Global Risk Landscape 2013

The World Economic Forum created an intriguing set of 50 'global risks'. The global risk that respondents rated most likely to manifest over the next 10 years is severe income disparity, while the risk rated as having the highest impact if it were to manifest is major systemic financial failure. There are also two risks appearing in the top five of both impact and likelihood – chronic fiscal imbalances and water supply crisis.

The most 'worrying' risks are up and to the right (higher probability and high impact).

Chronic Fiscal Imbalances tops the chart along with Sever Income Disparity.

The Top 5 Global Risks by Impact have evolved notably over the past few years.




The Top 5 Global 'Most Likely' Risks have also evolved but Economic remains the most dominant.

2013 Economic Freedom Report highlight Italy's troubles

The appalling state of Italian economy is no longer getting international headlines but the slide of the county toward third world standards is continuing unabated.
The new 2013 report on Economic Freedom has been published; a full report can be found here and again Italy's ranking is a disaster for a major economy.

On the overall score Italy is ranking 83rd which by itself is an appalling result for a major developed economy, positioning itself below Uganda and Sri Lanka.

But when it comes to Freedom from Corruption Italy manage to score an appalling score of 39 together with Ghana and Macedonia.


Below some extracts from the report delving into an analysis of Italy's shortcomings:

The foundations of economic freedom remain weak in the absence of an efficient judicial framework to provide effective and timely resolution of cases. Corruption, often involving government officials, is a growing concern, severely undercutting confidence and trust in the government.

As per the rule of law and corruption Italy is faring among the worst countries, below the motivation for such low ranking:

Property rights and contracts are secure, but court procedures are extremely slow. Many companies choose to settle out of court. The legal system is vulnerable to political interference. Widespread corruption has bred a culture of lawlessness and tax evasion and has weakened respect for the judiciary. Enforcement of intellectual property rights is below developed-country standards.

And when it comes to attracting investments:

Regulatory complexity causes delays and increases the cost of entrepreneurial activity. Completing licensing requirements takes over 200 days and costs more than the level of average annual income. Serious labor market rigidities constrain job growth, and the informal labor market accounts for a large proportion of employment. Stagflation engendered by the eurozone crisis presents monumental monetary policy challenges.

       
       

Read more about Italy Economy.
        See more from the 2013 Index.

   

OVERALL SCORE BY COUNTRY:

Hong Kong	89.3
Singapore	88
Australia	82.6
New Zealand	81.4
Switzerland	81
Canada	79.4
Chile	79
Mauritius	76.9
Denmark	76.1
United States	76
Ireland	75.7
Bahrain	75.5
Estonia	75.3
United Kingdom	74.8
Luxembourg	74.2
Finland	74
The Netherlands	73.5
Sweden	72.9
Germany	72.8
Taiwan	72.7
Georgia	72.2
Iceland	72.1
Lithuania	72.1
Austria	71.8
Japan	71.8
Macau	71.7
Qatar	71.3
United Arab Emirates	71.1
Czech Republic	70.9
Botswana	70.6
Norway	70.5
Jordan	70.4
Saint Lucia	70.4
South Korea	70.3
The Bahamas	70.1
Uruguay	69.7
Colombia	69.6
Armenia	69.4
Barbados	69.3
Belgium	69.2
Cyprus	69
Slovakia	68.7
Macedonia	68.2
Peru	68.2
Oman	68.1
Spain	68
Malta	67.5
Hungary	67.3
Costa Rica	67
Mexico	67
Israel	66.9
Jamaica	66.8
El Salvador	66.7
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	66.7
Latvia	66.5
Malaysia	66.1
Poland	66
Albania	65.2
Romania	65.1
Bulgaria	65
France	64.1
Rwanda	64.1
Thailand	64.1
Dominica	63.9
Cape Verde	63.7
Kuwait	63.1
Portugal	63.1
Kazakhstan	63
Turkey	62.9
Montenegro	62.6
Panama	62.5
Trinidad and Tobago	62.3
Madagascar	62
South Africa	61.8
Mongolia	61.7
Slovenia	61.7
Croatia	61.3
Ghana	61.3
Paraguay	61.1
Uganda	61.1
Sri Lanka	60.7
Italy	60.6
Saudi Arabia	60.6
Namibia	60.3
Guatemala	60
Burkina Faso	59.9
Azerbaijan	59.7
Dominican Republic	59.7
Kyrgyz Republic	59.6
Morocco	59.6
Lebanon	59.5
The Gambia	58.8
Zambia	58.7
Serbia	58.6
Cambodia	58.5
Honduras	58.4
The Philippines	58.2
Tanzania	57.9
Gabon	57.8
Brazil	57.7
Benin	57.6
Belize	57.3
Bosnia and Herzegovina	57.3
Fiji	57.2
Swaziland	57.2
Samoa	57.1
Tunisia	57
Indonesia	56.9
Nicaragua	56.6
Vanuatu	56.6
Mali	56.4
Tonga	56
Kenya	55.9
Yemen	55.9
Moldova	55.5
Senegal	55.5
Greece	55.4
Malawi	55.3
India	55.2
Nigeria	55.1
Pakistan	55.1
Bhutan	55
Mozambique	55
Seychelles	54.9
Egypt	54.8
Côte d'Ivoire	54.1
Djibouti	53.9
Niger	53.9
Guyana	53.8
Papua New Guinea	53.6
Tajikistan	53.4
Bangladesh	52.6
Cameroon	52.3
Mauritania	52.3
Suriname	52
China	51.9
Guinea	51.2
Guinea-Bissau	51.1
Russia	51.1
Vietnam	51
Central African Republic	50.4
Nepal	50.4
Laos	50.1
Micronesia	50.1
Algeria	49.6
Ethiopia	49.4
Liberia	49.3
Burundi	49
Maldives	49
Togo	48.8
Sierra Leone	48.3
Haiti	48.1
Belarus	48
São Tomé and Príncipe	48
Bolivia	47.9
Lesotho	47.9
Comoros	47.5
Angola	47.3
Ecuador	46.9
Argentina	46.7
Ukraine	46.3
Uzbekistan	46
Kiribati	45.9
Chad	45.2
Solomon Islands	45
Timor-Leste	43.7
Republic of Congo	43.5
Iran	43.2
Turkmenistan	42.6
Equatorial Guinea	42.3
Democratic Republic of Congo	39.6
Burma	39.2
Eritrea	36.3
Venezuela	36.1
Zimbabwe	28.6
Cuba	28.5
North Korea	1.5

