Word: controller
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...Today, China, the gulf nations and other state capitalists have amassed the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. The world's state oil companies control some 90% of global energy resources. (Many of these companies invited in private investors in the 1990s only to throw them out later.) And by protecting parts of their economy at a time of massive global business consolidation, the state capitalists have built companies capable of competing, and winning, in industries that require scale. According to a study by the American Enterprise Institute research organization, unfree states have grown faster than politically free ones...
...only way to grow rich is to open your country - open your economy at home, open your companies to trade with the world, and open up your politics. But the new state capitalists challenge that wisdom. They encourage private enterprise and foreign investment. At the same time, they retain control of certain key industries, like oil or automaking, use state support to grow these industries, and then unleash state-backed firms into the global marketplace. Mostly authoritarian regimes, the state capitalists also keep a lid on politics by using growth to co-opt their middle classes...
...State capitalism is hardly foolproof, of course. In nations with less sophisticated economic management than a place like Dubai, state control could simply revert to cronyism. Because they still rely on trade, the state capitalists are not immune to a global meltdown. Indeed, decreased Western consumer demand will dent China's economy as well as that of any that relies on exports. But the free-market autocrats stand in far better shape than the rest of the world. With their massive cash reserves, current-account surpluses and, often, capital controls, countries like China can better weather a downturn (China probably...
...Both men have shown they will do what's necessary to win. For Obama, that meant trimming positions on offshore drilling, gun control, nafta, Cuba, public campaign funding, fisa. And in choosing Joe Biden, he acknowledged that when it comes to making change happen, a working knowledge of the old ways may still be useful. McCain has reinvented himself as well, arguing against the Bush tax cuts when they were temporary but now wanting to make them permanent, which is like marrying someone you didn't want to date. Eight years ago, he waffled on Roe; now he wants...
Both countries have used the temple row for political purposes. In his successful re-election bid this summer, Cambodian Premier Hun Sen vowed to protect national interests by ensuring that the entire Preah Vihar area remained under Cambodian control. Meanwhile, in Thailand, opposition figures accused former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of destroying national sovereignty by not immediately protesting UNESCO's decision. Samak resigned last month, and his successor, who hails from the same political party, will surely be accused of similar weakness if Thailand's troops don't match Cambodian numbers. On Wednesday, Thailand's military T.V. network showed Thai...