August 2005 Edition
EQUALITY
The world Economic Forum ranks 58 economies according to the "gender gap", a measure of how well an economy employs the talents of the female half of the population. The measure reflects job opportunities, pay, political representation, health care and education. The gap is narrowest in Nordic countries. China, near the middle of the group, outranks some much richer countries, such as Italy in 48th place. Canada is 7th out of 58 countries and the U.S. is 17th.
PUBLISHING
Canadian publishers are pumping out more periodicals than ever before and pulling in far greater revenues. Between 1993 and 2003, the industry has shown steady gains in the number of magazines, total revenue and circulation. Industry revenues hit nearly C$1.6-billion in 2003, up 22 per cent from 1998 and a 56 per cent increase from 1993. During the 10-year period, the industry's profit margin rose from 5 per cent to 9.7 per cent. In 2003, 1,633 publishers produced 2,383 periodicals and sold 778 million copies, a 42 per cent increase over 10 years earlier.
COMPUTERS
In a sure sign that the era of mobile computing has arrived, notebooks have for the first time outsold desktops in the U.S. earlier this year. After tracking sales from a sampling of electronics retailers, notebook sales accounted for 53 per cent of the total computer market, up from 46 per cent a year earlier. Spurring demand for notebooks is their price drop as quality has improved. Notebook prices have fallen 17 per cent in the past year, while desktop prices have dipped only four per cent. Last year, 80 per cent of notebooks offered wireless, this year it's 95 per cent.
MEXICO
Foreign direct investment shot up 46 per cent in Mexico in 2004 which should cover the current account deficit. The manufacturing sector captured over half of the total $16.6-billion investment, with nearly 30 per cent going towards financial services. The U.S. was responsible for almost half of the foreign direct investment followed by Spain with just under 35 per cent of the FDI.
CORKED
It is estimated that as many as one in 10 bottles of wine is contaminated with TCA or trichloroanisole, a chemical compound sometimes created when cork is washed. This contamination costs consumers about US$750-million each year. Now, a French biochemist from Burgundy has invented a device called Dream Taste which, it is claimed, can return foul-smelling noxious red, white or sparkling wine to its former glory in less than an hour. It works by using an ionised material known as copolymer to absorb the cork-tainted molecules in the wine.
SMOKES
Global cigarette production per person has fallen to its lowest level since 1972, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
INDIA
The levels of foreign ownership in India's telecommunications industry have been raised from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. This will set the stage for more competition in the world's fastest growing cell phone market. India's cell phone market has 2 million new subscribers signing up each month, and accounts for about half of the total 100 million phone connections in that country.
BEES
About 60 per cent of all food consumed in the U.S. has a bee connection. Without bees, the country would lose about $20-billion in crops--almonds, citrus fruits, pears cucumbers and apples--from plants that are not self-pollinating. Bee numbers are declining fast however. The varroa mite, a bee parasite first found in Java a century ago, spread to the U.S. in 1987 and has recently taken hold. This year, the numbers of bees has fallen about 50 per cent in six months. and has especially hurt the Californian almond industry which accounts for 88 per cent of the world's almond crop.
AUSTRIA
This country retains its position among the top European economies. After a slowdown in 2003, strong exports pushed GDP growth to two per cent in 2004. Unemployment remains low but experts believe the country should eliminate the pensions system's incentives for early retirement and get more of its older citizens into the labour force. Public sector debt is high at 65-per cent of GDP. Also, while Austria spends a great deal on higher education, graduation rates are among the lowest in Europe.
OUTPUT
According to the International Monetary Fund, rich countries accounted for more than 50 per cent of the world's GDP but only 15 per cent of its population in 2004. The rich also dominated trade. A third of exports came from the euro area, home to just 5 per cent of the world's people. China's fabled export machine supplied just six per cent.
SHIPPING
Rates for shipping iron ore, grain, coal and other commodities fell by 25 per cent earlier in the summer, reflecting a slowdown in the movement of many raw materials around the globe. The upshot is lower transportation costs for a multitude of industries such as appliance makers and chemical producers. Surging demand and a shortage of ships pushed freight rates to record highs in December of last year, but since then, the main industry indicator for commodity freight rates has fallen by more than half.
