Rising inequalities in income and access to employment and social services in Asia are casting a shadow over its unprecedented economic boom, and governments and the private sector need to work together to make the benefits of growth more inclusive, says a new book from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Poverty, Inequality and Inclusive Growth in Asia: Measurement, Policy Issues, and Country Studies, edited by Juzhong Zhuang, Assistant Chief Economist in ADB’s Economics and Research Department, examines the growing discrepancies in wealth and persistent gaps in access to social services that have emerged during Asia’s extraordinary economic expansion in recent decades, and lays out policy options to address inequities and support inclusive growth.

A newly published research survey from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants shows that the economic crisis is far from over. The critical liquidity issues in UK business, which have characterised the downturn, have not eased and combined with the lack of restructuring in 2009 will threaten the UK’s return to economic growth in 2010. This survey was conducted with UK board members to gauge the continuing impact of the economic crisis on major UK companies and to gain an understanding of the opportunities arising from potential recovery.

Jeff Joerres, Manpower Inc. Chairman and CEO, emphasized that Europe needs to channel immigration to its economic advantage, rather than placing sweeping curbs on migrants that further reduce the pool of skilled young workers and prevent European businesses from competing in the global marketplace. "Immigration, education and mobility are more closely intertwined than ever before. As the world has gotten smaller, each of these needs to be addressed," said Joerres. "A plan needs to be implemented to address these three factors as a single issue. Shifting demographics in Europe necessitate the right kind of immigration so companies can access the talent they need to increase innovation, growth and, ultimately, job creation."

The Turkish economy has gone through a period of dynamic growth with some deep crises in between. Of course, worldwide, all economies have been hit by the severe economic crisis of 2008/09. This is also and probably especially true for the Turkish economy. Its growth rate has plummeted by almost 5% in 2009. However, it might recover faster than expected in 2010.

The Ifo Business Climate for industry and trade in Germany remains at nearly the previous-month value. Both components of the indicator, the assessments of the business situation and the business expectations, show little movement in comparison to April. The firms are just as satisfied with their current business situation as they were in the previous month. Their business outlook has been appraised as minimally less favourable than in April. The economic recovery in Germany is robust.

Sweden remains the most competitive economy as measured by the European Union’s (EU) own competition benchmark, the Lisbon criteria, followed by Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to the World Economic Forum’s Lisbon Review 2010 released today ahead of the upcoming World Economic Forum on Europe.

The global economic downturn following the financial crisis led to dramatic slumps in exports in Germany. As the world economy begins to recover, bilateral trade relations are now developing in very different ways. While exports to emerging markets are rising strongly again, deliveries to developed markets are picking up only very hesitantly.

A new study led by the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute has ranked most of the world's countries for their environmental impact. The research uses seven indicators of environmental degradation to form two rankings - a proportional environmental impact index, where impact is measured against total resource availability, and an absolute environmental impact index measuring total environmental degradation at a global scale. The world's 10 worst environmental performers according to the proportional environmental impact index (relative to resource availability) are: Singapore, Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Philippines and Netherlands.

As one of the largest seafood producers in the Middle East, Israel's innovative fish-farming industry is booming. Just a few miles downshore in Gaza, though, fishermen can barely eke out a living. But a new on-land aquaculture project proposed by five Tel Aviv University graduate students could change that reality and develop a thriving industrial park in the heart of Gaza. The team proposes a "Nets of Peace" project to launch the industrial park, designed both to provide a healthy protein supply for Palestinians living in Gaza and to connect the region to foreign business investment and trade.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has welcomed the recommendations by the G-20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ meeting aimed at accelerating a job-rich recovery through policies included in the ILO’s Global Jobs Pact and Decent Work Agenda.

It's easy to assume retiring baby boomers will benefit from Social Security and Medicare at the expense of younger generations, as analysts estimate that these government-run programs will pay out more than they collect in payroll taxes by 2017.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. increased 1.4 percent in March, following a 0.4 percent gain in February, and a 0.6 percent rise in January. The U.S. LEI is now at its highest level. Says Ataman Ozyildirim, economist at The Conference Board: “The U.S. LEI has risen steadily for a year, and its six-month growth rate has remained fairly stable in recent months – led by improvements in financial and labor market indicators. Payroll employment made its first substantial contribution to the coincident economic index, suggesting a recovery that is beginning to gain traction.”