Hagar Qim

Hagar Qim is a megalithic temple complex dating from the Ġgantija phase (3600-3200 BC). The Megalithic Temples of Malta are amongst the most ancient religious sites on Earth described by the World Heritage Sites committee as "unique architectural masterpieces." In 1992 UNESCO recognized Ħaġar Qim and four other Maltese megalithic structures as World Heritage Sites.

The lowest temple is astronomically aligned and thus was probably used as an astronomical observation and/or calendrical site. On the vernal and the autumnal equinox sunlight passes through the main doorway and lights up the major axis. On the solstices sunlight illuminates the edges of megaliths to the left and right of this doorway.
Although there are no written records to indicate the purpose of these structures, archaeologists have inferred their use from ceremonial objects found within them: sacrificial flint knives and rope holes that were possibly used to constrain animals for sacrifice (since various animal bones were found). These structures were not used as tombs since no human remains were found. The temples contain furniture such as stone benches and tables that give clues to their use.
Many artifacts were recovered from within the temples suggesting that these temples were used for religious purposes, perhaps to heal illness and/or to promote fertility.

Economic Freedom of the World

The Fraser Institute's massive volume on the Economic Freedom Of The World - based on the following five factors: Size of Government, Legal System & Property Rights, Sound Money, Freedom to Trade Internationally, and Regulation - covers 42 variables with the goal of quantifying the key ingredients of economic freedom.
When it comes to Europe, Italy manages to leave behind Greece by 2 positions achieving a very dishonourable 83rd position, Spain and Ireland respectively 34th and 12th stays among the most free economies in the world, Portugal is still green in the 60th while Greece at 81 still manage to fare better than Italy.

For those interested to find out what is making Italy so appalling please check the full data below.

China Investments in Africa

Since 2010, when China pledged over $100 billion to develop commercial projects in Africa, the continent is rapidly being harvested by China for resources. Map below show China's interests in Africa since 2010.

The Bigot's Maps of the World

This series of maps by Bulgarian modern artist Yanko Tsvetkov covers most of the times correctly prejudices and stereotypes all over Europe with economies in tailspin and blame game at is heights it is worth to look at what people all over Europe think of each other in common day to day affections of imbecility.

• The World According to USA

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• Europe According to Spain

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• Europe According to Germany

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• The World According to Switzerland

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• The World According to USA (Fearmonger Special Edition)

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• USA and the World of Dictatorships

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• Iberia According to Spain

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• Europe According to Greece

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• Europe According to The Vatican

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• Europe According to USA

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• USA According to Common Sense

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• The World According to Turkey

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• Hitchhiker's Guide to The Arab Spring

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• Silvio Berlusconi's Europe

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• Europe According to Russia

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• Europe According to Italy

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• Europe According to Britain

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• Europe According to France

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• Asia According to USA

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• Europe According to Poland

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• Europe According to Bulgaria

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• Africa According to USA

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• South America According to USA

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• Italy According to Posh Italians

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The World of Seven Billion Infograph

National Geographic has a look at where and how we live:

The map shows population density; the brightest points are the highest densities. Each country is colored according to its average annual gross national income per capita, using categories established by the World Bank.

The New World Trade Center

World Population approaching the 7 billion mark

Another great graphics from Reuters:

Emigration visualized

Peoplemovin, an experimental project in data visualization by Carlo Zapponi, that shows the flows of 215,738,321 migrants as of 2010. The migration data provided by The World Bank is plotted as a flow chart that connects emigration and destination countries. The chart is split in two columns, the emigration countries on the left and the destination countries on the right. The thickness of the lines connecting the countries represents the amount of immigrated people and the color code from blue to red puts the countries in comparison to the rest of the world.

World wealth levels

The next chart is rather self-explanatory. The richest nations, with wealth in 2010 above USD 100,000 per adult, are found in North America, Western Europe, and among the rich Asian-Pacific and Middle East countries. They are topped by Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Singapore and France, each of which records wealth per adult above USD 250,000. Average wealth in other major economies such as the USA, Japan, the United Kingdom and Canada also exceeds USD 200,000.

Interesting to see how Mexico, Brasil and Chile are rapidly growing and how India despite his stellar growth is still showing wealth levels comparable to Central Africa.

World Oil Prices

Handy graphic comparing U.S. and world gas prices (via Flowing Data).