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After several blog entries about business English teaching events I thought it was time to go back to basics and have a look at what's actually happening in the business world. While some of this morning's reading was less than uplifting – rising oil prices, at least one airline closing as a result (EOS, a business class-only airline flying from London Stansted to New York) and the US still wondering about the state of its economy – there were a few items across the various news providers that made for interesting reading and potential material for classroom use.

The first big piece of news is that Microsoft has decided not to pursue the purchase of Yahoo. I first wrote about the proposed buyout in February ,and nearly three months later it looks like it's the end of the story. Yahoo refused Microsoft's offer for $33 per share, hinting that it was looking for more like $37 per share, which Microsoft clearly felt was too high. Yahoo's stock dipped 15% as a result but then recovered again slightly. What happens next is left open; Microsoft still needs to up its stakes with its online offerings and may still be interested in a partnership of some sort. This makes good classroom material:

• Ask your students to discuss the pros and cons of an already large company buying other companies. Is this good or bad for the companies involved? What about for the consumer? Are there any regulatory bodies in your country whose role it is to make sure large companies don't achieve an unfair advantage this way.
• If your students are knowledgeable in this area, ask them to devise a strategy for Microsoft. Should it come up with similar services to Yahoo? If so, what are those services? Or are there any other companies that Microsoft should consider acquiring or partnering in order to offer a portfolio of online services?
• Ask students to analyse what this event has meant for Yahoo. Why did share prices fall after the announcement? Was this the correct move for Yahoo? Why (not)?

For the points above students can either draw on their existing knowledge, or you can ask them to spend some time finding relevant articles online. This will encourage them to use their reading skills as well as their speaking ones.

A positive glimmer on the global economic horizon is that in the US, unemployment has dropped to 5%. This was somewhat unexpected and all the more pleasing as a result. This could be a good way in to discussions of (un)employment in your students' country, though it might be worth being careful in case this is a sensitive issue in your particular country.

There are mixed messages meanwhile about people's spending habits. On the one hand there is the credit-crunch (which, however, may have seen its peak; on the other hand, people are spending more on their credit cards, especially outside the US . This too can lead to a number of classroom activities and discussions:

• Is it responsible of individuals to spend money on credit-cards in the current economic climate?
• Is it responsible of banks and credit-card companies to allow their customers to spend more and more on credit-cards? If not, what should be done about it?
• Ask students to discuss their own credit-card usage (if the local culture allows such a potentially sensitive discussion). Has it changed over the past 12 months? How? Why?

And finally, a somewhat off-the-wall news item: the British Ministry of Defence has launched a Grand Challenge to encourage companies and schools to design and build unmanned ground and air vehicles for military purposes. Examples of robots that are already on the drawing board include a group of mini helicopters that fly themselves to a location and send back images and sound recordings, and an unmanned buggy that can analyse a gunman's behaviour to decide whether he is angry or nervous. I look forward to the day when the armies of different countries can send their robots out to fight each other, while the humans stay at home safe and sound.

All the best

Eric

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