HOW TO BALANCE economic growth with human rights in semi-democratic nations and dictatorships? The question of the 21st century will be the question of free trade vs. liberty.
COMPASSIONATE CAPITALISM? -- Seventh Generation co-founder Jeffrey Hollender (Web siteand Wikipedia profile) writes in CSRWire that the corporate social responsibility movement -- "committed to using capital to achieve well-being, sustainability and justice"-- is catching on globally. Hollender, who stepped down last year as Seventh Generation CEO, is a global authority on CSR issues and now advises the American Sustainable Business Council. His latest book is Planet Home: Conscious Choices for Cleaning and Greening the World You Care About.
LIKE A VAST wave, you could see this business megatrend rising a decade or so ago. More revenues, more investments,more employees, more R&D, more everything coming from fast-growing businesses overseas. Now, that trend -- the emergence of new companies in rapidly developing economies -- clearly is a powerful pillar of the global economy that will reshape the world, says the Boston Consulting Group, which has been studying global companies for many years.
FASTER THAN YOU can say mighty mighty,that BRIC house keeps rising as a global powerhouse. In little-noticed news over Christmas, Chinese President Hu Jintao invited South African President Jacob Zuma to meet with BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) leaders in Beijing in 2011. According to Bloomberg, Zuma said that South Africa will be "a good gateway for the BRIC countries. While we may have a small population . . . we speak for Africa as a whole."