Business Longreads for the Week of July 6, 2013

“Can Silicon Valley Save the World?”Charles Kenny and Justin Sandefur, Foreign Policy

In recent years tech moguls have taken their entrepreneurial spirit outside the Silicon Valley bubble and attempted to take on global poverty. With untold sums already spent, it’s not clear whether some of this generation’s greatest minds are up to the task.

“Why the McWrap is So Important to McDonald’s”Susan Berfield, Bloomberg Businessweek

As American taste buds evolve, the Big Mac has waned as the face of McDonald’s fast-food empire. Now it may be up to the McWrap to keep this chain on top.

“The Last Mermaid Show”Virginia Sole-Smith, The New York Times Magazine

While Americans may be looking for unique experiences in dining, shopping, and hospitality, one industry still has not recovered after decades of corporate dominance: theme parks.

“Rhum Agricole”Wyatt Peabody, Los Angeles Times Magazine

While 99 percent of the world’s rum is made from molasses, the other 1 percent is called rhum agricole. Mainly manufactured in Martinique, it is the only good from outside France to be demarcated with the AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée), and it has a fascinating history.

“How an Israeli Billionaire Wrested Control of One of Africa’s Biggest Prizes”Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker

The untapped iron ore in the mountains of Guinea may be worth $140 billion. And one secretive man, Beny Steinmetz, the richest man in Israel, may determine its future.