http://www.aacb.com/A & A - Economic Digest - A & A Contract Customs Brokers LtdBringing Cross-Border Opportunities to You. Business Without Borders.en-usafan@aacb.com© 2005 A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd.Tue, 13 May 2008 14:42:09 PDThttp://www.aacb.com/images/PoweredByAA.gifhttp://www.aacb.comA & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd.15546Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=138Economic Digesthttp://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=138Economic Digest CONTROLNext year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to control individual thermostats, send...
GEOLOGYMajor Canadian mining companies are paying geology grads 44 per cent more than three years ago giving them higher salar...
WEALTHRussia now has 101 billionaires, the most in the world after the U.S., which has 415. Germany is third with 60. Bountifu...
ACCESSMobile phone coverage is now available along the entire climbing route of Mount Everest. Yaks and porters were used to t...
SIZESome of the new megayachts are so big that they have to dock in commercial ports. The growth in the number and size of y...
IMMIGRANTSA record 429,649 foreigners came to live in Canada last year, many of them needed to address Canada's labour shortages. ...
ASTROTURFINGThis is an umbrella term for any sort of fraudulent message masquerading as grass-roots word of mouth. It comes alongsid...
MAMMALSOf all the mammal species that have become extinct in the past 200 years, nearly half are Australian. Since the country ...
OILBritain was once the sixth-biggest producer of oil and gas but her share of the North Sea is now in decline. Production ...
TECHNOLOGYWhen the United Nations imposed a ban on trade in Liberia's logs in 2003, Liberia was synonymous with uncontrolled and e...
EXPENSIVEA recent survey by economists lists Oslo, London and Copenhagen as the three most costly cities in Europe and Dublin is ...
VALUEThe share price of two shipping companies in Hong Kong have increased fivefold in the last two years. Meanwhile staggeri...
INVENTIONSJapanese scientists recently unveiled an invention, code named Smart Goggle, which not only records what the wearer of a...
COUPONSValpac, a company formed in 1967, invented the concept of its trademark blue coupon-stuffed envelopes sent to 45-million...
BUTCHERSA meat industry spokesperson in Britain recently claimed that high street butchers shops are closing at a rate of 23 a m...
CONCRETEOne of the most common building materials in the world today is concrete. However, it is one of the major sources of car...
SHOPPINGThe Nielsen Co. reports that U.S. consumers are making fewer shopping trips across most retail outlets as they look for ...
TRAINSTravellers are increasingly using trains to get around Europe. High-speed rail operators are ambitiously adding routes a...
TRAVELThe Commerce Department recently announced that America ran a US$17.8-billion travel surplus in 2007, more than double t...
FAKESOnly three 1967 P4 Ferraris were ever built and now each is worth in the millions. Recently one turned up that proved to...
PETSAmong the affluent in China, keeping pets has become the rage, even though some Chinese still consume dog and cat meat. ...
BRIDGESChina has revived a plan to build an 18-mile bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland. Officials will seek priv...
DOOMSDAYPlans are being made to erect a "doomsday arc" on the moon containing DNA, embryos and all the essentials of life and ci...
ROMANCEIt seemed romantic when the man in England had the florist put the $12,000 engagement ring in the helium balloon for him...
]]>Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=137Economic Digesthttp://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=137Economic Digest ROSESAfter a tentative start in the 1980s, the cut flower industry has become Kenya's third-largest foreign currency earner. ...
SPACEAmsterdam is going underground as overcrowding and soaring land prices force planners to look beneath the city's famous ...
REPAIRSTwo groups, one in the US and one in the UK, are trying to create composite materials such as reinforced plastics that w...
COINSThe U.S. Mint plans to use less copper and nickel, but more zinc as it increases penny production and cuts back on nicke...
COPYRIGHTThe European Union is seeking to extend copyright protections for performing artists to 95 years, instead of the current...
CROPSAccording to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over the past century, about 75 per cent of the world's crop v...
TEAThe American specialty tea market has almost quadrupled in 15 years and is now worth around US$6.8-billion a year. Ameri...
WINDOverturning all previous records, the U.S. wind energy industry installed 5,244 megawatts of power in 2007 which will po...
PHONESThis year, the number of cellphone users will overtake the number of non-users for the first time. Ownership rates in de...
SANDScientists are trying to find out how dust is affecting marine biology and, in turn, the ocean's ability to soak up the ...
ITCHINGDesigners have developed pyjamas that regulate body temperature, stop itching and ensure a good night's sleep, it is cla...
FLIGHTSA quarter of domestic flights in the U.S. failed to arrive on time in 2007, the industry's second poorest performance on...
