March 30, 2010

Brooklyn, Consumed

Earlier this month, The New Yorker ran one of the most insightful pieces of cultural criticism I have ever read. Or at least I think it was about culture. Or a critique. It was definitely in the New Yorker, though not online so if you are some sort of philistine and don’t subscribe then you’ll just have to trust me. In any case, “Borough Haul” by Patricia Marx is hilarious.

Amid the heavily picked-through scrap heap of fodder that is gentrified hipster Brooklyn, Marx managed to find a new target for snarky derision: Brooklyn retail. An anthropological guide book of sorts, Marx takes the reader on a tour of the idiosyncratic neighborhoods that make up New York City’s most populous borough (at least, the neighborhoods where New Yorker readers live). Her sociological signposts for the circuit are the quirky boutiques that dot Brooklyn’s hippest hoods, from the edgy (C.B I Hate Perfume) to the whimsical (Stinky Bklyn cheesemonger) to the cringeworthy (Buttercup’s Paw-tisserie for $22 canine birthday cakes).

Since the story’s not online, I thought it might be a valuable use of time to parse the article for a few of its more genius insights. Hopefully this will also give my parents, who are constantly asking me what a hipster does/looks like/smells like, a better idea of the town in which I currently reside.

Marx starts the shopping spree in Park Slope, the charming-verging-on-precious ‘hood I call home. Its popularity with broody urbanites (or the “swim and spawn” crowd in that they crossed the East River in search of yards and an extra bedroom) have made the Slope a target for that childless segment of the NYC population who see double-wide strollers as a greater threat than terrorism. Indeed, kiddies rule PS. Tantrums rank with fire trucks as the most common noise polluters, strollers outnumber pedestrians and if you enjoy a 5 pm cocktail, be prepared to quaff alongside a toddler. Indulgent parenting is by no means unique to Park Slope- my most traumatic baby-in-a-bar experience occurred on the Upper West Side- yet the phenomenon seems particularly offensive to the Slope’s childless set who chose to move to Brooklyn because it was cool, not because it was affordable, practical or more spacious. To the aggrieved hipsters, for whom Brooklyn’s “ethnological authenticity” was a major draw, nesters are the true gentrifiers.

In Marx’s map of Brooklyn, the neighborhood boundaries are determined by the ratio of hipster stores to nester stores.* In Park Slope, nester dominates: Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company ($30 for a gallon of Invisibility), the aforementioned Paw-tisserie, Bump Brooklyn (“give up wine, coffee, sushi, not fashion” or in this case $148 sarongs).

Ford the smelly Gowanus Canal west to Carroll Gardens to find a retail landscape more evenly split down the hip-nest divide. A traditionally Italian neighborhood slightly more convenient to Manhattan than Prospect Park makes it a popular choice for newly-minted college grads or outer-borough newbies. A smattering of the storefronts Marx finds: Cozbi (linen dolls, $250 and up), Proteus Gowanus (glow-in-the-dark bike vests emblazoned with “UNINSURED,” $20).

Marx proceeds to shop her way through Boreum Hill (60-50 nester/hipster), Fort Greene (35-65), DUMBO (30-70) and Greenpoint (20-80 unless you count Polish families, then the ratio is statistically insignificant). Here, Marx loses her sardonic edge. She unabashedly loves the ‘Point’s purveyors, including the proprietor of Pip-Squeak Chapeau, Sveta Dresher who explains the store’s appeal is simply that “it is for grown-ups.” Ed. note: “pipsqueak” is pronounced with an eye-roll.

