INTL-466 Section 61
Winter 2010
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Midterm practice questions and suggested answers.
Final practice questions and suggested answers.
New Articles and Links of Interest
Building on our dicussion of opportunities in emerging markets, the last decade has been very good there overall. Here is a New Year's Day New York Times article discussing the poor returns in developed country stock markets over the last decade, and the relatively high returns in emerging market indices. Link.
Following our brief discussion of Venezuela last week, here is a January 11th Wall Street Journal article discussing Venezuela's large currency devaulation last Friday and economic challenges ahead. We will talk more about devaulations and their effects in the 8th week of the quarter, when we discuss Financial Crises. Link.
An October 2009 article and videotaped speech of William Browder gives some updates on the Gazprom case and the broader business environment in Russia, from Browder's perspective. Link. A short, December 28th article from the Telegraph newspaper provides some more recent updates, especially regarding the fate of Sergei Magnitsky, Hermitage Capital's lawyer in Moscow. Link.
The Tehelka.com videotapes created substantial pressure on the Indian government at first, but then elements in the government pushed back, ultimately forcing Tehelka.com out of business. Here is a video documentary that follows those events. Link. These days, Tehelka has reinvented itself as a magazine and on-line, and continues to apply investigate pressure.
Regarding the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. government has recently begun undercover options to catch corporations in the act of bribery. Historically, enforcement efforts have not been so aggressive. See this January 21st New York Times article regarding a large "sting" operation against defense contractors. Link. And here is a 2009 Wall Street Journal article discussing Halliburton's $559 million (!) fine under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, having been caught paying bribes to win business in Nigeria. Link.
Here is an excerpt from Texaco's corporate charter which defines their corruption policies - an example of how a private corporation uses explicit rule-setting to create a "zero-tolerance" policy against bribery. Link.
Regardiug "politics jumping" in international trade, consider the reactions of residents in Georgetown, Kentucky to Toyota's recent problems, as related in this February 9th New York Times article. Link.
A February 11th Wall Street Journal article provides updates on the Cipla case and the patenting regime in India around drugs. Link.
Following on the Cipla case, here is a talk that may be of interest. Zain Latif, a board member of QCIL (a pharmaceutical company in Uganda that is a spin off of Cipla), will be giving a talk on March 1st, from 12:15-1:15pm, in Jacobs 165.
Here is an interesting analysis (and debate), hosted by the Economist, regarding the influence of China in Africa. Link.
Prince Bindal has provided me with a comprehensive overivew of the WTO issues, which he had prepared. This is a good resource for those interested in some further analysis of the WTO, especially with an India focus. Link.
Regarding financial crises, here are two articles looking at the broad options for Greece. One sets the stage from one month ago (link) and the second considers the latest policy actions and possibilities for turning the country back from the edge of a full-blown crisis (link).
A recent Time article considers economics advances in the West Bank, touching on numerous themes in the course, and further touches on the issues of creating supply and demand for certain kinds of workers. Link.
Regarding Halliburton's bribe payments in Nigeria, a February 25th article considers potential legal repurcussions in various jurisdictions inluding Nigeria itself. Link.
Regarding "Missing Women", the March 6th Economist discusses current patterns and issues. Link.
A March 1st BusinessWeek article provides some updates around Hermitage Capital. Link.