Sometimes you have to step away to see the innovative forest through the trees.

We give you a chance to do just that -- kick back, awake feelings, put a smile on your face and remember the niceties that life has to offer -- here.

Enjoy.

Yes, you can enjoy the advantages of cheaper material costs and labor wages and a vast consumer market reach in China but what about quality control and other issues such as IP protection that come into play?

Read more here.

In case you missed it, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece yesterday (2/24) by Messrs. Tom Hayes and Michael Malone entitled, "Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis."

Only entrepreneurs have the flexibility, the freedom and the risk-everything ambition to find the path back to prosperity in a rapidly changing, technology-driven global economy.

Let's hear it for all entrepreneurs worldwide!

Find out the ways we need help right here.

Boston Consulting Group recently released a study of “New Global Challengers” identifying (immediate PDF file download) 100 companies with the potential to become household names across the globe.

The companies work in a variety of sectors, and hail from a host of countries. Not surprisingly, Brazil, China, and India account for the biggest portions of the list. The list is also very volatile, as 19 new companies made this year’s list. They are also extremely ambitious, with strong desire to capture global market share. They also benefit from a relatively lower cost of capital, and a concentration of ownership, which helps fend off potential hostile takeover attempts. As growth accelerates, these firms are willing to reach outside and bring in other expertise -- often through global alliances, acquisitions, and by building management teams with a global perspective.

It's really about how companies -- e.g., Agility in Kuwait is one -- from rapidly developing economies are contending for global leadership (I like the Page 11 area ... very insightful).

Learn more over at the Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship: New Global Challengers.

Aspire to become a global entrepreneur? Yes, you can. If you are a dreamer and a doer, then you might want to check out Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts where entrepreneurial students talk shop throughout the day and night in the E-Tower.

The E-Tower is a community for Babson students who wish to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors while attending school.

As one student says, "Any school can teach entrepreneurship, but at Babson, we live entrepreneurship."

To find out more about Babson's program, visit here. To learn what ventures E-Tower members are currently creating and growing, go here.

OECD's work on trade is about providing analysis, policy advice and guidance to create a better understanding of trade and investment liberalization and how it can lead to stronger economic growth as well as to greater integration of countries into the world economy.

Look at their work for 2009 and see how it may alter your outlook on global trade.

Assessing barriers to trade in services in the MENA region

This paper (PDF file) aims to assess barriers to service provision in the financial, telecom, and transport sectors of selected MENA countries. The analysis is focused on computation of aggregate and modal trade restrictiveness indexes (TRIs) by sector.

Overcoming Border Bottlenecks: The Costs and Benefits of Trade Facilitation

Six studies that examine how border bottlenecks affect trade and investment flows, how these bottlenecks might be reduced, and whether the expense involved is worth it.

Trade flows weaken in third quarter 2008

Merchandise export volumes of the Group of Seven countries fell 0.2% in the third quarter of 2008 compared with the previous quarter, while import volumes rose 0.4%.

Recovery and Beyond: Enhancing Competitiveness to Realise Indonesia’s Trade Potential

There is much scope for trade to enhance economic growth in Indonesia. This paper (PDF file) analyses Indonesian trade policy following the Asian Financial crisis, and identifies some key reforms that may help to increase competitiveness.

-> The video above is Ken Ash, Director for Trade for OECD who warns against protectionism as a reaction to the crisis. He outlines the course of action governments should follow.

There is much more from OECD here.

First of all, Pennsylvania exports are up 18 percent in 2008 versus 2007. Secondly and according to the World Institute for Strategic Economic Research (WISER), Pennsylvania exported $34.4 billion worth of goods in 2008, more than double the total five years ago with the bulk of it going to Canada and Brazil. Lastly, Pennsylvania exports totaled just $16.3 billion in 2003.

The question we have to ask: Is this export momentum sustainable?

Read more here and weigh in with your comments.