After years of being one of the cheapest and most red tape-free labour markets in the world, China is beginning to become less competitive in relation to its regional peers. This is in part the result of rising labour costs, as Chinese workers begin to demand greater wage increases. Increased labour costs have already encouraged some foreign firms to exit the country, in search of cheaper working conditions elsewhere within the region...

The US campaign to block InBev's acquisition of Anheuser-Busch (A-B) may, if it succeeds, end up doing in the long term what its advocates fear the acquisition would do - destroy jobs and belittle the iconic brand Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch's over-reliance on the maturing US market and lack of capacity to expand internationally quickly enough in an increasingly consolidated global market may make coming under InBev's wing an attractive prospect...

The Latin American cosmetics and toiletries market is still patchily undeveloped. Many consumers have limited access to branded products, due to an immature retail infrastructure, paving the way for direct selling, which is very popular. The counterfeit market, especially of perfumes, thrives due to lack of market regulation. As economies such as Brazil start to boom, normative retailing trends are emerging...