April 1999 Edition
INDIA
India is the world's second largest emerging market. The World Bank forecasts that India may have the world's fourth largest economy by the year 2020. With a population of over 984 million, the country is a huge market and one in which international trade has an important role to play in its future economic development. India has escaped the worst ravages of the Asian economic crisis that has severely afflicted parts of East and SouthEast Asia. Barclays Bank has forecast that the economy will grow by a respectable 4.5 per cent this year, slightly better than an estimated four per cent growth in 1998.
ENERGY
The next power plant might be off the coast. An American university professor has developed a highly efficient, low cost, pollution-free way to harness the power of the ocean's currents and generate energy. The "helical turbine" spins in the ocean's current and stores it in floating energy factories where it is converted to clean-burning hydrogen. Its inventor envisions helical turbine fields on the ocean floor that would act as power farms and generate multi-megawatts of power, enough to light up a city.
COMPUTERS
Statscan reports that over 38 per cent of households had one or more members using computer communications such as Web browsing, E-mail or electronic banking at some time in 1997. The most common location for computer use was the workplace (19.9%), followed by the home (16.0%), school (9.4%), public libraries (3.7%). Overall, 61.0% of households with regular users used computer communications at least once a day and 33.6% used them once a week. E-mail was used most often (83.1% of users), followed by general Web browsing (84.7%) and specific information searching (84.4%). One in five used electronic banking while less than 10% purchased goods and services on the Web.
LANGUAGE
France spends close to $1 billion a year in aid, educations grants, language training programs and credits to spread French civilization around the world.
PROFITS
Canadian businesses earned $105.3 billion in operating profits for 1998, a 4.8% slide from the record high of $110.7 billion earned in 1997. Profits had increased in four of the preceding five years from the $43.3 billion earned during the 1992 downturn. Results were mixed, with 16 of the 30 industry groups reporting lower 1998 profits and the rest posting increases. While overall commodity prices deteriorated, by far the largest contributing factor affecting profits was the collapse in world oil prices. Petroleum and natural gas industry profits tumbled 39.0% in 1998. Excluding the petroleum and natural gas industry, corporate profits were little changed for the year.
SERVICE
Airline passengers have reason to gripe, says America's Department of Transportation. The agency reports that flights on nearly three- quarters of major routes in the U.S. are taking longer than they did a decade ago. Delays on the ground are the chief culprits.
LABOUR
Since 1989, employment growth in the U.S. has outpaced gains in Canada, while the type of employment created by each country has been vastly different. While most of the growth occurred among full-time employees in the U.S., self-employment has been the engine of growth in Canada. Since the recession of the early 1990s, the pace of employment growth has been stronger south of the border. Between 1989 and 1997, employment increased 10.4% in the U.S. compared with only 6.5% in Canada. In Canada, self-employment has been the engine of growth, accounting for 80% of the overall employment increase. In the U.S, self-employment accounted for only 10% of job creation between 1989 and 1997. The reasons for this are not well understood, but may reflect differences in tax policy, and higher payroll taxes and unemployment rates in Canada
EUROPE
Sales of duty-free goods within the EU will cease from July 1st, despite protests from some governments fearful of job losses.
SHOPPING
Within a few months, you may be able to try out the seat at a concert before you buy the ticket. Ticketmaster is said to be working with Intel to develop a new service that will use modelling to help you gauge the view from a sports arena or concert hall. The modelling feature is expected to debut soon and will offer web surfers views of New York's Madison Square Garden, Chicago's Comisky Park, the New York Palace Theatre, and Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. You'll be able to compare the view from cut-rate bleacher seats to the view from a super-expensive box seat.
HOUSEWORK
The time spent on housework has changed considerably over the last 40 years. According to The Cleaning Encyclopedia, families spent about 50 hours a week in 1959 taking care of household chores--washing up, laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning and child care--compared with 22 hours today and back then the average house was much smaller than today. Part of the reason for the change is that homes now have more labour-saving devices such as washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers.
CASH
Japan has more cash dispensers than any other country--1,115 per one million people, compared with 616 in the U.S. and 393 in Britain. Despite its reputation for technical innovation, Japan also has only 155 electronic point-of-sale terminals per million people, compared with almost 11,000 in Canada.