COALFlooding in Australia, snow in China and power outages in South Africa have put a massive crimp in the world's coal supp...
ONIONSA tear-free onion that should be tastier and healthier has been created by using genetic tinkering to turn off the enzym...
GOLDSky-high gold prices did little to curb demand for jewellery in India, China and some other Asian countries in 2007. Gol...
CARGOA cargo train arrived in Hamburg recently on a trial run from Beijing after making the trans-Siberian journey in 15 days...
BEACHESGrain by grain, Miami Beach is losing the fine, bone-white sand that draws five million tourists a year and pumps US$8-b...
WATERChina is planning to divert billions of gallons of water hundreds of miles from drought-stricken regions to feed Olympic...
TIMESHARESThe slump in the American real estate market has made things harder for those trying to sell timeshares, though resale p...
TRENDSAs part of a turnaround plan, the coffee giant Starbucks has announced that it will discontinue warm breakfast sandwiche...
BOOKSMore books are sold on the Internet than any other product, and the number is increasing. A recent survey of 26,312 peop...
FARMINGThe world is set to see the first vertical farm which is going to be developed in Las Vegas. The 30-storey project is de...
BISONPushed close to extinction as the Prairies were ploughed, bison are increasingly find a home on Canadian farms. Between ...
LOOTAn international criminal gang have set their sights on stealing a new type of loot that is making them millions, top-of...
]]>Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=136Economic Digesthttp://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=136Economic Digest TOURISMCanada is threatening to haul China before the WTO for discriminating against Canada by refusing to negotiate a tourism ...
BUMBERSHOOTThis is another name for an umbrella. A new one should be able to tell Americans when to prepare for rain. The device tr...
SIZEPanasonic recently introduced the "life screen," a TV set with a screen six feet high and 11 feet long. It enables view...
TAXESA new theory hypothesizes that high taxes, not incomes, redistributes people. As proof it is noted that New York State, ...
PIPELINEThe new 1,200 kilometre pipeline being constructed between Vyborg, Russia under the Baltic Sea to Greifswald in Northern...
TALENTLast November, the International Baccalaureate exam, one of the world's most challenging tests of academic proficiency, ...
TASTEMarmalade companies in the U.K are to launch a new form of the orange spread to appeal to youngsters in the hope of halt...
DISASTERSFrom winter storms in Europe, flooding in Britain and wildfires in the U.S., losses to natural disasters nearly doubled ...
VEHICLESGM executives claim that cars that drive themselves, even parking at their destination, could be ready for sale within a...
ELEVATORSMitsubishi in Japan has opened the world's tallest elevator testing tower, a 173 metre-high structure. It is worth US$50...
LIGHTSA new type of super-efficient household light bulb is being developed which could spell the end of regular bulbs. Expert...
JOBSAccording to analysis of U.S. Labour Statistics, department stores have slashed 247,100 jobs since 2001. Economists beli...
TRENDSThe number of Christmas cards sold in Britain has dropped by 20 million in the past two years. The fall has been blamed ...
PLASTICChina is declaring war on "white pollution" choking its cities, farms and waterways and is banning free plastic shopping...
KNIVESThe iconic Swiss Army Knife fell out of favour when airlines banned pocket knives and mobile phones and MP3 players vied...
WINEEuropean governments are to pay wine makers to tear out 175,000 hectares of vines yielding low-quality grapes and put qu...
MAINTENANCEThe value of the global industry for aircraft maintenance and overhaul (MRO) in 2007 was US$41-million. 37 per cent of t...
ADVERTISINGEleven leading companies in the European food and beverage industry have voluntarily agreed to change their policies on ...
AFRICAA 14-teraflop Blue Gene supercomputer capable of making 14-trillion floating point calculations per second and worth abo...
HEALTHWalt Disney Co., which claims to employ more people in one place than any other company in the U.S., has announced plans...
EATINGRestaurant industry sales in the U.S. are expected to reach $558-billion in 2008. The industry is entering its 17th cons...
FUNDSSaudi Arabia plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund that is expected to dwarf Abu Dhabi's US$900-billion and become ...
COMPETITIONTesco is Britain's biggest supermarket group and the world's third largest retailer. The company now intends to build 50...
HAMPure Iberian ham is one of Spain's most famous and possibly its most expensive export. It can cost up to US$2,000 for a ...
RECYCLINGMourners shivering in a chapel in the U.K. are to be kept warm by using heat generated from cremating their loved ones. ...
]]>Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=134Economic Digesthttp://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=134Economic Digest SOFTWARESales of software for the retail industry in the U.S. could hit US$10.4-billion by 2011, growing at an average rate of 7...
