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...than 8% of all residents. "There are concerns over how in the world Singapore's tiny island and infrastructure will support the increased foreign population and how that will impact transportation, taxes, traffic, housing and schooling for the locals," says Singaporean Cheryl Liew, a consultant for an executive-search firm. One of those locals, Lance Lim, summed up this skepticism in a letter to the local Straits Times newspaper published in March. "We need to seriously consider whether our country is prepared to sacrifice its national identity for supposed economic growth," Lim wrote...
Some products have a lucrative rub-off effect. A supermarket-strategy firm found that shoppers who buy silver polish tend to spend more than $200 a trip. So even though it's a low-turnover product, shelving experts keep it around...
Topshop's European rivals, on the other hand, have been quick to pile into the relatively untapped U.S. market--while fast fashion accounts for around 12% of the British clothing market, it is just 1% of the total in the U.S., according to Bain, a consulting firm. Spying massive opportunities, Spain's Zara has two dozen stores in the U.S.; Swedish chain H&M boasts more than 100. Not Topshop. Though it has sold individual collections in America--along with the Kate Moss range at Barneys, Topshop's Unique line sells in the Opening Ceremony boutique in New York City...
...content with U.S. Treasury bonds--a dud investment, but a reliable one. China and the gulf states, though, are aiming higher. On May 20, the Chinese government said that it was paying $3 billion for just less than 10% of the Blackstone Group, the U.S.'s leading private-equity firm, which owns everything from Freescale Semiconductor to Michaels Stores. The next day, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. said it was buying General Electric's plastics division--the storied operation based in Pittsfield, Mass., where former GE boss Jack Welch earned his stripes--for $11.6 billion...
...economically very smart," says Bank of America market strategist Joseph Quinlan. The Saudi plastics buy, in turn, is part of an effort to move up the economic food chain from pumping oil to making things of value out of it. The day after, the CEO of oil-field-services firm Halliburton practically begged for a similar investment from the gulf...