February 2011 Edition
SPACE
In the 1970s, American corporations typically thought they needed 500
to 700 square feet per employee to build an effective office. Today's
average is little more than 200 square feet per person and experts now
believe that space allocation could hit a mere 50 square feet by 2015.
MEXICO
Mexico wants to sharply boost tourism by luring Canadians to explore the country beyond its seaside resorts. The country is currently the world's 10th-most visited tourism destination, yet it ranks only 19th in terms of tourist spending because many visitors, mindful of well-publicized dangers from drug violence, never leave their resort perimeters. Mexico is now promoting a bounty of attractions: adventure travel, golf, gourmet food and wine, monarch butterfly tourism and hunting. In 2000, 691,000 Canadians spent at least one night in Mexico, in 2009 the figure was 1,208,600.
TRADE
India and China have agreed to a new US$100-billion bilateral trade target by 2015, up from $60-billion in 2010. The two sides agreed to take measures to promote greater Indian exports to China to reduce India's trade deficit. The two countries intend to expand co-operation in infrastructure, environment, information technology, telecommunications, and investment and finance.
DOWNLOADING
In 2010, the illegal downloading of music cost the music industry in the UK nearly US$1.7-billion. Of 1.2-billion digital music tracks downloaded last year, just under three out of four were illegally acquired. That is more than the entire number of tracks ever to be downloaded in the UK which stands at about one billion. However, sales of digital singles topped 160-million last year, beating the previous record of 149.7-million.
R&D
China is on the verge of overtaking Japan as the second-biggest spender on research and development after the U.S., marking another key shift in the rivalry between the world's economic powerhouses. China is expected to spend US$153.7-billion on R&D in 2011 up from $141.4-billion in 2010. By comparison, Japan is expected to spend $144.1-billion up from $ 142-billion in 2010. Despite China's surge, the U.S. remains by far the biggest R&D spender, making up one-third of the global total of an estimated $1.2-trillion for 2011.
TIME
Americans now spend as many hours online as they do watching television according to a new survey. More than 30,000 media consumers were interviewed for the study which showed that, on average, Americans spend about 13 hours a week on the internet and pass the same amount of time watching television offline. Over the past five years, the amount of time Americans watch television has stayed flat while the amount of time they spend on the web has more than doubled.
DAMAGE
Invasive non-native species such as the grey squirrel and Japanese knotweed cost the British economy about US$3-billion a year. Researchers say that crops, ecosystems and livelihoods can be damaged when such species take hold. The study found that the rabbit was the most economically damaging species, followed by Japanese knotweed. Other damaging species include the rat, house mouse and mink, and plants such as the rhododendron and giant hogweed. The cost was significantly higher in England where invasive non-native species have become more established. The price was put at $400-million in Scotland and $250-million in Wales.
EMPLOYMENT
In 32 out of 39 countries and territories surveyed, more companies said they expect to add workers in the three months to March 2011 than said they expect to employ fewer people. The difference between hirers and firers was highest in India and China. Employment growth is also expected to be more robust in Germany, Sweden and the U.S. American employers are more upbeat about their hiring intentions than at any time since the final quarter of 2008.
POLLUTING
If the shipping industry were a country, it would be the sixth-biggest industrial carbon emitter in the world. Whereas big countries have plans for cutting emissions, shipping does not. But customers, who indirectly pay for shipping fuel, might be better placed to put pressure on the industry. A website has been set up to rate ships as though they are refrigerators or boilers and calculate the fuel efficiency of a ship. Eventually, data on 60,000 ships will be provided. If the idea catches on, consumers will be able to shun ships that emit a lot and reward the ones that don't.
INNOVATION
It can be easy to get heavy-footed behind the wheel when the music is pumping. A new smart-phone application called OVK Slowdown tracks a driver's speed and location using GPS, and slows down the music being played in the car if the speed limit is exceeded. The faster the car goes, the slower and more irritating the music becomes. If you drive more than 10 kilometres an hour over the legal limit, the app shuts off the tunes altogether.
ALARMS
An alarm clock that can be heard by the next door neighbour has gone on sale for hard of hearing customers or those that struggle to get out of bed in the morning. At 90 decibels the alarm is louder than most lawnmowers and matched the volume pumped out by a speeding truck on the highway. The clock also comes with a vibrating pad that can be slipped under a pillow. When the alarm goes off the clock sends a wireless signal to the pad which starts to vibrate. It costs about US$70.00.
