The Change Mariner: Category: Quadrant

September 1, 2004

Philadelphia Considers Wireless Access For All

Yahoo! News: City officials believe they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the world's largest wireless Internet hot spot. The ambitious plan, now under discussion, would involve placing thousands of small transmitters around the city -- probably...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 10:50 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

July 8, 2004

The Chinese Century

Interesting tidbits from cover story of The New York Times Magazine cover story, The Chinese Century: Because 12 percent of China's exports to the U.S. end up on Wal-Mart's shelves, and because Wal-Mart's trade with China accounts for 1 percent...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 7:18 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 28, 2004

Real Estate Drive Coastal 'Brain Drain'

Yahoo! News: Soaring property values in California have made many homeowners there rich -- and many real estate agents here delighted. In an exodus that some demographers say could reshape the American landscape, young professional families are increasingly fleeing the...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 3:56 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 14, 2004

Blog Readers Defy Stereotypes

MediaDailyNews: Blog readers are just a bunch of kids with too many opinions, too little money, and too much time on their hands. Think again. According to a survey of blog readers conducted by Weblog ad network Blogads, they're older...

Posted by Jennifer King at 6:23 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 13, 2004

Microsoft's Cultural Revolution

Newsweek: But there are signs of change: from cars to couture, more Western companies are starting to crack the Chinese code. The outlook is improving for Microsoft as well, owing in part to a 180-degree shift in strategy. On several...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 12:16 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 12, 2004

An Oil Enigma: Production Falls Even as Reserves Rise

The New York Times: ChevronTexaco is not the only big oil company whose production is falling despite rising reserves, though it has the largest gap. As consumers, economists and governments around the world wonder if oil supplies can keep pace...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 11:20 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

May 27, 2004

Bagged Salads #1 In Grocery Stores

The Ledger (FL): Grocers hope to lure customers with exotic greens because they are trying to expand on the success of other bagged greens, according to research from AC Nielsen, an international market research company. Customers willing to pay more...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:41 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Asian Exporters Face Shortage of Cargo Ships, Containers

VOANews.com: Business is booming for Asia's exporters. That is good news for the world economy, but companies are facing a shortage of cargo ships and containers in Asia, and logjams on the docks in the United States. A line of...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:34 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

May 14, 2004

Terror Fears Push Oil Prices to New High

Yahoo! News: Oil prices soared to a record Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crossing $41 a barrel and settling at the highest point in the 21-year-history of crude futures trading in New York. June light, sweet crude oil...

Posted by Bob King at 4:55 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Shaking The Timbers Of The House Of Saud

Business Week Online: It is dawning on everyone who does business with the kingdom that the Saudi government is locked in a long, vicious struggle with Islamic militants that threatens to send wave after wave of jitters through the oil...

Posted by Bob King at 4:47 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

May 13, 2004

In Pacific, a Red Carpet for China's Rich Tourists

The New York Times: Within a few years, their number in Guam could match the number of Japanese tourists, Governor Camacho announced before setting off from this capital city. That would be a huge change; last year almost three-quarters of...

Posted by Bob King at 5:26 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

May 8, 2004

Teacher Pay for Performance

The New York Times: Under a proposal approved by teachers here and to be considered by voters next year, if Mr. Abshire's students reach the goals he sets, his salary will grow. But if his classroom becomes a mere holding...

Posted by Bob King at 4:53 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

May 3, 2004

Healthcare Cost Weigh On California

San Jose Mercury News: From care delivered through the mammoth Medi-Cal program to grants that subsidize university research, the burden of health care is woven into nearly every page of California's $99 billion budget. Last year, the state's medical bill...

Posted by Bob King at 8:34 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Companies Rush to Sell Low-Carb Products

Baltimore Sun: Take a piece of pita bread, a little tuna, some olives and capers and -- presto -- it's a low-carb "sort of Mediterranean" pizza. The impact of the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet and other low-carbohydrate eating...

Posted by Bob King at 5:07 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

April 30, 2004

Internet E-Commerce Poised To Remake Six Major Industries: Jewelry, Bill Payments, Telecom, Hotels, Real Estate & Software

Business Week Online: The Web is threatening to force down the prices charged by traditional players, squeeze their margins, and even put some out of business. New technology, new ways of doing business, and new approaches to cutting out the...

Posted by Bob King at 2:05 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

April 17, 2004

Now Can We Talk About Health Care?

