May 2004 Edition
TRADE
Global trade grew by 4.5 per cent in 2003 and could expand by up to 7.5 per cent this year according to the World Trade Organization. Trade grew rapidly in the second half of 2003 after the effects of the war in Iraq and SARS wore off and the results of the recovering world economy began to show. The WTO called China's performance "remarkable"---imports grew by 40 per cent and exports by 35 per cent.
NAFTA
Last year, the U.S. exported US$8-billion in agricultural products to Mexico. This is now the third largest market for U.S. agricultural products. Mexico, is the United States' second-largest trading partner. About 89 per cent of Mexico's exports go to the U.S. and 62 per cent of Mexico's imported goods come from the U.S. Trade between the two countries has grown significantly in the past decade from US$81-billion in 1993 to US$235-billion in 2003, an 11 per cent increase each year.
WHEAT
The World Trade Organization has upheld the legality of the Canadian Wheat Board in a ruling that Ottawa feels undermines U.S. attempts to dismantle Canada's state-owned grain-trading enterprise. The U.S. had complained that the Board undercut foreign rival pricing to sell grain. However, the WTO has called on Ottawa to reform grain-handling and transportation rules.
TRANSPORT
A three-wheeled car that measures just one metre across and carries two people is being touted as the answer to city traffic problems in Europe. The Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) car has been developed by nine European countries and is funded by the EU. If produced, the 50mph could sell after 2005 for US$15,000. The novel tilting vehicle aims to combine the safety of a traditional car with the flexibility of a motorbike
WALKER
Canada has become the first country to ban the sale, resale, advertising and importation of baby walkers. They have long been viewed as highly dangerous with children falling down flights of stairs. There has been a voluntary industry ban on the items since 1989 but Health Canada says that in recent years, increasing numbers have found their way onto the Canadian market.
SOYBEANS
A domestic shortage in the U.S. has pushed soybean prices above $10 a bushel, twice the level of only seven months ago. The effects are already being felt among food producers and at the grocery store cash register. Soybeans are an essential ingredient in thousands of products from cooking oil to pet food. The shortage is blamed on dry weather in the U.S. reducing the harvest by 15 per cent in 2003 and China launching a record buying spree of U.S. soybeans which it needs for feeding livestock for its population's growing demand for meat.
TASTE
A new vodka flavoured ice cream launched in Australia has provoked an outcry from groups worried it will give children a taste for alcohol. A few months ago, an Australian biscuit-maker introduced Tia Marie and Kahlua flavoured cookies
SOCKS
Datang is a city in China that turns out eight billion pairs of socks each year from 8,000 factories, one-third of all socks sold worldwide.
INTERNET
Canada's internet pharmacy industry more than doubled its sales to the U.S. last year. Sales were worth around C$556-million for wholesalers in 2003, up from C$251-million in 2002. A cluster of on-line retailers in Manitoba account for almost half of the cross-border trade. The top pharmaceuticals sold on-line to the U.S. are cholesterol reducers and heart medications, followed by heartburn and ulcer medications.
TRAFFIC
Road traffic crashes of all sorts are an enormous, largely overlooked, world health problem, second only to childhood infections and AIDS as the killers of people between the ages of 5 and 30 according to the World Health Organization. Each year, about 1.2 million drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians of all ages are killed, that is about one in every 50 deaths worldwide about the same as the mortality from malaria.
PLAGIARISM
White-collar copycats may be less inclined to pilfer the well-chosen words of others now that software designed to ferret out plagiarism is moving out of academia and into the business world. For years, educators at colleges and universities have monitored plagiarism. Now, tainted by scandals or the Internet's copy-enabling power, a growing number of newspapers, law firms and other businesses are using data-sifting tools that can cross-check billions of digital documents and swiftly recognize patterns in just seconds.
SERVICE
On April 6, 1925, a movie was used for the first time as in-flight entertainment. The black-and-white silent, The Lost World, was screened in a converted Handley-Page bomber that flew from London to Paris. The carrier, Imperial Airways, had previously begun offering in-flight meals (box lunches) in 1919.
TRENDS
Chinese studies are booming throughout Asia. At the largest chain of private language schools in Japan, enrolment in Chinese in 2003 was double that in 2002--displacing French as the second most popular language after English.
