How Will The US Economy Recover?

You would probably have to have been living on a remote desert island for the better part of two years to not see any signs of the slowdown in the economy of the United States. Since August of 2007, the real estate market has been reeling from plummeting house prices, due primarily to increasing defaults on sub-prime mortgages. While these mortgages were issued to millions of borrowers with patchy or relatively poor credit ratings over the past several years, interest rates remained unusually low... Read more »

The Essential Guide to Green Cleaning: 5 Quick & Easy Ways

Say goodbye to toxic cleaning habits for good. Read on for 5 quick and easy ways to keep your home cleaner and greener. 1. Read your labels. Be wary of toxic ingredients. Chlorine, bleach, and ammonia are the obvious culprits, but don’t forget to check for diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). 2. Make your own cleaners. It can be difficult to find effective non-toxic cleaning products out there. Sometimes it’s easier (and more fun) just to... Read more »

A Look At New Zealand Emigration Levels

Emigration to New Zealand has become increasingly popular for Brits as they seek to start a new life in a fabulous country. Added to the willingness of Brits to undergo emigration, the New Zealand Immigration Service has gone through a period of attempting to attract the largest skills base possible to fill deficits in the New Zealand economy. This process can be deemed a success as recent emigration figures clearly show. The last batch of emigration figures illustrated the point that the efforts... Read more »

A Message Of Hope For The Financial Crisis

The bills lay piled on my desk. My upholstery job work orders lay in a small stack under the bills. No matter how much I calculated what I was bringing in, it did not cover what money needed to go out to cover my expenses. I just didn’t understand what I was doing wrong? I tithed, helped others all the time and yet here was the dismal truth, I didn’t have enough when extra expenses like house and car taxes and even insurance came due. I didn’t even have enough for my grandchildren’s... Read more »

American Empire Running on Gas Fumes

America and the American Empire were built on the back of cheap energy. Now that energy is not at all cheap the empire is running on gas fumes. The growth model has been broken, even if most Americas don’t yet realize it. Just think about how American developed as a nation. The concept of manifest destiny meant that we pushed ever westward, until America controlled all of the vast territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from sea to shining sea and beyond as we added Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto... Read more »

Commodities Stoke Inflation Fears

On April 30th, the Federal Reserve announced a cut in their main interest rate by 25 basis points, to 2% from 2.25%. This is the seventh such cut by the US central bank since the beginning of the credit crunch some eight months ago, totaling 3.25% in cuts to the key rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans. These cuts have been made in an attempt to lower mortgage rates to help bolster the real estate market. As the fragile US economy staggers towards recovery, two major agents are... Read more »

Sub-Prime Fallout: Why Such A Big Deal?

The recent sub-prime crisis is unlike any faced by the financial system before in one dubious distinction: Its effects are exacerbated by globalization to an unprecedented degree. Recent developments help illustrate exactly how this credit crunch can be differentiated from others, such as the savings and loan scandals of the 1980’s, by its fundamentally larger scale and complexity. To explain the sub-prime crisis adequately, first the causes must be clearly identified. Like the savings and... Read more »

Credit Crunch: Light at the End of the Tunnel

When thinking about the economic slowdown now gripping the United States, one might think of the naked emperor of yore, who could not realize his condition until told by a child. By the time analysts and the White House recognize the extent of the credit crisis, its effects will probably not be noticeable. So where are we now? Several times since last August’s signs of an imminent drop in growth, markets have rallied due to speculation that problems in the area of sub-prime mortgages have “bottomed... Read more »

The Process Of A Fire Risk Assessment

Today, with regulations enforcing evermore stringent safety measures concerned with fire, staying abreast of developments can be difficult. Of prime importance is to have a regular fire risk assessment to ensure hazards are kept to a minimum. The duty of a regular fire risk assessment lies firmly in the hands of the ‘responsible person’. It is this person’s job to ensure and manage any fire risks that may be present, either in a business or residential premises. Part of their work... Read more »

Ten Times Ten: What Future for Oil Prices?

Ten dollars a barrel. That was the price oil fell to in 1998, just 10 years ago. In 2008, oil has been nine times higher, around $90 a barrel, and briefly skirted with $100 a barrel just a few weeks ago. What was unimaginable 10 years ago has happened. How has it happened, and what does it tell us about the future? Financial crisis swept Asia and other parts of the world in 1998, bringing an end - as it turned out only temporarily - to a period of great economic expansion. Oil demand dropped precipitously... Read more »