February 2006 Edition
TRADE
Soaring export levels have trebled China's trade surplus for the first 11 months of 2005 to US$91-billion. Total foreign trade rose by 23 per cent in 2005 and was worth $1.2-trillion. The European Union is still China's main trading partner, trading goods and services worth over US$200-billion. China has now overtaken the U.S. as the world's largest exporter of hi-tech goods like computers, mobile phones and digital cameras.
DRINKS
Coke and Pepsi are headed for their first annual decline in U.S. soft drink sales in at least four decades as health-conscious consumers switch to bottled water, sports drinks and juices. Coke, the world's largest soft-drink company gets 82 per cent of its revenue from carbonated beverages, and is spending an additional US$400-million to win back soda drinkers and develop new products. The shift away from soft drinks is most pronounced among young people.
ALPACA
This shaggy wool is an economic mainstay for many villages in Peru and is the key to helping more than 150,000 of the poorest Peruvian families. Peru has some 3.5 million alpacas, some 80 per cent of the world's total. The country now plans to ban the export of live alpacas. As a result of such exports, there are now herds of around 60,000 alpacas in both Australia and the United States. Thanks to its ability to carry out genetic improvement, in 20 years Australia could overtake Peru as a producer of alpaca fibre.
INDIA
A new study indicates that India could earn US$60-billion a year by 2010 from information technology and outsourcing. Business worth US$110-billion is expected to be outsourced worldwide by 2010 and India is set to capture half of it. India's IT and outsourcing sector is currently worth about US$22-billion and expects to grow by 25 per cent until the end of the decade. The forecast predicts that the sector could employ about 2.3 million workers by 2010 compared to 700,000 now.
INVENTIONS
Bubble Wrap was created in the 1950s by two men working in a New Jersey garage who thought they had created a new textured wallpaper.
KANGAROOS
There are estimated to be 57 million of these animals in Australia where they do extensive damage to crops and property and compete with livestock for food and water. Now, scientists are experimenting with scaring them off with the thumping sound of the animals' own large feet, the animals own alarm signal. This sound is proving much more effective than some traditional methods such as artificial high pitched squeals.
BOOKINGS
A decade after the technology was first inaugurated, about 400 million passengers around the world are now booking their flights over the Internet.. The airline industry is now saving about US$1.2-billion a year by not having to pay flight reservation fees for the tickets sold on-line. British Midland Airways started using its first on-line booking engine in December 1995.
COLOUR
A recent study of 200 large law firms in the U.S. shows a strong majority, 58 per cent, use the same colour, classically conservative blue, as their main marketing colour. Experts say that blue is also the respectable colour of royalty and is also known to have a "calming" effect. The next most popular choice, at 19 per cent, was red a hue associated with "action and excitement." Just 8 per cent favoured grey and 2 per cent green.
ARCHITECTURE
After double-digit growth in 2002, Canadian architectural firms recorded a year of modest growth in 2004 as revenues slowed. Operating revenues of architectural firms amounted to C$1.9-billion, up only 2.5 per cent over the previous year. Firms in British Columbia recorded healthy revenue growth of 14 per cent, second only to Ontario which accounted for almost half of industry revenues.
ACCIDENTS
A U.S study has found that people who live within a mile of a grocery store have a 26 per cent higher risk of being in an auto accident, and thus pay higher insurance rates, second only to those living within a mile of a restaurant who have a 30 per cent higher risk of being in a car crash. The study looked at over 15 million policyholders and 2 million claims mapping the closeness of the vehicle owners' addresses to various businesses.
WORTH
By the third quarter of last year, the wealth of Canadians was greater than any time in history. The net worth of households rose to C$4.6-trillion according to Statistics Canada. That is about six times Canadians' annual disposable income. The ratio surpasses the previous high at the peak of the tech bubble in 2000. Real estate has picked up the slack in the Canadian economy with the value of households' real estate assets surging past $600-billion.
BEES
In Paris, several dozen apiarists tend their bees in balconies, parks, gardens and even the roof of the Paris Opera House. The city grows a wider range of plants than any comparably sized piece of countryside. There are advantages for the bees in city living because there are no poisonous pesticides or insecticides unlike the heavily sprayed French countryside. Also, the urban temperature is a few degrees warmer so bees can stay out longer. Some hardier specimens are out as late as December.