POCKETSIncreasingly, it is getting harder for men to buy shirts with pockets. Tailors say such a luxury ruins the lines of a sh...
TIPSMagellan's, which sells a wide range of products for travellers has compiled a list that shows the going tipping rates f...
SATISFACTION In past years, retailers have attempted to level the playing field in a competitive environment through better managem...
WINE Last year was a record year for Australian wine exports which were up nine per cent over the previous 12-month period b...
SOUND Canada's sound recording and music publishing industry turned a relatively healthy profit in 2005 despite the worldwide...
TEA A revolution is brewing in the U.K which could spell the end of the paper teabag. Supermarkets have begun stocking teab...
HIGH FASHION Retailers and brands are increasingly relying on the Internet to market $3,000 skirts and $5,000 suits to consumers who...
PAY Though a small minority in corporate boardrooms in the U.S., women directors typically earn more than men. Last year, f...
SIZE The US$800-million Independence of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship and would have dwarfed the Titanic. It h...
ACCESS About one third (an estimated 8.2 million) of adult Canadians accessed government information and services in 2005, mak...
JAPAN Hitachi has already stopped making PCs for individual consumers but will still make some for corporate customers. Consu...
DESSERT New research shows that virtually everyone enjoys dessert from time to time. In a recent survey, the vast majority, 85...
SPAM The U.S. relays more spam to the world's inbox than any other country. Despite the CAN-SPAM Act, nearly 30 per cent of ...
GREEN An innovative project is being tried out in South Africa. Four pairs of solar-powered traffic lights have been installe...
ENERGY Energy drinks are benefiting from burgeoning sales in the noncarbonated category. Sales are expected to grow at a yearl...
GROWTH Concerned about high fuel costs and the impact of a slowing economy, several big U.S. airlines are putting the brakes o...
PHONES After 129 years, AT&T Inc. plans to leave the pay phone business as more people use wireless handsets to make calls. Th...
MARKETS India and China are the twin titans of the developing world. With a combined population of 2.4 billion, they have more ...
TECHNOLOGY A self-tuning guitar said to be the first that uses robot technology, has been launched. The US$2,500 Gibson Robot is a...
BALLOONS Helium is the talk of the party-balloon industry nowadays. The second-most plentiful element in the universe is suddenl...
MISSING The missing section of a 17th century cabinet worth over C$2-million has been found outside the toilets of a pizza rest...
ASSETS Canada's national wealth in fixed assets, as measured by the total value of all its non-residential buildings, engineer...
RESORTS Europe is to get its own version of Las Vegas in a desert region of eastern Spain. Developers plan to build 32 hotel-ca...
CHEERS To prepare for the Olympics, authorities in Beijing have launched a campaign to teach residents how to cheer in a disci...
]]>Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=133Economic Digesthttp://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=133Economic Digest FedexThere can be as many as 280 Fedex planes in the air at any time. The company has 670 planes making it the second-largest...
EatingCasual dining chains in the US have been having problems lately with sales softening as cash-strapped customers trade do...
DisparityOf the 57,095 people in Canada in 2001 who held a doctorate in either science or engineering, some 45,670, or nearly 80 ...
ConvenienceThe Kaneko Sangyo Co. of Japan has developed a new portable toilet for cars. It comes with a curtain large enough to con...
SizeIn its first commercial flight, the A380 airbus recently touched down in Changi Airport in Singapore. The upgrades to Ch...
eBayThe world's largest online auctioneer has launched a website that allows people to invest in loans that lift people out ...
GMRecent figures show that the area planted to genetically modified crops in England has grown by 77 per cent since last y...
BeerChina has the world's largest thirst for beer, comfortably outstripping the U.S. which is in second place. China consume...
MoneyThe UN's Fund for Agricultural Development estimates that over 150 million migrants send $301 billion to their families ...
IncomeWages in China's cities rose by nearly 20 per cent in 2007, adding to fears that the economy is overheating. According t...
TeachingSome 4,000 foreign teachers in Japan are without jobs and are owed significant back pay as Japan's largest school chain,...
GreenYour "carbon footprint" is a rough calculation of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, either directly or indirectly...
InkScientists have developed printer ink that vanishes after 24 hours. When a document is printed on reusable paper, the te...
GivingCanadian taxfilers reported making charitable donations totalling C$8.5-billion in 2006, up 8.3 per cent over 2005. The ...
WarA report on armed conflict in Africa has shown that the cost to the continent's development over a fifteen year period w...
