Economist, June 8, 2013

choi

(1) The Mississippi Delta | Scratching a Living; A shocking rate of depopulation in the rural South.
http://www.economist.com/news/un ... h-scratching-living

Note:
(a) "In the poor black neighbourhoods that surround the centre of town [Greenville], many of the decrepit 'shotgun' houses are abandoned, their boarded-up windows and doors almost totally obscured by untended vines."
(i) Greenville, Mississippi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenville,_Mississippi
(a city of 34,400 at the 2010 census; county seat of Washington County)
(ii) shotgun house
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_house
(the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War (1861–65), through the 1920s; section 1 History: the name itself may trace back to Haiti and Africa in the 18th century and earlier)

(b) Greenwood, Mississippi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Mississippi
(a city in and the county seat of Leflore County; located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta; 96 miles north of Jackson, [capital of] Mississippi, and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee; population was 16,087 at the 2010 census)

choi

choi 发表于 6-8-2013 12:17
(2) China’s foreign ports | The New Masters and Commanders; China’s growing empire of ports abroad ...

(3) Brazil’s mediocre economy | A Fall From Grace; How to squander an inheritance—and how easily it could be restored.
http://www.economist.com/news/le ... restored-fall-grace

Quote:

"But the global recession of 2008-09 prompted Lula and Ms Rousseff [two presidents] to shrug at decadent liberal economics and ape Chinese state capitalism. The finance ministry wrote vast cheques to boost lending by state banks. The government gave up on market reform, and spent remorselessly.

"Fortunately, Brazil still has some big strengths, including its farming and energy industries, more science and innovation than you might think and a huge, albeit less fizzy, domestic market. And whatever Ms Rousseff’s mistakes, they are small compared with those of, say, Argentina’s Cristina Fernández. But in any event, the going for Brazil is getting harder. A consumption and credit boom has run out of steam, the trade account has moved into deficit as Chinese demand for Brazilian iron ore slows

Note:
(a) The Spanish/Portuguese surnames Cardoso/Cardozo mean cardoon.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cardoon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynara_cardunculus
(b) fizz (vi, probably of imitative origin): "to show excitement or exhilaration"

fizz (n): "SPIRIT, LIVELINESS"

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/f

choi

(2) China’s foreign ports | The New Masters and Commanders; China’s growing empire of ports abroad is mainly about trade, not aggression.
http://www.economist.com/news/in ... ression-new-masters

Quote:

"China Shipping Container Lines, the country’s second biggest firm, has just ordered five 18,400-container vessels from Hyundai.

"Some expect that patriotic Chinese shipping lines will shift their business to Colombo from other big Asian ports. But that is a stretch. They are losing money and may not want to subsidise Sri Lanka. In 2012 Aitken Spence, a local firm, sold its stake in Colombo’s new terminal, arguing that it was not profitable. Some reckon it will take 15 years for it [Columbo harbor, which is expanded, operated and owned by China] to break even.

"But Cosco’s Piraeus [a seaport in Greece] investment, once controversial, is a success, with profits rising and the firm winning plaudits for investing and creating jobs for Greeks.

Note:
(a) "Colombo is a 'transhipment' hub for India: big ships unload containers there and feeder boats take these to India’s often crummy ports."
(i) Colpmbo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombo
(section 1 Etymology)
(ii) crummy (adj): "very poor or inferior : LOUSY <crummy weather> <has a crummy job>"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crummy

(b) "China love-bombed the Seychelles and Mauritius with presidential visits in 2007 and 2009 respectively. But since then India has successfully buttered up these island states and reasserted its role in the Maldives."

butter up (vt): "to charm or beguile with lavish flattery or praise"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/butter%20up

(c) Colombo’s new terminal "is 85% owned by China Merchants Holdings International, a Hong Kong firm that is ultimately controlled by China’s government."

China Merchants Holdings (International)  招商局国际
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Merchants_Holdings_(International)

(d) "Vallarpadam, a port in the Indian state of Kerala owned by DP World, is only a third full. India’s bureaucrats have relaxed their fiddly rules to help it compete."

fiddly (adj)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiddly