MUMBAI, India – There are few things in India and about India that startle me. I am Indian, I grew up here, and am used to the peculiarities and paradoxes that lurk around every corner.I certainly wasn’t expecting a recent assignment - a seemingly straightforward news story on property in Mumbai - to stop me in my tracks.

I didn’t have too much time to take in what I was seeing before cops appeared from nowhere and pushed cameraman Sanjiv and myself away.

“No, no shooting allowed here.” “Why?” we asked. “No, no, now wait for our supervisor.”

Before the supervisor arrived - possibly to take our tape away - we jumped into our waiting car and drove off.

The cops scribbled our car number down. But we had got what we needed - footage of industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s private residence being built on Mumbai’s prestigious but very average looking Altamount road.

Staring at the 27-floor structure (I believe it’s as high as a 60-story building though) I wondered where the two helipads would be. Which floor would be the pool be on? How many cars could the six floors of parking fit? How many staff members would wait on the family of six?

And the cool chamber with fake snow flurries to keep the wife cool in the Mumbai heat - now where would that be? And - is any of this true?

For now, we only have media reports to go by - and they put the cost of this private tower in the sky with all its facilities and fittings, at between $1-2 billion.

As Sanjiv got his shots, I watched laborers on the scaffolding - banging away, building away. Men and women who probably earn a few dollars a day to make someone’s billion dollar dream home a reality.

“It’s just unfair, unjust,” said Dr Uday Mehta, a passionate social worker who is part of Mumbai’s Committee for the Right to Housing. “It’s just plain ugly.”

How can he live like that, asked Mehta, as he walked us through a crowded and filthy shanty town - look at how the rest of Mumbai lives.

Is Mukesh Ambani’s decision to spend the money he has earned on a flashy residence wrong, given he lives in a city where 60 percent of the population lives in slums? Or should he be allowed to spend his money, earned from his business empire, however he wants?

Does a man of his stature and his wealth have to think about what others think of him? What do YOU think? Share your thoughts!

KISHIKAWA, Japan — You have to look pretty carefully for the straight-out good news when it comes to the global economy.

Tama the cat, in her conductor's hat.

We had to travel six hours outside of Tokyo to end of a country train line to find it. I should say find her, because to call Tama the cat an “it” might throw the town of Kishikawa into an outright upheaval.

Kishikawa is quite protective of Tama, for the little cat has singlehandedly boosted its local economy last year by more than $10 million. That is U.S. dollars, in case you’re wondering.  Watch my report on Tama the cat

Tama’s strange tale begins a little more than a year ago, when the Wakayama Railway heard about the friendly cat hanging out at its train stop.

The railway gave Tama the title of “Super Station Master” and built her a cushy home at the train stop. She got her own custom-made conductor’s hat. The rail line started putting the cat in the hat on its posters. And a star was born.

Japan, whose official ambassador is Hello Kitty, went wild. Japanese television aired specials on the special cat. A day-in-the-life book and documentary quickly followed. The tourists started coming, traveling hours upon hours by train, carrying fistfuls of cash and buying up the town’s new Tama merchandise with vigor.

Kishikawa is defying the odds: Seeing a boom in its local economy amid a national and global slowdown.

The town’s Buddhist monk calls it an “accident of life” and suggests other small towns look inward to discover what’s special about them.

But why did this happen in the first place? Are the Japanese that cat crazy? Perhaps, but the truth may be a little more complicated.

A businessman who took the day off work to travel hours to get a photo with Tama told me it’s a chance to take a break from all the problems facing Japan. For just a few hours, he said, it’s a chance to disconnect and enjoy a little town that’s seeing unusual and unexpected success.

TOKYO, Japan — American apple pies, English breakfast tea … these items instantly recall images of their countries of origin.

For Japan, it’s electronics. More specifically, Sony Corp. has defined Japanese electronics ingenuity to the global marketplace for decades. So it only makes sense that the Nikkei plunged 9.6 percent on a profit warning from Sony: That it would see a 59 percent earnings drop, year to year, this quarter.

Sony cited poor sales and a strong yen. A double whammy, if you will. Not only is there falling demand from consumers, but the strength of the yen has made business for exporters even more expensive. And the yen was strong versus the U.S. dollar, which plunged in trading into the 94 yen territory.

Inside a major Japanese company today (I’ll refrain from naming the company as its earnings report is not out yet,) workers told me something’s got to be done. They hoped Japan’s government would take a more active role in loosening credit with its allies’ financial markets.

But the sense they have is: “We’ll believe it when we see it.” Until then, they’re expecting the bad news to keep coming for Japan’s biggest corporations.

A marquee company showing such steep profit losses only confirms to the market what investors had been fearing — that we are in the midst of a true global slowdown affecting the bottom line of major companies.

Next week, Honda will release its earnings report. Analysts widely expect the news will not be good, as automakers see a worldwide softening in demand. Japan is bracing for yet another possible beating for another company, but also to its overall business psyche.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – The credit crisis consuming the island nation of Iceland and its small population has come just as the tourist season slows down heading into winter.But there are real worries that visitors might skip Iceland altogether if their own country dips into recession.

