Word: second-largest
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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Chaos, Continued Embattled President Ange-Felix Patasse called on 1,000 soldiers from the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, a notorious foreign militia, to smash a rebel advance on Bouar, the C.A.R.'s second-largest military base. Since October, rebels loyal to ex-army chief François Bozize have seized 70% of the country, cutting food supplies to the capital. The fighting is the latest in a series of mutinies and coups that began in 1996. Patasse accused France, the former colonial power, of "discrimination" for not sending troops to help the government...
...course, this conundrum exhibits itself in my life as a severe guilt complex. It whittles away at me from the headlines, and does so frequently because coffee is the second-largest world trade commodity, and America is the world’s biggest importer. The problem is this: to meet production costs alone, coffee farmers need to be paid $0.80 per pound of coffee. Yet the going market rate is around $0.50 per pound, with some farmers receiving less than $0.25, with no means for negotiation. Fair Trade certification requires buyers to pay $1.26 per pound, much of which...
...banking system crippled by mountains of bad loans, a government debt equal to 130% of the nation's GDP, deflation that sucks the life from corporate profits and a stock market hovering near its lowest point since 1983. There is a more fundamental ailment undermining the world's second-largest economy: Japan's labor force is one of the most unproductive in the industrialized world. And not by a little. According to the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development, a government-affiliated research center, Japanese laborers are 40% less efficient than Americans, 20% less efficient than the French...
...confident. Despite the red ink, the affable American, whose manner belies his nickname of "Mack the Knife," is buoyant. "I'm an optimist," he told Time. Given Credit Suisse's recent track record, Mack could be accused of wishful thinking. Consider how the 146-year-old bank - Switzerland's second-largest, with operations globally - has seen its key divisions gouged by hostile market conditions. In the third quarter Winterthur, Credit Suisse's insurance arm, punched a €955 million hole in the books, as sagging equity prices took their toll on the unit's investment portfolio. And Credit Suisse First...
...Thomas Kwok, vice chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city's second-largest developer, praised the policy as "market driven" and "in keeping with Hong Kong's status as the world's freest economy." But will this course correction put a floor under falling prices? Most analysts say no, because reducing supply doesn't address all that ails the market. Even those who view the new policy as reasonable say its effect will be muted because the local economy is struggling and buyers are scarce. "I expect there will be a positive impact in terms of the market...