Her findings in those three enclaves are all very fascinating but for the sake of space I’ll fast-forward to Williamsburg, the hipster heartland. If my parents ever come to town and want to observe the hipster in it’s native habitat, we will hop a G train (G for God willing it will show up) for the snaky journey north to the intersection of Bedford and Myrtle, streets which will later inspire names for future progeny of the hipsters turned nesters. Here, on Billyburg’s flat, brownstone-less avenues Marx finds a plethora of ironic boutiques: CB I Hate Perfume (eau de Burning Leaves, $65),  Moon River Chattel (unbleached hemp linens from Transylvania, $15-$320) and Red Pearl (fire-resistant smoking mittens, $26). Best of all, Marx includes field notes for your hipster shopping safari- should you encounter a “local” you should know how to behave…or at least what not to wear/discuss/visibly enjoy:

According to the depressingly astute Web site stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com, among the many things that fill hipsters with loathing are: Starbucks, lip gloss, hard sciences, monogamy, standing up straight, flip-flops, condos, spiky hair, cell-phone holsters, U2, biceps, the Kindle, Seth Rogen, knowing their bank balance, Manhattan, bras, running, oldsters, other hipsters and You.

So maybe you shouldn’t worry too much about how to behave- maybe you should just grab your trove of indie kitsch, and run.

For more tips on hipster spotting: The Hipster Handbook, Look at this F&*$ing Hipster, Hipster is the New Homeless

*A calculation complicated by consistent overlap between the two demographics. Can be refined by parsing “breeding hipsters” as the Venn diagram blue area. Most common in transition areas, i.e. South Slope, Williambsburg/Greenpoint border.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

March 25, 2010

Oprah No Longer Entitled to Freedom of Speech

For anyone eagerly anticipating a sequel to Oprah’s exciting 1998 libel victory over the Texas beef machine: you’ll have to wait. Yesterday, Oprah announced she had settled a lawsuit filed by the former headmistress of the talk show maven’s troubled South African girls’ school.

The lawsuit by former headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane claimed Winfrey defamed her in remarks made in the wake of the 2007 sex-abuse scandal at the school. Mzamane said she had trouble finding a job after Winfrey stated she had “lost confidence” in her and was “cleaning house from top to bottom.”

via  Oprah Winfrey settles headmistress’ Pa. lawsuit – Yahoo! News.

After Mzamane sued back in October 2008, Oprah and her crack legal team were reportedly preparing to launch a defense grounded in part on freedom of speech. Per her lawyers, Oprah, understandably traumatized by the revelations of abuse at her namesake academy, was merely voicing her opinion. Her stunned, angry opinion.

And this is where the line between Oprah and “everyone else” is drawn. Oprah, she who has launched a dozen A-List careers, sent hundreds of books up the bestseller list and minted millions for scads of small-time manufacturers whose tchotchkes she anoints “favorites,”  has no ordinary opinion. Indeed, Oprah’s personal fortune is estimated to be a heady $2.4 billion, not because her media empire- movie/TV/radio production house Harpo, TV network OWN, her eponymous magazine- is raking in the advertising dollars. Hell no. [Though if she had figured out the secret of monetizing modern media, I'd be convinced she's the Second Coming]

While the $275 million in pre-tax income earned by her media assets is not chump change, it is her “it” factor, her invaluable EQ, her president-electing-influence that makes her not just rich but 400th-wealthiest-person-in-the-world-rich. While Oprah’s attorney’s stated her net worth as $1.2 billion, they were most likely only referring to the net market value of her hard assets. A broader but arguably more accurate valuation would also need to take into account her power as a tastemaker- which is likely what Forbes did earlier this year when it arrived at a $2.4 billion figure. By any metric, Oprah’s outsize influence is incomparable: a fact Mzamane’s lawyers were quick to seize on:

Mzamane’s lawyers, who noted Winfrey’s huge media reach, contended listeners would think the remarks were based on facts she had gleaned from the school’s internal investigation.

So if Oprah, who famously declared “free speech rocks” after winning the libel case involving the Texan ranchers, was victorious then- why not now? One could argue she’s richer, more popular than ever and soon to become a rarer commodity. But we’ll never know- at least not until the next time O expresses a negative thought aloud. As for Mzamane, O settled as anyone striving to Live Their Best Life ought:

“The two parties met woman to woman without their lawyers and are happy that they could resolve this dispute peacefully to their mutual satisfaction,” the statement said.

1 Comment

Filed under Billionaires, Business

Tagged as , , , , , ,

March 25, 2010

Dubai's Bailout a Wild Bet

The resort Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab E...