The one bright spot amid this financial mess is that the Icelandic krona has fallen more than 50 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past 12 months.

The manager of the hotel where I am staying says the country can no longer be seen as a high-cost destination.
The tourist board and the tourism ministry held crisis talks today, I have been told. They will get together on Tuesday to agree concrete proposals to lure tourists here.

They already plan to target Christmas tourists from New York and Boston. It’s about five hours each way and Iceland hopes Americans will come and try the outdoor spas and see the glaciers and geysers and whales, and do a little shopping.

I just ran into a group of Northern Irish students on a spending binge. They could not believe how far their pound was stretching.

TOKYO, Japan — A businessman on his way home from work stopped dead in his tracks, staring in stunned silence at the closing number on the Nikkei.

The Nikkei Index suffered a horrid day.

It closed down more than nine percent, a percentage loss not seen since the days after Black Monday in 1987.

“It was just like somebody dropping dead and then everything just collapsed,” said economist Jesper Koll of Tantallon Research Japan.

But what caught my eye is not just the investor and analyst reaction to the bleak day in Tokyo, but the kind of person stopping to gape at the closing numbers. It wasn’t just the investor rubbernecking at the board; it was the small business owner and non-investor.

The global credit crunch has some confusing and unfamiliar words to the Japanese worker: AIG, Lehman, $700 billion bailout… just to name a few.

But what is known across the board is how important the US consumer is to Japan’s top tier businesses. Japan is an export-driven economy and the US consumer is its number one customer. If Main Street USA doesn’t buy the latest Wii or get a loan for the 2009 Camry, that affects the Japanese worker’s job at Nintendo and Toyota.

Analysts over the past week have been saying the Nikkei is reacting now to the global slowdown, not just the action by the US Congress or Federal Reserve. It cares more about the real economy, not just the financial crisis. And that is a much bigger concern and a palpable concern for Japan’s bottom line, and why it’s no longer just the heavy investor stopping to watch the market drop.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Shock has been replaced with anger. That is what one man here in Reykjavik told me this morning as he came out of the Landsbanki.

He went to check his savings and was told it was safe. He does not believe it.

An 18 year old student told me she has decided to take out her savings and pay off her mother’s mortgage. That way she says she can’t lose her savings, her mother can’t lose her apartment, and they have a tangible asset. Smart.

They both told me they are embarrassed that the world is watching for all the wrong reasons.

LONDON, England — With banks failing across the world, where do you go for a loan? If you’re lucky enough to have money, where do you park your hard earned cash? A bank? Maybe. But there are alternatives online.

It’s simple and transparent, says Giles Andrews.

Internet sites like Zopa.com in the UK skip the bank entirely and put lenders directly in touch with borrowers.

Here’s how it works: Lenders decide how much they want to put in and at what rate. The web company then screens potential borrowers to make sure they have good credit and are not asking for more then they can afford. Once approved, borrowers are matched to lenders. It’s up to them to strike a deal. The website makes money by charging a fee to both.

“It’s simple and transparent,” says Giles Andrews, Managing Director of Zopa.com. “People see where there money is. That will show there is more security that goes beyond the 4 brick walls of a bank.”

Zopa isn’t the world’s only peer-to-peer lender. Other sites like LendingClub.com, Prosper.com, and, RaiseCapital.com offer similar services gaining in popularity.

Part of the appeal is the personal connection. You get to know who is borrowing your money and why.

On Zopa.com, for example, borrowers write up a personal profile explaining why they need the loan and how they will pay it back. Lenders can also log in online and ask the borrower more questions before offering them a loan.

Zopa says its lenders get a 10 percent return on average. The default rate: less than .05 percent. The company says stringent credit checks are the key to its success.

It also tries to minimize risk by distributing loans into small chunks and spreading your money across a variety of borrowers.

If a borrow defaults, then Zopa steps in to take control with a collections agency, much in the same way a Bank operates.

“They enjoy the personal contact. People say I’d rather get interest and invest in a real person than a bank,” says Andrews. “But while Zopa is a friendly alternative to banks. It’s not a soft-touch to people that default.”

Analysts say this kind of lending is a viable alternative to banks - but don’t expect any great deals.

“The best rates will only be available to people with incredibly good credit ratings,” says David Black, Principal Consultant at Defaqto Financial Research. “It’s all done over the internet. So, you don’t have to suffer the ignominy of being told no face to face. Which you might do if you went into a bank.”

Zopa.com says the company has facilitated loans of more than 45 million dollars since 2005. Registration for the service jumped 40 percent this year and it has sites in the UK, US, Italy and soon Japan.

What do you think of new Internet sites like Zopa? Would you consider approaching them for a loan? Do you think they can provide a viable alternative to traditional banks?

Watch my report

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — I arrived in Iceland a few hours ago to find a country in shock. Two of its big banks are in state control, its currency has collapsed, and it is asking Russia for more then $5 billion to prop up the island’s financial sector. Its prime minister was the first leader of any country to confess that the global credit crisis could bankrupt the country.