CARE
High prices and waiting lists in over-stretched health systems of the rich world have driven many people to seek hip replacements, plastic surgery and other care in Thailand, India and Costa Rica. It is forecast that in 2012, 1.6-million Americans will travel abroad for medical care, up from 750,000 in 2007. Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf is now being touted as the next hot destination for medical tourism. Dubai is intending to host a big medical-tourism congress in 2011.
CROPS
Scientists are planning to collect and store the wild plant relatives of essential food crops, including wheat, rice and potatoes. The project will collect and catalogue seeds from across the globe. The aim is to safeguard valuable genetic traits that the wild plants contain that could be bred into crops to make them more hardy and versatile. This could help secure food supplies in the face of a changing climate.
OFFICES
There has been a rise in the number of Canadians who work from home with the numbers being evenly split between the self-employed and those paid by companies. About 3.6-million work from home and they comprise 19 per cent of the workforce, up two per cent in eight years. The greatest increase is in the number of self-employed people working from home. In 2008, when the study was conducted, there were 1-8-million, up from 1.4-million in 2000.
AGREEMENT
The recent sweeping free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea will benefit U.S. workers, farmers and ranchers as well as granting Korea greater access to U.S. markets. Tariff reductions are expected to boost annual export of U.S. goods by up to US$11-billion. The agreement lifts tariffs on 95 per cent of goods between the countries in five years. This is the largest U.S. trade pact since the NAFTA with Canada and Mexico in 1994. Also, each U.S. automaker will be able to export 25,000 cars per year that meet only U.S. safety requirements, four times the current level.
TRUFFLES
The record price for truffles was in 2007 when a Macao casino owner paid US$330,000 for a Tuscan example weighing in at 3.3-pounds. Now, Italian white truffle prices have fallen to the lowest level since data began to be collected in 2002 and the famed tuber prized by the rich is even being donated to Rome soup kitchens. The price which peaked at $660 per 100 grams in 2007 traded recently for $200. The reduction is blamed on demand falling by at least half in many countries, including the U.S. Hunters use pigs and dogs to sniff out the tubers which grow around the roots of trees.
TRAINS
A Chinese passenger train hit a record speed of 486 kilometres per hour recently in a test run of a yet-to-be opened link between Beijing and Shanghai. This is the fastest speed recorded by an unmodified conventional commercial train though other types of train have travelled faster. It reached top speed on a segment of the 1,318-kilometre-long line between the cities.
DEBT
In 2011, the debt owed by the governments of the world will reach a mountainous US$43-trillion, of which Japan alone accounts for a quarter, with the U.S. not far behind.
ROBOTS
It is estimated that there are now one million industrial robots in use in the world today, up from 66,000 in 1983 and 605,000 in 1995. 36 per cent are used in the automotive industry, 18 per cent in the electrical and electronics sector, 10 per cent in rubber and plastics, nine per cent in metal and machinery and five per cent in the food and beverage industry. As many as 50-million jobs may be lost to robots by 2030. In 1979 the U.S. auto industry invested US$15-million in robots, in 2007 the figure was $753-million.
SAVINGS
Prisoners in the state of Iowa could soon be making their own toilet paper in a bid to save taxpayers money. Under a plan, state prisons would buy one-tonne rolls of paper from a mill, then process it into single rolls. The plan could save up to US$100,000 a year. Iowa prisoners already make and sell everything from furniture and clothing to carved wooden toys. A prison official describes the toilet paper as "not nice and fluffy, but an acceptable roll of toilet paper."
TEMPERATURE
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), record temperatures were reached in several regions in 2010, making it among the warmest three on record. Parts of Russia, Greenland, Canada, China, North Africa and South Asia all saw the mercury soar to record levels. The WMO suggest that 2011 will be cooler as La Nina conditions dominate. This brings colder than average water to the top of the eastern Pacific Ocean, which lowers temperatures globally.
APPLES
A Canadian biotechnology company has asked the U.S. to approve a genetically modified apple that won't brown soon after it is sliced. This improvement could boost sales of apples for snacks, salads and other uses. U.S. apple growers say it's too soon to know whether they'd be interested in the apple as they need to resolve questions about the apple's quality, the cost of planting and most importantly, whether people will buy the apple. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has considered about 100 petitions for genetically engineered or modified crops.
