TheHotSpring.net » cash / price pressures

53 Million in ‘Emerging Markets’ Plunged into Poverty by Great Recession

Joseph Robertson — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:20:57 +0000

A World Bank study has projected that the global financial crisis and resulting recession will plunge some 53 million people across "emerging markets" —like China and India— into absolute poverty, in 2009 alone. In China, tens of millions of people have lost jobs related to the export-dependent manufacturing sector.

UK Announces Plan for 40% Low-carbon Energy by 2020

staff — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:57:53 +0000

The Labour party government of the United Kingdom has announced plans to establish an aggressive overhaul of national energy markets, shifting to 40% low-carbon energy sourcing, across all industries, by 2020. The energy secretary, Ed Milliband, will be given control of allocation of electricity across the energy grid, in an effort to speed the green-energy revolution to allow the UK to meet its legally-binding agreed emissions cuts of 34% by 2020.

Chasing the Rainbow: Wall St. Gambled on Fictional Expansion-potential

Joseph Robertson — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:43:01 +0000

The hardest thing to understand about the current, and deepening, economic crisis, is that it came about largely because some of the most experienced, well-staffed and prestigious financial institutions in the world gambled on untenable projects of unlimited expansion, without ever producing sound mathematics to back up the projections. Philosophical exuberance replaced philosophical underpinnings, and the dynamo of financial speculation greased the wheels of commerce in a way that masked underlying shortfalls.

The Nature of Volatility is Not Gain or Loss, but Volatility

Joseph Robertson — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:09:10 +0000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA/Dow) today had its single biggest day of gains in history, climbing 936 points. It could be a good sign, that on Friday the market "established a bottom", but it's important to remember: the nature of volatility is not that it is ripe for gain or ripe for loss, but that it is volatility, and one's will and judgment are not always as relevant as one would like.

US Recession Takes Root as Job-loss, Housing, Banking, Energy Crises Converge to Slow Growth

Joseph Robertson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:19:47 +0000

CafeSentido.com :: The United States is firmly in the thrall of a banking meltdown, in which the normal structures, the means of measuring performance, and the meaning of debt-holdings, are all out of balance. More than one Wall Street firm or investment bank has written of tens of billions of dollars in uncollectable [...]

Food price crisis: more complex than first thought & putting food beyond the reach of the planet’s poor

Joseph Robertson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:25:18 +0000

Food prices are skyrocketing. Initially, many put the blame on the rising demand of biofuels in the transport sector, but bio-ethanol is far from the only thing driving up food prices. New diets, soaring oil prices and climate change are all in the complex soup of explanations behind the recent development putting food beyond the reach of the planet’s poor.

Renewable Energy Consumption & Electricity Preliminary 2007 Statistics

jr3o — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:31:29 +0000

EIA Report: Renewable energy consumption declined 1 percent between 2006 and 2007 to 6,830 trillion Btu, according to preliminary 2007 data. In contrast, both total energy and non-renewable energy increased 2 percent. There was wide variation in the consumption behavior of individual renewable energy sources. Hydro electricity dropped 14 percent in 2007 due to reduced precipitation in several regions of the country. On the plus side, biomass-based energy grew 7 percent and wind-generated electricity jumped 21 percent. Major increases in consumption of biomass to produce and use biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) were almost entirely responsible for the increase in biomass during 2007.

Pres. Bush Lifts Executive Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling, Challenges Environmentally-minded Congress

Joseph Robertson — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:48:14 +0000

US pres. George W. Bush has lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), and has challenged the US Congress to act to open the OCS to new oil exploration, saying the US needs to increase domestic production to reduce its dependence on imported oil. The ban was put in place by his father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st US president, for environmental concerns and in part because the oil companies have leases for huge expanses of underwater terrain they have not explored or exploited.

Transparent Dyes Allow Windows to Act as Super-powerful Solar Panels

Joseph Robertson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:01:03 +0000

Special transparent dyes coating glass or plastic panes concentrate the Sun's rays, guiding them to solar-voltaic cells lining the edges, allowing a window to act as a solar panel with 10 times the electricity generation capacity of solar cells, by current standards. The 'organic solar concentrator' (OSC) system also reduces cost, by reducing the surface area that needs to be coated by solar-voltaic cells and by eliminating the need for large concentrating mirrors and sun-tracking mechanisms.

Wind Power Set to Become World’s Leading Energy Source

jr3o — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:09:14 +0000

In 1991, a national wind resource inventory taken by the U.S. Department of Energy startled the world when it reported that the three most wind-rich states —North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas— had enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs. Now a new study by a team of engineers at Stanford reports that the wind energy potential is actually substantially greater than that estimated in 1991.

