Aug
2
Greece’s financial crisis precipitated by its entry into European Union
August 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The stumbling Euro, and the financial crisis in Greece has made the investors across the globe jittery and there have been protests against the government’s austerity programs and the protestors are now on the streets.
No one, even in his wildest imagination, must have foreseen what is happening in Greece today. Certainly not, when Greece pledged a financial overhaul, as it was eager to join the European Union, then called Euro zone. In more ways than one, this surely is a great Greek tragedy, whose cause can be traced to age old tradition of profligacy and over spending. Then there were the leaders of Greece who wanted integration of Greece into the European Union at any cost. Many say that this desire has spelt doom for Greece, and it is paying the price now.
Some say that the integration of Greece into EU before many other countries, who were richer and financially more disciplined, like Austria, Finland, Sweden, Spain and Portugal was very surprising indeed. Countries like France and Germany opposed the move at that time as they felt that Greece was just not ready for the integration. But those who were in favor of the move finally won, and their argument was that integration of Greece was the best possible means to modernize the fledgling democracy.
The then foreign minister of Greece, who fought hard for the integration of Greece into EU, Mr. Papantoniou now laments his zeal. He said, “ Now we are paying the price for the fact that we lived above our means, with amazing profligacy, and failed to reduce the role of the state.”
As the 16 member EU now prepares to chalk out strategy to bail out Greece from its financial mess, many are wishing that had Mr. Papantoniou lost his bet then, situation would have not been so grim as it is today.
During the first decade of its membership in the EU, no one foresaw anything wrong with its economic policies, and some even hailed Greece which was enjoying a 3% growth in GDP and also kept inflation under check.
Greek leaders of that time now recall that joining EU was a proud moment and it gave Greece a chance to be transformed from a third world country into one that wished to be as developed as Switzerland.
It was Germany, which sensed the problem with Greece first, and announced a series of tough measures for the members to remain in the EU.
Aug
2
Car makers across the country are unanimous that raising of ethanol blending in the fuel should be delayed until further testing of the vehicles. Currently, 10% Ethanola is mixed in the automotive fuel to allow more use of this bio fuel. Now the government is proposing to increase this to 15%, which the car makers are opposing. They are justifying their demand by giving data they have collected by testing the cars on 15% ethanol mixture. They say that half of the cars run on 15% mixture developed troubles, and the car engines became too hot.
Environmental Protection agency has been suggesting an increase in ethanol since last year. Ethanol industry is in favor of the new ruling as it says it will lessen the burden of importing oil from foreign countries. They say that the cars will have no problem in running on 15% ethanol mixture and this is just a ploy by the car manufacturers to hold on to their market share. Bob Dinneen, who is the president of the renewable fuels association, says that enough experimental runs have been conducted so far and they suggest that the cars run fine on 15% ethanol mixture as well.
Ethanol lobby is insisting on implementing the provision as the production of Ethanol has been increasing steadily and they want it all to be consumed in cars. Since there is disagreement between all three parties, representatives from all three will hold discussions in Washington on Wednesday to find a way out. Given the stance of the three, it is very unlikely that a consensus is going to emerge.
Oil companies, car makers and the ethanol producers are conducting tests in a joint fashion to see the effects of a 15% ethanol mixture on car engines.
General Motors spokesperson, on behalf of the grand alliance of the automobile manufacturers said that half of the engines that were tested on 15% ethanol mixture developed some kind of problem. According to him, more ethanol sends confusing signals to the car exhaust systems of the cars and thus car engines become too hot. This alliance wants the government to wait until 2011, until more testing is completed to see the effects of a 15% ethanol mixture on the cars.
Modern cars have an exhaust system that senses the fuel for oxygen. If more ethanol is added, it gets confused with the leaner fuel, as ethanol molecule contains one more oxygen atom, thus making the car engines too hot.
Aug
2
Antitrust enforcers interested in Apple’s activities
August 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Recent activities of Apple have attracted the attention of antitrust enforcers who are planning to go ahead and see if the business tactics adopted by Apple are restrictive or not. It is the licensing agreement Apple has made with its application developers that is the centre of attraction, and there is a clause which forbids the developers from using software tools of their own. Instead they are being asked to develop apps by using the software being supplied by Apple.