CLAY
Companies make products from domestic clay, including bricks, sewer pipes and structural tiles. This industry is a fraction of Canada's $8.5 billion non-metallic mineral products sector but according to Statscan, in 1997, 20 clay products companies employed 1,113 people and produced revenue of $131 million. While Canada's clay product industry is shrinking, that of the U.S. is expanding. In 1997, more than $223 million of these products were imported from the U.S.
WAR
British supermarket price wars have made sliced bread so cheap that some farmers are feeding it to their sheep. One brand of sliced bread is only seven pence a loaf (17c Cdn), making it cheaper than conventional wheat feed given to sheep. Farmers, who themselves have been suffering a slump in sheep prices, have been buying up hundreds of loaves from local stores to feed their flocks. Britain's food retailers are battling to boost sales and profits in a low-growth and low-inflation environment.
ISRAEL
Two years into the free-trade deal with Israel, Canada is seeking even better access. Two way trade has increased by 30 per cent to about $580 million in the first 11 months of 1998. Canada is seeking the further liberalizing of trade in food and agriculture where Canada is still disadvantaged compared with the U.S.
TRENDS
According to the Wall Street Journal, one of life's newer coping mechanisms is take-out dinner from the company cafeteria. Several U.S. corporations offer this item on their benefits buffet. Hallmark Cards Inc has one of the more successful operations; its 120-item menu includes appetizers, entrées, and school lunches for busy parents to take home.
PHONES
Rates for business telephone services are lower in major Canadian cities than in leading U.S. cities according to a survey by the Yankee Group. Analysts have previously noted that many Canadian residential long-distance customers have rates as cheap or cheaper than in the U.S. Business phone rates have plummeted since 1987 when Canada's biggest phone companies began slashing prices in anticipation of long-distance competition and set the ambitious goal of achieving parity with U.S. prices. Deregulation in 1997 of the Canadian market has led to even further price reductions for long-distance, data and wireless services.
CHINA
"Made in China" is often associated with low cost products like T-shirts and toys. But the country that invented paper and rocketry is poised to reclaim its position as one of the world's greatest innovators. Hi-tech giants like Intel and Microsoft say world-class talent already exists there. But before China can create its own Silicon Valley, it needs a legal system that protects inventors and investors. In addition, massive amounts of capital must flow in to support research and development
ALBERTA
The government of Alberta has declared that more Canadian internal trade barriers have to go. The Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) is now almost four years old and while there have been some improvements, there is still more work to do. More than 62 per cent of everything produced in Alberta is sold outside its borders. International trade accounts for 37 per cent of the total and trade with the other provinces accounts for 25 per cent of provincial production. Alberta claims that barriers to internal trade cost the Canadian economy an estimated 10 billion dollars each year.
HOME
Adults in their 20s and early 30s, married and unmarried, were more likely to be living with their parents in 1996 than at any time during the previous 15 years. In 1996, 23% of women aged 20 to 34 lived in the parental home, up from 16% in 1981. During the same period, the proportion of men in the same age group living at home increased from 26% to 33%. The increase was especially notable for young adults aged 20 to 24; nearly 57% were living with their parents in 1996, up from 43% in 1981. Most of the increase in these proportions occurred during the two periods of economic recession and slow recovery in the early 1980s and 1990s.
TIES
Two British physicists have solved a knotty problem men have pondered for more than 100 years--how to tie the perfect knot in a tie. Using a mathematical model, they produced equations to classify the four most common ways to tie a knot and introduced six new "aesthetically pleasing" knots. Their research, published in the science journal Nature, said 85 knots could be tied with a conventional tie but only four--the four-in-hand, the Windsor, the half-Windsor and the Pratt--are commonly used.
AROMA
According to the marketing journal Strategy, sofas and armchairs that emit a pleasant odour, such as vanilla or lavender, are the rage in Britain. Costing the equivalent of $5,300, the smelly furniture will soon be coming to Canada. Fluffing the cushions automatically releases the scent. The cushion covers are said to hold their fragrance for up to 20 wash cycles.
FUNERALS
Mortuary-science students are enroling in record numbers across the country. The would-be undertakers are getting older with an average age of 27. Last year, 36 per cent of students were woman, up from 9 per cent a decade ago.
LOST AND FOUND
The owner of a wandering cat in Winchester, England, has bought a charge card for her feline which is attached to her collar so people can phone home and say where the Burmese has strayed in search of adventure.
