2011 is brewing up to be a big year for political risk in emerging markets. Underlying much of the risk is food and energy prices, with rising inflation likely to catalyse public discontent, especially in countries with existing social strains. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle East, where the collapse of the… [Read more]
Corruption is a major problem for most emerging markets, and in truth, quite a few developed states. Time and time again in BMI’s analysis on emerging markets, my colleagues and I have written on how governments need to crack down on corruption, if they want to attract greater foreign investment and prosper. However, this is… [Read more]
“If you have a lot of what people want and can’t get, then you can supply the demand and shovel in the dough”. – Lucky Luciano It’s a simple enough concept, and one that helped make the father of modern organised crime in the United States cited above ‘one of the most influential builders and… [Read more]
The unsurprising landslide victory of the opposition GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) party in Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections on Sunday (July 5) could prove to be the sea-change which many ordinary Bulgarians have been desperately waiting for. In the aftermath of the elections, I believe that the overwhelming support for the three-year old centre-right… [Read more]
At the end of April, Risk Watchdog went to the ‘Invest Iraq’ conference in London. It was attended by several hundred representatives from a broad range of companies, and a large chunk of the Iraqi government, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (who gave the keynote speech), was there. The delegates were very ‘on message’ and… [Read more]