Image via Wikipedia

Fake islands are the way of the future. That, more or less, is the audacious belief underpinning the deal Dubai worked out yesterday with creditors to restructure $23.5 billion of frozen debt.

After four months of gloom and uncertainty, the deal is an enormous relief and prima facie, looks to be quite generous- surprising considering that just a few days ago bankers were preparing to take as much as a 40% haircut. The gist:

Dubai World will receive a $1.5bn cash injection from the government to cover working capital and interest payments, with the $8.9bn of government funding and claims turning into equity in the government-owned business, thereby subordinating the debt to that of other creditors.

Non-government creditors will receive 100 per cent of their claims – which the company said amounted to $14.2bn at the end of last year – through the issuance of two new tranches of debt with five and eight-year maturities.

via FT.com / Middle East – Dubai unveils debt restructuring.

The government’s message to the banks: you come first and you will be paid back, in full. Creditors of Nakheel, the other troubled Dubai real estate developer (apart from Dubai World) got an equally respectable deal: the government would inject $8 billion of cash and bondholders- even those holding notes due in 2010 and 2011- would be paid back on time.

Other bonuses: Abu Dhabi is apparently cool with this (of the total $9.5 billion of cash the government is ponying up, $5.7 billion is leftover from Abu Dhabi’s December bailout), Dubai says it won’t have to take on any more debt and there will be no fire sales (though divesting “non-core assets” like the QE2 is still part of their “strategy”). At the news, Dubai’s stock market surged 4.3%, Dubai’s other corporate bonds rallied and the cost of insuring the emirate’s debt against default dropped.

So Hooray! Everyone to the underwater martini bar at Atlantis The Palm, right? Not quite so fast. First, Dubai World and Nahkeel’s 90-odd creditors have to accept the terms (though the general consensus among insiders is that they’d be foolish not to). Second, there is still that lingering question of whether Dubai can make this whole model actually work.

In many ways, Dubai World and Nakheel symbolize what wasn’t working for Dubai. Both were real estate developers focused on building large, extravagant, expensive developments, many of which looked environmentally-unsustainable. When the real estate bubble burst last year, it was just that kind of high-end sprawl that was worst affected. Dubai’s magnanimous offer to bondholders is a firm vote of confidence in the quality of their own real estate assets. If the property market rebounds, the villas sell and Dubai regains its allure as a hot vacation destination, then the government will be able to make good on its promise to lenders and continue to borrow their way into a grander, glitzier tomorrow. If not….expect continued bargain rates at the Fairmont Dubai.

At the very least, Dubai looks to have its gumption intact. That’s a good thing, they will need it.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Billionaires, Business

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

March 22, 2010

Dubai Cracks Down on the One Thing it Can Still Control

That would be randy Brits. And sexting. Massage parlors. Cooking booze. Pretty much anything that might constitute a threat to traditional Emirati culture and the very same things that differentiated Dubai from its ultra-conservative neighbors.

Dubai’s value proposition to the world was that it was tolerant and fun. Unlike Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even sister Emirates like Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, Dubai offered an unspoken promise to foreign revelers and investors alike that it would turn a blind eye to the kind of mild debauchery that went on in any large, cosmopolitan beach destination. Drinking, for example was permissible, though only in hotels- no major drawback, considering virtually every bar, restaurant, club and pool was located in or attached to a hotel. So long as everyone was making money, the good times rolled.

Suffice it to say, the good times are grounded. While creditors holding Dubai’s $26 billion of frozen debt wait anxiously this week to find out how much of a scalping they’re in for, local officials have launched a crackdown on immoral behavior. In December, an Indian couple employed by Emirates Airlines was sentenced to six months in jail for swapping suggestive text messages. Early last week two Britons were handed a month-long prison sentence for reportedly kissing in public. This week comes news of a ban on restaurants cooking with alcohol and heightened regulation of massage parlors.

Dubai of course has the right to enforce their laws but as the Wall Street Journal noted last week, moral martial law could deal a blow to the tourism machine that they can ill afford right now.