Economic crisis policies adopted by G20 governments saved or created an estimated 21 million jobs in 2009 and 2010, the International Labour Office (ILO) said. The ILO study found that the slack in the labour market that accumulated from the second half of 2008 remains high in the first quarter of 2010 despite the beginnings of economic recovery. An additional factor is rising informal employment and poverty in some developing and emerging economies and generally weak growth in real wages in countries at all income levels.

The pick up in activity seen in the G7 countries in the last quarter of 2009 is expected to ease back in the first half of this year, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment. Gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to grow faster in the US than in Japan and the three largest euro area countries – Germany, France and Italy - but will remain generally fragile as inventory destocking by businesses and the ending of some fiscal stimulus measures weighs on activity. Consumer and business demand is likely to suffer from sluggish credit growth and difficult labour market conditions.

Eleven questions that should shape the next decade of geographical sciences research were identified today in a new report by the National Research Council. Reflecting a time when populations are moving and natural resources are being depleted, the questions aim to provide a more complete understanding of where and how landscapes are changing to help society manage and adapt to the transformation of Earth's surface.

Sweden tops the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010, released today by the World Economic Forum. The report highlights the key role of ICT as an enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world in the aftermath of one of the most serious economic crises in decades. Sweden is followed by Singapore and Denmark, which was in the number one position for the last three years.

The world's mobile worker population will pass the one billion mark this year and grow to nearly 1.2 billion people – more than a third of the world's workforce – by 2013. According to a new forecast from IDC, the most significant gains will be in the emerging economies of Asia/Pacific, where a strong economic recovery and new interest in unified communications will drive healthy growth in all aspects of mobility spending.

Writing on the recession for the Foreign Policy Association’s recent series on “Great Decisions,” Daniel Drezner observed: “If nothing else, the Great Recession threatens the key ideas that underlie the global economic order in the past generation.” I don’t understand the word “threatens.” The current financial calamity does not “threaten the key ideas” that have dominated economic policy in the United States and abroad for the past 35 years or so. By all empirical evidence it absolutely shreds the economic theology that prevailed and unhappily still underlies the effectiveness of the resistance to any meaningful remedial action by bankers, by other purveyors of financial services, and by their congressional and media agents.

Transforming wastewater from a major health and environmental hazard into a clean, safe and economically-attractive resource is emerging as a key challenge in the 21st century.It is a challenge that will continue to intensify as the world undergoes rapid urbanization, industrialization and increasing demand for meat and other foods unless decisive action is taken says a new United Nations report released today.Urban populations are projected to nearly double in 40 years, from current 3.4 billion to over six billion people - but already most cities lack adequate wastewater management due to aging, absent or inadequate sewage infrastructure.

Why do we need new technologies? After all, our income is increasing, we are the only country which recorded an economic growth, green island of Europe. Why reach for more? - provoked a discussion Prof. Witold Orłowski, director of the Warsaw University of Technology Business School, a member of the National Development Council, an advisory body to the President, and the Economic Council, an advisory body to the Prime Minister, during his opening speech at the Third Intellectual Property Forum in Warsaw.

Governments and firms need to do more to tackle the gender equality gap in OECD countries, according to an OECD report. Even if the share of working women is high on average in OECD countries, with 62% of all women in paid work, women earn almost a fifth less than men. While one out of four women works part-time, only 6% of men do so. These gender differences widen when there are children, since women are more likely to adjust their work patterns than men.

It is easier to climb the social ladder and earn more than one's parents in the Nordic countries, Australia and Canada than in France, Italy, Britain and the United States, according to a new OECD study. But weak social mobility can signal a lack of equal opportunities, constrain productivity and curb economic growth, says a report on the study. "A Family Affair: Intergenerational social mobility across OECD countries" says climbing the social ladder depends on a range of factors such as individual ability, family and social environments, networks and attitudes. But public action - particularly education and to some extent tax policies - can play a key role in helping people achieve a higher income and social status than their parents.

A combination of intensified globalization brought on by recent turbulence in the global economy and the acceleration of new information technologies is driving companies and governments to look for new business models to meet increased demands for efficiency, competitiveness, short-term agility and long-term growth. This is one of the key findings of a study released today by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) at the World Economic Forum.

