June 1998 Edition
THE EURO
Leaders of the European Union's 15 countries formally agreed that 11 of them would adopt a single currency, the euro, from the start of next year. Coins and notes should start circulating in 2002. Total trade last year between the European Union and Canada was $45 billion, second only to Canada-U.S. trade. The change will create challenges and opportunities for Canadian companies doing business in Europe. Every detail of their operations, from the currencies listed on cash register receipts and pay cheques to the conditions of long-term contracts must be reprogrammed. Information may be found on the IBM website at www.ibm.com.
TECHNOLOGY
A new process might turn the postage meter industry upside down. A private company has got approval from the U.S. Postal Service to field-test its technology, which lets companies print their own metered postage using the Internet, a personal computer and a standard printer. After a user enters an address, the system calculates the correct postage--even the correct zip code---and subtracts the amount from an "electronic vault," a device which looks like an oversized watch battery and is attached to the printer port of the PC. The address and postage are printed onto an envelope or label along with a barcode and the postal service sorting code. Once the vault is empty, it can be refilled by logging on to a web site.
RED TAPE
According to a 1997 World Bank survey of 3,685 entrepreneurs who operate small and large businesses in 69 countries, the most red tape is found in Northwestern South America (Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela) followed by countries of the former Soviet Union. The fewest obstacles are in Northwestern Europe (Ireland and the U.K.) and central Western Europe (Austria, France and Germany). Obstacles include regulations, trade and foreign exchange policies, inflation, financing, government revenue and spending policies, uncertainty, corruption and crime.
SUBWAYS
In 1997, the Moscow subway had 3.16 billion riders. The next highest were: Tokyo, 2.74 billion; Mexico City, 1.42 billion; Seoul, 1.39 billion; New York, 1.13 billion; Paris, 1.12 billion and Osaka, one billion.
WEIGHT
Advertising Age suggests that a Brazilian phenomenon called "food by weight," in which consumers choose what they want to eat and are charged by weight, is jeopardizing the dominance of fast-food restaurants. Competition has intensified and McDonalds has responded by lowering its prices; French fries are now 20 per cent cheaper. 20 years ago, there were 300,000 restaurants, bars and other food outlets in Brazil. There are now 756,000.
TAXES
It seems that cyberspace will be off limits for the taxman. Reports say that negotiators at the World Trade Organization are close to an agreement that would bar governments from collecting tariffs on computer programs and similar goods delivered electronically across international frontiers over the Internet. Internet shopping, products ordered from a web site but delivered by mail, would not be covered. No country has a system for charging duties on electronic commerce. The measure's main sponsor, the U.S., had sought to ban all Internet duties.
OIL
Canada is pushing out Venezuela as the No 1 supplier of oil to the U.S. Venezuela, with its huge production of heavy oil, has historically outranked all other countries as the top exporter of oil to the U.S., followed by Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. But pipeline expansion, rising production of heavy oil, and more refinery capacity in the U.S. to upgrade it should put Canada ahead in the U.S. by the end of the year. The U.S. government has long supported a policy of diversifying oil imports from the Persian Gulf.
DOGS
The dog culture in New York pumps an estimated $500 million (U.S.) into the city's economy annually. The Big Apple has dog psychics, a $15 do-it-yourself dog wash, a limousine service for dogs and an acting workshop that trains dogs for TV and the movies. A Dog Scout Camp in Michigan offers merit badges to dogs who master socially useful skills such as therapy in nursing homes and hospitals and assisting disabled people and retrieving empty beer cans.
COMPETITION
Australian competition laws, followed by those of Germany and Canada, are the best in the world at preventing unfair competition, according to businessmen surveyed for the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook published in Switzerland. The report tries to rank countries' competitiveness according to 259 criteria. The U.S. was fifth. Worst was Indonesia.
LICORICE
China has blamed the overharvesting of the licorice plant, a sand-dwelling species, for devastating dust storms that have swept through the northern part of the country. China's licorice root has skyrocketed in value as other licorice-producing countries such as Russia and the U.S. have implemented export bans to protect their environments.
PORTS
Led by Vancouver, Canada's ports handled a record amount of international cargo in 1997. The growth in international cargo pushed the total tonnage handled by the ports to its highest level in nine years. Shipments of four bulk commodities-crude oil, coal, iron ore, and wheat-were responsible for the increase in international marine cargo. Total international cargo reached 282.3 million tonnes, an 8.5% increase from 1996 and an all-time high. Total cargo handled reached 375.5 million tonnes in 1997, up 5.0% over 1996. Vancouver handled a record 71.8 million tonnes of cargo in 1997, almost one-fifth of the total cargo handled at Canadian ports.