Tourism is crucial to Dubai and accounts for a fifth of the emirate’s economy. Close to 41 million passengers traveled through Dubai International Airport last year, making it one of world’s fastest growing. Emirates Airline, Dubai’s flagship carrier, indirectly contributes just over $10 billion to the sheikdom’s economy each year.

via UPDATE: Dubai Moral Crackdown Is Tourism Kiss Of Death – WSJ.com.

Why then, are they taking the risk? Two reasons: one political, one psychological.

*Abu Dhabi’s hold on the choke collar is getting tighter. The $26 billion question surrounding the aforementioned debt discussions is whether or not Abu “deep pockets” Dhabi will guarantee Dubai’s loans. The buzz from the rumor mill right now is that they will- which is precisely why many bankers feel a deal is imminent this week.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi’s support for Dubai, once the subject of much concern among bankers, now looks more assured

via Markets Anxious for Dubai Debt Deal – WSJ.com.

For Dubai, the trade-off for that support is massive and amorphous. Probably not even Abu Dhabi knows exactly what role Dubai should play in the United Arab Emirates’ new world order but they do know that the role will be pointedly inferior to their own. This recent intolerance of naughty behavior is one clear result of conservative Abu Dhabi’s growing dominance in the region in general and over Dubai in particular.

*Because they can, dammit. Given the humiliating downward trajectory Dubai has been riding the past four months, I suppose you could forgive them for some flexing of autocratic muscle (they are after all, a dictatorship). Maybe not forgive- but understand. They have watched their real estate values plummet city-wide an average 50%, they’ve handed over naming rights of their marquee tower (still closed to visitors), they’ve unwittingly hosted one of the more-exciting international hit jobs in recent memory and contrary to fervent wishful thinking, they did not discover oil. But they can lay a smackdown on clueless, horny tourists. For a government that’s looked awfully impotent for quite some time, that’s not nothing.


5 Comments

Filed under Billionaires, Business, World

Tagged as , , , , , ,

March 15, 2010

Dubai Offers Cash For (Real Estate) Clunkers

dubai-property-crashThe story of Dubai’s real estate market over the past eight years would make an exciting flip-book. A sleepy port town introduces freehold property rights for foreigners (May 2002) and- hang on to your hats- a buzzing metropolis is born. A glittery skyline comprised of office towers, hotels and cheap residential high-rises sprouts like mad for the next seven years, pushing the city’s boundaries ever-outward into the desert. Then credit crunch! Debt freeze! Awkward bailout from Abu Dhabi. Expats flee and property values are leveled, down at least 50% from their peak in 2008, maybe more.

Clearly Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his cabinet have some wreckage to pick through. So while government officials hold talks with creditors in London and try to stave off another strings-attached handout from Abu Dhabi, the Ruler has a new idea of how to raise cash. Let’s blow up the bubble:

Dubai government Monday introduced new laws that will allow locals to develop commercial and industrial land previously gifted to them by the sheikdom’s ruler.
The decree is designed to “revive the real estate and the commercial industry in the emirate,” according to a statement from the media office of Dubai’s ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Under the new law, United Arab Emirates’ nationals will be given the right to own land gifted by the government and freely use the property without “previous constraints” provided they pay 50% of its assessed value for permission, the statement said.

via Dubai Reforms Property Laws Amid Real Estate Slump – WSJ.com.

Prior to 2002, the government technically owned all of Dubai. Local citizens (UAE nationals) were allowed to use and inhabit land on a “gifted-tenure” basis, meaning they could occupy it but with specific restrictions about what they could build or do with the property. Seeing as they got it for basically nothing, it seemed like an alright deal. After all, sacrificing freedom for handouts was pretty standard practice in the Gulf. But come 2002, foreigners and locals alike were able to buy 99-year leases- though foreigners’ purchases were restricted to certain areas, typically the big government-run developments. The result: a gold-rush for condo flippers the world over.

Now that the market’s collapsed and many of those flippers have failed or fled, the government’s trying to monetize some of that land it essentially gave away back before 2002:

Under the new law, United Arab Emirates’ nationals will be given the right to own land gifted by the government and freely use the property without “previous constraints” provided they pay 50% of its assessed value for permission, the statement said.

