Following Iceland’s banking meltdown, international financial markets have identified Hungary as another country potentially at risk of a crisis. Hungarian central bank governor András Simor spoke to Journal reporter Marcus Walker about why he thinks the market’s fears about Hungary are wrong.
WSJ: How vulnerable is Hungary to the global financial turmoil?
SIMOR: This crisis has led [...]

A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
Economist Debate: The Economist is hosting a debate on how best to re-regulate the system after the credit crisis. The participants are Myron Scholes advocating a light touch, and Joseph Stiglitz arguing for stronger regulation. Scholes writes: There is now a rising chorus among regulators, politicians and [...]

Ty Warner earned a giant fortune from small toys. Now the Beanie Baby billionaire aims to top all other homes in the country–literally.
According to articles in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, Mr. Warner just signed a contract for the penthouse of Spire, the swirling, Dr. Seussian skyscraper under for construction in Chicago. The [...]

One of Shanghai’s luxury fairs with the most god-awful names is getting a makeover. And a name change. From now on, the Millionaire Fair will be known quite simply as — The Fair.
The name change, however, still doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to afford anything at the fair. The over-the-top luxury sports cars [...]

Lionel Hutz of The Simpsons
If I had to choose the second concept that was critical to know in the study of franchising, it would be This one.
HINT: If they’re talking about protecting franchisees and not talking about credence goods, they’re all hat and no cattle [all show and no go].
Some goods and services, by their [...]

The World Expo Tunnel, which stretches beneath the Huangpu River, connecting Pudong and Puxi reached its full length on August the 20th: it’s 2.67 kilometers long, and located 1.117 kilometers below the river.
The soccer World Cup qualifier match between North and South Korea has been moved from Pyongyang to Shanghai, because the North had refused [...]

The infamous trade surplus is falling, but rather than being driven by structural changes in trade, it is sky-high commodities prices that are having an impact, as AFP reports:

“Soaring imports caused China’s trade surplus to shrink nearly 10 percent as rising global commodity prices stoked inflation in the domestic economy, official figures showed Wednesday.
China’s trade [...]

Judging by the headlines, we?re in the midst of a divorce epidemic among the rich and famous. There?s A-Rod, Christie Brinkley, Madonna….

Alex and Cynthia Rodriguez (Associated Press Photo)

Is this just hype or an actual uptick? An article in The Australian quotes divorce lawyers for the rich saying that they?re seeing a discernible rise in [...]

Paris is awestruck and aghast. Jerome Kerviel, the 31-year-old trader denounced by Societe Generale last week for bringing the French bank to its knees with a Euro 4.9bn loss, is on course for a potentially stunning reversal of fortune. He is now in hiding with his lawyer, facing a bidding war for his story and [...]