EXPORTS
By late last year, high natural gas prices and booming sales to the U.S. pushed energy to the top of Canada's export list, ahead of the perennial leaders cars and machinery. Energy exports totalled C$9.2-billion last October, nearly all of that to the U.S. Machinery and equipment exports totalled $7.9-billion and cars $7.8-billion in the same period.
CARDBOARD
China's shortage of natural resources and burgeoning manufacturing sector has triggered a rush to buy recycled cardboard. At the Port of Los Angeles, the No. 1 export by far is waste paper. At nearby Long Beach, it's No. 3 behind petroleum coke and petroleum.
LUNCH
A British supermarket is launching the ultimate life-enhancing snack, the musical sandwich. In a trial certain to be welcomed by the estimated one million Britons who eat their lunch at their desks each day, technology similar to that used in singing greeting cards will be used to sell musical sandwiches. Opening the top of the sandwich box will activate a tiny sound module that plays a selection of music.
RAILROADS
Amid rising fuel prices, more companies in the U.S. are turning to railroads as a cheaper way to transport goods. In fact, intermodal traffic, which includes loading trailers on flatbed railroad cars broke records in 2005. The surge in freight is so pronounced that it threatens to create a capacity crunch. With demand now exceeding supply, the rail system is strained overall and the problem is hard to fix. Unlike highways and waterways, the majority of the nations 140,000 miles of freight rail has been privately owned since deregulation in 1980.
TOURISM
Some experts are claiming that Canada is losing out to other countries as a global tourist destination and suggest a fresh strategy is urgently required that goes beyond selling mountains and wide open spaces. New destinations, notably Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East are rapidly winning a greater chunk of the global tourism pie while Canada's share slips. Twenty years ago, Canada had 3.5 per cent of the global tourism business. It has now declined to under 2.9 per cent.
COWS
The Times of London reports that there are now 1.4-billion cows worldwide, each producing 500 litres of methane a day and accounting for 14 per cent of all emissions of gas. Carbon dioxide is by far the biggest contributor to climate change but methane has 23 times the warming potential of CO2, so reducing its emission is considered important. Scottish researchers have developed a diet that can reduce the amount of methane emitted by cows by as much as 70 per cent.
GOLF
Wealthy Chinese tourists could soon replace their American and Japanese counterparts as the most welcome high-rollers at Ireland's top golf courses. This year, four hundred rich Chinese will travel to Ireland to play, following deals with two golf clubs and two travel agencies in Shanghai. There are just 200 golf courses in China with 1,000 under construction. An AC Neilson study has found that Chinese tourists spend more abroad than tourists from any other country.
POWER
Most TVs, VCRs and other electronic devices remain in a standby mode when not in use, silently using up energy to the tune of 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household. A computer left on can draw nearly as much power as an efficient refrigerator. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims that Americans spend more money to power DVD players when the machines are turned off than when they are actually in use.
SUPERMARKETS
A new book claims there are no coincidences at supermarkets. For instance, many stores position the fruit and vegetable section near the front entrance because produce is the most lucrative part of the store and because the margin is the highest. Also, the ceilings are often slightly lower in the check-out section because it makes the interaction more personal and intimate.
FRANCE
In a victory for consumers, the French government recently fined the country's three main mobile telephone operators for colluding to set prices for phone calls. A few months ago, six major hotels in Paris were also fined for price fixing.
WIND
A new United Nations map shows that windmills have far bigger than expected potential for generating electricity in the Third World from China to Nicaragua. The new maps, part of a $9.3-million study, use data from satellites, balloons and other sources to model winds in 19 developing countries. Nicaragua, Mongolia and Vietnam had the greatest potential with about 40 per cent of the land area suitable for windmills. Least promising were Bangladesh, Cuba and Ghana.
MONEY
The World Bank reports that immigrants from poor countries sent more than US$167-billion home last year. This total is on a par with the amount of direct foreign investment in developing countries and more than twice the value of foreign aid. The Bank also reports that money sent through informal channels could add 50 per cent to this estimate. India, China and Mexico are the biggest recipients.
WEIGHT
A Taiwanese geologist is suggesting that the huge weight of the world's tallest building, Taipei 101, could be responsible for triggering a sharp increase in seismic activity in the Taipei basin. He claims the 508-metre and 700,000 metric ton building may have reopened an ancient earthquake fault.