So that “free” plot of land you got last decade? Well, we’ll give you permission to actually use it if you pay up, so says the Ruler. It’s not the worst way to goose a stagnant economy- locals could get a bargain and the government gets easy, instant cash. Kind of like cash-for-clunkers or a three-figure stimulus check.  Three potential problems with this scheme:

  1. How many recession-pounded locals are dying to dip their toes into commercial real estate, let alone get financing to do so? To put it mildly, Dubai’s commercial property market seems a touch saturated at the moment.
  2. Who’s to say how much “50% of assessed value” actually is? Having valued dozens of Dubai properties for Forbes billionaire rankings, I can attest that this is a tricky and controversial exercise. Though a 50% market decline is the most commonly accepted stat, other analysts have pegged it as low as 20% and as high as 80%. Properties are worth whatever someone is willing to pay- which in many cases, is nothing.
  3. At most, this will provide a short-lived revenue bump to the strapped emirate. If Dubai is serious about rebuilding their treasury supplies, here’s a crazy idea: taxes. It won’t be popular but maybe that whole no-corporate-or-personal-income-taxes idea should best be viewed as a great marketing ploy. One whose offer has just expired.

To put Dubai’s conundrum in comparison, let’s once again compare the poor state to Abu Dhabi. The very same day Dubai announced their odd offer/desperate request, Abu Dhabi’s Ruler issued this smug announcement:

President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has ordered distribution of 800 residential plots to the UAE nationals in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Western Region to ensure social and family stability.

Sheikh Khalifa’s gesture reflects his keenness to provide good living conditions for each citizen as per the higher national goals within the framework of communal solidarity and social stability.

via Khalifa orders distribution of 800 plots to UAE nationals.

That’s right- HE Al Nahyan is giving away land for free, just because he can. NB: the offer is only extended to residents in those specific regions. Sorry Dubai. In this regard as well, you are on your own.

3 Comments

Filed under Billionaires, Business, World

Tagged as , , , , ,

March 11, 2010

The Third World is a Bastion of Billionaires

Richest Guy in the World, Mexico's Carlos Slim

Richest Guy in the World, Mexico's Carlos Slim

Forbes Magazine is out with its annual round-up of the world’s super-rich and whaddya know, a surprising number of heavy-hitters can be found in that part of the planet we used to refer to as “the third world.” “Third” being a polite, vague way of saying “poor.” Today, that’s a dated term in more ways than one. Businessmen (yes they’re mostly men) from developing countries are, in investment-banker parlance, killing it:

U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks–but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40% of the world’s billionaires, down from 45% a year ago. The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world’s richest, down from 44% a year ago.

Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains. The region added 104 moguls and now has just 14 fewer than Europe, thanks to several large public offerings and swelling stock markets.

via Bill Gates No Longer World’s Richest Man – Forbes.com.

Not only is Asia trouncing the US in wealth creation, but for the first time ever the loaded title of World’s Richest Person belongs to someone from a developing country. Carlos “Slim” Helu, a Mexican of Lebanese descent, is worth a staggering $53.5 billion, $500 million more than Bill Gates and $6.5 billion more than Warren Buffett. Ninety-seven new billionaires cropped up in places like Pakistan and Indonesia, China is now second to only the US in number of ten-digit fortunes and the number of Indian billionaires doubled.

One more nail,  you might say,  in the American Superpower’s coffin- at least the American Financial Superpower. Wall Street is aware: bankers are scrambling to get their talons in these developing countries far, far across the pond. The other night a banker acquaintance of mine was complaining about how sick he was of his trading job- his product line (credit default swaps) is falling out of vogue faster than Ed Hardy. He wants to join a new firm but no one is hiring in his shrinking segment. So, I ask, what area is growing? Emerging Markets, he says. Exploding. The new plastics.

Now I see why. In the past year, the S&P 500 has increased 37.26%. Not bad at all- but still peanuts compared to the scorchin’ performance of the major market indices of Russia, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan and Vietnam- just a handful of the 13 emerging markets that returned over 100% in the same period. Forbes’ Eastern European billionaire reporter Tatiana Serafin has a good analysis over on her blog of the region’s billionaire boom- this, after so many of Eastern bloc’s tycoons were on the brink of bankruptcy only last year.

As they say, go big or go home.

4 Comments

Filed under Billionaires, Business, Wall Street

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

March 10, 2010

Why Billionaires Matter

World's First Billionaire, John D. Rockefeller

World's First Billionaire, John D. Rockefeller

Forbes Magazine is out with its annual tally of all the world’s billionaires. The happy fat cats from Miami to Macau who are much, much, much richer than you. In case you needed to be reminded, you are not in possession of a ten-figure fortune, you don’t vacay on a private island and NetJets versus Flexjet is never a decision over which you have anguished.

In this shell-shocked economy, doesn’t a massive list celebrating capitalist giants- a list which has counted among its ranks its share of corporate raiders,  political villains and outright criminals- seem a little-un-PC, maybe crass? Maybe. But that doesn’t  mean it’s not pretty damn interesting. Yes I’m biased (I helped report the Middle Eastern tycoons and have for the past four years) but if there’s one thing hours of empire-valuing has taught me, it’s that these moneyed moguls are incredibly- you might say ominously- influential. Herewith, I present:

Five Reasons to Give a *$$$* about A Billionaires List:

1. It Makes Them Accountable

Publicity is a very powerful thing. Technically, the net worth of a private citizen is not really anyone’s business but if everyone always went about their own business, no journalism would get done. Ever. And someone with a personal fortune that’s equivalent to the GDP of some not-even-that-small countries (Bill Gates=Kenya) is not your average private citizen. Many are in charge of vast companies that employ hundreds of thousands of people. Some run your city, or even your country. And in that great American philanthropic tradition inspired in part by Andrew Carnegie, with great wealth comes great responsibility.

An example: in June 2006, the world’s second-richest man (at the time) announced plans to donate nearly all of his fortune- $31 billion- to billionaire buddy Bill Gates’ respected Gates Foundation. Gates, the world’s second-richest man, has expressed plans to do the same. And in March 2007, this year’s #1 richest person (typically #3 behind Gates and Buffett), announced exclusively to Forbes his plan to donate $10 billion to charity. Peer pressure, perhaps?

2. You Might Not be Aware of It, But They Control Your Life

In some regard, at least. To see what I mean, check out this illuminating story by my colleague Keren Blankfeld.  And that’s only touching on America’s richest- factor in all billionaires, all around the world and face it,  you’re a money puppet.

3. Some Fortunes Need Fact-Checking

Fine, so Allen Stanford is the one that got away. But for every Stanford there are dozens more shysters, self-dubbed “billionaires” who don’t pass muster with the Forbes researchers, such as Aussie blowhard Cliver Palmer. In this day and age when credit ratings are looking increasingly suspect and “mark-to-market” accounting is an ugly reality, a second opinion doesn’t hurt.

4. Some of These Folks: Pretty Inspirational

Take a browse through the bios and you’ll find some pretty incredible rags-to-riches stories. Micky Jagtiani, once a penniless whiskey-swilling cab driver, now a retail magnate worth $2.8 billion. Oprah Winfrey, a poor African-American girl from rural Mississippi is now…O.

A round-up of a few good Horatio Algers can be found here.

5. You Too Could be Very, Very Rich One Day

There’s always a chance, right? And when that day comes, you’ll want to brush up on your peers.

4 Comments

Filed under Billionaires, Business

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

March 10, 2010

Iran Hits An Ugly Record

Roxana Saberi, NPR reporter jailed for "spying"

Roxana Saberi, NPR reporter jailed for "spying"

My fellow blogger here at True/Slant, Neal Ungerleider put it best:

As piss-poor as the opportunities for journalism jobs are in the United States, it’s still better than the situation for Iranian journos.

via Iranian journalism market isn’t so easy – Neal Ungerleider – Falafel Mafia – True/Slant.

Neal was referring to Iran’s recent ban on three of the country’s publications for suspected support of reform. Today, the Committee to Protect Journalists brings us more troubling news: as of February, Iranian authorities are holding at least 52 reporters in prison, a third of all world’s jailed journalists and the most held by a single country (runners-up are China with 24 and Cuba with 22).

“Iran is entering a state of permanent media repression, a situation that is not only appalling but also untenable,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “The Iranian government will eventually lose the war against information, but we are saddened every day that our colleagues are paying such a terrible price.”

via With 52 journalists in jail, Iran hits new, shameful record – Committee to Protect Journalists.

The article includes short bios of every journalist currently in prison and what’s striking- and particularly alarming- is that 47 of the 52 imprisoned journos were arrested in the past 13 months. A sudden, frightening crackdown.

To help, please consider signing this petition CPJ plans to send later this month to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khameini. As nasty and frustrating as challenges like cratering ad rates, blowhard pundits, “infotainment” and Demand Media are for the news industry, it could be much worse.

On the state of Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, freelance contributor to reformist newspapers, imprisoned since June 19, 2009:

On January 5, Amouee was sentenced to 34 lashes, along with seven years and four months in prison. Amouee’s wife, journalist Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, told Rooz Online on February 21 that he shares a 115-square-foot (35-square-meter) cell with 40 other prisoners.

1 Comment

Filed under Business

Tagged as , , , ,

March 9, 2010

Saudi Arabia's American Problem

wbsaudi_wideweb__430x335Really, who’s surprised?

According to Kuwaiti economist, Jassem Al-Mutwwa, Saudi families spend nearly twice their income on what you might call, stuff.

“Education, amusement and eating out account for more than 181 percent of a family income in Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Mutwwa who delivered a lecture on personal finance in Jeddah on Saturday.

Via Saudi families spend twice what they earn – Arab News.

A pretty astounding statistic when you consider that Americans- us, a people not known for thrift or restraint- spend about 18% of our pre-tax income on the same categories, according to the Department of Labor’s latest consumer expenditure survey.

I suspect the Saudi data is a little skewed- the article is short on details about how Al-Mutwwa conducted his research and what constitutes “family income” but it does illustrate a larger truth. Like much of the Gulf, Saudi a is a hyper-consumerist culture. Combine a tremendously wealthy government (which through subsidies, has provided many citizens with a good amount of disposable income), a hot climate, shopping malls galore, a young population inured to consumerism and you get a lot of frivolous shopping.

It’s a serious problem for a country long-dependent on one dwindling, non-renewable export for their power and livelihood. In the past two years, Saudi has embarked on a massively-ambitious plan to reinvent its economy and attract foreign investment by setting up six “Economic Cities,” all-inclusive industrial hubs designed to house major international companies, schools, ports and living quarters. While King Abdullah has embraced the plan as critical to Saudi’s future (he even named one in his honor) the recession has raised questions about the government’s ability to complete the grandiose project. Not only is financing for $35 billion real estate projects kind of tight these days but the Cities’ success hinges on participation by big-name multinationals like GE, Boeing, Cisco and the like.

And these big guys might be a little hesitant right now to jump into a long-term partnership with the Kingdom. After Dubai’s sudden default in November, another unexpected default last October by a major Kuwaiti bank and the mysterious implosions of two of Saudi’s richest families, investors are rightly leery about just how transparent the business climate is in the Gulf. Don’t expect them to be making the move anytime soon, says one Merrill Lynch analyst in a report last week:

“These projects rely more of private sector involvement than government spending. We believe that there are not enough incentives yet for the private sector to push forward these projects once the basic infrastructure is completed,” the report said.

via More incentives needed for Saudi economic cities – Construction & Industry – ArabianBusiness.com.

Long story short: Saudi officials have their work cut out for them, figuring out how to allow their citizens to continue living by the standards to which they’ve become accustomed. Seems they’re on to something good, but the recession-spooked private investors will be slow to fall in line. In the meantime, maybe the citizenry can meet the government halfway and spend less dough. Americans- or some of them- can relate.

