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...high, but most Europeans seem happy to pay more to the state in return for a higher - and guaranteed - quality of life. "The E.U. offers an attractive social, economic and political model," Charles Grant, director of the London-based think tank Centre for European Reform, argued last year. "It is more stable, safe, green and culturally diverse than most parts of the world, which is why neighbors want to join and many migrants aim for Europe...
...world would welcome a stronger European voice. Capitals from Pretoria to Washington are constantly urging more from their European allies. As U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip H. Gordon said to the House Foreign Affairs Committee after the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty last year: "We hope E.U. member states will invest the post-Lisbon institutions with the authority and capacity to make concrete contributions to the pressing global challenges we face together." In Africa, India, Latin America, leaders would fall over themselves to engage more closely with a power that's neither...
...will be years before China has a consumer-driven economy like that of the U.S., but with retail spending rising by double-digit percentages every year, the immediate future looks good. For the most part, the companies poised to enjoy the splurge will not be multinational but Chinese. They know their home market, and how to overcome its obstacles. Some also offer instructive examples for foreign enterprises keen to ride the growth of Chinese consumer culture. Here are four: (See pictures of China's infrastructure boom...
...underdog stories. At the 2008 Beijing Games, one of the most memorable was not on the track but in the boardroom of a Chinese sportswear company named after its founder, Li Ning - a triple gymnastics gold medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. While the then 18-year-old firm wasn't an official sponsor, it used careful planning to outflank its deep-pocketed overseas rivals by picking likely medalists to outfit with Li Ning - branded gear (official sponsor Adidas had the rights to provide uniforms for medal and other ceremonies, but athletes were free to choose their own competition...
...These days, the company works with NBA stars like Baron Davis (who has a signature Li Ning shoe, the BD-1) and Shaquille O'Neal (who is under a five-year contract with the brand). But it still maintains its value-for-money approach to marketing - recently making a big push, for example, into badminton, a sport largely ignored in the West but played and watched by some 300 million Chinese. Li Ning - sponsored shuttlecock star Lin Dan graces billboards and TV ads around China, and the firm opened a "badminton paradise" last year in Singapore, its first international outlet...