Institutional Investor (June 19)
“Income potential and low interest rates are fueling pension fund interest in commercial real estate.” Fund managers struggling to find “investments that can match long-term liabilities and fight inflation” are finding “some measure of calm” in real estate.
Tags: Fund managers, Income, Inflation, Interest rates, Investments, Liabilities, Pension funds, Potential, Real estate
New York Times (December 17, 2013)
With average incomes nearly tripling “over the past decade, India has reached a tipping point. “The old politics are over. The governing Indian National Congress, the centrist reference point of the nation’s democracy, seems out of touch, and with it the Gandhi dynasty. Passivity is giving way to a ferocious engagement. It is driven by anger over corruption, incompetence, inequality and inertia.” Change seems assured, but little else. “New forces and parties are emerging with unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous, consequences.”
Tags: Corruption, Democracy, Engagement, Gandhi, Income, Incompetence, India, Indian National Congress, Inequality, Inertia, Passivity, Tipping point
Chicago Tribune (August 22)
In light of the growing prosperity of farmers, Congress should reduce subsidies. “It’s time to draw the line. It’s time to pass a farm bill that eliminates the costly and unnecessary $5 billion a year in direct payments to farmers and landowners. Farm income has soared from $75.6 billion in 2009 to $99.4 billion in 2010, $134.7 billion in 2011 and $135.6 billion in 2012.”
Time (May 12, 2013)
“While people in some parts of India continue to battle malnutrition, many residents in the wealthier states have, during the past two decades of the nation’s boom, faced a menace of excess. Rising incomes paired with sedentary lifestyles and starchy, sugary diets have helped diabetes spread furiously.” Now the crisis is spreading to rural areas and the poor. It’s hard to even get a grip on the size of the problem, let alone move towards a solution. “Researchers believe there are nearly five times the total of undiagnosed patients and diabetes-related deaths in India than in the U.S.,” but nobody knows for sure.
Tags: Diabetes, Diet, Income, India, Lifestyles, Malnutrition, U.S.
