Bloomberg (August 16)
Today Japan. Tomorrow the U.S. China surpassed Japan by becoming the world’s second largest economy during the second quarter of 2010. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts China will dethrone the U.S. economy from the top spot in 2020. Goldman Sachs predicts it may take until 2027 for China’s economy to become the world’s largest.
Wall Street Journal (August 16)
The U.S is settling into a “new normal” and won’t return to the heady growth that followed other recessions, according to Mort Zuckerman, the editor of US News & World Report. Zuckerman believes 2% growth is more likely than 6% growth. This means predictions that unemployment (currently 9.5%) will fall to reasonable levels by 2013 are overly optimistic. Zuckerman believes it will take 6-9 years because “the labor market may be improving, but the pace is glacial.”
Tags: Economy, Recovery, U.S., Unemployment
LA Times (August 15)
China’s use of disposable chopsticks is “an environmental disaster not to be taken lightly.” China’s disposes of 45 billion pairs of chopsticks every year. Every day 100 acres of trees are cut down to provide disposable chopsticks. The Chinese government is taking aim at this environmental problem by encouraging reuse and recycling, but no speedy solution is expected. It remains very cheap for restaurants to throw chopsticks away (about $.01 per pair).
Tags: China, Chopsticks, Environment