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
India is the world's second largest emerging market. The World Bank forecasts that India may have the world's fourth largest economy by the year 2020. With a population of over 984 million, the country is a huge market and one in which international trade has an important role to play in its future economic development. India has escaped the worst ravages of the Asian economic crisis that has severely afflicted parts of East and SouthEast Asia. Barclays Bank has forecast that the economy will grow by a respectable 4.5 per cent this year, slightly better than an estimated four per cent growth in 1998.
ENERGY
The next power plant might be off the coast. An American university professor has developed a highly efficient, low cost, pollution-free way to harness the power of the ocean's currents and generate energy. The "helical turbine" spins in the ocean's current and stores it in floating energy factories where it is converted to clean-burning hydrogen. Its inventor envisions helical turbine fields on the ocean floor that would act as power farms and generate multi-megawatts of power, enough to light up a city.
COMPUTERS
Statscan reports that over 38 per cent of households had one or more members using computer communications such as Web browsing, E-mail or electronic banking at some time in 1997. The most common location for computer use was the workplace (19.9%), followed by the home (16.0%), school (9.4%), public libraries (3.7%). Overall, 61.0% of households with regular users used computer communications at least once a day and 33.6% used them once a week. E-mail was used most often (83.1% of users), followed by general Web browsing (84.7%) and specific information searching (84.4%). One in five used electronic banking while less than 10% purchased goods and services on the Web.
LANGUAGE
France spends close to $1 billion a year in aid, educations grants, language training programs and credits to spread French civilization around the world.
PROFITS
Canadian businesses earned $105.3 billion in operating profits for 1998, a 4.8% slide from the record high of $110.7 billion earned in 1997. Profits had increased in four of the preceding five years from the $43.3 billion earned during the 1992 downturn. Results were mixed, with 16 of the 30 industry groups reporting lower 1998 profits and the rest posting increases. While overall commodity prices deteriorated, by far the largest contributing factor affecting profits was the collapse in world oil prices. Petroleum and natural gas industry profits tumbled 39.0% in 1998. Excluding the petroleum and natural gas industry, corporate profits were little changed for the year.
SERVICE
Airline passengers have reason to gripe, says America's Department of Transportation. The agency reports that flights on nearly three- quarters of major routes in the U.S. are taking longer than they did a decade ago. Delays on the ground are the chief culprits.
LABOUR
Since 1989, employment growth in the U.S. has outpaced gains in Canada, while the type of employment created by each country has been vastly different. While most of the growth occurred among full-time employees in the U.S., self-employment has been the engine of growth in Canada. Since the recession of the early 1990s, the pace of employment growth has been stronger south of the border. Between 1989 and 1997, employment increased 10.4% in the U.S. compared with only 6.5% in Canada. In Canada, self-employment has been the engine of growth, accounting for 80% of the overall employment increase. In the U.S, self-employment accounted for only 10% of job creation between 1989 and 1997. The reasons for this are not well understood, but may reflect differences in tax policy, and higher payroll taxes and unemployment rates in Canada
EUROPE
Sales of duty-free goods within the EU will cease from July 1st, despite protests from some governments fearful of job losses.
SHOPPING
Within a few months, you may be able to try out the seat at a concert before you buy the ticket. Ticketmaster is said to be working with Intel to develop a new service that will use modelling to help you gauge the view from a sports arena or concert hall. The modelling feature is expected to debut soon and will offer web surfers views of New York's Madison Square Garden, Chicago's Comisky Park, the New York Palace Theatre, and Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. You'll be able to compare the view from cut-rate bleacher seats to the view from a super-expensive box seat.
HOUSEWORK
The time spent on housework has changed considerably over the last 40 years. According to The Cleaning Encyclopedia, families spent about 50 hours a week in 1959 taking care of household chores--washing up, laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning and child care--compared with 22 hours today and back then the average house was much smaller than today. Part of the reason for the change is that homes now have more labour-saving devices such as washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers.
CASH
Japan has more cash dispensers than any other country--1,115 per one million people, compared with 616 in the U.S. and 393 in Britain. Despite its reputation for technical innovation, Japan also has only 155 electronic point-of-sale terminals per million people, compared with almost 11,000 in Canada.
