By Peter Gorenstein, Daily Ticker 12 August 2011 The United States military budget accounts for over 40% of the world’s annual military expenditures and, at around $700 billion per year, more than 20% of the federal budget. The Federal government wants to curb that spending as part of deficit reduction. Last week’s deficit deal calls […]
By Nouriel Roubini7 August 2011 The first half of 2011 showed a slowdown of growth – if not outright contraction – in most advanced economies. Optimists said this was a temporary soft patch. This delusion has been dashed. Even before last week’s panic, the US and other advanced economies were odds-on for a second […]
By Joe Weisenthal5 August 2011 We used to say that the chart showing the pace of this jobs “recovery” vs. all other jobs recoveries was the scariest jobs chart ever (see here for example). But we’ve since changed our mind. It’s the average duration of unemployment — which surges without any sign of slowing down […]
By EVAN SCHWARTEN30 July 2011 (AAP) – SOME day it’ll be one of those things old timers boast about to cyclone-wary newcomers. “You think this is bad? You should have seen Yasi,” they’ll say. But that kind of bravado is still some way off. Six months after experiencing the biggest cyclone in a century, the […]
By David Biello25 May 2011 (Scientific American) – The human enterprise now consumes nearly 60 billion metric tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and plant materials, such as crop plants and trees for timber or paper. Meanwhile, the seven billionth person on the planet is expected to be born this year—and the human population may […]
By Dmitry Orlov23 July 2011 With each passing week more and more of us become ready to concede that economic growth is no longer possible. Economic development, on the old model, which UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon recently characterized as a “global suicide pact,” is becoming constrained by the limits of natural resources of the finite […]
By KIM HORNER14 July 2011 Before the sun came out Thursday morning, thousands of people had gathered around the Jesse Owens Memorial Complex in the Red Bird area. The reward: a spot on a waiting list for Dallas County housing vouchers to help them pay the rent. When, at 6 a.m., officials said it was […]
By PPI12 July 2011 ISLAMABAD: Nearly one year after devastating floods swamped vast tracts of land across Pakistan, affecting over 20 million people, many survivors are still struggling to rebuild their lives as this year’s monsoon season is about to start. “I have patched up my house the best I could, using what few resources […]
The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 234 points in June 2011, 1 percent higher than in May and 39 percent higher than in June 2010. The FFPI hit its all time high of 238 points in February. A strong rise in international sugar prices was behind much of the increase in the June value […]
By Step Vaessen 30 June 2011 Osaka (Al Jazeera) – With the current economic downturn, many of Japan’s poorest are so desperate for work that they are risking exposure to dangerous levels of radiation at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. The growing number of so-called nuclear gypsies, who come from across the country, are working […]
