Comment: Export obsession is crushing Germany, Syria is follo...

To view this email as a webpage, click here     Wednesday September 04 2013     Comment   Export obsession is crushing Germany   Cutting wages has been the basis of the nation's export success in the past dozen years, when exports have been its sole consistent growth source       Syria is following Afghanistan's path   While international engagement is decreasingly popular in the advanced democracies, a multipolar world makes it increasingly necessary     The true culprits in the Nokia whodunit   Stephen Elop's critics underestimate the problems he inherited, not to mention the rapid industry changes Nokia faced     A spot of collusion can be a good thing   Once businesses took a long-term view and valued their customers' loyalty. But today's consumers expect nothing and get little in return     Mooncake is eclipsed by austerity   The bland pastry favoured by bureaucrats, mandarins and crony capitalists as a seasonal gift is no longer being blinged up     Tough justice for Everbright   China's securities regulators are on a crusade to clean up the business and the case looks set to become a catalyst for positive change     Euro's fate depends on more than Merkel   What happens next to borrowing costs will depend more on the outcome of the Fed's policy meeting starting on September 17 than the German elections     Russia's relations with neighbours turn chilly   Moscow is trying to pull ex-Soviet states into its own EU-style 'Eurasian Union' and heightening trade squabbles with those that resist         Opinion   America must stick to a course on Syria   Washington needs to quickly formulate a strategy that it is prepared to implement and live with, whatever the consequences, writes Richard Haass       France is run for the benefit of the old   Baby boomers born shortly after the second world war control most of the country's structures; the average age of a French MP is 60         Manage email    Forward this email   Feedback    Manage portfolio Subscribe to the FT Follow the FT   Unsubscribe | My Account | RSS | Privacy Policy | About Us | Help   © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2013 You have received this email because you have signed up from the NBE preference page. This email was sent by a company owned by Pearson plc, registered office at 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL. Registered in England and Wales with company number 53723.