Adobe Systems Inc. is one of the software companies whose software cannot be used by the developers, and it has raised the issue with Apple. Apple’s smart phone has become a very powerful tool in mobile devices for computing and after PC’s; it is fast becoming the second choice of the masses.
Another activity, which has brought Apple under scanner, is its policy of forbidding apps from transmitting analytical data. This implies that ad networks would be prevented from placing ads, and this puts Apple’s new iAD mobile advertising service in an advantageous position.
Apple’s popularity is on the up, and the sale of iPAD has increased many times in the recent times. More than 85 million iPhones have been sold by Apple so far, and its spokesman said that Apple has sold more than a million iPads, the multimedia tablet PC’s, which were launched last month by the company.
Some critics, who are observing the situation closely, are of the view that Apple is engaging in those very practices which it once criticized when they were adopted by Microsoft in the 1990’s.
Justice department, and the antitrust enforcers are talking to each other on how to proceed and which agency should initiate the proceedings. The grounds of investigation are still unclear. May be the agencies and the regulators are busy documenting evidence against the company. Recently an executive of a wireless company confirmed that he was approached by an official of FTC who wished to be apprised of the procedures in the mobile ad industry and how it works. All this merely indicates that the investigators are preparing the ground for the action to be initiated against Apple.
Insiders say that Apple could try to circumvent the antitrust enforcers by changing the terms of agreement with the app developers. Some app developers say that it will be difficult for Apple to enforce the provisions about not transmitting iPhone data.
Jul
5
Find Relief from Hurricane Damages
July 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The way following which the globe has been managing to get blasted by the storms of late, one might have to do the task of reconsideration which it is that they need to save themselves and also their residences. One more thing to take into consideration is the hurricane shutters i.e. the shutters from the hurricane damage. For a pretty long period of time people are making use of the shutters as the means of preventing the weather out of your residence. This goes back to the time of the ancient Rome, the place where the shutters were utilized before the glass was placed in the windows with a view to keep the weather out f making damages. Currently, a lot of the shutters are made to use as the accessories or just as for decorations on a residence as opposed to being utilized for the protection purpose, but this trend might very well be changing. With the arrival of the good number of storms of late and the huge amount of the damage which they are causing one might be more strongly taking into consideration of purchasing and doing installation of this particular protection for their residence.
The Hurricane shutters are those shutters which are quite handy in regard to protecting your residence from a lot of the flying debris not just from a hurricane, but also from any sort of storm that pops up. These are fabricated with a view to save your windows in addition to your residence home from getting damaged by storm. One more item which one might wish considering would be the storm windows. In a lot of the residences, where there exists a single pane window might be having the option to install the storm windows which would offer them a 2nd layer of protection scheme.
So, you can find some bit of relief for yourself by using the hurricane damages.
Jun
21
In the past few years a lot of the investors, whether by the design or simply by mere accident , have had a lot of extraordinary gains as increasing number of the vacationers and the “baby boomers” gathered to the Costa Rica. Everyone is aware of the charming beauty of the land of Costa Rica and the affability of its people and owing to which people continue making revisits to the land of Costa Rica at an astonishing rate. People simply keep returning back, time and again!
However, let’s get to the present.
There are as many as 2500 unsold condominium units available in just Jaco Beach. There are a minimum of 25 development projects which are halted and closed simply owing to the lack of quality buyers and deficiency of cash flow. The realtors are opining that that they have never experienced it so bad and the buyers just are not even having a look at.
So, now the question arises how can the real estate be one of the investment opportunities in Costa Rica at present day?
The answer to this question is that , we require going to the inland, right to the Central Valley, on the fringes right to the nation’s capitol city, the San Jose, with a view to get a better view of the current status of the investments.
A lot of the baby boomers are simply not buying on the beach just because it is way too expensive for the majority of them and owing to warm and humid weather and also because of the deficiency of facilities. They are converting the inlands to the mountains that cover lower prices, better temperatures and a lot more amenities. You can have a better perspective if you pay a visit to the official investing website.
All of these summarizes that the baby boomers, for the coming years fundamentally contribute and, as a matter of fact, are going to be a massive factor, in the sector of supply and demand inequity for both the land and residences.
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