ORGANIC
Worth an estimated $1.5 billion annually, organic farming in Canada is an industry on the threshold of moving from a niche in the food supply industry to becoming big business. The transformation has been quicker in the U.S. where the organic industry brings in $3.5 billion (U.S.) a year. Organic farmers don't spray their fields with pesticides, spread synthetic fertilizers or fatten their livestock with chemically treated feed. Instead, they use a variety of techniques, including the liberal use of manure, compost and mulches along with crop rotations and an array of tilling techniques.
SOLO
Information on starting or running a business may be found on a U.S. Web site at: www.workingsolo.com. It is geared toward independent entrepreneurs and offers articles, book reviews and a free e-mail newsletter.
JOBS
U.S. based P.O.V. magazine has come out with its forth annual listing of Hot Jobs\Not Jobs. The hot jobs: Java programmer (working with Internet software), private equity investor, estate planner, Hispanic media professional and interactive advertising executive. The not jobs: ship captain, credit authorizer, farmer, corporate middle-manager and proofreader.
KNOWLEDGE
Executives believe knowledge is critical to a company's competitiveness, but they do not think they have a good handle on managing it. Respondents to an Ernst & Young survey by 431 companies in the U.S. and Europe said they are poor or very poor at transferring knowledge to other parts of their firm.
DESTINATIONS
According to the World Tourist Organization, the top tourism destinations in 1997 were: France, 67 million; the U.S., 49 million; Spain, 43 million; Italy, 34 million and the U.K., 26 million. Canada was 10th with 17.5 million visitors.
HEALTH
The health of Canadians improved in 1996, particularly among men. Life expectancy at birth rose to new highs because of declines in the mortality rates for the leading causes of death. In 1996, life expectancy at birth, a key indicator of a population's health status, reached 81.4 years for women and 75.7 for men, representing gains of 0.1 and 0.3 years over 1995 respectively. Thus, the gap in life expectancy at birth between men and women continues to narrow: from 7.5 years in 1978 to 5.9 in 1995 and 5.7 in 1996.
HOURS
A new study shows a sharp rise in the number of U.S. workers who would like to reduce their hours. Nearly two-thirds of workers would reduce their time on the job by an average of 11 hours a week, an increase from 47 per cent in 1992. In identifying obstacles to lower work hours, most of them cited a need for money, pressure from employers or a desire to help their companies succeed. The study also suggests that when workers do not have enough time for themselves and their families, then job performance suffers.
RESOURCES
The Futurist magazine reports that researchers at the University of British Columbia recently estimated that the typical North American consumes resources each year equivalent to the renewable yield from 12 acres of farmland and forest land. For all the world's people to consume at this rate is a mathematical impossibility. It would require four Earth's worth of production.
2000
The Washington Post reports that the big explosion of U.S. lawsuits won't start until next year according to industry specialists. However, the Gartner Group which monitors Year 200 work at 375 large law firms says that 200 disputes have already been settled out of court, most of them resolved for substantial sums, between $1 million U.S. and $10 million per settlement. Meanwhile, some U.S. utility companies estimate that 10 to 15 per cent of their generators will blow in the early days of the new millennium.
TUESDAYS
The best day of the week from a manager's point of view is Tuesday--the day employees are by far the most productive, says Accountemps, a U.S. temporary employment firm. In a survey of 151 executives, 51 per cent chose Tuesday. In distant second was Monday, cited by 17 per cent, followed by Wednesday with 15 per cent and Thursday with just 5 per cent. Of course Friday brought up the rear--only one percent said it was the most productive day of the week.
CATASTROPHES
Last year was the least disastrous since 1986, measured by catastrophe-insurance payouts. According to Swiss Re, a reinsurer, worldwide insured losses were $6.7 billion last year, around half of 1996's figure in real terms and barely one-fifth of 1992's record high. Storms, particulary severe in Eastern Europe, were the chief source of insured catastrophic losses, costing $2.5 billion. Despite headlines about El Nino, storm losses were less than half what they were in 1996 and much smaller than during the previous bad El Nino, in 1982-83.
STRIKES
The Danish government has intervened in an effort to end Denmark's biggest strike for two decades. Some 450,000 Danes have been demanding, among other things, a sixth week of holiday a year!
