April 2007 Edition
TRENDS
Mobile phones are becoming an increasingly popular way to make all sorts of payments. In the U.S., fans of the Atlanta Hawks have been testing specially adapted phones linked to their Visa cards to enter the local stadium and to buy refreshments. In Japan, thousands of transactions, from buying railway tickets to picking up groceries, take place every day using mobile phones. It is estimated that worldwide payments using mobile phones will climb from just US$3.2-billion in 2003 to more than $37-billion by 2008.
TOLLS
It now costs motorist a $16.00 fee to drive in central London and at nearly 16 square miles, the zone is now almost double the original size. It is claimed that congestion in the original zone has been reduced by 20 per cent and that harmful emissions have been cut by 15 per cent. Tolls have raised more than US$234 million for investment, primarily in public transport. Nationwide, more than 1.5 million people have signed a petition against plans to introduce in the next decade a "pay-as-you-go" road-pricing system where cars are tracked and charged automatically.
DRIVING
The Health Ministry in Japan has found that almost two per cent of the population are alcoholics and drunk driving is a serious problem. Toyota will introduce a new car next year that will shut down the engine if its driver is drunk, using sensors on the steering wheel to measure the alcohol level in the driver's sweat. If the driver is wearing gloves, a camera on the dashboard will check for dilated pupils and the car will detect erratic steering. Nissan is experimenting with a breathalyser-like device into which the driver must blow before starting the car.
GERMS
A University of Arizona team has found that the average office desktop harbours 400 times more bacteria than the average office toilet seat. They also found that on average women have three to four times the amount of germs in, on and around their work area. Women are more likely to keep snacks in their drawers and make-up and lotions help to transfer bacteria. However, men's wallets provide the most fertile bug breeding ground of all. The Arizona team took samples from 100 offices at the university and in offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon and Washington.
MAGAZINES
U.S. circulation figures continue to decline among many magazines. Reader's Digest sales tumbled 12 per cent in the second half of last year to 10.1 million. Woman's Day was off by 20 per cent to 4 million, Redbook down 28.6 per cent to 2.4 million and Vogue was off six per cent to 1.3 million. Cosmopolitan has fallen below the two million mark in newsstand sales for the first time in years, dropping 5.9 per cent to 1.9 million. Time and Newsweek are also down. Going against the trend, Better Homes and Gardens rose 6.8 per cent, BusinessWeek was up 25 per cent and CondeNast rose 19.9 per cent.
STUDENTS
German families are increasingly looking to Britain's best public schools to provide the well-rounded disciplined education they fear is being eroded in their own country. Census figures reveal significant numbers of German students are enroled in British boarding schools where fees average $40,000 a year. Last year, 1,097 pupils from Germany obtained places at British schools compared with 868 in 2005, an increase of 20 per cent. Agencies which help German parents find places have reported record numbers of enquiries this year.
PEPPERS
Inhabitants of the New World had chili peppers and the making of taco chips over 6,000 years ago according to new research that examined the bowl-scrapings of people throughout Central America and the Amazon basin. This makes the chili pepper the oldest spice used in the Americas, and one of the oldest in the world. Within decades of European contact, the New World plant was carried across Europe and into Africa and Asia. In all seven New World sites where chili peppers residue was found, the researchers also detected remnants of corn.
GLASSES
A Japanese company has developed glasses that prevent the wearer from falling asleep. If the head drops below certain level, a little motor kicks in to vibrate a earpiece until the head returns to an upright position.
SAFETY
Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. that would create a Food Safety Administration similar to the Environmental Protection Agency. It would take over responsibility for food safety and labelling from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which currently split the duty. Currently, food safety monitoring, inspection and labelling functions are spread across 12 federal agencies. The Safe Food Act would also modernize the 100-year-old food safety laws.
OPPORTUNITY
It is estimated that India will be spending US$400-billion on consumer goods by 2010. In 2005, two-way trade between India and Canada was worth about $3-billion with a balance of about $711-million in India's favour. In the first 11 months of last year, Canada's exports grew by over 51 per cent over the same period in 2005 still leaving a lot of room to expand. India is only Canada's 18th largest export market. Two-way direct investment is equally modest hovering around $250 million in 2005.
