| NZ's water pollution record slammed in international report
The OECD Environmental Performance Review of New Zealand said better protection of surface and ground waters was needed because pollution was affecting rivers, streams and lakes. Irrigation was also taking a toll. It said regulations on water quality or economic measures would avoid problems. Environment Minister David Benson-Pope said last month that the Government was very clear that water was a public resource which the Government and local authorities continued to manage on behalf of all New Zealanders. The Government had no intention of privatising water, or establishing water markets for trading water rights. The report said climate protection policy needed to be strengthened. It criticised the dropping on carbon tax plans in 2005 -- a decision Labour made because of political opposition.
Evolving social insurance systems
In response to escalating pension expenditures, an increasing number of countries across the development spectrum are evaluating the sustainability of old-age social insurance systems. Expenditures in today's 25 EU countries consumed one-eighth of gross domestic product in 2003 (Figure 12). In the future, the economic well-being of older populations will depend on a combination of income sourcesearnings from continuing to work, social insurance programs, occupational pensions, and private savings. Public policies affect each of these sources, and proposed policy reforms have both costs and benefits. More empirical research, including cross-national comparative research, is needed to inform the development of policy. Note: Pensions include old-age, anticipated old-age, partial, and disability benefits, as well as early retirement benefits due to reduced capacity to work.
Globalization Seen As Undermining Local Folk Knowledge Associated ...
In a remote area of the Amazon, globalization is threatening the time-honored transmission of plant knowledge from generation to generation, with adverse effects on childhood health and nutrition. In a novel study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report that parents, and especially mothers, who know more about plants and how to use them, have healthier children, independent of other factors such as education, market participation or acculturation.
The researchers, from the universities of Brandeis, Northwestern, Georgia (Athens), and Autonomous University of Barcelona, studied the Tsimane', an indigenous horticulturalist and foraging society in the lowlands of Bolivia who use local plants daily for medicine, firewood, construction and food.
Brazil the New Back Door to Investing in China
Martin Weiss writes : This weekend, Elisabeth and I finally got away to our favorite spot — the smallest, most beautiful, semi-private beach in the southern State of São Paulo. I'm glad. It gives me a chance to contemplate the escalating Persian Gulf crisis from afar, something our editors and I talked about intensely before I left home late last week. Plus, it gives me a chance to survey the opportunities here.
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India trails China, but economic race is far from over
"CHINDIA" is the word coined by the Indian politician, Jairam Ramesh, to denote the two Asian giants that contain 38 per cent of the world's population between them. Nor is size their only similarity. Both are heirs of ancient civilisations; both were, until recently, desperately poor; and both are among the world's fastest-growing economies. Yet the differences are also striking. By looking carefully at them one can learn more about their prospects for continued growth. .
US loses ground in networked readiness, falling six places to ...
The World Economic Forum has released its Global Information Technology Report (GITR) for 2006-2007 and ranks Denmark at the top in terms of “network readiness," naming the country as best able to “leverage the opportunities offered by information and communication technology for development and increased competitiveness." Sweden, Singapore and Finland follow, while the United States loses ground in networked readiness, falling six places to seventh position. The GITR cites Denmark's excellent regulatory environment and clear government leadership and vision as drivers of the country's impressive levels of Internet and PC, together with a continuous emphasis on education and R&D and a talent for pioneering applications and technologies. The rest of the Nordic countries, except Iceland which loses some ground from last year, follow Denmark's upward trend, with Sweden, Finland and Norway moving up on the chart.
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