STRESS
Yoga instructors are being employed on German trains to help calm stressed-out passengers. Commuters may also be treated to massages and be shown how to sit properly.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
Soaring export levels have trebled China's trade surplus for the first 11 months of 2005 to US$91-billion. Total foreign trade rose by 23 per cent in 2005 and was worth $1.2-trillion. The European Union is still China's main trading partner, trading goods and services worth over US$200-billion. China has now overtaken the U.S. as the world's largest exporter of hi-tech goods like computers, mobile phones and digital cameras.
DRINKS
Coke and Pepsi are headed for their first annual decline in U.S. soft drink sales in at least four decades as health-conscious consumers switch to bottled water, sports drinks and juices. Coke, the world's largest soft-drink company gets 82 per cent of its revenue from carbonated beverages, and is spending an additional US$400-million to win back soda drinkers and develop new products. The shift away from soft drinks is most pronounced among young people.
ALPACA
This shaggy wool is an economic mainstay for many villages in Peru and is the key to helping more than 150,000 of the poorest Peruvian families. Peru has some 3.5 million alpacas, some 80 per cent of the world's total. The country now plans to ban the export of live alpacas. As a result of such exports, there are now herds of around 60,000 alpacas in both Australia and the United States. Thanks to its ability to carry out genetic improvement, in 20 years Australia could overtake Peru as a producer of alpaca fibre.
INDIA
A new study indicates that India could earn US$60-billion a year by 2010 from information technology and outsourcing. Business worth US$110-billion is expected to be outsourced worldwide by 2010 and India is set to capture half of it. India's IT and outsourcing sector is currently worth about US$22-billion and expects to grow by 25 per cent until the end of the decade. The forecast predicts that the sector could employ about 2.3 million workers by 2010 compared to 700,000 now.
INVENTIONS
Bubble Wrap was created in the 1950s by two men working in a New Jersey garage who thought they had created a new textured wallpaper.
KANGAROOS
There are estimated to be 57 million of these animals in Australia where they do extensive damage to crops and property and compete with livestock for food and water. Now, scientists are experimenting with scaring them off with the thumping sound of the animals' own large feet, the animals own alarm signal. This sound is proving much more effective than some traditional methods such as artificial high pitched squeals.
BOOKINGS
A decade after the technology was first inaugurated, about 400 million passengers around the world are now booking their flights over the Internet.. The airline industry is now saving about US$1.2-billion a year by not having to pay flight reservation fees for the tickets sold on-line. British Midland Airways started using its first on-line booking engine in December 1995.
COLOUR
A recent study of 200 large law firms in the U.S. shows a strong majority, 58 per cent, use the same colour, classically conservative blue, as their main marketing colour. Experts say that blue is also the respectable colour of royalty and is also known to have a "calming" effect. The next most popular choice, at 19 per cent, was red a hue associated with "action and excitement." Just 8 per cent favoured grey and 2 per cent green.
ARCHITECTURE
After double-digit growth in 2002, Canadian architectural firms recorded a year of modest growth in 2004 as revenues slowed. Operating revenues of architectural firms amounted to C$1.9-billion, up only 2.5 per cent over the previous year. Firms in British Columbia recorded healthy revenue growth of 14 per cent, second only to Ontario which accounted for almost half of industry revenues.
ACCIDENTS
A U.S study has found that people who live within a mile of a grocery store have a 26 per cent higher risk of being in an auto accident, and thus pay higher insurance rates, second only to those living within a mile of a restaurant who have a 30 per cent higher risk of being in a car crash. The study looked at over 15 million policyholders and 2 million claims mapping the closeness of the vehicle owners' addresses to various businesses.
WORTH
By the third quarter of last year, the wealth of Canadians was greater than any time in history. The net worth of households rose to C$4.6-trillion according to Statistics Canada. That is about six times Canadians' annual disposable income. The ratio surpasses the previous high at the peak of the tech bubble in 2000. Real estate has picked up the slack in the Canadian economy with the value of households' real estate assets surging past $600-billion.
BEES
In Paris, several dozen apiarists tend their bees in balconies, parks, gardens and even the roof of the Paris Opera House. The city grows a wider range of plants than any comparably sized piece of countryside. There are advantages for the bees in city living because there are no poisonous pesticides or insecticides unlike the heavily sprayed French countryside. Also, the urban temperature is a few degrees warmer so bees can stay out longer. Some hardier specimens are out as late as December.
