A number of emerging market economies  have been on a rollercoaster since the U.S. Federal Reserve announced last May the eventual tapering of its asset purchase program.

Building a career has always been a tough calling. Whether for a man or woman, working towards a goal of success, with a strong dose of determination and courage, rarely comes easy

The Talking Economics editorial team interviewed Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Executive Director Dr. Saman Kelegama to get his views on the outlook for 2014 for the global economy and for Sri Lanka. Excerpts …

The last three years will be remembered for deadly climate-related disasters, among them the great floods in Thailand in 2011, Hurricane Sandy in the United States in 2012 and Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013.

Professor Dave Ulrich, the global HR Guru explains in an interview why so many corporate combinations that looked like such great opportunities and so good on paper often do not materialize or fall far short of expectations.

The economics profession lost a prominent labour economist this past weekend – Prof. Dale Mortensen, a 2010 Nobel Laureate. When I heard of his passing-away, it took me back to June last year in the little lake-side town of Iseo, in Northern It

Dr.Nalaka Godahewa, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange recently shared his thoughts with the Mirror Business about the year that ended and his expectations for the country’s capital market for the New Year. The following are excerpts.

Companies diversify for a host of reasons. In some cases, it’s a survival strategy. For instance, if your company makes the bulk of its sales at a particular time of year, it makes sense to consider diversification.

Everyone dreams of that dream career or that dream-turned reality start up but it seems that for most, it stays what it was at the beginning – just a dream. Some of us have these fantasies, these visions about leaving the........

With the rapid developments in technology and the growing demand for new products, the production and consumption of more ‘electronic and electrical equipment’ (EEE) has significantly increased around the world.

Most of the major diseases of Hevea brasiliensis are of worldwide distribution (with the notable exception of South American leaf blight, against which strict quarantine regulations are enforced by rubber-growing countries outside the......

One morning on the way home after my regular walk at the park, I stopped as I regularly do, at the nearest branch of a supermarket chain, endorsed by a ‘celebrity’ of cricketing fame and his wife

Sri Lanka’s 2014 Budget claims a continuous commitment by the government to maintain a liberal, consistent and simple trade regime. The budget speech puts it this way: “A four band tariff structure presently in place is further consolidat

Universally, parliaments are tasked with the role of making laws, approving taxation, and holding the executive arm of government accountable. That accountability extends to the performance of Public Enterprises that are often funded by or enjoy the

Competing Values Framework (CVF), which we discussed last week, has been applied to a host of situations where organisational culture is a critical ingredient – leadership, management development and strategy implementation. But it is first and

The year 2013 has brought promising returns to individuals who invested in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The impressive growth in the market might encourage further investment.

Another year dawns - as always, 2014 gives us the opportunity to look at the world with fresh perspectives. It will offer many new challenges along with new opportunities but just how will you make use of those opportunities?

When this concept is oversimplified so much, a distorted impression of it can be given to the buyers. This will be disastrous to condominium owners and to the industry in general.

What’s the next big IT trend? Customers want to know how they can leverage these trends, as well as how they can address any challenges. These trends, including the explosion of data,

Multiple cropping is not a new subject, although it is not popular in the plantation areas. It is the practice of growing two or more crops in the same space during a single growing season.

An obscure melon once cultivated by Buddhist monks in China to sweeten tea could give the US $ 8 billion U.S. diet soda industry a shot at winning back consumers concerned about artificial ingredients.

A few public policy issues have moved from the wings to centre stage as quickly and decisively as corporate governance. The regulators all over have made efforts in recent years to refine their views on how financial institutions should be organised

Sri Lanka’s National Program for Ethnic Harmony, the most active program in Sri Lanka working towards nurturing harmony between ethnic groups launched a program on Sinhala –Muslim harmony recently.

AFP: A furious anti-US backlash in India over the arrest and strip-search of one of its diplomats threatens to further scare off foreign investors already baulking at what they see as a hostile climate, analysts say.

The most recent probe on planet Mars by NASA reveals the existence of a dry lake that possibly held water thousands of years ago. Describing the findings as ‘extremely exciting’, a biologist when interviewed on.........

Following are excerpts of  the speech made by Chamber of Construction Industry President Dr Surath Wickramasinghe  during the launch of the Build Sri Lanka 2014 and the Construction Industry Trade and Business Directory 2014 /2015 at Hotel

The buying program (QE3) following a meeting of its Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) last week. Its purchase of US bonds ($40 billion) and mortgage-backed securities ($35 billion) has been reduced by $10 billion from $85 billion to $75 billion a

The era of the closed economy of the left oriented state of 1970- 1977 saw only the domestic garments under the Brand names of Hentley, Maxim, Benhur and later the Duro products of Dasa Industries.

“Software is like rivers; the world has been transformed by software, flowing and connecting, much like the rivers that have acted as great connectors of society,” says premier Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions provider - SAP A

 General Motors (GM), America’s iconic automaker, has been one to stick to tradition, in typical Detroit fashion. Yet, it broke new ground recently when it announced the appointment of Mary Barra as its CEO – the first woman to head