#independence-economics

#independence-economics

Colombia's trade ministry has announced it will raise tariffs on neighbouring Ecuador to 100 percent from 30 percent, matching the rate Ecuador set a day earlier amid escalating trade and diplomatic spat.

The January 3rd Operation Absolute Resolve ousted Venezuelan Dictator Nicholas Maduro, marking a significant shift in US policy towards countering adversarial influence in the western hemisphere.

Multinational firms are under rising pressure-from investors, regulators, and employees-to demonstrate positive societal impact in the places where they do business. With ESG-focused institutional investments projected to reach nearly $34 trillion this year and roughly 90% of large U.S. companies now disclosing ESG reports, these pressures are now a central part of corporate strategy.

This is not an argument against continuing to line things up just so, of course. It just means that the very orderly person will over time become a very familiar face to the people at The Container Store, to the point where they might remark to each other during their breaks about having seen him, again, purchasing more of those stackable, breakable containers that he's always getting.

In places where inclusion is part of the infrastructure of their economy-supply chains, procurement processes, capital access, or business ownership-people thrive. Inclusive economies create more resilience by expanding the base of potential business owners who can build, own, innovate, and hire. They allow more opportunities for homeownership and investing in the longevity of communities. As our economy becomes increasingly stratified and volatile, we need as much resiliency as we can get.

But if you're innovating within your industry, it's a problem you should expect and prepare for because it means having to operate in two realities-the internal reality where you know the challenges in your industry and how you're going to solve them, and the external reality where nobody else has recognized the problem that needs to be solved. In a highly regulated industry like healthcare, safety, and stability create an inertia that often works against innovation.

It was not just another bombastic statement in the Republican's provocative style it was the first visible sign of a policy that once again places the region under U.S. oversight. Trump revived old interventionist instincts by interfering in Honduras's presidential election and threatening to cut aid to Central American governments as leverage to force them into agreements aimed at curbing migration.

Let me get straight to the point: Three years ago, I was spending $200 a month on coffee shop visits while telling myself I couldn't afford to max out my retirement contributions. The irony wasn't lost on me when I finally sat down with a spreadsheet and saw where my money was actually going. That wake-up call came right after watching my dad get passed over for yet another promotion, despite working harder than anyone else in his department.

New analysis published today (6 February 2026) reveals a structural issue that is eroding valuations, limiting exits, and trapping founders in their businesses, with around 80% of UK private companies failing to sell. The White Paper, The Owner Dependence Problem in UK SME Businesses, published by Exit Factor, highlights how excessive reliance on founders is undermining business value across the UK SME sector. The White Paper analyses businesses with annual revenues between £3m and £30m and demonstrates how owner dependence materially restricts strategic options for owners.

He also hinted at another round of action in Iran, a symptom of his growing affinity for military force. Another sign: Nigeria was the seventh country bombed in less than a year. Asked about guardrails to global power, Trump told the New York Times: "My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me." "I don't need international law," he added. "I'm not looking to hurt people."

"Don't go!" more than one voice could be heard shouting in the packed Teatro Colón on January 24. The plea was in response to Colombian senator María José Pizarro Rodríguez's declaration that Colombia's President Gustavo Petro would be traveling to the White House on February 3 "in an act of courage." While the popular Pacto Histórico senator was mostly met with cheers and chants of the Chilean protest song, " El pueblo unido jamás será vencido,"

The 1980s bring revolutionary wars, CIA-backed conflict and the violent birth of a new democratic era. Episode 2: Wars begins with Nicaragua's Sandinista revolution, which promised egalitarian transformation through literacy crusades. But civil war erupted as United States President Ronald Reagan's administration covertly backed the Contra rebels, plunging the nation into turmoil and suffering. Panama transitioned from Omar Torrijos's diplomatic triumphs over the Panama Canal to Manuel Noriega's sinister collaboration with both the CIA and drug cartels.

The International Monetary Fund has warned mounting geopolitical tensions and an escalation of Donald Trump's tariff war could hit global economic growth and trigger a backlash in financial markets. In an update as Trump threatens to impose tariffs on Nato allies opposed to his ambitions in Greenland, the Washington-based fund said a renewed eruption in trade tensions was among the biggest risks to global growth in 2026.

In the coastal city of Trujillo, he'd observed how the US-owned United Fruit Company dominated the city's railways and docks and wielded significant political influence. This inspired his novel "Cabbages and Kings" (1904), in which he wrote about the fictional republic of Anchuria — a 'small, maritime banana republic' whose government bent to the interests of a powerful foreign corporation.