A five-star resort, Johnson's Kendeja is the first new hotel to be built in Liberia in a decade, providing a glimpse of how the tropical West African country could begin to look if its fragile political stability and fast-growing economy remain intact.

A year after Haiti's catastrophic quake, Port-au-Prince is still a ruin. But the views from high-end spots like the Hotel Oloffson are picture perfect, and with armies of aid workers still needing to bed down, business at hotels left intact is booming.

In the U.S., a real estate crisis has left some neighborhoods virtually abandoned. But in the border towns of Mexico, most notably Ciudad Juarez, a different disease is causing the same symptoms: the brutal escalation of the war among drug traffickers.

Microloans for small businesses have taken off in Peru, where informal employment is high and access to credit is low. The nation now ranks No. 1 in the annual Economist Intelligence Unit survey of world's best business environments for microlending.

Political upsets in Peruvian regional elections could indicate a national shift to the left -- and some business leaders worry that could discourage foreign investment in the country, which has rich natural resources such as oil, gas and gold.

M.A.C. Cosmetics and fashion label Rodarte created a cosmetics and clothing line inspired by Ciudad Juarez, the violence-ridden border town, featuring products with names such as Factory, Juarez and Ghost Town. Not everyone is applauding.

Tourism accounts for around 20% of Jamaican GDP, but the recent four-day gun battle in Kingston is having an impact well beyond where it happened. Tourists are scared off -- even from resorts far from the unrest -- ending what has been a great year so far.

Once among Mexico's most prosperous cities, Ciudad Juarez has lost 120,000 jobs and 6,000 businesses in two years amid rising drug violence. The problems threaten the city's maquiladoras, which employ 80% of the workforce.