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...this is bad news for business magazines. But it doesn't necessarily mean business journalism is in trouble, says Sylvia Nasar, an economist and former Fortune writer who teaches at Columbia University's J-school. There's more demand for it than ever, and more outlets providing it - also part of Business Week's problem. "This [economic crisis] is a great story," she notes. "There is - and will be - more great journalism on it." (See the most endangered newspapers in America...
...sharp drop in demand for Alberta oil, plus auto-plant shutdowns in Ontario, have pushed Canada's trade deficit for May to an all-time high of $1.2 billion. This is in contrast to to a much smaller merchandise-trade deficit of $346 million reported in April and a healthy surplus of $979 million in March, according to the government agency Statistics Canada. (See 10 things to buy during the recession...
...Edible birds' nests are the handiwork of the swiftlet, a small bird found mostly in Southeast Asia that builds its nests from its saliva. Bird's-nest soup is an expensive delicacy served across the Chinese-speaking world, and the basic ingredient is in such demand that nests are sometimes called "white gold" or the "caviar of the East." In Bangkok, an 11-oz. (300 g) box can cost $2,600, while so-called health drinks comprising just 1.1% nest sell for $4 a jar. Aficionados attribute nests with the power to treat everything from cold sores to tuberculosis...
...Until recently, nests were mainly harvested from caves in the wild, and the trade was dominated by a ruthless and well-connected élite. Now, fueled by insatiable demand from prospering China, a regional boom in farming nests in purpose-built birdhouses - "swiftlet condos," as they're sometimes called - is democratizing the business. "It's recession-proof," enthuses Harry Kok, a retired Malaysian engineer who owns or has shares in five birdhouses and writes a blog on the subject from his Kuala Lumpur home. "The overheads are minimal. You don't have a factory with so many workers. Right...
...raided more than a dozen illegal swiftlet farms across Sarawak, a state where only two of an estimated 1,500 birdhouses have licenses. The rest contravene local wildlife-protection laws that forbid swiftlet farms in urban areas. Sarawak's once profitable industry is grounded for now. But with unflagging demand from China, and increasing numbers of birdhouses popping up in Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines, the regionwide trade in birds' nests is heading in only one direction: upward...