They were imposed by the United Nations following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, ten years ago today.

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Ten years ago today I was working at an educational institute based at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

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"Out of our top 10 or 11 competitors ten years ago, only 3 or 4 are competitors today, " he says, his elbows parked on the table, hands in motion.

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Even so, in contrast to only ten years ago, the firms operating in Kansas City today are largely the same as those trading soft red winter wheat at the Chicago Board of Trade and spring wheat at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

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Ten years ago you had to pay upwards of 90x earnings for CSCO, today you can buy it for around 10x.

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Yet when Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest empire was in trouble some ten years ago, Mr Geronzi was one of the only bankers prepared to help today's prime minister.

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The Russian economy is today more dependent on oil and gas than it was even ten years ago.

ECONOMIST: Russia's economy

But one thing that's absolutely clear in Korea today is that the kind of influence you saw five to ten years ago is not the same.

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Another oft-repeated complaint about these industries, and worth repeating in this forum as well: these companies have to evolve to offer products and services that consumer want today, not what the producers were selling at such profit five or ten years ago.

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