Wealthy Americans may donate more money, in absolute dollars, to charity than their less affluent counterparts, but they tend to give away a smaller share of their income as compared to the middle class as well, said a new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy on Sunday, using tax-deduction data from the Internal Revenue Service.
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell plc spent nearly $383 million, between 2007 and 2009, to protect its oil installations and staff in Nigeria, revealed London-based oil watchdog Platform on Sunday, with part of the money alleged to have gone into a 1,200-member private security force, which has been accused of human rights violations in the past.
According to a recent study, obesity may indirectly cost the U.S. economy over $450 billion a year. Furthemore, a recent poll by Gallup also estimated that U.S. businesses lose nearly $113 billion each year due to obese American workers.
By 2030, nearly 42 percent of Americans are expected to be obese, while 86 percent will be overweight. Check out this infographic, which measures the cost of obesity on the U.S. economy, as well as the surprising influence that obesity may have on some businesses.
Thanks to strong demand for pop gadgets such as the iPad, lithium has become one of the fastest growing markets. In fact, a recent report suggests the lithium market is worth almost $1 billion annually.
Lithium ion batteries are already widely used in most mobile and power gadgets, and are poised to power the future of green technology. By that extension, critical components of lithium-ion batteries such as graphite are expected to see a similar boost in demand.
The government of India is reportedly upset with their Sri Lankan counterparts for approving the sale of a prime plot of land in Colombo – that was originally promised to the Indian High Commission – to a Chinese state-owned aviation company, said the Times of India on Monday, with the sale by Sri Lanka believed to have taken many Indian officials by surprise.
U.S. financial regulators are in the midst of investigating German financial giant Deutsche Bank, along with several other European banks, for their alleged ties with sanctioned nations such as Iran and Sudan, reported the New York Times on Saturday, with both federal and state prosecutors said to be involved in the case.
Finland’s foreign minister has openly admitted that the Nordic state is preparing for the possibility of a eurozone breakup.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Erkki Tuomioja, Finland’s veteran foreign minister said that Finnish officials have been preparing for the breakup of the single currency with an “operational plan for any eventuality.”
He said:
The baby boomer generation in United States currently stands around 80 million Americans, contributing to nearly half of America’s total consumption. While they may be ageing, some retiring earlier than before, can this influential generation of Americans help to revive the national economy?
With some 80 billion euros worth of loans by Spanish banks to the country’s completely broken construction and real estate sectors now considered near worthless or at serious risk of default, Spain’s property market has been seen as the root cause to the nation’s current financial turmoil.
Suicide rates in a country may rise anywhere between 8-15 percent during times of economic downturn, said a study by the BMJ Medical Journal on Wednesday, after nearly 13,000 U.K. citizens took their lives between 2008-2010 alone – 1,000 more suicides than expected.
