Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Recovery: Food Stamps Used by Record 43.2 Million in October
January 8th, 2011Via: Bloomberg: The number of Americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 43.2 million in October as the jobless rate stayed near a 27-year high, the government said. Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies for food purchases jumped 15 percent from a year earlier and increased 0.7 percent from September, the U.S. Department […]
Banks Lose Pivotal Massachusetts Foreclosure Case
January 7th, 2011Via: Bloomberg: US Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. lost a foreclosure case in Massachusetts’s highest court that will guide lower courts in that state and may influence others in the clash between bank practices and state real estate law. The ruling drove down bank stocks. The state Supreme Judicial Court today upheld a judge’s […]
Forum for the Future: Megacities On the Move, Four Scenarios
January 7th, 2011No thanks. Via: Forum for the Future: Megacities on the move presents four vivid scenarios exploring exploring how population growth, the energy we use, the strength or weakness of global institutions and other factors will shape our cities in 2040 and the way we access goods, services, information and other people. Megacities on the move […]
Germany: 4,700 Farms Closed Due to Dioxin Contamination of Animal Feed
January 7th, 2011Via: BBC: German officials are investigating possible “illegal activity” after a company allegedly supplied 25 animal feed makers with 3,000 tonnes of contaminated fatty acids. Tests from the Harles und Jentzsch plant in Schleswig Holstein found excessive levels of the poisonous chemical dioxin, officials said. Some 4,700 German farms have been shut. Officials say the […]
Czech Doctors Go for Broke
January 7th, 2011Via: BBC: Dozens of Czech hospitals could find themselves struggling to provide basic care on 1 March after almost 4,000 doctors – one quarter of the total number working in the country’s hospitals – tendered their resignations in protest at low wages. The resignations are being co-ordinated by the doctors’ union (Lok), which says successive […]
China Buys Up EU Government Debt
January 7th, 2011Via: Global Post: China has been increasing its holdings of European government debt, including that issued by Spain, amid the euro-zone crisis, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng was quoted as saying on Thursday. The Spanish daily El Pais on Thursday cited Spanish government sources as saying China has committed to buy about 6 billion […]
Number of Poor May Be Millions Higher
January 7th, 2011Via: AP: The number of poor people in the U.S. is millions higher than previously known, with 1 in 6 Americans — many of them 65 and older — struggling in poverty due to rising medical care and other costs, according to preliminary census figures released Wednesday. … Under a new revised census formula, overall […]
Documentary Film: Dreamland
January 6th, 2011Via: dreamland.is: How much unspoiled nature should we preserve and what do we sacrifice for clean, renewable energy? Dreamland gradually turns into a disturbing picture of corporate power taking over small communities. Dreamland is a film about a nation standing at cross-roads. Leading up to the country’s greatest economic crisis, the government started the largest […]
Fed May Keep Easing Until Jobless Rate Falls
January 5th, 2011Via: Bloomberg: Federal Reserve officials signaled they’ll probably push ahead with unprecedented stimulus until the recovery strengthens and many of the 15 million unemployed Americans find work. The jobless rate hasn’t fallen below 9.4 percent since May 2009 and will probably average that figure this year, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Unemployment […]
Almost 60% of New Zealanders Are Maintaining Vegetable Gardens
January 5th, 2011I was at Pak n Sav (Godzilla scale supermarket chain in New Zealand operated by public menace FoodStuffs) today and I just laughed at the prices for the whole range of vegetables. Although, I bought a kilo of those South Island cherries that were on special. The Farmlet website is woefully neglected these days, but, […]
