The Washington Post offers a detailed look into the many obstacles to foreign investment in Iraq (”US Firms Eager to Sell in Iraq“). The continuing war is the main one. There are others for which the US is directly responsible: “Ports and airports are still closed to civilian traffic, and passport restrictions on U.S. citizens remain in place.”
In this article, Silver - The Undervalued Asset Looking for a Catalyst, financial analyst Jim Puplava presents his analysis of why the prices of silver and gold will move higher as the financial system lurches toward a crisis. He draws upon the monetary and business cycle theories of Murray Rothbard in his analysis of how fiat money inflation has created distortions in the real economy. Although the essay focuses on silver and gold, it provides an Austrian analysis of where we have b
We have now seen yet another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, intended to stimulate a recovery. However, you don’t have to be a particularly skeptical person to doubt that the rate cut will work this time—after all, it is the 13th cut in the last 2½ years.
Banking Overhaul and New Currency for Iraq (NYT): “In a sweeping effort to revive the devastated Iraqi economy, United States officials announced today that they would replace the Iraqi currency later this year and restructure the central bank to give it new autonomy...
Wi-Fi Hot Spots Building Steam (SFChron): “Some analysts and investors are now questioning whether one key market for Wi-Fi, public Net access through hot spots at airports, hotels and coffee shops, is rapidly becoming a dot-com-style bubble waiting to burst, with service providers throwing far more money at expanding services than consumer demand will warrant anytime soon.”
A Bear Market for Business Schools (BusinessWeek): “Recessions usually are good for business schools. For the first two years of the current downturn that pattern largely held. But this year, business school is suddenly less of a draw. Applications for the B-school Class of ’05 — the students who will hit the books this fall — have fallen by as much as 30 percent at some top schools compared with last year.
The Washington Post reports that the 2002 Federal Register runs to 75,606 pages, up from 74,528 at the end of the Clinton Administration. Thank goodness the Bush Administration is “philosophically wedded to the idea of smaller government.”
Posted by Peter G. Klein
I hate to keep linking to these stories on a paid site because not everyone subscribes, but this one was too good. According to a Wall Street Journal story,
Some frustrated dieters are doing what once would have been unthinkable -- eating more to gain pounds to qualify for weight-loss surgery.
