All Silk Roads Lead to Tehran
January 23rd, 2012
Via Foreign Policy, an interesting article suggesting that sanctions aren’t the answer for dealing with Iran. As the article notes, if Washington is serious about building a new economic and security architecture across South and Central Asia, it can’t avoid working with Iran. Speaking last September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Secretary […]
Read more »The Swelling Middle: Emergence Of A Truly Global Middle Class
January 23rd, 2012
Courtesy of Reuters, a very interesting look at the evolution of the middle-class around the world. Emerging markets such as China, India and Indonesia are estimated to increase Asia’s share of the global middle-class to 64% and account for over 40% of global middle-class consumption by the year 2030: For the first time in history, […]
Read more »The Last Kim of Pyongyang?
January 21st, 2012
Via Foreign Policy, an interesting report on the possibility of North Korea following Myanmar’s gentle path towards liberalization. As the article notes: For more than two decades, Myanmar was a pariah state ruled by military generals that suppressed political dissent, straitjacketed the media, persecuted ethnic minorities, and — despite resource riches — failed to improve […]
Read more »Mongolia: Mine, All Mine
January 21st, 2012
Via The Economist, an article on Mongolia’s rapid growth and dramatic change: “GOIN’ to OT?” drawls Andy, a burly tattooed man with that worldly air common to those who have done time in the American army. The gate at Incheon airport in South Korea is packed with travellers, mainly Mongolian expatriates on their way home, […]
Read more »Frontier Markets Up The Ante On Political Risk In Mining
January 18th, 2012
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on mining firms’ increased interest in frontier markets. As the report notes: Mining companies have been busy scouring investment frontiers that they once avoided. The world’s seven largest gold-producing companies are all developing major projects in frontier markets, including Papua New Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, and Ecuador. Geologically-attractive deposits […]
Read more »Myanmar: Poised On Cusp Of Growth?
January 17th, 2012
Via USA TODAY, an interesting article on Myanmar’s growth prospects. As the report notes: In saffron robes and flip-flops, Buddhist monk Ashin Uttama browses the feast of cheap Chinese electronics assembled for a trade fair in Rangoon, Burma’s commercial capital. A tablet computer would let him scroll through the sutras he must chant daily, and […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.