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November 2008
Early death Zhang Sheng Yu, 39, has become the latest of Chinese listed company CEOs to suffer an early death. The head of the venerable pharmacy chain Tong Reng Tang, listed in Shanghai, died of a sudden heart attack on July 22.
Loan shark days The credit crunch has hit China so badly that some smaller companies and individuals are borrowing money at 600% per month, according to local media.
Instant noodles rule the world!
It is the most popular processed food on earth and by far the most controversial. Its supporters say it is the ideal food for the masses and one of the 20th century's great inventions. Its detractors call it a weapon of mass destruction and blame its high sodium content and preservatives for widespread malnutrition from the Philippines to Mexico.
Easy to prepare and stomach-filling, it has become the staple diet of the world's dispossessed and victims of war and disasters, from the 2005 Boxing Day tsunami to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Why building skyscrapers on expensive land is not always wise
“Go into land, they stopped making it,” Mark Twain was said to have told a friend who had inherited some money. In San Francisco in the 1860s, there was plenty of unused land. But Twain was not asking his friend to buy just any plot. His advice was to focus on property near the city centre. The great author knew it was in the nature of humans to congregate. The more a location is popular, the more it is likely to become even more popular, and the higher its price is likely to rise.
The Cantillon effect explains property prices
Everyone knows the property market runs in cycles. Not many, however, know that it was an obscure Irishman called Richard Cantillon (1680-1734) who laid the theoretical groundwork to explain why prices of property and other assets move in cyclical patterns.
Blood money (Part 1 of 2)
With his investment in 3G technology bleeding red ink, Li Ka-shing makes sure he pays his lieutenants well to keep it afloat.
Is it better to work for a boss who's doing well or one who's in trouble? When it comes to Li Ka-shing, it is definitely the latter.
Blood Money (Part 2 of 2)
So Li ploughed on, putting more and more of Hutchinson's money into the venture. As of end-2007, Hutchinson had invested around US$25 billion in it, and not got a single cent in return.
August 2008
Empty space Demand for prime office space in Japan has shown signs of waning as foreign financial institutions hold back expansion plans in the face of the fallout from the subprime crisis.
Video game winner Almost written off two years ago, Nintendo has captured the top spot in Japan for "Innovation in Responding to Customer Needs" with its Wii in the Wall Street Journal Asia’s latest Asia 200 survey of readers.
July 2008
Japanese annual inflation hit 1.2% in March, the highest in a decade. This helped trigger a huge sell-off in yen bonds in late April after the figures were released.
Investors feared Japan had little immunity from price increases and its central bank might be forced to raise rates, despite a weak economy.
Akio Toyoda
In the office he wears the ubiquitous white button-down shirt and dark blue suit and behaves as modestly as any other salaryman. Behind the wheel he is a demon.
Keeping it within the family
As Asia’s two richest men near their 80s, bets are on whether their prodigal sons will return to take over the family businesses.
"A stubborn son does not waste away the family fortune."
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