14 September 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com
Last week, we talked in detail about the central role German exports to China are playing in the current success of its economy.
Despite what some consider this dependence –
which analysts are beginning to compare in global importance to the relationship between China and the US –
9 September 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com
Regular readers of this site know that a great deal of our Features and In the News items involve
the interrelated issues of energy / environment / infrastructure / and economic growth.
Most of those pieces are a bit sad to read, because they show how ugly this crucial nexus is,
besotted by corruption and indifference on the part of the powerful,
resulting in painful & often unnecessary suffering for the powerless.
“The whole point of social media is that we trust our friends, our network for answers to questions, recommendations, information needs,”
says Brian Ascher, a partner at Venrock, a noted venture capital firm in Palo Alto, Calif.
“Social media can contain the answer. There is value in all the stuff being shared, if you can find it.”
In short, he said, the key concept is data on demand:
6 September 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com
In the global rush to industrialize, and above all, make steel, the imperative element in manufacturing,
iron ore has suddenly become a key element of global economics.
As noted below, the price per metric ton has soared from about $17 to about $130 today.
Russia’s ban on grain exports, in response to a devastating drought, has sent prices shooting up all over the world.
But farmers here in America’s wheat country, far from seeing the spike as an unexpected blessing, are wary.
As planting time approaches next month, they are balancing the possibility of greater income against the failed promises of the past,
when bonanzas turned bust, sometimes at terrible cost.
The two-year contract.
To the cellphone carriers, it is the centerpiece of their business model,
promising a steady stream of revenue by handcuffing customers to their phones.
On the other side of the contract is the consumer,
locked to a phone or a carrier as competitors offer less expensive or better alternatives.
If the customers do not like the phone or the carrier, they can always walk away from a contract
1 September 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com
As most readers of this site are aware, China has taken an unusually direct approach in insuring a steady supply of raw materials, at what it considers an appropriate price,
30 August 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com.
Regular readers of this site know that, at this point in history,
with the US and EU on the early downside of what is going to be a long bad trip for both,
The furloughs that popped up during the recession are being replaced by a highly unusual tactic: actual cuts in pay.
Local and state governments, as well as several private companies, are squeezing their employees to work the same amount for less money.
Though average hourly pay is still higher than when the recession began,
the new wage rollbacks feed worries that the economy has weakened and could even be at risk of deflation.
Residents of the remote high-desert hills near Ione, Oregon, have had an unusual visitor recently:
a fixer working out the kinks in clean energy.
Patricia Pilz of Caithness Energy, a big company from New York that is helping
make this part of Eastern Oregon one of the fastest-growing wind power regions in the country, is making a tempting offer:
sign a waiver saying you will not complain about excessive noise from the turning turbines —