SUSHI
Because of health concerns and growing demand, 50 to 60 per cent of sushi in the United States is frozen at some point in its journey from the ocean. In fact, some sushi may have been frozen for as long as two years. Most diners would be surprised to learn that if sushi has not been frozen, it is illegal to serve it in the U.S. Food and Drug regulations stipulate that all fish to be eaten raw, except for Tuna,--whether as sushi, sashimi, seviche or tartare--must be frozen first to kill parasites.
TAXES
More than 60 per cent of U.S. corporations didn't pay any federal taxes for 1996 through 2000, years when the economy boomed and corporate profits soared. Corporate tax receipts have shrunk markedly as a share of overall revenue in recent years, and were particularly depressed when the economy soured. By 2003, they had fallen to just 7.4 per cent of overall federal receipts, the lowest rate since 1983, and the second lowest since 1934.
RUSTLING
The late diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins has been blamed for many food calamities--including the slump of the potato and bakery industries. Now, San Joaquin Valley police in California say that the popularity of the high-protein diet is to blame for a spate of cattle rustling in California. Beef prices have increased in recent months as the number of Americans using diets such as the Atkins diet has increased. In turn this has led to a new generation of rustlers who are stealing unbranded cattle and selling them on the black market.
GARBAGE
Rubbish bins in Berlin will soon talk and sing to people who deposit their waste. In an attempt by the German capital to encourage citizens to keep it tidy, a number of Berlin's 20,0000 bins are to be fitted with solar cell devices which will react with a "thank you" when something is thrown into them. The bins' voices will be replaced with flashing green lights to avoid scaring night-time rubbish disposers. City officials say the volume of litter on the streets has risen in line with the growth in poverty.
OFFSHORING
An industry-sponsored study has concluded that U.S. companies sending computer systems work abroad yielded higher productivity that actually boosted domestic employment by 90,000 across the economy last year. The study was conducted for a coalition of business groups working to combat a growing backlash against the loss of U.S. jobs.
WEEDS
Exotic weeds are choking Australia's prized farmland inch by inch and costing the nation US$3.5-billion a year in lost agricultural output. The sprawling plants, most of which were introduced as ornamental garden species, have encroached on huge areas of farming land. The economic impact of introduced weeds amounts to 0.5 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product.
MAGAZINES
Canada's magazines showed an overall increase in readership last year, with the best growth in "niche" titles that cater to readers' nesting instincts. Average readership rose about five per cent for English-language publications and seven per cent for French-language publications. Reader's Digest remained Canada's most read magazine with readership of 7.7 million, followed by Canadian Living and Chatelaine.
CHEAP
A cheap handheld computer designed by Indian scientists has been launched after a three-year delay. It was developed at the Indian Institute of Science as a way of taking the internet revolution to India's rural masses. Only nine in every 1,000 Indians own a computer, because the machines are just too expensive. The Simputer was designed to provide cheap and accessible computing on the go. The basic model costs around US$240. It is hoped to sell 50,000 units in the first year.
POPULATION
Germany saw a net drop of 143,000 people in 2003 when the number of deaths rose while the number of births dropped. Deaths were 858,000 while births were 715,000. There were also fewer marriages with 383,000 last year compared with 388,000 in 2002. At the end of 2002, Germany's population was 82.5 million. Immigration advocates say that Germany will have to open its doors more to foreigners of which there are now 7.3 million in Germany.
UGANDA
Where many flower growers lost their farms in Uganda during the 1990s, new ones are now profiting from the sale of sweetheart roses. The original flower growers were badly advised when they were told to grow large roses like the ones in Kenya. Because of the climatic differences between the two countries, they failed to grow as big in Uganda. However, the smaller sweetheart roses are thriving in Uganda and the country expects to earn US$30-million this year in flower exports.
CONTAINERS
In a wasteland of old wharves, warehouses and burnt-out buildings in London's docklands, a strange new phenomenon has arisen which is attracting the attention of architects and regeneration experts from around the world. It is called Container City and comprises old sea containers which provide cheap studio space for artists and small businesses. Now, Container City II has been added, 33 containers painted bright red, yellow and orange and stacked asymmetrically. With their balconies and porthole windows, they are being rented for up to $900 a month, including service charges, to tenants who are happy to live in them.
SCALE
Violinists in a German orchestra are suing for a pay rise on the grounds that they play many more notes per concert than their colleagues. German musicians earn basic monthly wages that are about twice that of their British counterparts.
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