Socio-economic issues:
China and the East Asian economies are developing at a phenomenal rate compared to the industrialised economies of the West. Listed below are some key indicators (which are self evident)
% change on year ago | last 12 months $bn | ||||
Nation | GDP | Industrial Production | trade balance | foreign reserves | |
latest | 12 months ago | ||||
China | +8.1 Q3 | +11.8 | +35.1 Sep | 132.3 | 95.2 |
Indonesia | +8.0 (1996) | +15.6 Q1 | +9.4 May | 20.3 | 15.5 |
India | +6.8 (1995) | +1.7 Aug | -5.2 Oct | 26.0 | 18.8 |
Malaysia | +7.4 Q3 | +7.5 Sep | -0.8 Sep | 26.6 | 25.5 |
Taiwan | +6.9 Q3 | +10.8 Oct | +8.9 Oct | 87.8 | 86.1 |
Company | Founded | Founders | Initial occupation(s) |
Du Pont | 1801 | Eleuthere Irenee du Pont | Apprentice / Chemist |
Glaxo | 1873 | Joseph Nathan | General trader of goods |
GE | 1878 | Thomas Edison | Trainboy then Railway Engineer |
IBM | 1911 | Thomas Watson Snr | Carpenter then salesman |
Intel | 1968 | Robert Noyce & Gordon Moore | Electronic Engineers |
Microsoft | 1975 | Bill Gates & Paul Allen | Programmers / Marketer |