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POPSHYPERINFLATION (read, watch, learn) In late 1923, Germany undertook a monetary reform creating a new unit of currency called the rentenmark. The German government promised that the new currency could be converted on demand into a bond having a certain value in gold. Proponents of the standard answer argue that the guarantee of convertibility is properly viewed as a promise to cease the rapid issue of money. An alternative view held by some economists is that not just monetary reform, but also fiscal reform, is needed to end a hyperinflation. According to this view a successful reform entails two believable commitments on the part of government. The first is a commitment to halt the rapid growth of paper money. The second is a commitment to bring the government's budget into balance. This second commitment is necessary for a successful reform because it removes, or at least lessens, the incentive for the government to resort to inflationary taxation.
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POPSHey Pal, Can You Spare $100 Billion? Since then the shelves of many shops and supermarkets have been largely bare, except when owners are prepared to risk being caught charging prices that reflect the cost of importing goods from South Africa. Huge queues form outside any bakery selling bread at a controlled price, and demand far outstrips supply.
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POPSOur future now. Can you have been imaging couple years ago that we will hold powerful mobile computer in a pocket everywhere we go? I remember something about tablet PC. Where is it now?
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POPSFrance the the beneficiary of nuclear growth... even though their construction projects aren't going so well. That great sucking sound you hear is proposed or in-the-works nuclear plants blowing their budgets everywhere. French company Areva's first EPR project, in Finland, is two years behind schedule and at least $1.5-billion over budget. Its second, in France's Normandy region, is headed in the same direction, after construction stalled for several weeks recently. It's not just the skyrocketing price of basic materials, such as concrete and steel, that's driving costs upward. So-called third generation reactors - such Areva's EPR and Atomic Energy's ACR-1000 - are still works in progress. And the two decades during which nuclear power faced desert-like prospects has left the industry grappling with a severe shortage of skilled workers.
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POPSThe Pickens Plan Could this man single-handedly lift the United States out its dependence on oil and inspire the type of commitment and innovation needed to make it happen? I know that sounds crazy, but this type of high profile exposure is absolutely invaluable to the birth of a new industry. Like going to the moon in the 60s, it's time to devote whatever resources are needed to enter the alternative energy era.