PRIZES
Recently, a vice-president of marketing for the underwriter ASU Enterprises spent the afternoon stacking Oreo cookies, but he never made it past 22. A Nabisco Holdings unit needed to know the cost of insuring the risk of someone winning the $1 million (U.S.) it offered to anyone who could stack 85 Oreos.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
Leaders of the European Union's 15 countries formally agreed that 11 of them would adopt a single currency, the euro, from the start of next year. Coins and notes should start circulating in 2002. Total trade last year between the European Union and Canada was $45 billion, second only to Canada-U.S. trade. The change will create challenges and opportunities for Canadian companies doing business in Europe. Every detail of their operations, from the currencies listed on cash register receipts and pay cheques to the conditions of long-term contracts must be reprogrammed. Information may be found on the IBM website at www.ibm.com.
TECHNOLOGY
A new process might turn the postage meter industry upside down. A private company has got approval from the U.S. Postal Service to field-test its technology, which lets companies print their own metered postage using the Internet, a personal computer and a standard printer. After a user enters an address, the system calculates the correct postage--even the correct zip code---and subtracts the amount from an "electronic vault," a device which looks like an oversized watch battery and is attached to the printer port of the PC. The address and postage are printed onto an envelope or label along with a barcode and the postal service sorting code. Once the vault is empty, it can be refilled by logging on to a web site.
RED TAPE
According to a 1997 World Bank survey of 3,685 entrepreneurs who operate small and large businesses in 69 countries, the most red tape is found in Northwestern South America (Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela) followed by countries of the former Soviet Union. The fewest obstacles are in Northwestern Europe (Ireland and the U.K.) and central Western Europe (Austria, France and Germany). Obstacles include regulations, trade and foreign exchange policies, inflation, financing, government revenue and spending policies, uncertainty, corruption and crime.
SUBWAYS
In 1997, the Moscow subway had 3.16 billion riders. The next highest were: Tokyo, 2.74 billion; Mexico City, 1.42 billion; Seoul, 1.39 billion; New York, 1.13 billion; Paris, 1.12 billion and Osaka, one billion.
WEIGHT
Advertising Age suggests that a Brazilian phenomenon called "food by weight," in which consumers choose what they want to eat and are charged by weight, is jeopardizing the dominance of fast-food restaurants. Competition has intensified and McDonalds has responded by lowering its prices; French fries are now 20 per cent cheaper. 20 years ago, there were 300,000 restaurants, bars and other food outlets in Brazil. There are now 756,000.
TAXES
It seems that cyberspace will be off limits for the taxman. Reports say that negotiators at the World Trade Organization are close to an agreement that would bar governments from collecting tariffs on computer programs and similar goods delivered electronically across international frontiers over the Internet. Internet shopping, products ordered from a web site but delivered by mail, would not be covered. No country has a system for charging duties on electronic commerce. The measure's main sponsor, the U.S., had sought to ban all Internet duties.
OIL
Canada is pushing out Venezuela as the No 1 supplier of oil to the U.S. Venezuela, with its huge production of heavy oil, has historically outranked all other countries as the top exporter of oil to the U.S., followed by Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. But pipeline expansion, rising production of heavy oil, and more refinery capacity in the U.S. to upgrade it should put Canada ahead in the U.S. by the end of the year. The U.S. government has long supported a policy of diversifying oil imports from the Persian Gulf.
DOGS
The dog culture in New York pumps an estimated $500 million (U.S.) into the city's economy annually. The Big Apple has dog psychics, a $15 do-it-yourself dog wash, a limousine service for dogs and an acting workshop that trains dogs for TV and the movies. A Dog Scout Camp in Michigan offers merit badges to dogs who master socially useful skills such as therapy in nursing homes and hospitals and assisting disabled people and retrieving empty beer cans.
COMPETITION
Australian competition laws, followed by those of Germany and Canada, are the best in the world at preventing unfair competition, according to businessmen surveyed for the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook published in Switzerland. The report tries to rank countries' competitiveness according to 259 criteria. The U.S. was fifth. Worst was Indonesia.
LICORICE
China has blamed the overharvesting of the licorice plant, a sand-dwelling species, for devastating dust storms that have swept through the northern part of the country. China's licorice root has skyrocketed in value as other licorice-producing countries such as Russia and the U.S. have implemented export bans to protect their environments.
PORTS
Led by Vancouver, Canada's ports handled a record amount of international cargo in 1997. The growth in international cargo pushed the total tonnage handled by the ports to its highest level in nine years. Shipments of four bulk commodities-crude oil, coal, iron ore, and wheat-were responsible for the increase in international marine cargo. Total international cargo reached 282.3 million tonnes, an 8.5% increase from 1996 and an all-time high. Total cargo handled reached 375.5 million tonnes in 1997, up 5.0% over 1996. Vancouver handled a record 71.8 million tonnes of cargo in 1997, almost one-fifth of the total cargo handled at Canadian ports.