In the wake of the recession, women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the workforce for the first time in history, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The second annual survey by Women & Co., a financial community where wisdom, wealth and women meet, backed by Citigroup, uncovers how the economic downturn has impacted what women are thinking, saying, and doing when it comes to money in today's SHE-conomy. Results of the latest survey, Women and Affluence 2010: The Era of Financial Responsibility, reveal that women are using their growing financial knowledge and rising influence to foster an open dialogue about money and usher in a new age of financial responsibility.

With the help of massive government stimulus action, China is now leading the world economy out of recession, according to a new OECD report. Already the world’s second largest economy, China could well overtake the United States to become the leading producer of manufactured goods in the next five to seven years, it says.

Over two-thirds of people believe the current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values. But only 50% think universal values exist. These are among the findings of the World Economic Forum’s Faith and the Global Agenda: Values for the Post-Crisis Economy, an annual report on issues related to the role of faith in global affairs. The report contains a unique new public opinion poll on values. The poll reached over 130,000 respondents in France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.

The ZEW-Erste Group Bank Sentiment Indicator CEE that reflects the business outlook for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) increases by 7.1 points to 59.1 points in January. 67.3 percent of the polled financial market experts expect the economic situation to improve in the region till mid of the year.

U.S. productivity weathered the recession well, growing 2.5 percent (in per hour terms) in 2009, The Conference Board reported. This blip in the prevailing downward trend in U.S. productivity was largely explained by dramatically reduced working hours that offset output decline (employment fell by 3.6 percent in 2009; hours worked per worker by 1.5 percent.) U.S. productivity growth is projected at 3 percent for 2010.

The World Economic Forum released Global Risks 2010, its annual report on the most significant and underlying global risks facing the global economy this year and beyond. The report argues that the events of the past year have revealed a fundamental need to change thinking on global risks and how they are managed. With unprecedented levels of interconnectedness between all areas of risk, the report stresses that the need to combat governance gaps globally is greater than ever. It argues that this can only be addressed by an overhaul of current values and behaviours by decision-makers to improve coordination and supervision.

Every day hundreds of Egyptians pay large amounts of money to smugglers to embark on an often perilous journey in unseaworthy boats to Europe, mainly via Libya.

The financial crisis and recession not only exposed failures and excess in the financial sector, but diverted attention from similar weaknesses that existed across British businesses, claims Will Hutton, executive vice chair at The Work Foundation in a new essay. Outlining these weaknesses, he captures the challenges that UK businesses now face, spelling out what needs to be done to address them. He calls on the unions to recognise 21st century workplace realities and specifies how the government could put innovation at the heart of its financial, business and industrial policies.

A new research report from Deloitte U.S. reveals surveyed executives believe the worst of the economic crisis has passed. While many of these leaders look to adopt talent strategies to prevent key employees from leaving for better opportunities, others may be at risk for not implementing talent or innovation strategies needed to seize the opportunities presented by a recovering economy. “Companies may soon find themselves in a fight for talent as the recovery takes hold,” said Jeff Schwartz, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Global Organization and Change Leader. “A defensive strategy of hunkering down with cost cutting and headcount reductions may very well prove to be a losing strategy for weathering the impending resume tsunami. To excel during changing times and the economic recovery, organizations must take an ‘offensive’ approach, implementing talent strategies dedicated to driving innovation.”

McAfee, Inc. revealed that the global cyberarms race has moved from fiction to reality, according to its fifth annual Virtual Criminology Report. The report found that politically motivated cyberattacks have increased and five countries – the United States, Russia, France, Israel and China – are now armed with cyberweapons. “McAfee began to warn of the global cyberarms race more than two years ago, but now we’re seeing increasing evidence that it’s become real,” said Dave DeWalt, McAfee president and CEO. “Now several nations around the world are actively engaged in cyberwar-like preparations and attacks. Today, the weapons are not nuclear, but virtual, and everyone must adapt to these threats.”

56% claim to have seen signs of green shoots in the British economy, says KPMG poll; but ‘no end in sight’ to falling consumer demand. Confidence amongst British businesses has reached its highest level for more than eighteen months but there is still an autumnal chill in the air as concerns about falling sales weigh heavily at the top of boardroom agendas, according to KPMG’s latest quarterly National Business Confidence Survey.

A new report entitled „Board Dynamics - a female perspective‟ is being launched today by boardroom consultancy IDDAS, providing an insight into the views of female board directors of FTSE 100 companies and exploring their role and effectiveness on boards. It includes research that shows that although many of the characteristics of successful female board directors are the same as for their male counterparts, women do believe that they bring a different perspective and are more likely to have certain strengths and weaknesses than men.