Wind Energy Demand Booming

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:03:17 +0000

When Austin Energy, the publicly owned utility in Austin, Texas, launched its GreenChoice program in 2000, customers opting for green electricity paid a premium. During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy.

Oil Shock: the Coming Economic Unraveling & How We Can Adjust

Joseph Robertson — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:11:05 +0000

Petroleum is the most pervasive base resource other than water in the global economy of the 21st century, and as demand is exploding, production is nearing its geological peak, and untenable price increases are hitting a strained economy hard. Oil prices could be in a stagflation lock, unable to readjust to consumers' means, unable to compete as emerging energy sources repeatedly slash development and commercial prices. Whatever factors are at play, crude oil prices have jumped over 900% since 1998, and it looks like production cannot meet global demand.

Corn Ethanol is a Destructive Economic Force, Not the Basis of Our Energy Future

Joseph Robertson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:45:51 +0000

Corn-ethanol, long a fascination for US politicians and for the farm lobby that courts their support for ethanol subsidies, may play some role in remediating the economic fallout of soaring gasoline prices, though it seems unlikely, for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the fact that the numbers work against us: in order to produce more corn-ethanol, we must divert cropland destined for food production to fuel production, and that has a severely negative impact on the availability and affordability of corn for human consumption.

Challenge on Food Front: Business-as-Usual Not a Viable Option

jr3o — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:24:22 +0000

A fast-unfolding food shortage is engulfing the entire world, driving food prices to record highs. Over the past half-century grain prices have spiked from time to time because of weather-related events, such as the 1972 Soviet crop failure that led to a doubling of world wheat, rice, and corn prices. The situation today is entirely different, however. The current doubling of grain prices is trend-driven, the cumulative effect of some trends that are accelerating growth in demand and other trends that are slowing the growth in supply.

Sinking Dollar Cripples American Travelers

admin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:53:15 +0000

In the heart of Madrid, the dollar's woes have reached fevered extremes. The euro at its worst, shortly after its introduction, could buy only $0.69; it is now worth $1.57, an appreciation of 127.5%, or 2.275 times its lowest value against the dollar. What's worse, money changers advertising "no commission" do not adhere even loosely to the official rate of exchange...

Food Riots in Haiti, Protests in El Salvador, as Corn Prices Skyrocket

admin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:50:21 +0000

In a period of roughly 18 months, the price of corn across central American markets has doubled, making staple foodstuffs too expensive for many in the region. Today, what is described as an "angry mob" of protesters suffering food scarcity attacked the government palace in Port-au-Prince; UN peacekeepers responded by firing teargas, while food markets remained closed throughout.

Price of Rice Doubles on World Markets, Undermining Asian Stability

admin — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Rice is a basic food staple for nearly half the world's population. The world's two most populous nations, China and India, depend heavily on the grain for basic sustenance, and for economic stability. The price of rice has doulbed in the last 3 months, causing concern about potential for conflict along Asian border regions.

Confluence of Housing, Energy, Commodities, Banking, Jobs & Food-price Strains Called ‘Economic Perfect Storm’

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:52:00 +0000

On Thursday of last week, we found on the same day reports that mortgage foreclosures were at an all-time high in the US, the US dollar had fallen to an all-time low against the euro ($1.56 to 1€), the Federal Reserve joined with other central banks to infuse $200 billion into capital markets, oil hit an all-time record of $111/barrel, gold hit an all-time record of $1,001/ounce, Asian and European markets plummeted on news that Carlyle Capital —one of the world's largest capital management funds— was in collapse, and Chrysler would shut down its entire corporation for 2 weeks in July, with no pay, to "increase productivity".

Why Ethanol Production Will Drive World Food Prices Even Higher in 2008

admin — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:52:00 +0000

We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history. The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil insecurity by converting grain into fuel for cars, is generating global food insecurity on a scale never seen before. The world is facing the most severe food price inflation in history as grain and soybean prices climb to all-time highs. Wheat trading on the Chicago Board of Trade on December 17th breached the $10 per bushel level for the first time ever.

‘Davos Conversation’ Allows Public to Match Ideas with Policy-Makers

admin — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:12:00 +0000

The 'Davos Conversation' is a multimedia effort to bring online public together with major policy-makers, activists and economists, to broaden the scope of debate at the World Economic Forum. The question which was used as a platform for the online forum was "what one thing would make the world a better place?"