Glitnir, one of Iceland’s biggest banks, has needed a government rescue.

As happens in any country when you parachute in, the driver who took me to my hotel was all too happy to fill me in on where it all went wrong.

Iceland went on a lending binge — sound familiar? Cheap credit, rising house prices and bank shares soaring. Iceland’s population of less than 300,000 never had it so good. Until now.

Why should the rest of the world care?

First, Iceland could be a sign of things to come. When the first bank to collapse, Glitnir, was taken over by the government, banks outside Iceland cut back on loaning to the country’s other banks. The credit crunch became a credit freeze.

The prime minister admitted on national television Monday night that the banks had grown to about 10 times the country’s GNP. There is no way the country can bail them out. What if that happens elsewhere? Governments will surely see how Iceland’s economy reacts.

Second, Iceland’s super-wealthy families went on a buying spree. From Debenhams to House of Fraser to Hamleys to the West Ham Football Club, the wealth of this once fish-exporting nation was invested in Britain. Thousands of employees and hundreds of shops across Britain are tied into Iceland’s economy. Bank lending or strong bank shares were behind it all.

Third, Iceland’s banks had higher than normal interest rates, which attracted thousands in Britain to stick their money in places such as Icesave, an Internet bank. As of Monday night, their accounts were frozen.

We will spend the next few days talking to people here. At first blush, the blame is being put on those who spent the past few years building up portfolios on the back of rising property prices, driving around in super luxury cars (something apparently unheard of even five years ago in this very Nordic nation which prides itself on egalitarian principles) and taking money off shore.

With the currency so weak, and with so many mortgages taken out in foreign currencies, the fall in house prices has really hit hard.

Some people are at least hoping that the weak kronur will bring in more tourists. Maybe consumers from the Nordic and Scandinavian countries that used to benefit from Icelandic shoppers with a strong currency will instead come this way for and help out this nation.

PARIS, France – The press preview days of the Paris Motor Show are history and the now it’s the turn of the public to decide which vehicles catch their eye the most.  For many in the media, it was hard to look beyond the global financial crisis. The day before the show, GM announced sales of light vehicles in North America fell 16 percent while Toyota reported a 32 percent fall and Ford 34 percent.

The talk here was about electric cars.

The CEOs I interviewed were not afraid to talk about had bad things are. Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said there was no point discussing an out outlook for 2009 when he has no idea how next month will go. Even some of the super luxury makers, like Bentley, admit their end of the market is bad. So it is right across the board.

But car shows are about the future. And talk here was about electric cars. Nearly every carmaker has a hybrid (though not the super luxury brands of course) so the newest push is electric. General Motors, Nissan, Toyota and Smart all vow to have a mass-market electric vehicle on the market by 2010. Some are for any customer, some just for fleet vehicles, but the point is many people should be able to buy a car that runs only on electricity in less than two years’ time.

Not that the Chevy Volt or the Nissan Nuvu will solve the credit crisis.

I was asked by one anchor why Americans should care about a car show in Europe. The answer is two-fold. Ford and GM rely greatly on sales from outside their home market. That can not be overstated. If recession spreads and people in places like Russia, Brazil or China slow their car purchases, then the American carmakers will be in even more trouble.

Secondly, these small European-styled cars stuffed full of features might sell well in the U.S. While Ford and GM aren’t going to import the cars themselves, they plan to build these small cars in places like Mexico, they are importing the notion that people will pay more for a smaller car. Instead of designing a whole new car just for American buyers, these cars have great gas mileage and could lure customers back into the showroom. That is, of course, if they can get a loan.

Watch my report on electric cars at the Paris Motor Show

Watch my interview with GM President Fritz Henderson

Watch my report on Mercedes-Benz’s first hybrid

“Bank robbers and asset strippers.” That’s what the Archbishop of York John Sentamu called short sellers (those who profit from falling share prices) during a speech in London’s financial district Wednesday night.

Churches and financial institutions rub shoulders in the City of London.

Some might argue the financial markets have been to hell and back and that many who worship money are paying the price … certainly the Church of England’s top two leaders are questioning the morality of those behind it all.

Sentamu’s boss, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams wrote banks now need to pay the piper with stronger regulation. He even said Karl Marx was correct about a few things when it comes to “unbridled capitalism.”

Why are Britain’s clergy sticking their noses into the markets? They feel a $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial sector is in the works, but only a fraction of that is needed to fight child poverty, and it is not forthcoming.

The Church of England often likes to play the role of the nation’s conscience. Though few people here actually step into a church or any other house of worship, the church does take vocal stands on things like the Iraq War, the growing gap between rich and poor and the problem of household debt.

By attacking short sellers and those who created this mess, church leaders say they want it known that the financial crisis has now unleashed a “risk to social stability.”

Of course this is the same Church of England which lost millions of dollars in the property market during the house price crash of the late 1980’s. It invested in property and got it wrong. Will be interesting to see how its portfolio is doing this time around.