Funding The Next Economic Boom
I am always a bit amazed at how the current economic crisis is affecting how people are spending their money. Retirement accounts aside, many people have just as much money now as they did a month ago. They are still working at their jobs, earning the same salaries. Not only are they earning the same they did two months ago, but they are paying cheaper prices on gas and food.
What does that mean? Their discretionary income is increasing. Yes, you got that right, their discretionary income is increasing. What is remarkable is that this increase in discretionary income is being met with a reduction of retail spending.
In other words, income is steady, spending is down, prices are down. The net result is that there is more money sitting on the sidelines now than there was just two months ago. I think this money is being parked into savings right now. People are doing their best to be as cash positive as they can be right now. What’s interesting is if this trend continues through Christmas, the retail industry is going to be hit with some very tough times, but as I have said before, whenever there are losers, there are winners.
This money sitting on the sidelines is eventually going to have to enter the system somewhere. Americans are eventually going to start looking for some decent returns on this savings and that means a huge opportunity for those in the investment industry. In fact, American might fund the next boom in the economy.
We can be hopeful, can’t we?
The Lives of Many Are Improved
Throughout west and central Africa, one of the staple food products is the black-eye pea. I had never really given much thought to this or even knew what a black-eye pea was. See the peas are eaten as a protein and the leaves are eaten like a spinach. The stems are feed to cattle that provide more of the food people need. Because its multiple uses, the black-eye pea affects the live and lifestyles of many. Since it is a staple food for hundreds of millions of people, increasing the yields of the plants can increase the quality of life for its consumers.
Scientists in Virginia are creating varieties that have a larger yield and can withstand drought and pests. In fact, some initial witchweed resistant varieties are already being planted in Africa. This article brings to mind many of the advances that American institutions have been giving to the world and should be highlighted.
Source: Team seeks to improve the black-eye pea by Associated Press, retrieved 2/19/08.
Mitt Romney
It shows how much Mitt Romney cares about America with his recent bowing out of the Presidential race. He wanted to make sure that America could push forward and he wanted to stop the bickering that had become so endemic. I see that as a major move by him and one that shows just what kind of man he is.
Now, he was went one step further, he has now endorsed John McCain. My opinion of Mitt Romney keeps going up. I think he is a fine American and my hat’s off to him.
Over Hyping
The TEFL News Network has added a page specifically with some advice for new TEFL teachers. It has the usual advice just to research but it also seems to take on the over hyping of TEFL courses. This can be a bit of an issue for us expats.
For us expats, when we confront marketers looking to separate us from our cash, they come in various guises. All with the focus of getting us to use whatever so called essential service they have.
With TEFL courses, go back 10 years ago and they were the exception rather than the rule. New untrained TEFL teacher usually got on the job training and had to figure out for themselves how to use resources properly and how to put together a decent lesson. Now, they have courses for that and if you go on most internet forums, the marketers are there to tell you how much you need to take a course.
You can see it in the ebook craze. Everyone has an ebook for sale for expats. Maybe I should jump on that bandwagon sometime. The thing is that these ebooks cost money when most of the information is out there for free, you just have to ask.
I guess the rant is over now. Till next time.
Brazil may scrap visas
Brazil is considering dropping visa requirements for US citizens. Currently, if Americans want to go to Brazil, they need to pay $100 and get a visa. This hurts tourism and a bill in Brazil’s Congress aims to scrap visa requirements for American, Japanese, Australian, Canada and New Zealand. This move surely would open up the Brazilian market for expats and tourists from these countries.