Lionsgate and other studios are banking on Schwarzenegger's international appeal, especially in China and Russia, as foreign markets account for an increasingly large percentage of Hollywood's box-office haul.

WSJ: Arnold Schwarzenegger: A Career Not Yet Terminated

That's especially true for GM, which gets 60% of its sales from foreign markets, providing a bright spot amid an otherwise gloomy business outlook.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Foreign bankers, especially European and Japanese, were looking for new markets as their own stagnated, and they loaned huge sums to Indonesian enterprises via offshore entities so that actual foreign debt far exceeded the official numbers.

WSJ: Philip Bowring: China Needs a 1997-Style Crisis