COUNTERFEIT
Intellectual property rights seizures in the U.S. rose 72 per cent between 2005 and 2006, and the value of seized apparel rose from US$8 million to 10 million in that time. Seizures of footwear were up by $3.6 million last year, with 89 per cent of those goods coming from China. According to a survey of 48 multinational firms across 27 product categories by the International Chamber of Commerce, enforcing laws against counterfeit goods is the number one priority.
BRANDS
Private label or store brand food and beverage sales continue to climb steadily. A recent report puts 2006 sales at over US$48 billion with the forecast that sales will pass $56 billion by 2011. Dairy and grain foods are leading the private label charge, with 2006 retail sales topping $7 billion and $5 billion respectively. Forty-one per cent of shoppers in the U.S. now think of themselves as frequent buyers of store brands.
RESERVES
The Energy Information Administration estimates that the global reserves of natural gas are 6,112 trillion cubic feet (TCF). The biggest holders of these reserves are: Russia, 1,680 TCF; Iran, 971 TCF; Qatar, 911 TCF; Saudi Arabia, 241 TCF and the United Arab Emirates 214 TCF. The U.S. has reserves of 193 TCF and Canada, 57 TCF. Leaders of natural-gas rich Russia and Qatar have said they will explore the creation of a natural gas cartel to represent the interests of producer countries to influence the global market.
ADVERTISING
Russian advertising sales surged 29 per cent to a record US$6.5 billion last year as an eighth straight year of economic growth pushed up incomes and spending on consumer goods and services. Spending on Internet advertisements climbed 67 per cent to $100 million.
DNA
An American company has developed DNA based testing for brown, pink and white domestic shrimp varieties. The test, the first of its kind for shrimp, allows for authentic verification that a product sold as a domestic shrimp product is indeed domestic. Within the seafood industry, specifically with fish and crab, there is a practice of replacing, or mixing in, cheaper, inferior, sometimes farmed seafood.
FINES
The European Union has fined five elevator makers US$1.3 billion for operating a cartel for the installation and maintenance of elevators and escalators in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The fines represent the largest ever for price fixing in the EU.
TAX
The British Treasury is to lose over US$50 million in taxes as a result of Ebay moving its tax base from Britain to Luxembourg. The company is taking advantage of a loophole in the EU tax regime that allows online retailers to shop around for the lowest tax rates. British Ebay users will now pay tax on their selling price to the Luxembourg government rather than to the UK Treasury. Other EU countries such as Germany will also lose tax revenue and Luxembourg will benefit from the windfall of $200 million a year, more than $400 for every man, woman and child in its 450,000 population.
BULBS
The Australian government has announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country. The legislation to gradually restrict the sale of the old-style bulbs could reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by four million tonnes by 2012 and cut household power bills by up to 66 per cent.
LAND
Farmland from Iowa to Argentina is rising faster in price than apartments in Manhattan and London for the first time in 30 years. Demand for corn used in ethanol increased the value of cropland 16 per cent in Indiana and 35 per cent in Idaho in 2006. The price of a New York loft appreciated only 12 per cent and an apartment in London, England, by 11 per cent. Farmland prices are expected to take a quantum leap over the next 18 months after corn prices surged to a ten-year high earlier this year.
ORGANIC
The Organic Trade Association is looking for ways to encourage producers to fill the increasing demand for organic products, particularly as shortages are becoming more evident in North America. A German trade group has found that nearly 31 million hectares globally are currently certified as organic, with the global market for organic products reaching more than US$50-billion in 2005. The leading markets for organic products are North America and Europe.
SCENTS
Some electronic manufacturers, airlines and banks are commissioning unique fragrances for use in their stores and on their products. This marketing ploy has emerged from an Oxford University study which shows that it is possible to train people to associate smells with particular experiences or objects. British Airways releases a faint smell of freshly cut grass into its lounges to create a pleasant atmosphere. Sony has run trials of a unique combination of vanilla and orange in some US stores.
BENEFITS
A new Harvard study reveals that the U.S. lags behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast feeding. The U.S. is one of only five countries out of 173 in the survey that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave, the others are Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea. At least 145 countries provide paid sick days.
GAS
A farmer in England has converted his Jaguar to run on rotting apple fumes. He packs two underground tanks full of apples and collects the methane gas produced as they rot. He claims his XJ6 gains 10 per cent in power by running on compressed methane and still returns about 28 miles per gallon.
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