Written by John Lounsbury
- Early Bird Headlines 07 September 2015
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
- Here’s What the Earth Will Look Like After All the Ice Melts (Mother Jones) During the peak of the last ice age ocean levels were 300 and 400 feet lower than today. If all the permanent ice remaining on the planet were to melt sea level would rise up to half that again. See also next article.
- A Gallery of High Resolution Images (NOAA) Note: Areas covered with ice at the peak of the last ice age are not shown on this map, just the extent of land above the then lower sea level. Econintersect Note: The land area of the U.S above sea level would have been up to 50% larger 14,000 years ago than it will be if all the remaining permanent ice melts – that’s what a 500+ foot change in sea level would do.
Click for large image at NOAA.
U.S.
- U.S. Contractors Will Get Paid Sick Time Under New Obama Order (Bloomberg) About 300,000 U.S. government contractors will gain paid sick leave under an executive order President Barack Obama plans to sign today (Monday, 07 September).
EU
- Migrant crisis: What solutions can the EU find? (BBC News) The EU admits that its asylum procedures are inadequate, faced with the biggest influx of migrants since the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
UK
- This Ancient British Monument Was 10 Times Bigger Than Stonehenge (The National Geographic) The sheer size of Marden Henge makes it hard to notice from the ground, even when you’re standing in the middle of it. Its massive earthen berms, once ten feet high and encircling nearly 40 acres, have gradually slumped over the millennia. Its fertile soil has been heavily plowed by farmers, grazed by cattle and sheep, and overrun in places by sedge, nettle, and stately oaks. When you look around the henge today on a fine summer day, it appears to be nothing more than peaceful, undulating farmland. But 4,500 years ago this was a bustling showpiece of Neolithic engineering, the biggest henge (or circular earthworks) in ancient Britain – ten times the size of Stonehenge, a few miles to the south. See also Gigantic stone monument discovered near Stonehenge (Financial Times)
Austria
- Austria to revoke measures that let refugees cross from Hungary (Al Jazeera) Austria said on Sunday it planned to end emergency measures that have allowed thousands of refugees stranded in Hungary into Austria and Germany since Saturday morning.
Germany
- Migrant crisis: Germany to release funds to help regions cope (BBC News) Germany’s coalition government has agreed to spend 6 billion euros (£4.4 billion) to support record numbers of migrants and other measures to deal with the influx. Critics at home have accused Chancellor Angela Merkel of creating a dangerous precedent by opening Germany’s borders. About 18,000 migrants arrived over the weekend after an agreement with Austria and Hungary to relax asylum rules. Germany expects to receive up to 800,000 refugees in 2015.
Japan
- Death of Jobs for Life Fuels 4,955% Surge at This Japan Firm (Bloomberg) The breakdown of Japan’s lifetime employment model has been good news at least for the operator of one of the country’s largest jobs websites. So has the arrival of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose policies helped send the nation’s company profits to records and demand for staff to the highest in 23 years. Dip Corp. surged 4,955 percent through Friday since elections were called that brought Abe to power. Almost four in 10 workers no longer have the job security that characterized the nation’s economy through its 1980s boom. With a bill to loosen labor laws set to pass parliament, Dip’s chief executive officer says the jump in the company’s shares is justified by the company’s growth outlook.
- Betting On Japan, Inc.’s Recovery (Value Walk) Japanese stocks have outperformed their peers the past few years, and we don’t think their run is over. Policies to improve profitability, capital use and productivity should provide a stronger foundation for further gains.
China
- China revises down 2014 GDP to 7.3% from 7.4% (CNBC) China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Monday revised down 2014 gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 7.3% from a previously reported 7.4%. This growth revision comes on the back of comments by China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei over the weekend that GDP growth will remain around 7% in 2015, as predicted earlier in the year, and the new economic normal may last for four to five years. A lower GDP number for 2014 should also make year-on-year comparisons for economic growth in 2015 more favorable.
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