HalloweenThis past holiday season saw retailers in the US sell more than US$2.1-billion worth of candy. Chocolate and non-chocola...
ResourcesThe characterization of Canada's resources sector as "hewers of wood and drawers of water" is outdated. The economy has ...
WealthChina's booming stock markets are creating a new elite class of the superrich giving the country more billionaires than ...
CoffeeSales of organic coffee are growing rapidly. US retail sales of organic coffee in 2006 increased 24 per cent to US$110-m...
LossMotorists are being forced to spend as much as $700 on replacement car keys because of increasingly sophisticated alarm ...
PhonesSixty three per cent of 1,531 Canadians polled in a recent survey say they will register with a Do Not Call registry whe...
SiberiaRussia is forging ahead with ambitious energy projects. Work has now begun on a 4,130km oil pipeline, the longest in the...
BookingsUS travel produced double digit sales growth in 2006 but unlike other major e-commerce markets this one actually lost cu...
DistributoinCanada's film and video distributors reported revenues of C$1.7-billion in 2005, down 8.2 per cent from 2004, mainly as ...
WafersIBM Corp. has developed a silicon wafer recycling system that may help ease the refined silicon shortage that has limite...
SavingsThe Sicilian town of Castelbuono has replaced its garbage trucks with donkeys and claims to be saving money as well as h...
]]>Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=132Economic Digesthttp://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=132Economic Digest SCOTCHSoaring sales in the Far East and emerging markets worldwide have led to an unprecedented boom in the Scotch whisky indu...
CARSThe average midsized sports utility vehicle has grown 25cm longer, 10cm in width and gained 215 kilograms weight in the ...
EMISSIONSCement is a vary basic material with no obvious substitutes in terms of satisfying basic needs of housing and infrastruc...
RECRUITINGThe British spy agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) which is responsible for surveillance, hopes to att...
DIGITALThe U.S. Library of Congress has announced a plan to digitalize a collection of the world's rare cultural materials, art...
WEDDINGSIn 1998, the last year for which Statistics Canada numbers could be found, Canada's wedding industry was worth an estima...
WASTEThe paperless office, predicted in an 1975 article called the Office of the Future, has proven to be greatly exaggerated...
RETAILA new PricewaterhouseCoopers study suggests that the retail industry will become more segmented and customer-driven by t...
RADIOU.S. scientists have unveiled a detector thousands of times smaller than the diameter of a human hair that can translate...
VIETNAMGrowth in Vietnamese shipments to the U.S. is outpacing overall export growth for the Asian nation, whose government is ...
GAMINGCanada's video games firms have developed an international reputation for being among the best and most innovative devel...
INDIAThe retail sector in India has sales of US$300-billion annually which is projected to rise to $560-billion by 2010. Some...
TOYSThere are over 200 companies in Canada that manufacture toys and games. Annual retail sales of toys and games in Canada ...
HOTELSThe most expensive five-star hotel rooms in the world may be found in New York, San Francisco and Nice. The cheapest are...
COTTONThe US could face billions of dollars in trade sanctions for failing to scrap illegal subsidies paid to American cotton ...
SIZEPetroChina Co gained the most in five months in Hong Kong trading as oil rose to over $85 a barrel, vaulting the state-o...
DEVELOPMENTThe Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have the most effective policies to help poor countries according to a Washi...
RAILCanada's railways collectively operate one of the largest railway systems in the world and are fully integrated with the...
MAFIARevenue from organized crime amounts to an estimated US$127-billion annually in Italy, making it the largest segment of ...
BEERTrouble is predicted for small beer makers across North America as the price of hops and barley, two of the essential in...
CANSThe American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), in cooperation with a major supermarket chain, have rolled out a campaign ...
TECHNOLOGYWhen the northern pygmies of Congo-Brazzaville go into the forest these days, besides their traditional bows and arrows,...
OUTSOURCINGSmarties, the famous British candy, is to be produced in Germany after 70 years in England. Also, Black Magic is now man...
SAFETYAn endangered species of whale is to get extra protection after a safe haven from shipping has been set aside off Nova S...
COALThe coal that has powered China's economic growth is also choking its people. The country is home to 16 of the world's ...
SUNSCREENNew research shows that broccoli juice is better than conventional sunscreens when it comes to protecting against the su...
]]>Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=131 http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=131  LINGERIEThe first Russian retailer has just opened in Britain. Russia's biggest lingerie retailer, the Wild Orchid group, is try...
ENERGYThe sun remains largely untapped as a source of energy. The world's biggest solar farm, where more than 400,000 mirrors ...
TRENDSDespite the notion that bank machines and the Internet will replace the teller and the local bank branch, one Canadian b...
