How Many Hours of Work It Takes to Earn a Big Mac Around the World
"This is how you get a real decent measure of the standard of living in different countries." Continue reading →
Indian Food Inflation Is Getting Out Of Control
"Vegetable prices in India spiked 46.59% in July year over year, another ugly bullet point in the country's persistent struggle with massive food inflation. In particular, the onion — a staple vegetable whose rising prices have dogged ruling parties in the past — saw a particularly dramatic jump. India has already lost hundreds of billions of dollars due to inflation in the past few years. Of course, the country's poor population, which spends the lion's share of income on food, has been hit hardest. India's central bank has cut interest rates three times this year, but lowering it further could further crush the rupee and drive inflation higher, the Journal reported." Continue reading →
Repo Market Decline Raises Alarm as New Regulations Strain Debt
"The U.S. repurchase, or repo, market where banks and investors borrow and lend Treasuries and other fixed-income securities shrunk to $4.6 trillion daily outstanding last month, down 35 percent from 2008. Financial institutions are responding to more stringent capital standards imposed by regulators around the world. Already, the group of dealers and investors that advise the U.S. Treasury say that they see declines in liquidity in times of market stress, including wider gaps between bid and offer prices and the speed of completing trades. The potential consequences are higher borrowing costs for governments, companies and consumers." Continue reading →
Consumer demand for gold jumps 53%
"According to WGC there is renewed interest in gold due to its falling prices, which has brought total purchases of gold jewellery, bar and coins to 1,083.2 metric tons. Jewellery demand reached its highest level in 5 years, increasing by 37% to 576 tonnes. Chinese demand was up 54% compared to the same period last year, while India bought 51% more gold ornaments than in 2012. Bar and coin investment surged by a significant 78% across the world and topped 500 tonnes in a quarter for the first time. The WGC statistics come on the heels of India’s recent measures to curb gold purchases because it is the most costly non-essential item that the country imports." Continue reading →
Spain’s Central Bank Seeks Minimum Wage Suspension
"Spain's central bank called for a suspension of the minimum wage in selected cases, saying a year-old overhaul of labor laws had made the economy more competitive but failed to encourage hiring. The Bank of Spain's recommendation, though not binding on the conservative government, reflects growing concern among policy makers about the country's 27% unemployment rate. Many economists have called for offering lower wages to younger workers; more than half of the job seekers under age 25 are out of work. Germany's minijobs program pays workers up to €450 per month ($592), far less than Spain's legal minimum of €645." Continue reading →
Seattle $15/Hour Minimum Wage Being Pushed
"Washington already has the nation's highest state minimum wage at $9.19 an hour. Now, there's a push in Seattle, at least, to make it $15. That would mean fast food workers, retail clerks, baristas and other minimum wage workers would get what protesters demanded when they shut down a handful of city restaurants in May and others called for when they demonstrated nationwide in July. So far, the City Council and mayoral candidates have said they would consider it in the famously liberal city. One said, however, that it may not be soon." Continue reading →
King of My Castle? Yeah, Right
"The City by the Bay is going through one of its worst housing shortages in memory. With typical high demand intensified by a regional boom in tech jobs, apartment open houses are mob scenes of desperate applicants clutching their credit reports. The citywide median rental price for a one-bedroom is $2,764 a month, but jumps to $3,500 in trendy areas. One reason for the shortage? Me. I’ve recently joined the ranks of San Francisco landlords who have decided that it’s better to keep an apartment empty than to lease it to tenants. Together, we have left vacant about 10,600 rental units. That’s about five percent of the city’s total." Continue reading →
NYC goes Tokyo: Micro apartments proposed as solution to overcrowding
"Tiny — and affordable — modular living spaces could soon become the latest real estate craze in the highly crowded city of New York. Fifty-five micro apartments are being constructed in Manhattan to test whether New Yorkers are willing to follow the example of Tokyo and Mumbai. According to Bloomberg News, micro apartments at the new 'My Micro NY' building will be only 250 to 370 square feet. Rents will range from $939 to $1,873. Currently, the average monthly rent for a studio is more than $2,000." Continue reading →
Paris suburb to fight dog poop with closed-circuit television cameras
"A Paris suburb has come up with an innovative plan to fight a plague of dog droppings on local streets — catching offenders on closed-circuit television cameras. The commuter town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne southeast of Paris said Monday that municipal police would begin using a decade-old network of CCTV cameras to track down dog owners who don’t pick up their pets’ droppings. 'This will allow us to identify and seek out pet owners with no sense of civic duty and fine them' 35 euros ($47), town mayor Yves Jego told AFP. He said using the cameras against irresponsible dog owners was no different from filming traffic offenders." Continue reading →
San Francisco split by Silicon Valley’s wealth
"Heated bidding wars — especially in a half-mile radius of shuttle bus stops — have broken out, causing rents to soar, even double in some cases. Along shuttle routes, trendy new restaurants that serve high-end food and spirits have taken the place of corner stores and mom-and-pop businesses. Anti-Google graffiti has turned up here, and activists recently held a small anti-gentrification rally at which they smashed a Google bus piñata. Ted Gullicksen, executive director of the San Francisco Tenants Union, said he fears that the techies are permanently inheriting the city and won't pack up and leave as they did after the 2000 dot-com crash." Continue reading →
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