1 Comment

Filed under Billionaires, Business

Tagged as , , , , , ,

March 8, 2010

World's Newest Media Hub Has Everything but Freedom of the Press

Dubai_Press_Club_launches_new_training_program_for_UAE_journalistsIt’s no secret that media is an industry in dire need of a White Knight. Will it be the iPad? The sudden, improbable rebound of advertising rates? The demise of the internet? Right now, it seems the most successful (least bankrupt) traditional media companies are hanging in there thanks to a billionaire benefactor whose deep pockets are allowing a news organization to stomach losses most business owners couldn’t hack. Rupert Murdoch’s truthy-ish Fox News is helping prop up The Wall Street Journal. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s nifty terminals finance his eponymous news organization, which now includes a TV network and BusinessWeek. And Carlos Slim’s telecom empire bought him a piece of the Grey Lady.

Now there’s another wave of billionaires here to invest in our flagging sector, a whole clan of ‘em. The Al Nahayans, the royal ruling family of Abu Dhabi are on a multi-billion dollar campaign to make the oil-flush city-state a hub of all things media. As the AP duly notes:

It has set up a company to bankroll Hollywood films, built an office park to house foreign news agencies, and spent billions to invest in microchips that power the electronic gadgets that increasingly serve as platforms for media consumption.

It is also partnering with established Western brands, including National Geographic and Comedy Central, to develop Arabic-language programming, and is splashing out on big-name concerts for eager audiences at home. Recent shows featured Rihanna, Aerosmith and Beyonce.

Via Abu Dhabi Pumps Oil Riches Into Media Projects – NYTimes.com.

Along with the art museums, the prestigious universities and the carbon-neutral city, the rush to build a media empire is part of the emirate’s grand plan to diversify its economy away from oil. It’s a move only a multi-billionaire could justify: they’re not concerned with returns or ad rates. For them, it’s a relatively cheap way to get a lot of attention, fast. I’d wager to guess that at least 50% of Americans have never heard of Abu Dhabi. A little Hollywoodization would change that in a hurry. Tomorrow, the government is hosting a summit for “media and entertainment elite” including Murdoch (who recently bought a stake in Saudi Arabia’s biggest media company and is moving some of Fox’s global offices to Abu Dhabi) and Google’s Eric Schmidt. The country’s new daily paper, The National, whose mission is to “reinforce Abu Dhabi’s status as a global economic center” has poached writers from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, luring them with (gasp) a salary and benefits.

Does all this mean a new lease on life for traditional media? It’s doubtful. The sheikhs’ billions,  exciting as it seems, is no panacea for what ails the industry. It’s a sexy way for the city to grab attention and court some bigwigs but as to the larger problem- how to monetize all this TV/news/music- it offers little.

More troubling, is the fact that this new global media hub is materializing in a country and region not known for its free press. Criticism of the royal family is verboten, reporting negative economic news is discouraged and a law aimed at liberalizing some of the constitution’s more draconian media restrictions has been in limbo for nearly a year. Would an influx of global media brands pressure the government into adopting freer media policies…or will media fall in line with what their financiers implicitly want?

The trickiness of the situation is embodied by an Op-Ed that ran last week in Dubai’s local (government-owned) paper the Gulf News, railing against the National Media Council (NMC), the UAE’s government body that oversees media:

Standards have declined such that newspapers carry a little news, advertisements and a few shallow words. They have also lost their role as a watchdog. The NMC and editors of newspapers ignore the fact that today’s reader has changed and does not look for official statements in newspapers, because he can turn to internet news sites and forums for the information he wants. However, the most critical issue is that the government has become much more aggressive with the media and its people. The list of banned subjects is growing, and there are more instructions not to publish certain stories. Furthermore, editors-in-chief are used to applying pressure on journalists, which has turned some of these editors into representatives of the government, practising vicious censorship of their own newspapers.

Via gulfnews : The ceiling of press freedom in UAE is falling

A grim assessment. The good news: that it was published at all.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Billionaires, Business

Tagged as , , , ,