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POPSOil price: A turning tide? Oil price A turning tide? May 13th 2009 From Economist.com The oil price rises amid hints of economic recovery THE price of oil reached over $60 a barrel during intraday trading on Wednesday May 13th, its highest point since November. Glimmers of economic recovery, such as an increase in imports from China, together with a weak dollar and tight supply forecasts have pushed up the prices of many commodities. Coffee, sugar and wheat have all hit modest peaks this week. Exporters of commodities would welcome an upturn in prices for food and other raw materials and those worried by deflation might also cheer rising prices. But consumers already battered by the economic slump, especially in poor countries, will not be pleased by rising costs.
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POPSLife satisfaction Self-satisfied? Feb 16th 2009 From Economist.com A poll of middle-class attitudes in emerging economies ECONOMIC studies of the middle classes are plentiful, but opinion-poll research is thin on the ground. So The Economist asked the Pew Research Center to trawl through its Global Attitudes database. Pew looked at 13 middle-income countries where the middle class is large or growing and classified their responses on various issues according to income. “Middle class” is defined as a self-reported income of at least $4,286 a year in 2007 PPP dollars. (The rich were included but the numbers were statistically insignificant.) Latin American countries report high levels of “life satisfaction” among both middle- and low-income groups. Generally the middle classes tend to be happier with their lives than those on lower incomes, apart from in Venezuela, where Hugo Chávez's socialist revolution has taken its toll.
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