The New York Times: Twenty-first-century problems, like genetic mapping, an aging population and globalization, are combining with old problems like skyrocketing costs and skyrocketing numbers of uninsured, to overwhelm the 20th-century system we have inherited. The way we finance care...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:58 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

April 14, 2004

California Import-Export Trade Could Triple by 2020

RE: San Francisco: The Bay Area has an opportunity to shape California's physical and economic landscape for decades to come. A report published this month by Jon D. Haveman and David Hummels called "California's Global Gateways: Trends and Issues'' outlines...

Posted by Jennifer King at 11:29 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

April 12, 2004

London Mansion Sells for $128 Million

Local6.com (London): An Indian steel tycoon paid $128 million for a mansion in the British capital, breaking the world record for the most expensive house purchase, according to a report. The Sunday Times said Lakshmi Mittal, named by Forbes magazine...

Posted by Bob King at 8:12 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

April 8, 2004

Oman's Oil Yield Long in Decline

The New York Times : The Royal Dutch/Shell Group's oil production in Oman has been declining for years, belying the company's optimistic reports and raising doubts about a vital question in the Middle East: whether new technology can extend the...

Posted by Jennifer King at 3:05 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

China Braces for Power Shortages

New York Times: China's galloping economic growth will continue to be dogged by widespread electricity shortages this year, a Chinese energy official has said. The deputy chairman of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Song Mi, told a meeting of electricity...

Posted by Bob King at 9:55 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

April 4, 2004

Finding Happiness by Trading Up

Boston.com: Consumers get emotional payoff from splurging Public-relations executive Kristin Dormeyer works hard for her extra cash, but some people might say she doesn't spend it wisely. She buys face cream that costs $50 for two ounces and splurges on...

Posted by Jennifer King at 5:34 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 28, 2004

Frequent Flyer Programs Now More Enticing

IndyStar.com Gary Steiger, an avid traveler and admitted cheapskate, has been scanning come-ons for free airline travel for a long time, and he can't believe his eyes. Free air miles for opening a bank or brokerage account. Earn 10,000 miles...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 2:50 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 24, 2004

Medicare Overseers Expect Soaring Costs

New York Times: Medicare's financial condition has significantly deteriorated, partly because of exploding health costs and partly because of the new Medicare law, the government reported on Tuesday. In its annual report to Congress, the Medicare board of trustees said...

Posted by Bob King at 9:02 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 17, 2004

Japanese Struggle To Control Yen

New York Times: Japanese financial authorities are waging a battle against what they see as one of the biggest threats to the nation's economic recovery - a rising yen. And while the effort seems to be working so far, analysts...

Posted by Bob King at 2:31 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 15, 2004

China's Silicon Valley Emerges

San Jose Mercury News: Intel's plant is the largest investment in the zone, a former patch of farmland where more than 5,000 multinationals have set up shop. But just down the road, China's own Silicon Valley is emerging. In a...

Posted by Bob King at 8:36 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 11, 2004

A Profound Change in the U.S. Economy?

Deleware New Journal: For months, economists have been reassuring Americans that the employment market drought would soon end. With corporate profits surging and economic indicators improving, they said, it wouldn't be long before there was a downpour of jobs. After...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 2:18 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 9, 2004

Lingering Job Insecurity of Silicon Valley

New York Times: For computer scientists and engineers, the 1990's were close to paradise - until the technology boom collapsed. But even as business has started to pick up again, the job market they operate in has become the toughest...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 7:11 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Healthcare Technology: Saves Lives, Busts Budgets

Forbes: The cost of saving lives from heart disease just went through the roof. At a meeting of cardiologists, doctors today presented results of a giant, 2,500-person government study showing that heart failure patients implanted with pricey cardiac defibrillators were...

Posted by Bob King at 11:04 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 8, 2004

The Growing Influence of Hispanics in U.S.

Business Week: It amounts to no less than a shift in the nation's center of gravity. Hispanics made up half of all new workers in the past decade, a trend that will lift them from roughly 12% of the workforce...

Posted by Bob King at 11:55 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

Saudis Strike Gas Deal With China, Russia

Energy companies from China and Russia will be the first foreign businesses to explore Saudi natural gas reserves in more than three decades.

Posted by Bob King at 9:11 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

Indian Outsourcers Move Up Value Chain

InfoWorld: Although some American executives have begun to express reservations about offshore outsourcing, confidence abounds here as Indian technology leaders see burgeoning demand for increasingly sophisticated services. "It's unlikely that anything can go wrong for the Indian outsourcing industry," said...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 7:15 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 4, 2004

Obese Women Earn 30% Less

Indiana Printing & Publishing: Being fat may hurt your income - if you're a highly educated woman. So says research from Finland that suggests weight is a pay barrier for certain women, but not for men. Obese women who are...

