaling up existing ones. 

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Professor Mary Beard: Every Inch a Fascinating Woman

Mary Beard, professor of Classics at Newham College, Cambridge, is quite unusual. She is one of very few academics to be highly regarded by their peers despite having taken a stroll down media lane. Her latest publication is entitled Laughter

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Mr Cameron Throws a Tantrum and Loses an Agenda

Politics must surely be one of the most fascinating of art forms. The levels of spin employed by artists to justify contradictory statements are at times mind-boggling. One of the current top-performers must be British Prime-Minister David Cameron. He has

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United Kingdom – Splitting Rage Takes Root

For all admiration the British nation inspires, anglophiles and others slightly less impressed are wondering what is wrong with the United Kingdom and its people. It’s not just that Scotland mulls independence, but also that the remainder of the UK

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Matteo Renzi to the Rescue? European Union – Looking for a Leader to Reassert Its Role

To the pundits and other talking heads who wrote off Europe as a spent force: You ain’t seen nothing yet! The hand-wringing is about to be cut short as the old world prepares for a makeover. Indeed, the exercise may

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