Thailand government officials have a number of colorful ways of characterizing the state of the nation’s economy just prior to the military coup of May, 2014.

Supply chains are under tremendous pressure to perform better. The average consumer now spends considerable time researching the best prices for the products they want, they’re comfortable ordering online, and they expect swift delivery at a time that suits them.

International Business Machines Corp., a group of four gold and diamond industry companies and an independent laboratory are developing a blockchain network for tracing the provenance of finished pieces of jewelry from mine to store.

Some of the world’s biggest retailers and food companies including Kellogg Co, Walmart Inc, and Nestle backed a new initiative on Wednesday to improve global supply chains amid rising consumer demand for slave-free goods and services.