World Business

Spam and 7 other dramatic rebranding campaigns

The processed lunchmeat learned to make fun of itself, which made all the difference in its resurgence. Here, a pictorial guide to other brand turnarounds

 
While German Chancellor Angela Merkel seemed to warm up to pro-growth policies in Chicago this weekend, she may have been paying lip service to the ideas.

The G8 consensus on Europe's debt crisis: Turning point or empty rhetoric?

Under pressure from world leaders, Germany appears to soften its tough austerity stance — though some analysts believe the shift isn't nearly enough to save Europe

 
President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington last year: During the weekend's G-8 meeting, Obama will likely encourage Germany to rethink its harsh austerity demands.

The European debt crisis: Can Obama do anything to stop it?

The president is hosting European leaders at Camp David, where he is expected to lobby for action on a far-off crisis that threatens to spill onto America's shores

 
A busy ATM in Athens: Fear over Greece's precarious position in the eurozone prompted Greeks to withdraw 800 million euros in a single day this week.

Bank panic in Greece: What happens if Greeks quit the euro?

As Greece veers toward a eurozone exit, depositors are draining their bank accounts, and European leaders are beginning to plan for a post-Greece future

 
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras seems to want no part in a Greek unity government, all but ensuring new parliamentary elections that his leftist party is poised to clean up in.

Can a new election save Greece?

Efforts to form a unity government seem to fail, setting up yet another showdown between Alexis Tsipras' anti-austerity forces and the old Greek guard

 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is urging Greece to comply with the terms of its austerity program, or risk losing its place in the European Union.

Will Germany cave in to the demands of Greece's anti-austerity parties?

The two countries are butting heads over Greece's refusal to comply with the terms of its financial bailout, and it's unclear which side will blink first

 
This conceptual hover car, as seen in this artist's conception, was one of 119,000 submissions generated by VW's Chinese design contest.

Volkswagen's Jetsons-like hover car

The futurists of the 1950s and '60s promised us flying cars that have yet to arrive. Now, VW is at least steering us in the right direction

 
French President-elect Francois Hollande campaigned on a promise of rolling back Europe's harsh austerity measures, though German Chancellor Angela Merkel is unlikely to let him do so.

Francois Hollande vs. Angela Merkel: A looming war over austerity?

France's president-elect rides into power on a wave of opposition to Europe's harsh austerity agenda. He's about to crash into Germany's no-nonsense chancellor

 
Greeks attend a campaign rally in Athens on Friday. The country's political parties, fiercely divided on whether to accept austerity measures, seem unable to agree on a governing coalition.

Greece's landmark elections: 5 takeaways

The eurozone debt crisis has produced a seismic shift in Greece, where anti-austerity voters stripped power from the parties that have run the country for decades

 
Ikea may have past ties to the Stasi, who a report claims helped the Swedish furniture company make use of political prisoners as a source of free labor.

Did Ikea use political prisoners to make its furniture?

New reports say the Swedish company used jailed dissidents in East Germany and Cuba for labor, exposing Ikea's alleged ties to brutal totalitarian regimes

 
French President-elect Francois Hollande greets his supporters on May 6: Investors are worried that Hollande's win, along with other recent electoral changes in Europe, will end EU austerity measures and doom the world economy.

Francois Hollande: Is a Socialist French president a threat to the global economy?

Hollande is the first Socialist candidate in 25 years to be elected France's president, a fact that roiled the markets on Monday. Is it time to sell, sell, sell?

 
French Socialist presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande wants Europe to quit focusing so heavily on the austerity measures championed by Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel.

Will anti-austerity voters kill the euro?

The French presidential election and the collapse of the Dutch government indicate that the ballot box is pushing Europe to a decisive turning point

 
The Argentine president holds an Eva Peron sculpture: Kirchner's nationalization moves have won populist support, reminding many of the famed populist leader.

Is Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner the next Evita?

Kirchner's move to nationalize Argentina's energy company sparked worry, but she's confident her country will support her just as it did the famed populist leader

 
Protesters demonstrate against spending cuts in Madrid: Spain's economy, the EU's fourth largest, is in increasingly dire straits.

Spain's escalating financial crisis: Is Europe committing 'economic suicide'?

The continent's fourth-largest economy could be heading toward a full-blown crisis, and Europe's political class only seems to be exacerbating the problem

 
People file into a government job center in Chipiona: Spain has the largest unemployment rate in the eurozone, which is only hurting the country's crippling debt problem.

6 reasons Spain could be Europe's next debt-crisis victim

Europe's fiscal crisis just won't die. And now malevolent market forces are hounding one of the continent's biggest economies

 

Facebook

Twitter

Stumble

Tumblr

RSS

Newsletter

See our bad opinions
For those who have everything: NASA-grade Nikes

Sneakers fit for outer space — and more in our collection of bizarrely elite consumer products

Can you guess what's really going on in these bizarre photos?

Get The Week iPad app
Get The Week iPad app