Business&The Globe

Fountain Hills is a town in Arizona and is on the eastern slope of Mcdowell Mountains. With a population of just less than 23 000 , it is certainly one last bastions of peace and tranquility. The place certainly has to be given consideration by anyone contemplating a holiday.
There can never be a shortage of outdoor activities in Fountain Hills. The magnificent views and natural terrain are a perfect fit for activities like biking, boating and hiking. Golfers are also assured of never-to-forget experiences at courses such as Golf Club at Eagle Mountain, SunRidge Canyon Golf Club and Fire Rock Golf Club.

Then of cause as the town’s name suggests, you cannot be in Fountain Hills and not visit the site of the famous water fountain which has the impudence of shooting into the air 10 feet above the Washington Monument. The fountain is in the middle of a lake surrounded by a 32 acre park. Once you marvel at the fountain, you will have no problem understanding why it has been attracting visitors from all over the world for nearly 30 years. For years after its introduction in 1970, it was recognized by Guiness Book of World Records as the highest fountain in the world. If you have a soft spot for festivals, you can time your visit so that it coincides with festivals such as the Fountain Hills Arts & Crafts and Fountain Hills Great Fair. Better still, consider settling in Fountain Hills and visit site
http://www.theholmgroupaz.com/FountainHills.htm

Forestry and Logging:
Issues to consider
• Has the company got a forestry management plan? The absence of such a plan will result will in the forest being depleted of wood which will lead to viability problems and the surrounding communities will not realize any benefits from the logging in their locality.
• Will the communities in the surrounding areas be subjected to displacement or loss of agricultural land as a result of the company’s activities?
• Are there regulatory organizations or otherwise who monitor and certify the company’s activities?
• Has the company got an undisputed claim on the land?

Sawmills, Manufacture of furniture and wooden products

The conversion of logs into timber has potentially high environmental and social risks because highly toxic chemicals are used in the process. Furthermore,
the storage of timber and manufacturing of timber related products involves use of various chemicals, paints and varnishes..
Issues to consider
• Staff: Are there enough safety measures to protect the health of staff? Is staff exposed to toxic fumes? Do they have specialized breathing apparatus?
• Does company employ a health and safety officer?
• Does company have well spelt out procedures for dealing with toxic waste? Has company got a history of water pollution and land contamination disputes?

Manufacture of Paper and Pulp
In addition to chemicals, this sector utilizes large volumes of water and heat.
Issues to consider
• Is there is clear policy on staffing matters such as hours of work, pay and age. Are staff provided with adequate protective clothing when handling toxic materials.
• Is company facing pressure from powerful customers with regards to quality or quantity which leads company to disregard safety or environment issues?
• Does company have the means to treat water before it is discharged or re-used.?

It is absolutely essential for one to have their car insured. It is however advisable not to operate on a “first come first taken” basis with insurance companies. One has to patiently shop around in order to get the best quotes and deals.
Technology has made easier for the consumer to shop around. Quotes can be compared online in the comfort of your home.

However, the American market has its own peculiarities. The local driving and traffic
laws of a particular state may affect the cost of insurance.( You may refer to link
http://www.autoquotenow.com/auto-insurance-guide/2009/utah-factors-that-affect-aut-insurance-rates-357.php )
When making considerations of which company will give the best deal, consider the quotes of the various companies across state lines.
Every insurance company worth its salt has a vibrant website that enable prospective customers to get insurance quotes across the states by simply changing the zip code. Hence the smaller localized insurance companies have no little or no space on the market unless they offer highly competitive rates or concessions.
Some of the specialized segments for which quotes can sought are as follows
Teen Auto Insurance
New Car Insurance
Student Car Insurance
Business Car Insurance
Car Insurance For Women
Truck Insurance
For those with teenagers you may get further information on http://www.autoquotenow.com/faqs/2009/why-is-car-insurance-for-teenagers-expensive-302.php
The following are some of America’s auto insurance giants
* Allstate
* Liberty Mutual
* Metlife
* Esurance
* American Family Insurance
More FAQ on http://www.autoquotenow.com/faqs/

Concerns about the environment are being raised more than ever. This short article breaks down some the aspects of environmental risk.
1. Land Contamination
This refers to the likelihood of spills, leaks or release of harmful chemicals into the ground. This usually happens when a piece of land is used for hazardous wastage management or storage activities. Such leaks can also be associated with underground storage tanks and can lead to groundwater contamination.
2. Waste Management
This involves activities that generate, handle or store hazardous substances in situations where treatment or disposal is difficult or expensive. This can be much worse in cases where the hazardous substances are not secured.
3. Emissions
Activities that cause harmful emissions and effluent concentrations that are potentially harmful to health and the natural environment. Emissions can pollute the air and cause breathing problems for people in the locality. