Merciar Business Consulting

China executes many more people than anywhere else. Changes to its laws may reduce a grim total

CHINA executes more of its own citizens than any other country, and more than all others in the world combined. “Thousands” of Chinese were executed in 2009 according to Amnesty International's annual study, which states that an exact number is impossible to determine because information on the death penalty is regarded as a state secret. But this gruesome record may yet change. The National People's Congress is reported to be reducing the number of offences that are punishable by execution. Among the crimes that currently carry the death penalty are bribing an official and stealing historical relics.

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Bosses who walked away with large payouts

ON TUESDAY July 27th BP announced its chief executive, Tony Hayward, was stepping down after just three years in the job. He leaves with a year’s salary, GBP1m ($1.6m), and a pension reported to be worth GBP11m, accrued over 28 years of service. On the same day the company revealed a quarterly loss of GBP17 billion, reflecting the cost of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr Hayward has received criticism over his handling of the Deepwater Horizon spill. For all the opprobrium heaped on him over the last few months, Mr Hayward's payout is modest compared with those enjoyed by many similarly high-profile bosses.

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Our latest Big Mac index suggests the euro is still overvalued

Correction to this article

THE Big Mac index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), according to which exchange rates should adjust to equalise the price of a basket of goods and services around the world. Our index shows that Asia remains the cheapest place to enjoy a burger, while those on the hunt for a value meal should steer clear of Scandinavia. The euro, despite its troubles, continues to be expensive when compared with many other rich-world currencies, though the British pound is trading close to its fair value. China's recent decision to increase the "flexibility" of the yuan has not made much difference yet—the yuan is undervalued on the burger gauge by 48%. For more on the Big Mac index see article. ...

Facebook has become the third-largest nation

THE world's largest social network announced that it had reached 500m members on Wednesday July 21st. If Facebook were a physical nation, it would now be the third-most populous on earth. And if the service continues to grow as rapidly as in the three months to July, it will reach one billion in about 15 months—almost the size of India. Not least because of its gigantic population, some observers have started to talk of Facebook in terms of a country. “[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny, much like our nation-state,” says David Post, a law professor at Temple University, Philadelphia. For more on social networks and statehood see article.

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Asian and Middle Eastern airlines’ share of the world’s aircraft fleet is set to grow

BY THE third day of the Farnborough Airshow on Wednesday July 21st, aircraft-makers had announced new orders worth around $25 billion. A whopping $9 billion order for 40 Boeing 777s from Emirates highlighted the ambitious expansion plans of the Gulf’s airlines. Analysis by Ascend, an aerospace consultancy, shows that the Middle Eastern airlines’ fleets have more than doubled in the past ten years. They have placed orders for over 1,000 new aircraft for delivery by 2020—or 14% of the industry’s entire order book. Even so, the Asian airlines, especially China’s, will be the planemakers’ biggest customers in the coming decade. By 2020, the North American and European airlines will no longer dominate the skies to the extent they do now.

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