April 2004 Edition
CREDIT
With China rushing in ever greater numbers to buy on credit, banks and businesses are making a dash into the credit reporting industry. Growth in consumer lending has been about 50 per cent in each of the past two years. In 2003 personal credit lending totalled US$189-billion. China recently gave initial approval for General Motors and two other multinationals to offer auto financing, while credit card giants such as Visa and MasterCard are eyeing the market
WINE
Californian wine makers are following in the footstep of their Australian counterparts by conquering the British market. For the first time, Britons bought more wine from North America than from Italy. Last year, sales soared by 20 per cent to US$1-billion. Australia is by far the biggest seller with sales up nine per cent to more than US$1.7-billion.
COMFORT
Ryanair, a European airline famous for its no-frill service is about to get even leaner. The Dublin-based airline is taking the knife to a number of "non-essentials"--such as reclining seats, head rests, seat pockets and window blinds. It hopes the changes will speed aircraft turnaround times and save more than US$1.9- million annually. At the same time, Ryanair wants to encourage passengers to carry only hand luggage to cut baggage-handling costs.
AGE
Americans aged 50 and up control US$7-trillion, or 70 per cent, of all U.S. wealth, bring in US$2-trillion of annual income and account for 50 per cent of all discretionary spending. Yet they are the target of only about five per cent of advertising dollars.
SILVER
Long before money made the world go round, Yemeni silver reigned supreme as a sign of wealth and power in ancient times. Assyrian texts from the seventh century BC extol the virtues of Yemeni silver, while Roman descriptions of the country mention an abundance of the metal. In modern Yemen, with its alleged terrorist connections, only 20 families still work in silver and only a handful of stores offer silver-coated daggers, chunky necklaces and inlaid trunks to a trickle of buyers.
WOOL
Two Australian sheep farmers have produced the world's finest wool, a mere 11.9 microns thick or about one-fifth the diameter of human hair, with a bale of the super fine wool now under armed guard inside a bank vault. The bale of wool is valued at more than US$752,000 when sold and is probably destined for a fashion house in Paris, Milan, New York or Tokyo. One micron is a thousandth of a millimetre and 14-16 micron wool is normally used for cashmere clothing.
STEALING
Amsterdam police will use bicycles equipped with hidden GPS transmitters to bait thieves and track them down. Cycling is a way of life in the pancake-flat Netherlands which boasts more bikes than its 16 million inhabitants. In Amsterdam alone, an estimated 120,000 bikes, over a tenth of the total, are stolen every year.
TAXES
California and New York have now joined the 43 other states which require residents voluntarily to pay sales taxes if they order books, clothing, computers and other items by mail or online from businesses based elsewhere. The National Governors Association estimates state and local governments will lose at least US$35-billion this year from Internet sales.
PIRACY
The impact of online piracy on the US music business has been described by one industry spokesperson as "devastating." There has been a 31 per cent decline in music sales between 1999 and 2002 due primarily to piracy. More music is being consumed than at any time in history, but less is being paid for. The film industry is also being threatened. In 2003, Hollywood lost US$3.5 billion from movie piracy.
RUBBER
China's growing car culture has boosted rubber prices to levels of a decade ago cutting into profits at tire makers and pushing them to raise prices. Surging prices for natural rubber have hurt many industries from surgical glove makers to producers of hoses and conveyor belts. Tire makers use up more than 70 per cent of the world's natural rubber. Ballooning rubber prices are part of a broader worldwide surge in commodity prices. Everything from steel to palm oil has risen as the global economy has revived and growth accelerated in places such as China and India.
SMELLS
A supermarket poll has revealed Britain's top 10 favourite smells. They are: Fresh bread, frying bacon, coffee, ironing, cut grass, babies, the sea, Christmas trees, perfume and fish and chips.
SMART
The Star City Bridge, being built over the Monongahela River in West Virginia, will be loaded with 770 sensors, 28 data-collection boxes and a central "brain" that will report on cracks and strains. It will be the smartest bridge in the world.
SHIPS
Ground breaking for the largest shipyard in the world has taken place on an island at the mouth of China's Yangtze River. Once the shipyard is completed in 2015 it will have the capacity to produce a total of 12 million deadweight tons of ships per year. South Korea currently operates the world's largest shipyard in the city of Ulsan. Ports in China have been open to overseas investment since 2002 with total port investment in 2003 reaching US$2.2-billion.
