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POPSThe water needed to produce everyday goods and beverages WATER is a precious commodity, as any farmer in drought-besieged parts of China, America or Kenya knows only too well. Consumers may already be aware of the environmental impact of producing goods in terms of energy or pollution, but they might be surprised to learn how much water is needed to create some daily goods. A cup of coffee, for example, needs a great deal more water than that poured into the pot. According to a new book on the subject, 1,120 litres of water go into producing a single litre of the beverage, once growing the beans, packaging and so on are measured. Only 120 litres go into making the same amount of tea. As many as four litres of water are used to make a litre of the bottled stuff. Household items are even thirstier. Thousands of litres are needed to make shoes, hamburgers and microchips.
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POPSAfrica: Paradox of Plenty INTERACTIVE While Africa is blessed with much natural wealth — gold, diamonds, ores from tin to uranium, oil and ivory — it has also long been a target for plunder. Listen to Ian Fisher recount how some, mostly outsiders, built great fortunes off of Africa's material riches — and for centuries its people as well — while it remained the poorest continent in the world. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/12/14/world/africa/20081215-africa-resources-graphic.html
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POPSGoldbugs Significantly, even observers who have historically been very cautious about allegations of government interference in gold seem now to be accepting the thesis.
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POPSFRIEDMAN: How to fix a flat Somebody ought to call Steve Jobs and ask him if he’d like to run a car company for a year. It wouldn’t take him long to come up with the G.M. iCar. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/opinion/12friedman.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
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POPSFRIEDMAN: The Great Unraveling The stranger, a Western businessman, slipped into the chair next to me at an Asia Society lunch here in Hong Kong and asked me a question that I can honestly say I’ve never been asked before: “So, just how corrupt is America?” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/opinion/17friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
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