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".
In a world full of economic gloom, the annual Forbes Rich List has surprised many by announcing that the number of billionaires has jumped by 300 to more than 1000 in the last 12 months. It turns out that Carlos Slim is now in the number one position. So is it that the rich have got an awful lot richer while the poor have become poorer during the global financial crisis?
Can capitalism become more accountable? The theme has hovered over the annual gathering of the rich and the powerful at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Heads of states have in recent weeks renewed their calls for more regulation on both sides of the Atlantic.
The crisis the world witnessed in 2009, and only just came out of, revealed some shocking practices. Banks were discovered to be more interested in speculation and direct profit than in long-term real economy investment. Scandalous and disproportionate incomes were brought to light, and we also discovered States’ strength over banking institutions.
The crisis the world witnessed in 2009, and only just came out of, revealed some shocking practices. Banks were discovered to be more interested in speculation and direct profit than in long-term real economy investment. Scandalous and disproportionate incomes were brought to light, and we also discovered States’ strength over banking institutions.
There was a time when French officials talked of an "entente formidable" between Paris and London during the financial crisis. But now it seems to be back to the old rivalry between 'Anglo-Saxon' capitalism and French interventionism...
