09 Octubre 2006

Bloomberg
The search for talent

The world's most valuable commodity is getting harder to find

THESE are heady days for most companies. Profits are up. Capital is footloose and fancy-free. Trade unions are getting weaker. India and China are adding billions of new cheap workers and consumers to the world economy. This week the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high.

But talk to bosses and you discover a gnawing worry—about the supply of talent. “Talent” is one of those irritating words that has been hijacked by management gurus. It used to mean innate ability, but in modern business it has become a synonym for brainpower (both natural and trained) and especially the ability to think creatively.

The cold war in Asia

As North Korea unsettles the region again, the prospects for better relations between Japan and China are still bedevilled by history

Relations between the big powers of north Asia are notoriously bad. But this week also brought a ray of light: Shinzo Abe, Japan's new prime minister, declared that his first priority would be to travel to Beijing on October 8th to meet President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, the first formal summit between the two countries in five years. The next day, Mr Abe will attempt the same with South Korea, stopping off in Seoul to meet President Roh Moo-hyun.