AIRLINESA recent forecast states that the international airline sector could post a US$5.6-billion profit this year, finally rec...
MARKETSChina has now firmly eclipsed Canada as the No.1 seller of goods to the U.S., a shift in trade that reflects the Asian c...
QUITTINGAn international survey of more than 82,000 people in 11 countries sugggests that Canadians are more daring than workers...
DRESSBusiness casual is here to stay according to a survey of 1,182 executives in New York and London making more than $100,0...
LANDThe European Union has unveiled plans to make more land available for farming in a bid to curb soaring prices of cereal...
ENVIRONMENTChina's environmental problems are mounting. Water pollution and water scarcity are burdening the economy, rising levels...
GOVERNORSThe highest pay for a governor in the U.S. is $206,500 (Governor Schwarzenegger turns his salary back). The lowest guber...
GROOMINGIn a society obsessed with beauty and celebrity, two-thirds of U.S. consumers agree that the pressure to look good is mu...
FREEDOMThe Fraser Institute, a Canadian think-tank publishes a list annually of countries according to how much they encourage ...
GUMEasy-to-remove chewing gum is to become a reality, thanks to a breakthrough by scientists at a British university that c...
ACCESSDespite the potential of the Internet as a tool to overcome distance, living in rural and small town Canada continues to...
MIGRATIONThe godwit is a small bird that has been shown to make the longest non-stop migratory flight in the world. Recently, a s...
POWERFuel derived from cotton and a shrub said to relieve constipation could soon power mobile networks across India. The cro...
HEALTHAccording to a new survey of 2,000 U.S. companies, health care insurance costs have jumped 6.1 per cent this year, the s...
METRICEurope's Industry Commissioner is ending the decades-old battle to get Britain to ban using imperial measurements such a...
SERVICESStatistics canada reports that in 2006, Canada's services trade deficit increased by C$3.0-billion to reach $15.2-billio...
SIZEThe world's largest casino recently opened in Macau. Costing US$2.4--billion, more than Macau's entire public works budg...
SMILEThe Cyper-shot T is a new compact camera from Sony that is said to automatically weed out pictures where a person isn't ...
PROTECTIONBritish police are testing a DNA for property aimed at tackling burglars. Homes are being given enigmaTag, a system that...
HEADACHESA new global health survey of 26,486 Internet users around the world by the Nielson Co indicates that headaches, colds, ...
PORTSAustralia, the world's biggest exporter of coal, risks losing as much as C$7-billion in export revenue in the next decad...
ROADSBangladesh and Burma have signed a deal to construct the first major road between the two countries. Officials hope that...
TVAn Austrian TV channel in Salzburg is screening The Sound of Music non-stop 24 hours a day. The film was shot in Austria...
]]>Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=130 http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=130  SIZEHouses in the U.S. keep growing. One in five American homes had at least four bedrooms in 2005, up from one in six in 19...
TUNGSTENCanada's planned ban on incandescent light bulbs will have no impact on Canada's resurgent tungsten mining business, exp...
WINEConsumer tastes for wine are becoming more upscale in the U.S. driving sales of premium-priced rose wines up 45 per cent...
COINSBecause of a surge in the price of copper, the U.S. Mint decided 25 years ago to manufacture the U.S. penny almost entir...
CAMPIn a country where credit is king, this summer, U.S. parents have been sending their kids to "money camps" designed to t...
SUDSU.S. soap and detergent makers say they are being hurt by a double whammy of federal subsidies and mandates that has red...
TOYSIndia is struggling to prevent millions of condoms from being made into toys or sold as balloons. The contraceptives wer...
DATAThe UK National Archives is warning that there is a growing problem of accessing old digital file formats which it descr...
CITIESMost of humanity will be living in cities by next year, raising the threat of increased poverty and religious extremism ...
READINGBritons, particularly women, are spending more time reading than 30 years ago. The average time women spent reading a bo...
INDIAPart of India's economic boom has been the growing emancipation of women. This trend is being watched carefully by India...
LANDSome charities are attacking the drive to grow more biofuels which are being heavily promoted by the U.S. and Europe as ...
POST-PRODUCTIONTotal revenues in the Canadian film, television and video post-production has been increasing, but a large increase in e...
MACHINESWhen the first cash machine appeared at a bank in the UK in 1967, plastic cards had not been invented. so the machine us...
FUELU.S. scientists say that the sugar found in fruit such as apples and oranges can be converted into a new type of low-car...
GIVINGAmericans set a new record for charitable giving in 2006, donating nearly US$300-billion for a one per cent increase ove...
