globalEDGE Blog - By Author: Elyse Gatt

An article by the Huffington Post investigates the world’s most polluted cities. The top ten list includes Linfen, China; Los Angeles, United States; Niger Delta, Nigeria; London, United Kingdom; Dzerzhinsk, Russia; Phoenix, United States; Bandung Indonesia; La Oroya, Peru; and Lake Karachay, Russia.

According to the article, “Living in Linfen, China, is equivalent to smoking three packs of cigarettes a day”

“In 2003, Dzerzhinsk, Russia’s death rate surpassed its birth rate by 260 percent.”

“Phoenix, Arizona, United States is 2010's worst place in the United States for year round particle pollution... a mix of dust, soot and aerosols.”

In a challenging economic environment, young professionals and recent graduates across the globe are forced to think of new ways to enter the workforce.

In the United States, some are taking an entrepreneurial approach. These entrepreneurs recognize that what they are doing on the side can create revenue – running a website out of their home or offering social media marketing consultation – and can be performed anywhere in the world with anyone, at any time. They toss the security of a paycheck and good benefits at a place that is now considered a boring place to work.

In the United Kingdom, graduates are trying to fill their resumes. They are encouraged to find a market shortage and then gain the skills to fill the gap.

In China, the story is different. The economic future looks (arguably) optimistic – China boasts more than 10% growth on average. The problem is that China is providing more than 6 million college graduates a year and the economy is not producing the number of jobs demanded by the graduates. The video below is a great 6 minute documentary on the issue, especially for international students traveling to China to broaden their interests and expand their resume.

Vancouver, Canada; London, United Kingdom; Sochi, Russia… but who’s next? It is no doubt that the International Olympic Committee faces peer pressure when deciding upon the city that will host future Olympics, but why so much competition between nations?

While the United States has been experiencing financial crisis for the past few weeks, Zimbabwe has been experiencing economic crisis for the past several years.

Zimbabwe boasts the highest inflation rate in the world. At 11.2 million percent inflation rate, the country is scrambling to find a solution. Since 2006, Zimbabwe has issued new currency, printed higher denominations of currency and removed 10 zeros (10 billion ZWD becoming 1 ZWD), all to no avail.