ORGANIC
Worth an estimated $1.5 billion annually, organic farming in Canada is an industry on the threshold of moving from a niche in the food supply industry to becoming big business. The transformation has been quicker in the U.S. where the organic industry brings in $3.5 billion (U.S.) a year. Organic farmers don't spray their fields with pesticides, spread synthetic fertilizers or fatten their livestock with chemically treated feed. Instead, they use a variety of techniques, including the liberal use of manure, compost and mulches along with crop rotations and an array of tilling techniques.
SOLO
Information on starting or running a business may be found on a U.S. Web site at: www.workingsolo.com. It is geared toward independent entrepreneurs and offers articles, book reviews and a free e-mail newsletter.
JOBS
U.S. based P.O.V. magazine has come out with its forth annual listing of Hot Jobs\Not Jobs. The hot jobs: Java programmer (working with Internet software), private equity investor, estate planner, Hispanic media professional and interactive advertising executive. The not jobs: ship captain, credit authorizer, farmer, corporate middle-manager and proofreader.
KNOWLEDGE
Executives believe knowledge is critical to a company's competitiveness, but they do not think they have a good handle on managing it. Respondents to an Ernst & Young survey by 431 companies in the U.S. and Europe said they are poor or very poor at transferring knowledge to other parts of their firm.
DESTINATIONS
According to the World Tourist Organization, the top tourism destinations in 1997 were: France, 67 million; the U.S., 49 million; Spain, 43 million; Italy, 34 million and the U.K., 26 million. Canada was 10th with 17.5 million visitors.
HEALTH
The health of Canadians improved in 1996, particularly among men. Life expectancy at birth rose to new highs because of declines in the mortality rates for the leading causes of death. In 1996, life expectancy at birth, a key indicator of a population's health status, reached 81.4 years for women and 75.7 for men, representing gains of 0.1 and 0.3 years over 1995 respectively. Thus, the gap in life expectancy at birth between men and women continues to narrow: from 7.5 years in 1978 to 5.9 in 1995 and 5.7 in 1996.
HOURS
A new study shows a sharp rise in the number of U.S. workers who would like to reduce their hours. Nearly two-thirds of workers would reduce their time on the job by an average of 11 hours a week, an increase from 47 per cent in 1992. In identifying obstacles to lower work hours, most of them cited a need for money, pressure from employers or a desire to help their companies succeed. The study also suggests that when workers do not have enough time for themselves and their families, then job performance suffers.
RESOURCES
The Futurist magazine reports that researchers at the University of British Columbia recently estimated that the typical North American consumes resources each year equivalent to the renewable yield from 12 acres of farmland and forest land. For all the world's people to consume at this rate is a mathematical impossibility. It would require four Earth's worth of production.
2000
The Washington Post reports that the big explosion of U.S. lawsuits won't start until next year according to industry specialists. However, the Gartner Group which monitors Year 200 work at 375 large law firms says that 200 disputes have already been settled out of court, most of them resolved for substantial sums, between $1 million U.S. and $10 million per settlement. Meanwhile, some U.S. utility companies estimate that 10 to 15 per cent of their generators will blow in the early days of the new millennium.
TUESDAYS
The best day of the week from a manager's point of view is Tuesday--the day employees are by far the most productive, says Accountemps, a U.S. temporary employment firm. In a survey of 151 executives, 51 per cent chose Tuesday. In distant second was Monday, cited by 17 per cent, followed by Wednesday with 15 per cent and Thursday with just 5 per cent. Of course Friday brought up the rear--only one percent said it was the most productive day of the week.
CATASTROPHES
Last year was the least disastrous since 1986, measured by catastrophe-insurance payouts. According to Swiss Re, a reinsurer, worldwide insured losses were $6.7 billion last year, around half of 1996's figure in real terms and barely one-fifth of 1992's record high. Storms, particulary severe in Eastern Europe, were the chief source of insured catastrophic losses, costing $2.5 billion. Despite headlines about El Nino, storm losses were less than half what they were in 1996 and much smaller than during the previous bad El Nino, in 1982-83.
STRIKES
The Danish government has intervened in an effort to end Denmark's biggest strike for two decades. Some 450,000 Danes have been demanding, among other things, a sixth week of holiday a year!
PRIZES
Recently, a vice-president of marketing for the underwriter ASU Enterprises spent the afternoon stacking Oreo cookies, but he never made it past 22. A Nabisco Holdings unit needed to know the cost of insuring the risk of someone winning the $1 million (U.S.) it offered to anyone who could stack 85 Oreos.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
Posts
