Presseurop |

Literature | In praise of indignation (Libération, Paris)

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:20:43 +0100

With sales of more than 500,000 copies, the pamphlet Indignez-vous [which literally translates as “Be indignant”] by 93-year-old philosopher and former member of the French Resistance Stéphane Hessel launches an appeal for social and political commitment fueled by the emotion inspired by injustice. (Article)

Emerging economies | Globalisation 2.0: How the West lost it (La Repubblica, Rome)

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:38:30 +0100

As the West stews in stagnation, emerging economies are on the rise – and driving prices of raw materials and fuel to perilous highs. As they now set the pace of the global economy, Europe, stymied by cutbacks and unemployment, is in for hard times ahead. (Article)

Debates | You'd rather see China or Russia leading? (El País, Madrid)

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:37:35 +0100

The euro crisis and enduring political divisions between Europeans have undermined the Old Continent’s standing in a globalised world. It’s time to save the European way, urges Venezuelan columnist Moisés Naim: the alternatives – US hegemony, Chinese capitalist communism or Russian autocracy – are far worse. (Article)

Industry | Will Italian workers turn Polish? (Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw)

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:30:53 +0100

When Fiat offered to relocate its Polish factory to southern Italy, it asked the workers to agree to work more. They accepted but face a major culture shock. A month later, Gazeta Wyborzca visited the Italian plant and seems puzzled by this instance of European social competition. (Article)

Economy | Advantage Europe

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:28:31 +0100

Some good news for once: "Why Europe will win," reads the headline in Newsweek's international edition. "Contrary to the widespread cliché of American dynamism versus European economic stagnation, over the past decade Europe's top companies have beaten America's (not to mention Japan's) by an often substantial margin," writes the New York weekly. "Despite the rise of China and the rest," Europe has managed to sustain "at about 17 percent, its share of world exports since 2000, while America's has fallen by more than a third, from 17 to 11 percent." The European businesses in the top 3,000 global companies also have a better record of growing profits – "at an average rate of 13 percent a year over the decade from 1998 to 2008, almost double the 7 percent rate for their U.S. rivals" – and they are more adept at seizing markets beyond their borders. Newsweek notes that 39% of European companies' sales are to countries outside of the EU, whereas foreign markets only account for 30% of sales by American and Japanese companies.

(News in brief)

Ideas | Europe, for globalisation without tears (De Volkskrant, Amsterdam)

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:43:23 +0100

The EU needs to do more to protect people against the upsurge of populism. Otherwise the current “second globalisation” will culminate in a crisis of massive proportions, prophesies Dutch philosopher Paul Scheffer. (Article)

Languages | Goodbye English, long live Globish (The Guardian, London)

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:33:19 +0100

With a vocabulary of only 1500 words, “Globish” or “decaffeinated English” has become the world lingua franca. Author Robert McCrum charts the rise of this new dialect of the 21st century. (Article)

Cinema | Green is the new box-office black

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:48:51 +0100

On its front page, La Croix reports on what its headline describes as an "Ecological boom at the box office." Today will see the French release of Le Syndrome du Titanic, a polemical documentary by France's best known environmentalist, Nicolas Hulot, which calls for a greater effort to save the planet and humanity. The film – which deplores climate change, the globalization of the economy, unbridled consumerism, and the excessive exploitation of raw materials – will take its place in a genre that includes Hubert Sauper's Darwin's Nightmare, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth (the fifth biggest grossing documentary ever), Erwin Wagenhofer's We feed the World, and Home by Yann-Arthus Bertrand. As La Croix reports, "over the last five years, documentaries on environmental issues are increasingly prevalent in the cinema." However, only a few big hitters have managed to achieve a box-office success in the genre. In the words of a environmental cinema festival organizer quoted by La Croix, "This type of film is usually confined to niche market: if your name is not Al Gore, Nicolas Hulot or Yann Arthus-Bertrand, you'd better be original!"

(News in brief)

Trade | Shipping industry drowning in financial woes (Der Spiegel, Hamburg)

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:50:14 +0100

The global economic crisis is wreaking havoc on shipping: prices, along with demand, have collapsed and ports are filling up with fleets of empty freighters. The crisis has fueled cut-throat competition and not all companies will survive. Hamburg, with a quarter of the world's shipping activity, is particularly feeling the pinch. (Article)