AFRICAThere is more trade going on today between China and Africa than ever before. In the late 1980s, trade between the count...
LOCALFood safety issues and America's growing health and wellness segment are two key factors driving a surge in locally grow...
RAILWAYSNobody likes the rising price of oil better than the U.S. railroads. As the cost of crude soars, rail is gaining a compe...
SERVICETime-starved shoppers are more likely to patronize retailers that enable them to take care of their own business through...
KRILLA food oil is being manufactured from Antarctic krill, a species of tiny shrimp-like zooplankton that thrive in the Anta...
POWERChina is now building two power stations every week. and a Dutch think tank reports that China has now overtaken the U.S...
SOAPA team of U.S. scientists has conducted the first known comprehensive analysis of whether anti-bacterial soap works bett...
GROWTHSince the inception of the Web, online commerce has enjoyed hypergrowth with annual overall sales increasing more than 2...
HOURSOne in five, or more than 600-million people worldwide work excessively long hours with Peruvians topping the list and B...
GAMBLINGCanadians gambled away C$14.5-billion last year playing slot machines, buying lottery tickets and betting at the racetra...
]]>Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=129 http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=129  LOCATIONA new emerging-markets index says that the most attractive location for manufacturing is now Vietnam, not China. Also, t...
ELECTRONICSThe growing popularity of hi-tech devices in the UK, such as flat-screen TVs and digital radios is threatening to underm...
OILA U.S. based company has developed a way to turn oil-based plastics back into the oil from which they were made. By zapp...
PLANESThe chairman of Emirates Airlines has grand ambitions and a bankroll to match. He has US $82-billion from his government...
INDIAIndian software and services exports are expected to earn about US$40-billion in the year to March 2008. It is estimated...
SHIPSBritain's merchant navy once ruled the waves. Since 1975, the number of UK-owned and registered vessels with a capacity ...
IMPORTSAccording to Statistics Canada, the top foods in volume Canada imported from China in 2006 in millions of kilograms were...
TRAVELThe U.S. has lost billions of dollars and an immeasurable amount of good will since the September 2001 terrorist attacks...
COPPERSouth African copper exports are booming but there is little rejoicing. The trade is being fuelled by theft of copper ca...
CORNU.S. farmers planted 92.9 million acres of corn in 2007, the largest amount of acreage since 1944 and 19 per cent more t...
TRADEThe U.S. and South Korea have signed a free trade agreement, the biggest such deal for the U.S. in 15 years, though it i...
VENDINGTwo Scottish entrepreneurs have come up with an invention that battles the humidity to keep hair straight during a night...
GREENAs part of an eco-initiative by one of Britain's largest retailers, they are now selling trousers made from 14 mineral w...
COMMUTINGSeventy-seven per cent of workers in the U.S., more than 102-million people, drive alone to and from work, up from 1990....
BRANDINGThe Canadian Brand Index ranks the country's most recognizable brands by total value and overall strength. Topping the l...
TEENSThe market for products bought by and for the 25.6-million-member teen market in the U.S. will experience a growth spurt...
POTASHGlobal interest in biofuels has helped push prices for potash, a mineral-based fertilizer to record levels and those pri...
SEAFOODOverall seafood consumption in the U.S. was 16.5 pounds per person last year, up from 16.2 pounds in 2005 and 14.8 pound...
TEAThe hottest investment in China today is in the shape of a small, compressed cake that smells earthy and is wrapped in p...
MATCHBOXThese miniature die-cast toys were a favourite of children in the 1950s and 1960s. The range of toys that flowed from it...
DOWNLOADSSales of CDs in the UK fell by 10 per cent in the first half of the year. The decline was much greater in the U.S., the ...
VACCINESThe dream of cheap, easy-to-store, needle-free vaccines is now closer to reality. Japanese researchers have created a st...
TRENDSLondon is to rip out more than 2,000 coin parking machines, as with rates of nearly $10.00 an hour, it is unreasonable t...
SPICESEmerging ethnic cuisines are giving Americans a taste for bold spices from all over the globe. Spices are finding their ...
SPORRANSBecause of new EU regulations brought in to protect wild animals, anyone who has bought a sporran since 1994 may have to...
]]>Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=127 http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=127  POLLUTINGNew research shows that computers generate an estimated 35 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Globally the IT ind...
WATERThe fastest growing bottled water brands are flavoured and enhanced waters, waters with a splash of fruit or vitamins or...
FRAUDThe online auction giant eBay is trying to clean up its site. It recently announced a significant shift in its philosoph...
SAUCEIt was invented by the British from an Indian recipe over 175 years ago and has been exported across the world as a vita...
