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Confined to misery
Executive visited ZaZoo City in Hazmieh disguised as tourists in order to collect photographic evidence of the conditions of the animals held captive there. What we found was appaling: ducks lying in a...
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Grapes of change
Deir El Ahmar, a Christian village in the northern Bekaa valley’s Hermel-Baalbek region, is more notorious for its marijuana plantations than it is for great wines. But winemaking is precisely what the...
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Keeping it small
There’s a popular joke in the wine industry which goes: “Do you know how to make a million dollars out of a small winery? Start out with five million!” The joke illustrates why owning a small winery is...
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Of competition and promotion
There are arguably few things more enjoyable than sipping on a good glass of wine after a long day. Selecting a brand of wine for that pleasure is not as simple as it seems though: from the quality to...
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“To move or not to move?”
This spring there was considerable commotion in Lebanese economic and financial circles as rumors surfaced that the country’s largest bank was engaged in scenario exercises about moving its corporate...
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Meet the megas
The confidence many developers have in the Lebanese real estate market is certainly not inspired by the numbers. On paper 2015 and 2016 look like the two worst years since 2007, yet this year and last...
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Time to fight back
It really bothers me when people say things they don’t actually understand. “The economy is dead.” I’ve heard it over and over the past few years. Growth is low, fine, but it’s not completely absent....
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It’s not easy being green
While the climate change agreement at Kyoto took nearly a decade to achieve binding status for ratifying countries, l’Accord de Paris (nearly) accomplished this feat in a mere 10 months. As Executive...
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The twisted tale of the Lebanese Canadian Bank
You thought it was over, didn’t you? Assuming you remember the rise and demise of Lebanese Canadian Bank, from its ascendance in the 1990s until it was struck by US allegations of terrorism finance and...
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The spud kings
Potatoes are a staple of Lebanese cuisine. When boiled, they are often eaten as a remedy for stomach ache. When fried, they serve as a quick and cheap meal as the filling of a sandwich or as an...
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When chips meet innovation
The Lebanese potato chips market is dominated by two main local producers. But small scale productions – such as the chips produced by supermarkets Dfouni or Goodies – have always had their loyal...
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Making green affordable
Lebanon’s real estate sector is going green, with more than a little help from a powerful friend, Banque du Liban (BDL), the country’s central bank. Since BDL made subsidized loans for energy efficient...
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October 2016 table of contents
Cover illustration: Ivan Debs | Executive EDITORIAL Time to fight back LEADERS Making green affordable Health kick COVER STORY Meet the megas ECONOMICS & POLICY It’s not easy being green Selling a...
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Health kick
As parents, we often struggle to keep our children fit and healthy in the consumer society we live in. We do our best to feed them nutritious meals and educate them on the importance of healthy eating...
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Preserving the heart of Mar Mikhael
In just a few years, the area of Mar Mikhael has gone from being a small industrial neighborhood to Beirut’s nightlife destination par excellence. Today, Vogue magazine’s recommendations for “Four...
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Selling a national oil company
The National Oil and Gas Company of Lebanon. Sounds official. It isn’t. But not for a lack of trying. Many countries with revenue from mining the “Devil’s excrement” (or Satan’s flatulence, to extend...
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Rocky relations
Just a few years ago Lebanese banks were apprehensively awaiting regulations they expected would impact business. These arrived with the United States’ introduction of the Foreign Account Tax...
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Negative interest rates
Over recent years, central bankers of the world have tried several conventional measures to revive economic growth in the aftermath of the Great Recession and re-establish trust in the financial...
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We don’t need no explanations
We know that growth of the global economy is not as it was in earlier eras – and International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde last month warned explicitly of a “low-growth trap” or the...
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It’s time for some serious changes
After two and a half years, Lebanon has a president. We don’t care. For the thirteenth time in our history, our head of state was imposed from outside. We don’t care. Our lawmakers – serving a second...
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