Category Archives: Economics

Expect Trouble Over Nigeria’s Removal Of Fuel Subsidies

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Tim Newman

Fortunately Boko Haram never made good on their threat to bomb Lagos, which had the authorities send hoardes of security personnel onto the streets and our security department sending telling us to stay out of nightclubs on New Year’s Eve. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Nigeria | 2 Comments

Why Some Countries are Poor

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Tim Newman

“Why do some places prosper and thrive while others just suck?”, asks P.J. O’Rourke at the start of Eat the Rich, “It’s not a matter of brains.  No part of the earth (with the possible exception of Brentwood) is dumber … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Economics, Nigeria, Russia | 15 Comments

Apple Jumps ExxonMobil

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Tim Newman

There was much masturbatory journalism going around last month when Apple overtook ExxonMobil as the world’s most valuable company.  Apple is one of those enormous American corporate behemoths which dimwitted lefties (which adequately describes most journalists) don’t mind, mainly because … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | 6 Comments

Russian Economics

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Tim Newman

An understanding of basic economics was always in short supply in the Soviet Union, and it is not exactly in abundance in modern Russia. Natural gas is undervalued and its price less susceptible to producer influence than oil because long-term … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Oil & Gas, Russia | 2 Comments

Reavealed Preferences in Venezuela

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Tim Newman

There’s nothing quite like like a dose of economic reality to reveal preferences:  Venezuela increased oil shipments to the US in January, despite President Hugo Chavez’s anti-US rhetoric and a promise to Opec to cut output, the US Department of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Oil & Gas | Comments Off

Approaching Economic Realities

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Tim Newman

Times are changing in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and proof of this comes in the form of something I have never seen before in the town, and a few people I have spoken to on the subject say the same thing: a large … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Sakhalin | 6 Comments

Logos please, and more of them

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Tim Newman

The first topic of this post could be viewed as a footnote to this post, in which I mourn the lack of a decent supermarket in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.  Branded goods have come in for a lot of stick in the past few … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Sakhalin | 2 Comments

Thank Goodness for Supermarkets

Posted on June 15, 2007 by Tim Newman

I’ve been meaning to write a post on this subject for a while now, but I was prompted to do so today after I read some of the other blogs named by The Times on their 50 Best Business Blogs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Sakhalin, UK | 8 Comments

Russian Salaries

Posted on March 12, 2007 by Tim Newman

It is a well known fact that Russian salaries are very poor, with the average monthly wage in many Russian towns being little more than a few hundred dollars, which is often barely enough to live on.  In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the wages … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Russia | 5 Comments

A Reason Why Russians Hate President Bush

Posted on February 25, 2007 by Tim Newman

Do Russians hate Americans?  It’s a good question, one that I can’t answer, and I expect nor can anyone else.  Verbally, they certainly dislike America and, like the denizens of the Middle East, register their displeasure by grabbing any opportunity … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Russia, USA | 14 Comments