CLAY
Companies make products from domestic clay, including bricks, sewer pipes and structural tiles. This industry is a fraction of Canada's $8.5 billion non-metallic mineral products sector but according to Statscan, in 1997, 20 clay products companies employed 1,113 people and produced revenue of $131 million. While Canada's clay product industry is shrinking, that of the U.S. is expanding. In 1997, more than $223 million of these products were imported from the U.S.
WAR
British supermarket price wars have made sliced bread so cheap that some farmers are feeding it to their sheep. One brand of sliced bread is only seven pence a loaf (17c Cdn), making it cheaper than conventional wheat feed given to sheep. Farmers, who themselves have been suffering a slump in sheep prices, have been buying up hundreds of loaves from local stores to feed their flocks. Britain's food retailers are battling to boost sales and profits in a low-growth and low-inflation environment.
ISRAEL
Two years into the free-trade deal with Israel, Canada is seeking even better access. Two way trade has increased by 30 per cent to about $580 million in the first 11 months of 1998. Canada is seeking the further liberalizing of trade in food and agriculture where Canada is still disadvantaged compared with the U.S.
TRENDS
According to the Wall Street Journal, one of life's newer coping mechanisms is take-out dinner from the company cafeteria. Several U.S. corporations offer this item on their benefits buffet. Hallmark Cards Inc has one of the more successful operations; its 120-item menu includes appetizers, entrées, and school lunches for busy parents to take home.
PHONES
Rates for business telephone services are lower in major Canadian cities than in leading U.S. cities according to a survey by the Yankee Group. Analysts have previously noted that many Canadian residential long-distance customers have rates as cheap or cheaper than in the U.S. Business phone rates have plummeted since 1987 when Canada's biggest phone companies began slashing prices in anticipation of long-distance competition and set the ambitious goal of achieving parity with U.S. prices. Deregulation in 1997 of the Canadian market has led to even further price reductions for long-distance, data and wireless services.
CHINA
"Made in China" is often associated with low cost products like T-shirts and toys. But the country that invented paper and rocketry is poised to reclaim its position as one of the world's greatest innovators. Hi-tech giants like Intel and Microsoft say world-class talent already exists there. But before China can create its own Silicon Valley, it needs a legal system that protects inventors and investors. In addition, massive amounts of capital must flow in to support research and development
ALBERTA
The government of Alberta has declared that more Canadian internal trade barriers have to go. The Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) is now almost four years old and while there have been some improvements, there is still more work to do. More than 62 per cent of everything produced in Alberta is sold outside its borders. International trade accounts for 37 per cent of the total and trade with the other provinces accounts for 25 per cent of provincial production. Alberta claims that barriers to internal trade cost the Canadian economy an estimated 10 billion dollars each year.
HOME
Adults in their 20s and early 30s, married and unmarried, were more likely to be living with their parents in 1996 than at any time during the previous 15 years. In 1996, 23% of women aged 20 to 34 lived in the parental home, up from 16% in 1981. During the same period, the proportion of men in the same age group living at home increased from 26% to 33%. The increase was especially notable for young adults aged 20 to 24; nearly 57% were living with their parents in 1996, up from 43% in 1981. Most of the increase in these proportions occurred during the two periods of economic recession and slow recovery in the early 1980s and 1990s.
TIES
Two British physicists have solved a knotty problem men have pondered for more than 100 years--how to tie the perfect knot in a tie. Using a mathematical model, they produced equations to classify the four most common ways to tie a knot and introduced six new "aesthetically pleasing" knots. Their research, published in the science journal Nature, said 85 knots could be tied with a conventional tie but only four--the four-in-hand, the Windsor, the half-Windsor and the Pratt--are commonly used.
AROMA
According to the marketing journal Strategy, sofas and armchairs that emit a pleasant odour, such as vanilla or lavender, are the rage in Britain. Costing the equivalent of $5,300, the smelly furniture will soon be coming to Canada. Fluffing the cushions automatically releases the scent. The cushion covers are said to hold their fragrance for up to 20 wash cycles.
FUNERALS
Mortuary-science students are enroling in record numbers across the country. The would-be undertakers are getting older with an average age of 27. Last year, 36 per cent of students were woman, up from 9 per cent a decade ago.
LOST AND FOUND
The owner of a wandering cat in Winchester, England, has bought a charge card for her feline which is attached to her collar so people can phone home and say where the Burmese has strayed in search of adventure.
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
