GM achieves record sales

A worker walks amidst newly-produced cars at the parking lot of a General Motors factory in Shanghai June 2, 2009. General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it will need to build another China plant in the next five years if it is to meet a goal of selling 2 million cars in China within five years. REUTERS/Aly Song (CHINA BUSINESS TRANSPORT)

GM’s sales rose 38 percent to a record high during the first half of the year of 2009. This seems shocking to anyone who has heard about the bailouts of the auto industry or other financial problems facing the automakers. While the auto industry is struggling at best here in the United States, it is flourishing in China. With growing rural markets and small-vehicle sales, boosted by the Chinese government’s stimulus package, GM is planning to report record numbers.

GM sold a record 814,442 vehicles in the first six months, in large part due to its Wuling minivans, Buick sedans and its new compact car, the Chevrolet Cruze. GM’s minivan venture posted an increase of 49.9 percent in sales to a record 524,598 vehicles in the first six months.

Total vehicle sales in China are expected to increase by 17 percent this year from 2008 while auto sales in the United States are expected to fall by 13 percent during 2009.

-Daniel Smart

Additional $500M to help African Trade

Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The African Development Bank (AfDB) said it will provide an additional $500 million to banks in Africa to finance trade. The AfDB allocated $500 million for the same purpose in March. This second investment will go through the Global Trade Liquidity Program.

Trade finance has long been integrally tied to international banking, but became unavailable in 2008 as banks could no longer raise funds and instead shied away from risk.

In total, the GTLP will amount to $5 billion and will finance up to $50 billion in revolving trade finance operations during the following three years. The AfDB claims that $15 billion will be utilized in Africa during this same time period.

-Daniel Smart

Health Emergency in Buenos Aires

People wearing masks as preventive measures against the H1N1 flu talk at a public square in Buenos Aires July 1, 2009. The flu, which first flared in Mexico but has since subsided there, is spreading in Argentina during the southern hemisphere winter, killing at least 43 people and forcing health officials to extend school vacations. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian (ARGENTINA HEALTH)

Buenos Aires declared a health emergency today following the deaths of 26 people from the H1N1 virus. As a result of this emergency, schools will be closed for an additional two weeks during their winter recess starting July 20th.

While the Health Ministry is claiming 26 are dead, local press reports suggest that this number is much greater. Argentina is currently the country with the third highest death rate from this outbreak following the United States and Mexico.

Following on the heels of the recent dengue outbreak, this outbreak has brought to light the serious inadequacies with the national health system. These inadequacies are largely due to the ever present economic crises that plaque Argentina.

Students are being asked to stay inside their houses and avoid groups of people for the entire month that they are out of school. If students staying home all day is the solution to the outbreak, then we should expect further contamination and widespread infection.

-Daniel Smart

Croatian PM Steps Down – But Why?

Croatian prime minister Ivo Sander adresses his emitted resignation as Prime minister and president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) at a press conference in Zagreb on July 01, 2009. (Zeljko Lukunic/AFP/Getty Images)

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, a strong favorite for a presidential run in next year’s elections, shocked Croatian politics today by announcing not his candidacy, but his resignation and planned departure from politics.

“I have decided to withdraw from active politics and not to run for the presidency,” Mr. Sanader said. Mr. Sanader’s goals as Croatia’s PM were two-fold: gain access to NATO and the European Union. He accomplished one goal when Croatia joined NATO in April, but the EU, while tantalizingly close, has hovered just out of reach, shackled by a continuing border dispute with Slovenia.

Speculation over why Sanader has stepped down, especially now, will likely center around his frustrations with the Slovenian dispute. Croatia is ready in almost all other aspects of their accession negotiations with the EU, but must receive the blessing of each of the 27 EU member states. Without Slovenia’s permission, Croatia will not be allowed entry to the elite European club.

Although Mr. Sanader has said that his “job has been done,” one has to wonder – how many more politicians will fruitlessly bang against Europe’s door and only come away with a bloodied fist? Mr. Sanader is the first, but will his Macedonian, or even Turkish, counterparts be far behind?

-Chris Hildebrand