December 16, 2007 The New York Times: OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR You Can Almost Hear It Pop By STEPHEN S. ROACH THE American economy is slipping into its second post-bubble recession in seven years. Just as the bursting of the dot-com bubble led to a downturn in 2001 and ’02, the simultaneous popping of the housing and credit bubbles is doing the same right now. This recession will be deeper than the shallow contraction earlier in this decade. The dot-com-led downturn was set off by a c...

I would urge taking a look at a smart, savvy business daily that's just been launched in Dubai. It's called Emirates Business 24/7, and its Web site is: http://www.business24-7.ae. The paper's editor-in-chief is Riyad Mickdady, one of the best informed people in the Middle East, and the editor is Frank Kane, formerly business editor of The Observer in Britain. The paper is actually a reincarnation of what used to be the Emirates Post. But 24/7 is beautifully designed, and tightly edited. It s...

Among the younger journalists I've been quite impressed with is Nandini Lakshman of BusinessWeek. Her dispatches from India are very trenchant and astute. I'd recommend her latest dispatch, a mini-profile of the flamboyant entrepreneur Vijay Mallya. Very informative, very savvy. Lakshman might want to next tackle how Indian businessmen are participating in the Indian politicl process not only by buying politicians in the time-honored tradition, but also getting themselves into local legislatu...

Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce and Industry for India, and its chief representative to the World Trade Organization, will be writing a new book tentatively entitled India's Century, to be published by McGraw-Hill Professional. In the book, aimed at the world's economic elites and general readers, Nath will use his insider's experience to explain India's climb to superstar status and provide a primer on doing business with the world's largest and fastest growing middle-class. The book ...

After years of trying to crack the $300 billion Indian retail market, Wal-Mart has received permission from the government of Prime Minister Singh to form an alliance with one of the country's largest telecommunications consortiums and launch stores to serve India's 1.1 billion people. The deal between Wal-Mart and the consortium, the Bharti Group, has been cleverly structured to get around the government's continuing ban on foreign companies operating independent retail stores. Under the ...

Dear Mr. Gupte, My name is Salimah Fort and I am the Senior Customer Consultant at FedexKinko's in Brooklyn. I am writing you today to express my sincere apologies for the business card mishap. I would like to offer you a complete refund and a free reprint of the cards. I also would like to give you two 40% off coupons for two future posters. I would appreciate it if you would respond to this email either by phone or via email. Thank you for your time and I would like to apologize again. ...

The following is the text of a letter I sent to Gary Kusin, president of Fedex Kinko's, and Maggie Thill, of the company's media department. Neither has responded. Dear Maggie Thill: I write this to say how disappointed I am with the service -- or lack thereof -- at the fedex Kinko's center at 16 Court, Brooklyn, NY 11201. I had placed an order three weeks ago for 500 business cards, and paid in full (the invoice was for around $35). When I went to check the page proofs yesterday,...

By Pranay Gupte DUBAI -- From his glass-walled office in the building that he shares with MasterCard, Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman sees a tranquil scene. There's a small lake in his backyard, ringed by neatly trimmed hedges from which rise gently sloping lawns. The glass exteriors of neighboring edifices reflect the tranquility. Soon, if Dr Sulaiman has his way, such vistas will be replicated in India, Pakistan, Iran, Malta, New Zealand, South Africa and the Central Asian states of the erstwhile S...