September 2005 Edition
WORK
Part-time work is continuing to increase in importance in most developed economies. In the Netherlands it comprises 35 per cent of total employment. This contrasts with 18 per cent in Canada, 13 per cent in the US, and 6 per cent in Greece. Despite these national differences, part-time jobs in all countries are generally the preserve of women who account for 72 per cent of part-time employment across the OECD.
SMART
In Pacific Grove, Calif, parking metres know when a car pulls out of a spot and quickly resets to zero, eliminating the joy of parking free on someone else's dollar. In Montreal, when cars stay past their time limit, meters send real-time alerts to an enforcement officer's hand held device. Meanwhile in Aspen Colorado, wireless "in-car" meters may eliminate the need for curb-side parking meters altogether. They dangle from the rear-view mirror inside the car, ticking off prepaid time.
IBERIA
Farmers risk going out of business, 80 million trees could die and emergency wells are being opened on the Costa del Sol to deal with Spain's worst drought on record. It is estimated that farmers are set to lose US$2.6-billion because of the drought. There are also water supply fears in neighbouring Portugal also suffering the worst drought since the 1940s. Bread prices are expected to rise as official estimates put the wheat harvest at about half last year's level.
FACTORIES
U.S. manufacturers are boosting spending on new plants at the fastest pace in several years, an indication the sector is healthy enough to begin adding new capacity. During the 12 month period ending in May of this year, spending on construction in the manufacturing sector rose US$28.1-billion, or a seasonally adjusted rate of 24.3 per cent. It was the largest increase for any category of construction. However, this is still far below the $40-billion annual record set in the mid-1990s.
DEMOGRAPHICS
As of July, there were 6,477-billion human beings. More than half (3.3-billion) of people on Earth live in the world's six most populous countries: China, India, the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan. Out of every 100 babies born today, 57 are born in Asia, 26 in Africa, nine in Latin America, five in Europe, three in North America and less than one in Oceania.
READING
Indians are the world's most avid readers according to a new survey. They spend twice as much time reading books, magazines and newspapers as the British and nearly three times longer than the Japanese. Indians on average read for nearly 11 hours a week according to NOP World that has looked at reading habits across 30 countries.
PLANTS
Israeli researchers have germinated a sapling date palm from seeds that are 2,000 years old. The seeds, found at Masada, are said to be the oldest ever brought back to life.
HAZE
The Smithsonian magazine reports that over the past century or so man-made haze has cut average visibility in the eastern half of the U.S. from 90 miles to between 15 and 25 miles. In the arid and naturally clearer western states, visibility has dropped from 140 miles to 35 to 90 miles. Parks famed for their views such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona have long bouts of murky, polluted air each year.
LAWNS
The British love their lawns. In between mowing, watering, scarifying, raking, aerating and feeding, owners have little time to enjoy their handiwork. Last year, British gardeners spent an astounding US$800-million on nurturing and tending lawns. Despite the trend for covering gardens with low-maintenance decking, gravel and paving, expenditure on the lawn rose by 5.5 per cent. About $440-million was spent on new lawnmowers.
OIL
The world's proven oil reserves stand at just under 1.19-trillion barrels. Over 60 per cent of this oil is in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia holds 262.7 billion barrels of oil or 22 per cent of proven reserves. Iran is in second place with 132.5 billion barrels. Iraq has almost 10 per cent of proven oil reserves and Kuwait just over eight per cent. Outside the Middle East, Venezuela and Russia each hold around six per cent.
CARS
For several years, Japan has been seeking free-trade deals that would grant its car makers duty-free access to Southeast Asia's 530-million consumers, a lucrative market of growing importance, in light of the developed world's stagnant car market. Now, Tokyo's diplomatic offensive is beginning to chalk up some important victories. This presents a serious threat to U.S. and European auto producers, many of which have invested heavily in Southeast Asia on the promise that politicians would cobble a common free-trade area out of the regions 10 nations to make those investments pay off.
GUM
Although 86 new gums were introduced last month at a Chicago trade fair, market researchers predict the current gum boom could be at a peak. Some of this is simple demographics: as people get older they chew less gum. Wriggles does have a patent on Viagra gum but it is years away from development.
MONEY
It is estimated that half of all bills and coins carry infectious germs. More than 10,000 Americans a year go to the emergency room for money related injuries and five people a year are killed by falling vending machines.
