June 2002 Edition
WATER
The volume of bottled water sold in the U.S. swelled to more than 5.4 billion gallons in 2001. This is an increase of 10.6 per cent over 2000. Wholesale dollars increased even more dramatically, advancing by 11.5 per cent to nearly US$6.5 billion in 2001. One year earlier, sales grew by 9.3 per cent, down from 13.9 per cent in 1999. In 1991, the U.S. absorbed the equivalent of 9.3 gallons for each resident. By 2001, per capita water consumption approached 20 gallons.
INFORMATION
A fraud expert wanted to find out just how long it takes for stolen credit card details to find their way around the world. He posted fake credit card data online and put links to the information in a few Internet chat rooms. Within 15 minutes, 74 people in 31 countries seeking credit card information had viewed the page. After one weekend, more than 1,600 potential thieves from 71 countries had viewed the page
MARKETS
The European Union is planning to open trade talks with its former colonies later this year. The aim of the negotiations, with 76 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations, is to bring the existing US$12.7 billion aid-and-trade pact in line with world trade rules. The European countries have for years allowed preferential trade terms for their former colonies. About 40 ACP countries are among the world's poorest and are expected to keep some barriers to protect their fledgling industries from global competition.
TEXTILES
China, the world's largest textile exporter, is aiming to become one of the strongest players in the industry. One group is planning to invest US$117 million in Thailand to build four factories. These will consist of a cotton yarn mill, a spinning mill, a household textile plant and a citric acid unit. Most of the output will be exported. Up to now, China's textile industry lagged behind those in Italy and France, leaders in production technology.
SPACE
U.S. businesses vacated 26.4 million square feet of office space in the first quarter. This so-called negative absorbtion, coupled with 13.5 million square feet of new development, pushed the national vacancy rate up to 14.7 per cent from 13.6 per cent at the end of 2001. The current vacancy rate is the highest since the end of 1994.
JAMMING
A priest in Spain has installed a jamming device in his church to counter the beeps, tunes and digital noise emitted by today's omnipresent cell phones. The device transmits a low-powered radio signal that severs communications between cellular handsets and cellular based systems. Commercial jamming systems are illegal in the U.S., Canada and Britain.
CHIPS
A fall in demand for semiconductors in the past year has left idle 30 per cent of Taiwan's silicon wafer-making capacity, representing about US$10 billion in investment. Meanwhile, China's market for chips is predicted to be worth around US$15 billion this year, growing to $41 billion by 2005. About 95 per cent of this demand has to be met with imports. Officials in Beijing are almost begging Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers to set up in China.
MUSIC
Global sales of recorded music fell five per cent to US$33.7 billion in 2001 because of a sluggish world economy and increased consumer piracy. CD sales fell by four per cent to 2.4 billion units while sales of singles fell by 16 per cent. Sales in North America, the largest market, fell by 4.7 per cent to US$14 billion. Europe declined by 0.8 per cent while sales in Japan, the second-largest national market fell by 9.4 per cent. Two markets that bucked the downward trend were the U.K. and France.
VEHICLES
A total of 18.1 million road motor vehicles were registered in Canada in 2001. Of this total, 17.1 million, or 94%, were passenger cars and light vehicles such as pickup trucks and minivans. The remainder consisted of 74,000 buses, 318,300 motorcycles and mopeds, and almost 654,500 truck tractors and trucks (weighing at least 4,500 kilograms). In addition to these road motor vehicles, 4.0 million trailers and 1.3 million off road, construction and farm vehicles were also registered.
EDUCATION
Garbage trucks in the south Taiwan city of Tainan will soon broadcast English lessons from loudspeakers to educate citizens as they haul away the rubbish. The English-speaking trucks are scheduled to hit the streets later this year. Currently, Taiwan's garbage trucks call people out to the curb with their rubbish by playing classical music.
SENIORS
According to Statistics Canada, one out of every 13 seniors aged 65 and over was still at work according to the 1996 Census, a ratio that is likely to increase as the 9.8 million baby boomers in Canada get closer to retirement age. An estimated 255,200 seniors aged 65 and over were employed in 1996, and an additional 15,700 reported being unemployed, for a total labour force of 271,000. The majority (68 per cent) of people employed in this age group were men, even though they accounted for only 43 per cent of the population aged 65 and over.