EXPORTS
By late last year, high natural gas prices and booming sales to the U.S. pushed energy to the top of Canada's export list, ahead of the perennial leaders cars and machinery. Energy exports totalled C$9.2-billion last October, nearly all of that to the U.S. Machinery and equipment exports totalled $7.9-billion and cars $7.8-billion in the same period.
CARDBOARD
China's shortage of natural resources and burgeoning manufacturing sector has triggered a rush to buy recycled cardboard. At the Port of Los Angeles, the No. 1 export by far is waste paper. At nearby Long Beach, it's No. 3 behind petroleum coke and petroleum.
LUNCH
A British supermarket is launching the ultimate life-enhancing snack, the musical sandwich. In a trial certain to be welcomed by the estimated one million Britons who eat their lunch at their desks each day, technology similar to that used in singing greeting cards will be used to sell musical sandwiches. Opening the top of the sandwich box will activate a tiny sound module that plays a selection of music.
RAILROADS
Amid rising fuel prices, more companies in the U.S. are turning to railroads as a cheaper way to transport goods. In fact, intermodal traffic, which includes loading trailers on flatbed railroad cars broke records in 2005. The surge in freight is so pronounced that it threatens to create a capacity crunch. With demand now exceeding supply, the rail system is strained overall and the problem is hard to fix. Unlike highways and waterways, the majority of the nations 140,000 miles of freight rail has been privately owned since deregulation in 1980.
TOURISM
Some experts are claiming that Canada is losing out to other countries as a global tourist destination and suggest a fresh strategy is urgently required that goes beyond selling mountains and wide open spaces. New destinations, notably Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East are rapidly winning a greater chunk of the global tourism pie while Canada's share slips. Twenty years ago, Canada had 3.5 per cent of the global tourism business. It has now declined to under 2.9 per cent.
COWS
The Times of London reports that there are now 1.4-billion cows worldwide, each producing 500 litres of methane a day and accounting for 14 per cent of all emissions of gas. Carbon dioxide is by far the biggest contributor to climate change but methane has 23 times the warming potential of CO2, so reducing its emission is considered important. Scottish researchers have developed a diet that can reduce the amount of methane emitted by cows by as much as 70 per cent.
GOLF
Wealthy Chinese tourists could soon replace their American and Japanese counterparts as the most welcome high-rollers at Ireland's top golf courses. This year, four hundred rich Chinese will travel to Ireland to play, following deals with two golf clubs and two travel agencies in Shanghai. There are just 200 golf courses in China with 1,000 under construction. An AC Neilson study has found that Chinese tourists spend more abroad than tourists from any other country.
POWER
Most TVs, VCRs and other electronic devices remain in a standby mode when not in use, silently using up energy to the tune of 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household. A computer left on can draw nearly as much power as an efficient refrigerator. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims that Americans spend more money to power DVD players when the machines are turned off than when they are actually in use.
SUPERMARKETS
A new book claims there are no coincidences at supermarkets. For instance, many stores position the fruit and vegetable section near the front entrance because produce is the most lucrative part of the store and because the margin is the highest. Also, the ceilings are often slightly lower in the check-out section because it makes the interaction more personal and intimate.
FRANCE
In a victory for consumers, the French government recently fined the country's three main mobile telephone operators for colluding to set prices for phone calls. A few months ago, six major hotels in Paris were also fined for price fixing.
WIND
A new United Nations map shows that windmills have far bigger than expected potential for generating electricity in the Third World from China to Nicaragua. The new maps, part of a $9.3-million study, use data from satellites, balloons and other sources to model winds in 19 developing countries. Nicaragua, Mongolia and Vietnam had the greatest potential with about 40 per cent of the land area suitable for windmills. Least promising were Bangladesh, Cuba and Ghana.
MONEY
The World Bank reports that immigrants from poor countries sent more than US$167-billion home last year. This total is on a par with the amount of direct foreign investment in developing countries and more than twice the value of foreign aid. The Bank also reports that money sent through informal channels could add 50 per cent to this estimate. India, China and Mexico are the biggest recipients.
WEIGHT
A Taiwanese geologist is suggesting that the huge weight of the world's tallest building, Taipei 101, could be responsible for triggering a sharp increase in seismic activity in the Taipei basin. He claims the 508-metre and 700,000 metric ton building may have reopened an ancient earthquake fault.
STRESS
Yoga instructors are being employed on German trains to help calm stressed-out passengers. Commuters may also be treated to massages and be shown how to sit properly.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
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