COGNACThe cognac industry of south-west France is reporting record exports, thanks to an explosion of sales to Russia and Chin...
PIZZAIt is estimated that the pizza quick-service restaurant (QSR) segment in Canada generated sales in 2005 of about C$2.5-b...
SEEDSScientists are worried that many plant species will not be able to adjust to climate change. With more than 100 partner...
STRESSMainland Chinese business leaders are the most stressed in the world, with 84 per cent reporting an increase in stress l...
COWSIt may soon be possible to produce skimmed milk straight from the cow in a development that could revolutionize the dair...
TOYSThe Chinese consumer watchdog has warned that more than 20 per cent of Chinese-made toys and baby clothes are below stan...
CHEMICALSLegislation requiring the safety testing of tens of thousands of chemicals, many in everyday use, has come into effect i...
ARTSotheby's set a record total for a contemporary art auction raising US$255-million in one night earlier this year, inclu...
EXPENDITUREThe U.S. Food Marketing Institute is always interested in how shoppers spend their money. Their research shows that on a...
REAL ESTATEA 1,400 sq. ft., one -bedroom apartment in Eaton Place, London, one of the most desirable addresses in the world, which ...
AGINGWomen looking for more natural alternatives are driving makeup sales in the U.S. which hit $6-billion in 2006. Recently,...
OFFENSECivic officials in the Devon, UK, community of Totnes are considering re-covering all their furniture with plastic inste...
SCRAPBOOKSA scrapbook is essentially a photograph album with decorations. Ribbons, stickers and stamps are the basic kit in the sc...
DEMANDA growing demand for energy, coupled with an increase in prices, has led to consistent growth in Canada's oil and gas se...
GRAFFITIIn the U.S., the cleaning up of graffiti is estimated to cost about $10-billion a year. Now, a new hi-tech system is bei...
BAROMETERSBritain's traditional barometer makers and restorers are facing closure after the EU voted to uphold a ban on the use of...
TECHNOLOGYEight gigabytes of data are produced after each race by one Formula One team. Each F1 car contains a minimum of 120 sens...
PATENTSThe U.S. government wants to overhaul the U.S. patent system by requiring better information from inventors and allowing...
TRADECanada recently signed its first free trade deal in six years. A number of other bilateral deals are in the works. The n...
LOANSMore than 100,000 people in rural India have benefitted from a innovative loan scheme that helps families buy home solar...
ASPARAGUSA new variety of purple asparagus that is so tender that it can be eaten raw without getting stuck in your teeth has bee...
INSPECTIONSLast year, Food and Drug Administration officers in the U.S. sampled just 20,662 shipments out of more than 8.9 million ...
QUALIFICATIONSA Chinese court has jailed two officials who allowed a blind contractor to build a bridge which collapsed during constru...
]]>Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=126 http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=126  ILLEGALSEuropean businesses caught employing illegal immigrants face jail sentences under new proposals from the EU to control i...
MANUALSLuxury-car makers are bulking up the guides that motorist are supposed to check if they wish to understand their new veh...
UNIVERSITIESUnless they improve quality and access, British, French and German universities will be overtaken by those in China and ...
OILThe U.S., the world's largest oil consumer, imports 60 per cent of the oil it consumes, over 95 per cent of which arrive...
SERVICESAccording to the World Trade Organization, trade in commercial services, measured by adding up exports, rose by 11 per c...
ONLINEConsumers in the U.S. spent more money online for clothes than computers last year, the first time this has happened. A ...
SKILLSA girl's school in Japan is refusing entry to students who are not expert with chopsticks. Entrants must be able to tran...
TANKERSThe size and the strength of the global tanker fleet have increased markedly over the last two decades. From 1980 to 200...
FACTFilling the 25-gallon tank of an SUV with pure ethanol requires over 450 pounds of corn, which contains enough calories ...
TRAININGThe Conference Board of Canada reports that Canadian organizations spend an average of around C$850 per employee on trai...
ANTARCTICAn extraordinarily diverse array of marine life has recently been discovered in the deep, dark waters around Antarctica,...
WOMENThe popularity of chick lit and chick flicks--books and movies aimed at women, may have spawned the marketing world's la...
ITCanadian companies plan to boost their spending on information technology by 5.5 per cent this year to C$86.6-billion, l...
WINESSix American, Australian and European wine regions have joined forces in a growing U.S.-based movement to prevent wine m...
FAKEAfter tainted Chinese pet food ingredients killed and sickened thousands of dogs and cats in the U.S., China is facing g...
