Word: dollarization
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China's swipes at the U.S. dollar have been spilling out of Beijing with almost mundane regularity. Every time there is an international economic summit, it seems that some Chinese mandarin reiterates the now familiar complaint that the greenback needs to be replaced as the world's de facto reserve currency. China usually suggests some "supranational" currency as a dollar substitute, to protect it against instability that could arise from any one country's errant economic policies. A favorite suggestion is the use of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the unit of account at the International Monetary Fund...
...Beijing's leaders may also see China's own currency, the yuan (also known as the renminbi), as a possible alternative to the dollar. There are indications that China intends to make the yuan a greater factor in international trade and investment, a development that, if successful, would have major implications for the global financial system. HSBC economist Qu Hongbin believes that the yuan could become one of the top three currencies in the world by 2012, with some $2 trillion in trade transacted in the Chinese currency each year. "The internationalization of the renminbi has become a leading item...
...industry that is murky and sometimes violent; in the past, only those with money, muscle and good political connections prospered. In Thailand, fewer than a dozen companies harvest nests from some 170 islands in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, in return for paying multimillion-dollar concession fees to the government. The remote islands are guarded by dozens of armed men - in effect private armies - and are often run "like independent states," says Jandam, the author of the industry study. Companies discourage all visitors, claiming they might disrupt the birds' habitat. In Koh Si Koh Ha, a string...
...companies struggle to keep afloat in an age of abundance, Anderson posits a provocative solution: give your wares away gratis. An idea "as powerful as it is misunderstood," Free has become a multibillion-dollar business model tailor-made for the Internet economy. As digital-infrastructure costs approach zero, Anderson argues that Free often pays off, whether it involves giving away cell phones to hawk monthly plans or embracing piracy to spark demand for merchandise. He also explains how charging even a penny can scramble consumer psychology and sketches a blueprint for competing with juggernauts, like Google, that have harnessed...
...well as cranking out wind-farm technicians and video-game designers - jobs that, despite ballooning unemployment overall, abound for adequately skilled workers. Community-college graduates earn up to 30% more than high school grads, a boon that helps state and local governments reap a 16% return on every dollar they invest in community colleges. But our failure to improve graduation rates at these schools is a big part of the achievement gap between the U.S. and other countries. As unfilled jobs continue to head overseas, Obama points to the "national-security implication" of the widening gap. Closing it, according...