Posted by Bob King at 8:59 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 2, 2004

China Poses Big Economic Challenge

New York Times: The welcome that China is offering to multinational companies and foreign investment has left many Western business executives, so critical of a closed Japan more than a decade ago, enthusiastically embracing China, its cheap work force and...

Posted by Bob King at 8:39 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 28, 2004

Amory Lovins: Demand For Oil To Tumble

New York Times: Today's oil industry reminds Amory B. Lovins of the whaling industry of the 19th century. "When oil was discovered, the whalers ran out of markets before they ran out of whales," Mr. Lovins said. These days, opportunities...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 1:12 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 27, 2004

Technology Jobs Moving To Asia

Yahoo! News: Technology companies are seeing a rebound in business, but top executives this week said any jobs added to meet growing demand will likely be in countries where labor is cheaper than the United States. Executives speaking at the...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 12:39 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 24, 2004

China Now Driving Japanese Exports

The Herald (UK): The latest upturn in Japan's economic fortunes is once more export led, despite a currency that is 10% stronger today than it was a year ago. However, the primary driver behind today's soaring demand for Japanese goods...

Posted by Bob King at 2:17 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 23, 2004

Saudi Arabia Struggling To Meet Oil Demand

New York Times: When visitors tour the headquarters of Saudi Arabia's oil empire -- a sleek glass building rising from the desert in Dhahran near the Persian Gulf -- they are reminded of its mission in a film projected on...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 10:05 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Outsourcing Jobs To India: Meet The Zippies

New York Times (Op-Ed): "The Zippies Are Here," declared the Indian weekly magazine Outlook. Zippies are this huge cohort of Indian youth who are the first to come of age since India shifted away from socialism and dived headfirst into...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:03 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 22, 2004

The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare

Fortune.com by David Stipp : The climate could change radically, and fast. That would be the mother of all national security issues. Scientists generally refuse to say much about that, citing a data deficit. But recently, renowned Department of Defense...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 10:51 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 18, 2004

China Lifts Japanese Economy

New York Times: The Japanese economy grew at a robust 7 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter of 2003, the Cabinet Office reported. After weakness early in the year, the strong showing last quarter by Japan, the world's second-largest...

Posted by Bob King at 10:23 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 16, 2004

China Rethinks The Peg Tying Yuan and Dollar

WSJ.com (registration required): Pressures building within China's hard-charging economy are driving Beijing to re-examine the Chinese currency's iron-like tether to the U.S. dollar, with a loosening looking more and more like a matter of when, not if. The U.S., the...

Posted by Bob King at 12:41 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Russia's Health Care System Is Crumbling

Wall Street Journal (registraton required): The dire state of Russia's public-health system has helped create what President Vladimir Putin calls a national emergency: Every year nearly a million more Russians die than are born. Even with surging immigration, mostly from...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 12:21 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 15, 2004

Explosive PC Growth in China

Xinhuane (China): After a year of explosive growth in China, the world's number two personal computer maker Dell Inc. said Friday it hoped to triple its overall growth rate this year. The company may even be able to push its...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 10:47 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Insurers Push Doctors to Drop Older Patients

Beacon Journal: The insurance industry argues that rates are set to cover the cost of doing business. And in the case of nursing homes, the industry says that cost is increasing because of a rising number of lawsuits. Frank O'Neil,...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 10:31 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 12, 2004

Information Technology May Have Cured Low Service-Sector Productivity

New York Times: But the recent evidence compiled by Mr. Triplett and Mr. Bosworth shows that information technology may just be the cure for Baumol's disease. They found that from 1995 to 2001, labor productivity in services grew at a...

Posted by Bob King at 9:26 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 8, 2004

Europe Left Behind As U.S. Focuses on China

Guardian Unlimited (UK): The reason for the masterly inactivity has nothing to do with the increased strength of the financial markets vis-�vis central banks since the mid-1980s, and everything to do with the changing balance of power within the G7....

Posted by Bob King at 8:21 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

Upwardly Mobile India

Reuters: Dinkar Marla is just thirtysomething but he already has everything his father still dreams about: a house of his own, a snazzy car and a state-of-the art laptop. Though part of a very small slice of India, the upwardly...

Posted by Bob King at 7:07 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 6, 2004

Productivity Slows to 2.7%

New York Times: "We saw companies finally needing to increase the number of hours worked after cutting hours and workers through the prior three years," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Banc of America Investment Services in St. Louis. "This...

Posted by Bob King at 9:51 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 3, 2004

Boomers Bust Budget

San Francisco Chornicle: It's not so much the gaping $521 billion federal budget deficit forecast for 2004 by the Bush administration Monday that's got economists fretting about the nation's fiscal future. Nor is it the $2.4 trillion shortfall projected by...