Trains And The Quality Of Life

I would like to comment on a published article in The Straits Times bearing the same title as this post. The article seems to be conceived to pacify those who could be opposing more rail lines as they do not see the need of expensive rail lines. As much as I like to concur with the author that having more rail lines will improve quality of life, I would like to pose some questions in response to the otherwise simplistic argument put forth.

Geographic Shift in Plant Locations of U.S.- Canadian Automotive Industry

In a recent paper circulated by leading Canadian automotive analyst Dennis DesRosiers, he pointed out that transportation costs and uncertainty about long delays at the Detroit-Windsor border crossing were pushing automotive manufacturers and suppliers away from the region - a drain that's already clear in southwestern Ontario and southeastern Michigan.

Connecting the Dots of the American Financial System - A Homespun View

Remember those activity books for children? They were mostly coloring books with additional pages thrown in; mazes, word games, puzzles, and of course, follow the dots. I always liked the numbered dots, since at the end I could see a picture. Sometimes the image was totally different than what I expected.

Where Does The Money Come From

The one question nobody asks, and the one driving force that defines the sad state of the world today. The fact is, nobody knows, apart from a very few. But there are a few things we do know. We know that the money supply has been increasing world-wide at around 7.5% per year, and that local governments do not create any of it. And we know that all new money is issued by the banking system as interest-bearing debt. This truly is a curious state of affairs whereby someone somewhere is creating all this new money out of thin air and selling it to us through the banks at high interest.

Agriculture Investments Stabilize at Around $2 billion, but a Significant Increase in Africa

World Bank investments in agriculture are stable at around $2 billion for FY06. This year marked a notable lending increase in the Africa region, with investments rising from $295 million in FY05 to $685 million in FY06. The increase represents the highest level of lending in agriculture since FY90 for Sub-Saharan

Social Well-Being, Risk Management, and Reducing Vulnerability

Commodity risk management. Price and weather risk management insurance provide farmers and institutions in developing countries better tools to manage exposure to price and weather fluctuations and potentially expand access to credit. Pilots are underway in India, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Thailand, Nicaragua and Honduras and are under development in Kenya, Madagascar, Vietnam, and Bangladesh

Civil Society

Civil society has grown exponentially over the past decades and today is recognized as an important development actor throughout the world; monitoring public policies, providing technical expertise, and partnering ...

Engaging Economic Efficiency Efforts Evaluated

Every Nation has economic challenges and must deal with change. Just like in the Universe change is a constant. In the United States we have changes occurring with industry trends. Some cities have issues with changing job categories, shifts in manufacturing jobs moving from 30% to 17% to 10% and then those jobs being replaced by robots or retail or service sector which typically pays less.

How Gas Prices Affect Our Economy

Over the past few years gas prices seem to always be in the news. In one week they are extremely high and the next they are extremely low. This volatility in gas prices is not a positive trend four our country as we are trying to increase stability and then in turn increase our economic growth.

Why Understanding Historic Crude Oil Prices is Important

They say that those who do not pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it. Perhaps that is why more people consider historic crude oil prices and understanding what drove those trends to be very important to the way we run our homes, businesses, and governments. In particular, we can learn lessons from reviewing crude oil pricing of years past and use that data to minimize some of the consumer hardships that were endured at the time.

Getting Free Stuff - How Freebies Work

Just How Big is the Free Industry? Find out how Free works.

Ever Expanding Price System - Is it a Viable Method?

For those who like the philosophical debate the Technocracy Group comes up with some interesting intellectual scenarios on economies, price systems, monetary policy and the future of human civilizations. For instance on self-proclaimed technocrat looking for someone to convince has brought up this point of contention stating:

Depression Not a Recession

Most Americans are expecting a recession. They're wrong. It's going to be a depression.

R Is For Responsibility - US Blames China As It Leads The World Into The Next Depression

Congress is blaming China for America's economic problems - rising unemployment, trade deficit etc. The problem lies elsewhere. The finger of blame should be pointing back at America.