The global downturn has hit Eastern Europe with particular vengeance. Countries that profited more than many others from globalization and were previously capitalism's rising stars are now seeing demand for exports collapse, along with their currencies. They are bracing for a hard landing. Ryszard Delewski is a businessman on the verge of bankruptcy. After spending anxious months worrying about the future of his company, it seems to be all over. Delewski was meeting with a customer in Minsk, Belarus when the telephone rang and the crisis hit home. His bank was calling to inform him that his company, Delkar, was in the red to the tune of 4 million zloty, or about â¬850,000 ($1.1 million). The amount had accumulated because Delewski had used foreign exchange options to hedge against an appreciation of the zloty. But now the Polish currency had lost almost a quarter of its value against the euro. And no one had explained to Delewski that, if this happened, he would owe compensation payments. More: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,614960,00.html
"Romania, a latecomer to the EU, recorded the largest number of new registrations of Porsche Cayennes worldwide in 2008." WTF romania is recording more sales of porsche cayennes than the US or China???? ohhh i love the debt-based wishful thinking economy, especially in the wannabe-emerging countries. what's next? plastic surgeries through the roof in Latvia? LMAO