It takes nearly five gallons of water to cultivate a single walnut - more than it takes to grow a head of lettuce. But in drought stricken California, the water it takes for those and other fruit and vegetable crops is in drastically short supply – and that has...
Wikimedia Fights NSA For Your Civil Rights
The National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance operations hit the headlines last year to a volley of outraged objections from civil libertarians in the US and abroad. But while the news coverage has faded, the spying hasn’t – and a new lawsuit filed against the...
Virtual Reality Tecnology: Big Changes for Business?
No more real estate agents? No more brokers and financial advisers and money managers? Those jobs and many others could be obsolete in the next five years, thanks to advances in digital technology that put many of their functions into the hands f users who can take...
Millennial Entrepreneurs Change the Economic Game
Millennials get a lot of press lately – most of it bad. This generation of new and recent college grads keeps on making headlines for its staggering student loan debt, problems fitting into the working world, and lack of interest in traditional “adult” goals. But many...
Can Apple Turn Gold Into Profits?
Gold – that ancient standard for wealth and beauty – has had a roller coaster ride in the world’s money markets lately, trading down from last year and struggling against other commodities in global investing. But a new maneuver from Apple Corp is poised to change all...
Deflation and Oil Prices: Should Investors Worry?
Oil prices are falling, dropping below $200 USD for a barrel of crude. And while that makes US consumers happy, the tumble in prices is fueling worries of a looming round of deflation that could ripple throughout the economy and trigger another round of intervention...
Swiss Franc Fallout Ripples Round the World
Fallout continues from the Swiss National Bank’s recent decision to drop it cap on the Swiss franc’s value in trading against the euro. This latest salvo in what’s being called the new currency wars is having some surprising effects not just in Switzerland’s European...
Can a Strong Dollar Stifle Profits?
Can anything stop Apple? The computer giant posted record earnings for its most recent quarter, fueled by sales of its flagship device, the iPhone. Though it looks as if nothing can make a dent in Apple’s performance, one thing might: the performance of the dollar in...
US Banks Hit By Swiss Franc Fallout
In the tightly knit world of global finance, what happens halfway around the world can have devastating effects at home. Case in point: the fallout from the recent Swiss bank decision to drop its cap on the franc, which is hitting even US banks and the sturdy dollar....
Who’s Winning the Currency Wars?
It sounds like the plot of a bad science fiction movie. A mysterious, invisible war is going on behind the scenes of the world’s major banks, with cutthroat brinkmanship and dirty strategies to get the upper hand in the global currency markets. It’s not the plot of a...