CLOTHES
Swiss bank UBS has sent its retail-banking staff a 43-page manual on how to dress to impress clients. Included is the suggestion that: "Underwear should be undetectable but be of good quality and easily washable."
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
MEXICO
Mexico wants to sharply boost tourism by luring Canadians to explore the country beyond its seaside resorts. The country is currently the world's 10th-most visited tourism destination, yet it ranks only 19th in terms of tourist spending because many visitors, mindful of well-publicized dangers from drug violence, never leave their resort perimeters. Mexico is now promoting a bounty of attractions: adventure travel, golf, gourmet food and wine, monarch butterfly tourism and hunting. In 2000, 691,000 Canadians spent at least one night in Mexico, in 2009 the figure was 1,208,600.
TRADE
India and China have agreed to a new US$100-billion bilateral trade target by 2015, up from $60-billion in 2010. The two sides agreed to take measures to promote greater Indian exports to China to reduce India's trade deficit. The two countries intend to expand co-operation in infrastructure, environment, information technology, telecommunications, and investment and finance.
DOWNLOADING
In 2010, the illegal downloading of music cost the music industry in the UK nearly US$1.7-billion. Of 1.2-billion digital music tracks downloaded last year, just under three out of four were illegally acquired. That is more than the entire number of tracks ever to be downloaded in the UK which stands at about one billion. However, sales of digital singles topped 160-million last year, beating the previous record of 149.7-million.
R&D
China is on the verge of overtaking Japan as the second-biggest spender on research and development after the U.S., marking another key shift in the rivalry between the world's economic powerhouses. China is expected to spend US$153.7-billion on R&D in 2011 up from $141.4-billion in 2010. By comparison, Japan is expected to spend $144.1-billion up from $ 142-billion in 2010. Despite China's surge, the U.S. remains by far the biggest R&D spender, making up one-third of the global total of an estimated $1.2-trillion for 2011.
TIME
Americans now spend as many hours online as they do watching television according to a new survey. More than 30,000 media consumers were interviewed for the study which showed that, on average, Americans spend about 13 hours a week on the internet and pass the same amount of time watching television offline. Over the past five years, the amount of time Americans watch television has stayed flat while the amount of time they spend on the web has more than doubled.
DAMAGE
Invasive non-native species such as the grey squirrel and Japanese knotweed cost the British economy about US$3-billion a year. Researchers say that crops, ecosystems and livelihoods can be damaged when such species take hold. The study found that the rabbit was the most economically damaging species, followed by Japanese knotweed. Other damaging species include the rat, house mouse and mink, and plants such as the rhododendron and giant hogweed. The cost was significantly higher in England where invasive non-native species have become more established. The price was put at $400-million in Scotland and $250-million in Wales.
EMPLOYMENT
In 32 out of 39 countries and territories surveyed, more companies said they expect to add workers in the three months to March 2011 than said they expect to employ fewer people. The difference between hirers and firers was highest in India and China. Employment growth is also expected to be more robust in Germany, Sweden and the U.S. American employers are more upbeat about their hiring intentions than at any time since the final quarter of 2008.
POLLUTING
If the shipping industry were a country, it would be the sixth-biggest industrial carbon emitter in the world. Whereas big countries have plans for cutting emissions, shipping does not. But customers, who indirectly pay for shipping fuel, might be better placed to put pressure on the industry. A website has been set up to rate ships as though they are refrigerators or boilers and calculate the fuel efficiency of a ship. Eventually, data on 60,000 ships will be provided. If the idea catches on, consumers will be able to shun ships that emit a lot and reward the ones that don't.
INNOVATION
It can be easy to get heavy-footed behind the wheel when the music is pumping. A new smart-phone application called OVK Slowdown tracks a driver's speed and location using GPS, and slows down the music being played in the car if the speed limit is exceeded. The faster the car goes, the slower and more irritating the music becomes. If you drive more than 10 kilometres an hour over the legal limit, the app shuts off the tunes altogether.
ALARMS
An alarm clock that can be heard by the next door neighbour has gone on sale for hard of hearing customers or those that struggle to get out of bed in the morning. At 90 decibels the alarm is louder than most lawnmowers and matched the volume pumped out by a speeding truck on the highway. The clock also comes with a vibrating pad that can be slipped under a pillow. When the alarm goes off the clock sends a wireless signal to the pad which starts to vibrate. It costs about US$70.00.