While some economic signs seem to be improving, nearly 38 percent of manufacturing CFOs and senior comptrollers surveyed by Grant Thornton LLP do not expect to see the U.S. economy coming out of the current recession until the second half of 2010. Nearly 27 percent expect the recession to end during the first half of 2010, and nearly 15 percent see a more bullish outlook, predicting the recession will end by the end of 2009. The bears weighed in also, however, with some 20 percent of CFOs not expecting to see a turnaround until 2011 or beyond.

The EU’s newest member states in Eastern and Central Europe have begun the recovery one year after the breakout of the global financial crisis as the credit crunch has eased, but most countries undergo large contractions this year, and the recovery is likely to be feeble and uncertain, the World Bank said as it launched its new EU10 Regular Economic Report.

Canada is ranked 13th in the world on the innovation list. In a roundtable discussion at the IBM Science & Innovation Summit, experts debate if and how risk-taking fits into the problem

Iceland has claimed the top spot of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2009 from Norway which slipped to third position behind Finland. Sweden completed the Nordic countries’ continued dominance of the top four. The report’s Index assesses countries on how well they are dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female populations, regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities.

A joint study from the International Labour Organization and the WTO has found that high incidence of informal employment in the developing world suppresses countries' ability to benefit from trade opening by creating poverty traps for workers in job transition.

Warsaw, Poland has been named by the 20th annual European Cities Monitor as the city which can expect the biggest influx of companies in the next five years, replacing Moscow in popularity which has fallen to second place. 36 of Europe’s largest companies named Warsaw as the European city in which they intended to next expand, up from 28 in 2008. 35 companies named Moscow, down from 44 in 2008.

Eleven French women, 6 businesswomen from both China and the United Kingdom lead the recently released 2009 Fortune lit of the "50 Most Powerful Women" globally. Heading the international list is Cynthia Carroll of Great Britain, CEO of the $44 billion mining company Anglo American. Carroll is cited for making it her mission to transform the safety record of the largest private sector employer in South Africa. Gail Kelly, the CEO and Managing Director of Westpac in Australia places at number 2 in the list. In December of 2009 Kelly orchestrated a merger with St. George Bank, making Westpac Australia's largest bank with a market cap of $59 billion.

Unlike other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and the majority of the EU-15, Poland’s economy is remarkably robust, exerting a stabilising effect on the entire region and many euro-area banks. However, the economic and financial crisis has also highlighted structural weaknesses which require determined reform efforts.

Allowing for migration—both within and between countries—has the potential to increase people’s freedom and improve the lives of millions around the world, according to the 2009 Human Development Report.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.6 percent in August, following a 0.9 percent gain in July, and a 0.8 percent rise in June. “Since reaching a peak in July 2007, the LEI fell for twenty months – the longest downtrend since the mid 1970s – but it has been rising since April and its gains have become very widespread,” says Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at The Conference Board.

Google, Amazon, and Zara are among this year’s top gainers in BusinessWeek and Interbrand’s annual ranking of the “Best Global Brands.” UBS slipped dramatically down the list, falling 31 places to No. 72, losing 50% of its brand value. Coca-Cola remains the No. 1 brand for the ninth year in a row. For the ninth consecutive year, BusinessWeek has teamed up with Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, to publish the ranking of the top 100 global brands by brand value.

The economy tops concerns for 2009, but other issues loom large thereafter 41% expect increase in sales in the last half of 2009. Employment and compensation levels stabilize.

Switzerland tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, released by the World Economic Forum ahead of its Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2009 in Dalian. The United States falls one place to second position, with weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability. Singapore, Sweden and Denmark round out the top five. European economies continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. The United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has continued its fall from last year, moving down one more place this year to 13th, mainly attributable to continuing weakening of its financial markets.

A World Economic Forum task force presented world leaders with concrete proposals to accelerate private sector investment and innovation in the fight against climate change. Eighty business leaders and over 40 environmental and scientific experts from around the world outlined a plan for stimulating a “clean revolution” in the private sector within the next few years even as governments continue negotiations on a climate policy framework in the United Nations.

Deutschland ist Vizeweltmeister: Im aktuellen Interbrand-Ranking der 100 wertvollsten Marken der Welt stellt die Bundesrepublik die zweitstärksteGruppe und liegt in der Länderwertung direkt hinter der USA, die das Ranking allerdings klar dominieren.