Archive for the 'Economy' Category
3D Printing: Engineering World on Cusp of Major Historical Change
January 7th, 2015Via: AFP: 3D printing will revolutionise war and foreign policy, say experts, not only by making possible incredible new designs but by turning the defence industry — and possibly the entire global economy — on its head. For many, 3D printing still looks like a gimmick, used for printing useless plastic figurines and not much […]
Our System Is So Broken, Almost No Patented Discoveries Ever Get Used
January 5th, 2015Via: Wired: We all know the patent system is broken. But most people believe that the biggest problem with it is abusive litigants who extort so-called “license fees” from small businesses unable to pay the cost of standing up to them in court. Their activities, of course, have no more in common with real patent […]
Margin Debt Highest Ever: “This Is Total Insanity”
January 5th, 2015Via: CNBC: The last six years for the U.S. stock market have been an indomitable buying orgy fueled by the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy, causing the S&P 500 to triple in value. One metric says it may have gone too far. Borrowing to buy stocks, as measured by the NYSE monthly margin debt […]
Japan 2014 Births Fall to Lowest on Record
January 2nd, 2015Via: Financial Times: Deaths outnumbered births in Japan last year by the widest margin on record, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing the government as it tries to ensure a dwindling pool of workers can support growing ranks of pensioners. The urgency of getting the country’s finances in order was highlighted this week as […]
Sugar as a Source of Disease
January 2nd, 2015Here’s an excerpt from an email to my sister: As for us being weird by American standards: We’re weird by NZ standards too. For example, we go to almost no birthday parties for other children because people are drinking Pepsi and eating baked atrocities with sprinkles on top. MSG sausages, etc. One of Owen’s friends […]
Ten Warning Signs of a Market Crash in 2015
January 2nd, 2015As a group, Cryptogon readers probably have pretty low exposure to stocks, but just in case… Via: Telegraph: Professional investors are already making for the exit. The Bloomberg smart money flow index tracks the market movements at the end of the trading day on the Dow Jones, when professional investors tend to make their move. […]
The Rise of The 1099 Economy: More Americans Are Becoming Their Own Bosses
December 31st, 2014Via: Forbes: While the economy has been miserable for small business, and many larger ones as well, the ranks of the self-employed have been growing. According to research by Economic Modeling Specialists International, the number of people who primarily work on their own has swelled by 1.3 million since 2001 to 10.6 million, a 14% […]
Nearly Half of Brits on Prescription Drugs
December 31st, 2014Via: Russia Today: Nearly half of all Britons are taking prescription medication on a regular basis according to new figures produced by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) According to the HSCIC, 50 percent of women and 43 percent of men are taking specialised drugs to combat physical and mental illnesses, with cholesterol-lowering […]
New Solar Power Material Converts 90 Percent of Captured Light Into Heat
December 31st, 2014Via: Physorg: A multidisciplinary engineering team at the University of California, San Diego developed a new nanoparticle-based material for concentrating solar power plants designed to absorb and convert to heat more than 90 percent of the sunlight it captures. The new material can also withstand temperatures greater than 700 degrees Celsius and survive many years […]
Oil Set for Biggest Slump Since 2008 as OPEC Battles U.S. Shale
December 31st, 2014Via: Bloomberg: Oil headed for the biggest annual decline since the 2008 global financial crisis as U.S. producers and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cede no ground in their battle for market share amid a supply glut. Futures slid as much as 1.1 percent in New York, bringing losses for 2014 to 46 percent. […]
