Armen Georgian meets renowned Czech economist Tomas Sedlacek, best-selling author of "Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street". Sedlacek argues that GDP growth is a modern secular version of the old religious idea of paradise, and that Western societies cling to this promised paradise at their peril. He offers us his alternatives.
How does American foreign policy adjust to a changing world, and in particular to the rise of China? Melissa Bell puts the question to Graham Allison, the Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.
How rich is too rich if you live in the world's largest Communist country? At last count, in October, China had 113 billionaires - a quadrupling of the number in the space of just three years! Douglas Herbert speaks to China specialist Marion Zipfel about China’s "red" billionaires.
They work three hours a day and take an hour for their lunch break! Quelle horreur! Maurice Taylor is an American CEO (despite his French first name!) and is not too impressed with French workers. He explained to Industrial Recovery Minister Arnaud Montebourg why he had no intention of taking over a beleaguered French tyre factory in Amiens. Also, Valérie Trierweiler crosses swords with Paris Match.
IN THE INTERNATIONAL PAPERS, Wednesday 28 November: "Remove the decree, or get out!" - a stark message to the Egyptian president adorns the front page of Al Masry al Youm this Wednesday; meanwhile, Gulf News analyses why Egyptians are more cynical than ever when it come to their political leaders; and Israeli paper Haaretz argues that Palestinians should be given "their own state".
Shell's planned drilling operations in the Arctic have fallen victim to a spoof website. Also, satirical website The Onion targets the Toyota Prius. All this, plus a scandal affecting McDonald's in France, in today's corporate flavoured Mediawatch.
Has Bhutan discovered the secret to happiness? In this small kingdom nestled between India and China, wealth is less important than well-being. So instead of GDP they measure GDH, gross domestic happiness! So what is the secret to happiness in Bhutan? Well, they say it's their rejection of a consumer society. But in our globalised world, how long will the young generation resist the lure of modernity?
Inspired by Spain's Indignados and the Occupy Wall Street Movement, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators turned out from Asia to Europe on October 15th, calling for global change. While most protests passed off peacefully, a mass rally in Rome descended into street battles with more than a hundred people injured.
Tom Burges Watson speaks to Marc Roche, correspondent for French newspaper "Le Monde" in the City in London. They discuss the dark side of finance, including offshore financial centres, hedge funds and speculation on raw materials.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday told a virtually empty hall at a UN General Assembly session in New York focused on anti-poverty efforts that "discriminatory" capitalism is "facing defeat".