RIPE
A sticker that detects ripeness is being tested on pears in grocery stores in Oregon. If successful, the concept could be expanded to include melons, avocados and kiwi fruit. The "ripeSense" labels change colour as the fruit emits greater concentrations of aroma compounds. Developed and first tested in New Zealand, the sensor allows customers to select pears without squeezing and damaging them.
PETS
Britain's obesity epidemic has spread to the country's pets. Four out of five vets now describe obesity as a significant problem, with two-thirds saying that they are treating record numbers of overweight cats and dogs. Figures show that the number of pet insurance claims related to obesity in 2003 was double the total made in 2000.
ACCESS
Shipping experts say that as the polar ice recedes, the notorious North-East Passage which winds its way along Russia's frigid and barren northern coastline past Siberia could come to rival the Suez Canal as a global trade route. The arctic icecap has been thawing rapidly and the ice is half as thick as it was 50 years ago. On present calculations, the Passage could be open to year-round commercial shipping within a decade.
TASTE
For centuries, iguana has been consumed throughout Central America. Now, it is showing up in a small but growing number of North American restaurants. The budding market is also improving life in El Salvador. Raising iguanas on farms for export provides much-needed jobs. The meat is said to have a taste similar to chicken and sells for US$14 a pound.
CLIMATE
The world's second-largest reinsurer has warned that the costs of natural disasters, aggravated by global warming, are threatening to spiral out of control and will force the human race into a catastrophe of its own making. Swiss Re warns that the economic costs of such disaster threaten to double to US$150-billion a year in 10 years, hitting insurers with US$30-40- billion in claims annually. Losses to insurers from environmental events have risen exponentially over the past 30 years.
PENSIONS
Canadian companies with defined-contribution pension plans are growing concerned that they will soon face legal action from employees who are dissatisfied with their retirement plans. Close to one-quarter of the 120 firms studied said they expect to face litigation over their plans in the next two years. When the time comes, 40 per cent said they expect their employees to win.
NILE
Delegates from ten African countries that share the water of the Nile River are to meet to negotiate how to share the resources. Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are among those calling for the water to be shared more equally. Ethiopia and Tanzania are planning projects that could reduce the volume of water reaching Egypt.
GREEN
Ten years ago, Ecuador had 10 companies that offered trips and activities geared towards enjoying and conserving the environment, today there are 300. Foreign tourism revenues to Ecuador in 2002 were US$447-million, a jump of 30 per cent from 1999. That's more cash than any of the country's exports provide, except for crude oil and bananas. The number of visitors to the country soared 28 per cent to 654,000 in 2002 from 1999 and could reach one million by 2007.
SANCTIONS
For the first time, the European Union has hit U.S. firms with sanctions as part of a trade dispute. The EU is imposing a five per cent increase in duty on a range of goods, from honey to roller skates to nuclear reactors. The aim is to force the U.S. Congress to change a law that gives an unfair tax advantage to U.S. exporters. The EU sanctions will increase by a further one per cent each month until they effect U.S. exports worth US$666-million a year.
FISHING
Angling is worth US$250-million a year to the Scottish economy. The sport supports 2,800 jobs and generates almost US$100-million in wages and self-employment income. The lure of rainbow trout saw central Scotland record the most angler days each year, accounting for more than a third of the 1.4 million total.
DIAMONDS
Hefty taxes are driving a huge part of Canada's billion-dollar diamond industry underground according to a recent study. The study found that 75 per cent of diamonds are sold underground through a parallel network of jewellers. There is a 10 per cent excise tax on jewellery in Canada that the industry has been lobbying against for decades. Federal and provincial taxes add more than 25 per cent to the price of diamonds in Canada compared with an extra six per cent in the U.S.
ACCOMMODATION
The two largest pet supply chains in the U.S. are planning to expand into the pet hospitality industry, taking a bigger bite out of the fragmented business. Petsmart Inc will add 14 more pet hotels in 2004 for a total of 23 and eventually plans to have a pet hotel in every five or six of its 640 stores. Petco Inc, which has 654 U.S. stores plans a similar expansion.
DIRECTIONS
Britain's biggest-selling hiking magazine has apologized after a recent issue contained a route that would lead climbers off the edge of a cliff on Britain's tallest peak. The magazine gives advice on making a safe descent for hikers caught in bad weather on Ben Nevis in Scotland. But the magazine's directions would instead lead readers off the north face of the 4,406 foot mountain which is notorious for its changeable weather and has claimed the lives of several climbers.
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