CARE
High prices and waiting lists in over-stretched health systems of the rich world have driven many people to seek hip replacements, plastic surgery and other care in Thailand, India and Costa Rica. It is forecast that in 2012, 1.6-million Americans will travel abroad for medical care, up from 750,000 in 2007. Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf is now being touted as the next hot destination for medical tourism. Dubai is intending to host a big medical-tourism congress in 2011.
CROPS
Scientists are planning to collect and store the wild plant relatives of essential food crops, including wheat, rice and potatoes. The project will collect and catalogue seeds from across the globe. The aim is to safeguard valuable genetic traits that the wild plants contain that could be bred into crops to make them more hardy and versatile. This could help secure food supplies in the face of a changing climate.
OFFICES
There has been a rise in the number of Canadians who work from home with the numbers being evenly split between the self-employed and those paid by companies. About 3.6-million work from home and they comprise 19 per cent of the workforce, up two per cent in eight years. The greatest increase is in the number of self-employed people working from home. In 2008, when the study was conducted, there were 1-8-million, up from 1.4-million in 2000.
AGREEMENT
The recent sweeping free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea will benefit U.S. workers, farmers and ranchers as well as granting Korea greater access to U.S. markets. Tariff reductions are expected to boost annual export of U.S. goods by up to US$11-billion. The agreement lifts tariffs on 95 per cent of goods between the countries in five years. This is the largest U.S. trade pact since the NAFTA with Canada and Mexico in 1994. Also, each U.S. automaker will be able to export 25,000 cars per year that meet only U.S. safety requirements, four times the current level.
TRUFFLES
The record price for truffles was in 2007 when a Macao casino owner paid US$330,000 for a Tuscan example weighing in at 3.3-pounds. Now, Italian white truffle prices have fallen to the lowest level since data began to be collected in 2002 and the famed tuber prized by the rich is even being donated to Rome soup kitchens. The price which peaked at $660 per 100 grams in 2007 traded recently for $200. The reduction is blamed on demand falling by at least half in many countries, including the U.S. Hunters use pigs and dogs to sniff out the tubers which grow around the roots of trees.
TRAINS
A Chinese passenger train hit a record speed of 486 kilometres per hour recently in a test run of a yet-to-be opened link between Beijing and Shanghai. This is the fastest speed recorded by an unmodified conventional commercial train though other types of train have travelled faster. It reached top speed on a segment of the 1,318-kilometre-long line between the cities.
DEBT
In 2011, the debt owed by the governments of the world will reach a mountainous US$43-trillion, of which Japan alone accounts for a quarter, with the U.S. not far behind.
ROBOTS
It is estimated that there are now one million industrial robots in use in the world today, up from 66,000 in 1983 and 605,000 in 1995. 36 per cent are used in the automotive industry, 18 per cent in the electrical and electronics sector, 10 per cent in rubber and plastics, nine per cent in metal and machinery and five per cent in the food and beverage industry. As many as 50-million jobs may be lost to robots by 2030. In 1979 the U.S. auto industry invested US$15-million in robots, in 2007 the figure was $753-million.
SAVINGS
Prisoners in the state of Iowa could soon be making their own toilet paper in a bid to save taxpayers money. Under a plan, state prisons would buy one-tonne rolls of paper from a mill, then process it into single rolls. The plan could save up to US$100,000 a year. Iowa prisoners already make and sell everything from furniture and clothing to carved wooden toys. A prison official describes the toilet paper as "not nice and fluffy, but an acceptable roll of toilet paper."
TEMPERATURE
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), record temperatures were reached in several regions in 2010, making it among the warmest three on record. Parts of Russia, Greenland, Canada, China, North Africa and South Asia all saw the mercury soar to record levels. The WMO suggest that 2011 will be cooler as La Nina conditions dominate. This brings colder than average water to the top of the eastern Pacific Ocean, which lowers temperatures globally.
APPLES
A Canadian biotechnology company has asked the U.S. to approve a genetically modified apple that won't brown soon after it is sliced. This improvement could boost sales of apples for snacks, salads and other uses. U.S. apple growers say it's too soon to know whether they'd be interested in the apple as they need to resolve questions about the apple's quality, the cost of planting and most importantly, whether people will buy the apple. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has considered about 100 petitions for genetically engineered or modified crops.
CLOTHES
Swiss bank UBS has sent its retail-banking staff a 43-page manual on how to dress to impress clients. Included is the suggestion that: "Underwear should be undetectable but be of good quality and easily washable."
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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