WHITENING
A dental researcher in the U.S. is claiming that tooth whiteners that could enhance teeth's natural healing ability may soon be available in over-the-counter gels and strips. His team has developed a whitening formula that contains amorphous calcium phosphate, a compound originally developed to remineralize teeth and reverse early enamel lesions. The product will replenish essential minerals in teeth as it whitens.
WEALTH
Last year, another 600,000 people became millionaires according to the World Wealth Report. There are now 8.3 million people world-wide with US$1-million or more in financial assets.
HEIGHT
Competition for jobs and marriage partners has sparked a national height craze in China that has people lined up to be surgically stretched or to purchase torture rack-like stretching machines. It is a commonly held belief in China that taller people will have more opportunity for promotion. A private hospital in Beijing has become famous for its height-extending practice which puts patients out of action for six months or more. The average Chinese women is about 5 foot 2 inches tall and the average man about 5 foot 6 inches.
PREFERENCES
According to a double-blind taste test conducted in 10 locations across the U.S., consumers by a 51 per cent to 49 per cent say they prefer the taste of private label items over their national brand counterparts in 12 popular categories. This survey underscores the growing popularity of store brands offered by the nation's supermarkets, drug stores and discount stores. Sales of store brands in the U.S. currently exceed US$50-billion annually.
AGRICULTURE
The value of Canadian agricultural production rose in 2004 to C$47.1-billion after falling almost 10 per cent in 2003. 2002 and 2003 were years where the consequences of back-to-back droughts and the closure of the U.S. border to live cattle exports were strongly felt. All provinces except New Brunswick and Manitoba recorded increases in the total value of agricultural production.
HIGHWAYS
The U.S. government is poised to roll out a new strip of asphalt all the way from Laredo, Texas up to Port Huron, Michigan. Interstate I-69, called by some the "NAFTA superhighway, will, if completed stretch over 200 miles, through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan. The main purpose of this interstate will be to provide a channel for trading goods between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, and if enacted, the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
DEFORESTATION
Brazilian deforestation jumped to its second highest level on record in 2003-04 to 10,088 square miles, an area the size of Belgium or slightly bigger than the state of New Hampshire.
SNACK TIME
The majority of U.S. children across four demographic groups consume most of their fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks, according to a new survey. 46 per cent of respondents said their children eat most of their fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks while 30 per cent said dinner was the meal occasion where kids eat the most produce. In addition, 60 per cent of all respondents said that taste is the primary barrier standing in the way of kids' produce consumption. Only 13 per cent stated that a brand name is extremely important when they shop for fresh produce.
CAMERAS
CVS Corp has begun selling a US$29.99 pocket-sized disposable digital camcorder hoping to boost its photo lab business and become as popular as the single-use film and digital camera. The camcorder weighs less than 150 grams and holds 20 minutes of digital video and sound. It features a 3.6 centimetre colour playback screen and an ability to delete video. It saves video on a memory chip.
KOREA
The Canadian government's drive to start formal free-trade talks with South Korea and thus gain a key foothold in Asia is running into opposition from the auto sector, beef producers and the shipbuilding industry. Canada's trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled since 1999, rising to $3.56-billion from $1.58-billion. More than half of that came from a $1.9-billion deficit in auto products last year.
INVENTIONS
A Barcelona inventor has developed a washing machine that encourages men to share the burden of doing the laundry. Endowed with software that recognizes the fingerprint of household members, the machine shuts down when the same person tries to use it twice in a row and obliges men to assist more around the home. The inventor has had so many calls from women, that the machine had to be rushed into production.
OUTSOURCING
India now controls 44 per cent of the global offshore outsourcing market for software with revenues of US$17.2-billion in the year ending March 2005. As many as 400 of the Fortune 500 companies now either have their own centres in India or outsource to Indian technology firms. India's market share is expected to expand to 51 per cent by 2005 when annual revenues are expected to reach US$48-billion.
TRENDS
McDonalds, through its subsidiary Redbox, which deployed more than 100 DVD- rental kiosks in the Denver area last year, will expand the programme to more than 1,200 locations by year's end and plans to work with major grocery chains in its expanded DVD-rental programme. Each vending machine offers approximately 100 titles at $1.00 per night per title. Renters pay with credit or debit cards and if consumers hold onto any one title for 25 nights, the disc is theirs.
FITNESS
In Kyrgzstan, council leaders and members of parliament will have to pass physical tests to prove they are fit for office. Tests for the politicians will include running, jumping, weightlifting, marksmanship and grenade throwing.
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