INVENTIONS
A new device is being offered to remedy the lack of privacy resulting from office cubicles. About the size of a clock radio and no more forbidding to operate, Babble is a vocal privacy device that makes it possible for people in cubicles to have confidential telephone conversations and not be overheard by coworkers, or at least not be heard in a voice that is decipherable.
VEGENS
The demand for vegan meals is rising on college campuses in the U.S. Out of 100,000 college students surveyed, nearly a quarter said finding vegan meals on campus--which contain no meat, fish, poultry or other products derived from animals such as dairy, eggs or honey--was important to them. One major foodservices supplier provides chefs with dozens of vegan recipes along with the tools to train staff.
WASTE
Most U.S. companies assume about an hour of wasted time each day but in a recent survey, workers admitted to actually frittering away more than twice as much time at a cost of US$759-billion in annual paid salary that results in no apparent productivity. The majority of the wasted time is spent on surfing the Web and socializing with co-workers.
COMPARISONS
Although Canada has the smallest population of all G8 nations, it is one of the leaders in terms of economic expansion, employment and the education level of its workers. The G8 nations are among the most economically powerful countries in the world. They account for 13 per cent of the world's population, but 48 per cent of the global economy. Among G8 nations, average GDP per capita hit $29,700 in 2004, more than five times the average of $5.400 for non-G8 countries. Despite its size, Canada had the third highest GDP per capita after the UK and U.S.
ENERGY
Digital big-screen TV sets are poised to generate big hikes in home energy use and pollution unless manufacturers act swiftly to adopt more efficient technologies. TV sets already account for about 4 per cent of annual residential electricity use in the U.S., enough to power all the homes in the state of New York for a year. High definition requires sets to deliver more picture clarity which draws more power. Also, Americans are watching some 16 per cent more TV than in the 1980s.
HEALTH
On 2003, America spent US$5,635 per person on health care, more than twice the average in rich economies according to an OECD report. Britain spent only $2,231 per person. Health spending accounted for 15 per cent of America's GDP. Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland also spent over 10 per cent of GDP on health. Canada spent 9.9 per cent of GDP. America is the only country where more than half of all health spending is within the private sector.
PAPRIKA
A few years ago this mild pepper was scarcely produced in Peru. Last year, the country exported $50-million worth, up from $6-million in 2000. This year the figure should reach $80-million. Paprika is the latest recruit to a revolution in Peruvian farming. Over the past fifteen years, the country has added almost 400 different export crops to its traditional staples of coffee, cotton and sugar. Farmland has increased from 1.7 million hectares since 1993 to 2.7 million today.
ABORIGINAL
According to new population projections, Canada's Aboriginal population could account for roughly 4.1 per cent of the population by 2017 when the nation celebrates its 150th anniversary. Around 1.4-million persons could belong to one of the three Aboriginal groups: North American Indian population, Metis and Inuit. Provincially, Alberta may overtake British Columbia in 2017 as the province with the second largest Aboriginal population, just behind Ontario.
INDIA
The retail industry in India is set to expand more than 80 per cent in the next five years as the country's burgeoning middle class steps up spending and the government opens the door to foreign investment. India's retail sector, which includes sales of products ranging from groceries to clothes to cellphones, will surge to US$607-billion in 2010 from $330-billion last year. India's economy is dominated by 10 million tiny retail shops but a growing number of Indians are shopping at modern retail malls.
TRENDS
The Tuscan wine company Modulgraf has announced that in November it will introduce a talking wine bottle. The purpose of the voice activation, which involves a chip implanted in the bottle and a handheld electronic reader, is to tell the customer the history of the wine's production and to suggest which foods it best accompanies.
ETHYLENE
Thousands of Canadian textile and clothing workers in Quebec and Ontario have lost their jobs to low-cost Chinese imports over the past few years. However, the government claims that Canada is now making much more money exporting a key raw material to China's gargantuan textile and clothing industry than it is losing in domestic output of the finished products. Figures from Statistics Canada show that exports of ethylene glycol which comes mostly from Alberta, hit C$797-million last year, up $423-million from 2003 and should hit $1.4-billion this year.
CORRECTION
In August, we reported that the NAFTA superhighway between Laredo, Texas and Port Huron, Michigan would be 200 miles in length. Of course, the length should have been 2000 miles.
GETTING BY
More than half of Australian millionaires surveyed say their financial situation is only reasonably comfortable. Seven per cent claim they are poor or just getting along.
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