LIBRARIESThe Library of Congress of the U.S. in Washington has almost twice as many volumes (29.6-million) as any other library, ...
ENERGYThe Altamont Pass in California is one of the largest wind-generating areas in the U.S. Oakland leads the country in usi...
INDIAThis country currently has 8 per cent growth and a billion-person potential. Experts are assuming an average annual grow...
FLIGHTSThe New Scientist reports that between May 1, 2005 and April 30, 2006, the world's airlines logged 3.2-million flights....
SERVICESAccording to the World Trade Organization, trade in commercial services, measured by adding up exports, rose by 11 per c...
LIGHTINGThe value of the global lighting market in 2006 was estimated to be US$102-billion. $30-billion is the estimated energy ...
DESIGNSThe value of the Canadian specialized design and landscape architecture industry was C$2.6-billion in 2005, up 5 per cen...
LANDThe U.S. Embassy in Britain is one of the most prestigious addresses and is about to go on sale with a price tag of arou...
COUNTERFEITA new report by the OECD estimates that counterfeit products account for 2.4 per cent of global trade, about US$500-bill...
RUSSIAA huge appetite for autos has some Russians waiting months to drive a new vehicle off the lot, and when they do, it's li...
TRENDSOld vessels that once hauled cement and fuel to offshore oil rigs are being reborn as "shadow boats" to ferry jet skiis,...
CHIPSA new process from IBM is copying nature's creation of seashells and snowflakes. Called airgap, it enables trillions of ...
CAFFEINEA U.S. company is offering a soap that releases caffeine right through the user's skin and straight into the bloodstream...
]]>Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 -0800http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=125Economic Digesthttp://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/view.asp?type=economic&newsletterID=125Economic Digest IMPORTSThe U.S. remained by far the world's leading importer of goods in 2006, with more than twice the share of Germany, ranke...
TUNNELRussian officials along with some Alaskan backers, are stepping up their long-dormant scheme to build a US$60-billion ra...
PURCHASINGA company called ShopText has introduced a system that lets people buy products instantly using text messages, a process...
TRAFFICThe world's largest shopping centre in Dongguan, China looks almost deserted. Situated north of Hong Kong with a populat...
WIRELESSThe City of London has become Europe's biggest wireless hotspot. The network spans the entire Square Mile, giving its es...
ARTSThe live performing arts industry in Canada, including both for-profit and not-for-profit companies generated operating ...
SAVINGSThe U.S. Department of Energy predicted energy savings of 0.4 per cent a day as a result of the earlier-than-usual dayli...
MUSICSpecializing in Latin music could be a life-saver for CD shops in the US, which have suffered a big fall in sales in rec...
POWERRussia has started building the world's first floating nuclear plant, designed to provide power for remote areas. The pl...
WASTEUS and European cities have wrestled with excess food waste for more than a decade, but Hong Kong's prosperity and shrin...
METERSEvery household in the UK will be able to request a free device that shows how much electricity is being used in the hom...
FORTUNEGeneral Electric tops the Fortune list of most admired companies in 2007. Second is Toyota followed by Proctor & Gamble,...
NAVIGATIONMillions of drivers use satellite navigation systems. Now scientists believe that they have discovered why such space-ag...
CHAMPAGNEFrance's champagne makers have agreed to harvest more grapes from 2007 and to plant new vines in the future to head off ...
TRADEA free-trade pact between the U.S and South Korea is putting pressure on Japan to move towards a similar agreement with ...
BAGSBritish Airways has been named as the carrier that has lost more bags than any of its European rivals. Last year, BA mis...
ITALIANIncreased consumption of pizza and pasta in the U.S. are expected to drive retail sales of Italian foods to more than US...
POLLUTIONThe Port of Los Angeles and the nearby Port of Long Beach are being encouraged by a broad coalition of local activists t...
METALSShortages and strong demand continue to support metal prices. Nickel rose by 44 per cent earlier in the year with the pr...
PENCILSMore than half of all pencils come from China. In 2004, factories there turned out 10 billion pencils, enough to circle ...
OILBritain became a net importer of oil and oil products last year for the first time since 1980. Net imports were 6.6 mill...
PUBLISHINGThe Canadian publishing industry recorded total revenues of just over C$2.4 billion in 2005, up only 1.6 per cent from 2...
WAITINGA recent survey in the U.S. showed that one in ten shoppers leaving a store without making a purchase cited wait-to- che...
MEASUREMENTSM:Metrics of Seattle, which focuses on mobile analytics, is offering a new research service that measures mobile Web acc...
CHEESEItalian supermarkets are now training their in-store cameras on Parmesan cheese which has become very popular with thiev...
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