Archive for the 'Economy' Category

on China’s changing role in the world economy

Friday, April 9th, 2010

There are many who predict that the increasing economic and political power of Asia will make the 21st century the “Asian century”. Given that several forecasts about China’s economic development see China overtaking the U.S. as the world’s largest economy in terms of GDP well before mid-century, there is a chance that Asia’s leading economies could [...]

stronger U.S. dollar could undermine U.S. recovery

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The recent surge of the U.S. dollar against other major currencies - most notably the euro due to Greece’s financial woes - could potentially be severely damaging to the American economy.
The strengthening of the dollar is obviously not accompanied by a strenghtening of the overall economy. Unemployment is still at 9.7%, President Obama just recently proposed his $ [...]

Hummer doesn’t fit into China’s green strategy

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Just recently it became public that Chinese officials refused to authorize Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines of China to purchase Hummer from GM.
It is quite revealing to see how actively China is trying to become a leader in the green energy technology business. Tengzhong might have faced some difficulties and financial risks had the takeover [...]

tax increases or inflation: please choose one

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Huge budget deficits as we can see them in all major countries in the world these days appear to have become an issue that people worry about, but somehow have learnt to accept. Except for China whose deficit is only at 2.9% of its GDP according to The Business Times - a very moderate deficit given [...]

Survey Results

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

As part of the research for my research paper “On the Threshold to a New Energy Age“, I conducted a survey in order to find out how “prepared” people are for the transition to a new age of energy generation and use as well as to gather opinions on current trends in energy issues.
In the [...]

who can save us from climate disaster?

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Who can save us from climate disaster? Well, probably those whom you’d the least suspect to care about climate change.
Even if one in ten Americans turned into a tree-hugger, sold their car, moved downtown and commuted to work on a bicycle, that wouldn’t have any impressive, lasting impact on global emissions of greenhouse gases.
American oil consumption [...]

Twelve Years After Kyoto

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Can politicians lead a global transition to a low-carbon economy of the future? I have my doubts.
More than 12 years after the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol on December 11, 1997, no measures have been implemented to effectively reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases. Despite the perceptible surge of green enthusiasm among world leaders. It [...]

China: A developed, green economy by 2050?

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

I’m pretty sure that by mid-century, China will be a developed country with an efficient economy generating a huge share of its energy needs of renewable energy sources. That’s my prediction.
Next to China, there are two other prospective candidates: Indonesia and Brazil. These three countries are growing fast despite the aftermath of the Great Recession [...]

The True Cost of Oil

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Currently I’m working on a research paper with the title “On the Threshold to a New Energy Age - America’s shift towards renewable energy as a consequence of the energy crisis and climate change” and as part of my research, I conducted a poll to find out how prepared people are for the New Energy [...]

on the unequal consumption of oil & the resulting risks

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

According to the CIA World Factbook, the United States of America has a population of roughly 307.2 million. (July 2009 estimate) (1)
The total population of the world is estimated to be around 6.7 billion based on calculations of the World Bank. (data from 2008) (2)
This means Americans constitue 4.5% of the world’s population.
The U.S. Energy Information [...]