The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power."
Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian Revolution on TEDxCairo, March 2011
There are no standards of fact anymore for a lot of people. We have gone from selecting sources of opinion that we agree with to selecting facts we agree with.
James B. McPherson, author of the Conservative Resurgence and the Press, to the New York Times 6.27.11
The president of Yale believes that in 10 to 15 years there will be 5 to 6 major global universities of great excellence and we’ll be lucky if two of them are from the United States."
Jim Hoge, outgoing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, on Morning Joe 11.22.10
The Arctic rim will be transformed by climate change into a new economic powerhouse. As the ice recedes, ecosystems extend and minerals and fossil fuels are discovered and exploited, the Arctic will become a place of “great human activity, strategic value and economic importance.”
Seed Magazine review of The World in 2050 by Laurence Smith
Walmart launched a new global campaign around sustainable agriculture focused on helping “small and medium sized farmers expand their businesses, get more income for their products, and reduce the environmental impact of farming, while strengthening local economies and providing customers around the world with long-term access to affordable, high-quality, fresh food.” “In the U.S., Walmart’s Heritage Agriculture program will help the company double the sale of locally grown food. The program focuses on sourcing produce from states and regions with long histories of agricultural production."
Walmart, 10.14.10
“What is needed is a better approach to help the poor, an approach that involves partnering with them to innovate and achieve sustainable win-win scenarios where the poor are actively engaged and, at the same time, the companies providing products and services to them are profitable.”
Acknowledging the passing of C.K. Prahalad. From his book The Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits
The advanced economies accounted for two thirds of the world economy as recently as 2000. Today, the emerging economies account for just over one half of the global economy, and will hit two thirds by 2016.Projections for 2011-2016: GDP Growth in emerging market and developing economies will be 5.8% vs. 1.5% in advanced economies. Of the 4.2% projected growth in GDP worldwide, emerging markets will account for 86% (3.6% growth on their own).
The Conference Board Global Economic Outlook 2010
Amid an ongoing debate in the U.S. on immigration from Mexico, Gallup estimates 6.2 million Mexican adults would like to move permanently to the United States if given the chance. That number pales in comparison with the estimated 22.9 million adults who would come from China and 17.1 million from India.
Gallup.com
In Chinese, we have a saying: You eat first with your eyes, then your nose, then your mouth.
Wendy Leon, Hong Kong-raised chef and caterer
IT Outsourcing: The global outsourcing budget for 2010 is expected to be around $60bn, 80% of which goes to India. Egypt will account for less than $1bn.