CALIFORNIA
If California was an independent country, it would have the world's fifth-biggest economy, with a gross state product in 2000 of $1.3 trillion. Last year, 140 million tonnes were loaded on and off ships at Long Beach-Los Angeles, the largest port in the U.S., and a further 20 million tonnes at Oakland.
GLASS
Canadian greenhouse expansion has become a success story, and a full 18 square kilometres in Canada, most of it in southwestern Ontario, is now under some sort of cover. This is more than double the area in 1991. Since 1996, B.C.'s hothouse industry put another 1.7 million square metres of land under glass, enough to cover 210 football fields. This has been driven by demand for B.C. tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers.
FRUIT
Grapes, a relatively small commodity in terms of area, have made a large impact since the industry was transformed by the Canada United States FTA in 1988. Since 1996, grape area has increased 41 per cent, the largest relative increase in area of the top five fruits grown in Canada.
TREES
China is embarking on a US$10 billion, 10-year program to plant 170,000 square miles of trees, an area roughly the size of California. This is needed after decades of logging that has left large swatches of the country looking like a desert wasteland. Only a few per cent of the country's original forests still stand. One problem facing the government is finding enough trees even though China has a thriving tree-farming industry.
EXPORTERS
The top merchandise exporters in 2001 were, in US dollars: the United States, $725 billion; Germany, $560 billion; Japan, $400 billion; France, $300 billion and Britain, $275 billion. Canada was seventh, behind China with $260 billion.
BUMPS
The British government is to introduce new speed restrictions in poor neighbourhoods after research showed that children living there were five times more likely to be hit by a car than those in affluent areas. Drivers will be forced to slow down by road bumps, chicanes and other forms of speed reduction. Research also showed that introducing and enforcing a 20mph zone reduced the child casualty rate by 70 per cent.
ART
More than 60 major works of art worth over US$1.5 billion have been destroyed in Europe. The paintings were cut into pieces and then put through a sink disposal unit along with potato peelings. They were trashed by the mother of a major art thief who was angry that her son had been arrested.
CARROTS
Experts believe that Dutch breeders developed the orange carrot in the 16th century using a yellow mutant seed. As long ago as 2000BC, temple drawings in Egypt show carrots to be purple. In Roman times, they were purple or white. By the 10th century, purple carrots were grown in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Purple, white and yellow carrots were imported to southern Europe in the 14th century. Dutch breeders have recently studied the health qualities of purple carrots and believe they give extra protection against various forms of cancer and heart disease.
RAIL
Work has begun on a rail link between Alice Springs and Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory. The US$700 million project will establish an important new transport corridor serving both domestic and international markets. This project has been in the planning stage for more than a century. It will create a link between Asia and the southern markets of Australia. Each train will be 1.6 kilometres long and carry 250 double-stacked containers. Australia does about US$200 billion in trade with Asia annually
BORDERS
The economies of Alberta and B.C. are drifting further away from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and forging stronger links with the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Canada West Foundation released a study recently on how the four western provinces as a whole have fewer economic ties with Central and Atlantic Canada than in the past. Whether it's oil, lumber, natural gas, wheat, beef or hogs, the West's top customers are in the U.S.
SPENDING
According to CPG Online, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, which are among the world's leading advertisers in terms of both budgets and marketing expertise, account for a remarkably small portion of overall internet advertising. CPG companies spent US$12.4 billion across all measured media in 2000 and $11.9 billion in 2001. However, it is estimated that CPG companies spent just US$134 million on online advertising in 2000.
GOLD
In the first quarter of this year gold imports to Japan rose almost six-fold over a year earlier to some 41,000 kilos. People are walking into precious metals dealers with wads of cash and walking out with gold bars. Gold has become a safe haven for investors who are concerned about Japan's economy. Gold futures are doing brisk business and trading volumes so far this year are three times greater than last year.
TAXES
The U.S. is reported to be upset at the news that the European Union plans to introduce a new tax on products downloaded from the Internet--including software, videos and music. This is being done to help Europe's web-based business compete with the U.S. The U.S. giants of the industry levy no taxes from online customers which gives a tax loophole to European buyers who find cheaper-priced goods on U.S.-based sites.
ADDICTION
A man in England addicted to munching his way through 50 ballpoint pens a week has been cured through hypnotherapy. He began spending $100 a month on his habit after he was banned from using pens at work because none of his colleagues could find anything to write with. He has been chewing pens for about five years but it started to get worse when he was stressed.
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