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CIA Factbook: China has best current account balances; U.S. the worst
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Rank Order – Current account balance (in billions of dollars)
1 China $ 179 billions
2 Japan $ 174
3 Germany $ 135
4 Russia $ 105
5 Saudi Arabia $ 103
6 Norway $ 63
7 Switzerland $ 50
8 Netherlands $ 50
9 Kuwait $ 41
…
158 India $ -26
159 France $ -38
160 Australia $ -42
161 United Kingdom $ -58
162 Spain $ -99
163 United States $ -862
(31 May 2007)
I simplified the table to make it more readable. See original for more detail. -BA
Contributor WT writes:
Note the position of China (at the top), the U.S. (in a class by itself at the bottom), and major oil exporters (mostly near the top).
Interesting map of current account balances.
Infomation from Wikipedia on the “meaning of “current account”.
The current account of the balance of payments is the sum of the balance of trade (exports minus imports of goods and services), net factor income (such as interest and dividends) and net transfer payments (such as foreign aid). A current account surplus increases a country’s net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse. Both government and private payments are included in the calculation. The balance of trade is typically the most important part of the current account. This means that changes in the patterns of trade are key drivers of the current account. . . .
Helium: a vanishing commodity
Rui Namorado Rosa, Sanders Research Associates
Very few people are a aware of the fact that a particular substance, displaying a number of unique properties such that has deserved a huge body of research since its discovery more than a century ago, and is now widely employed in a broad range of technical devices, is actually running short of supply.
We refer to helium, the lightest noble gas. Its main source of supply is natural gas fields. As hydrocarbons are being depleted, and, in particular fields with higher helium content being tapped for helium, show declining productivity. Peak helium is contemplated very seriously. ..
Helium is the second most abundant chemical element in the Universe but is extremely rare on Earth. Only in 1895 it was isolated for the first time, and for most of the past century a precious supply of helium has escaped unattended from natural gas wells into the air.
Only in 1958 did politicians give consideration to the warnings of scientists, that all helium would be gone by 1980, and the USA Congress appropriated US$1 billion for a separation plant in Amarillo, Texas, and began stockpiling helium in empty gas wells. ..
(1 Jun 2007)
Farmers say government’s laws illegal in land clearing
Liv Casben, ABC Australia
MARK COLVIN: Some call it as a civil disobedience campaign, others a political threat, but a group of farmers are threatening to cut down trees on their properties as a form of protest.
They object to government legislation, which restricts them from clearing their land without permission
They claim the legislation itself is illegal.
But environment groups and even the National Farmers Federation are warning against the action.
Liv Casben reports.
LIV CASBEN: Just last week, it was revealed 750 hectares of land had been cleared near the environmentally sensitive Gwydir Wetlands in New South Wales, which is home to a number of endangered species.
Both the New South Wales and Federal Governments voiced their outrage at the alleged illegal land clearing and launched investigations.
While those inquiries are continuing, other farmers are threatening to clear their properties too, as part of a campaign of civil disobedience.
A group calling itself the Commonwealth Property Protection Association says farmers will start cutting down a tree a day on their properties from July the 1st.
(1 June 2007)
See also Crikey.com for the ads in The Land & The 2nd hand farm machinery seller who likes land clearing for allegations about one of the leading lights behind CPRA.
Back to nature
Stepen Moss , The Guardian
The pressures of modern life mean that many children now suffer from ‘nature-deficit disorder. How did we lose our connection to the wildlife that is all around us?
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Memories are sometimes the best thing about encounters with wildlife. I can remember walking through the sun-lit meadow, net in hand, in search of our quarry. With a deft sweep of the net it was ours: a stunning male orange-tip butterfly, a wondrous sight to a child’s eyes. On our way home, we picked daisies and buttercups, and listened to the chorus of spring birdsong.
But I don’t need to cast my mind back decades, or even years, to recall this idyllic moment. It happened last month, as I tried to give my own young children a genuine, hands-on experience of nature.
Such spontaneous encounters between children and the natural world are rare events now. One study has shown that the area around the home where children are allowed to roam on their own – known as their “radius of activity” – has declined by almost 90% since the 1970s, when many of the current generation of parents were growing up.
If, like me, you are over 40, cast your mind back to your own early forays into the natural world. You probably recall collecting frogspawn in a jam jar, picking wild flowers on a woodland walk, or even – dare I say it – taking the odd bird’s egg. These experiences were, in those days, simply part of normal life. Like stamp collecting and playing football in the park, they were something every child did, whether or not they had an interest in natural history.
For some, including myself, these early encounters sparked a lifelong passion for wildlife. But even for those who didn’t follow that path, it is likely that this childhood experience of real, living plants and animals generated at least a residual appreciation of nature.
So it is hardly surprising that in recent years middle-aged Britons have rediscovered their childhood enthusiasm for all things green. At this time of year, 4 million viewers are glued to the latest series of Springwatch. Part of the attraction of this wildlife version of realityTV is that viewers are on the edge of their seats, as they wonder whether Bill Oddie’s barn owls will survive the season. But the appeal goes much deeper than that. As Blake Morrison wrote two years ago, the series’ success is an indi-cation that “Britain is quietly falling in love with nature again”.
Yet the current natural history boom has thrown up one glaring paradox: recent generations of children are growing up with little or no direct contact with their natural heritage. The Americans – always one step ahead in such things – have even coined a phrase to describe the phenomenon: our children are said to be suffering from “nature-deficit disorder”.
(5 June 2007)
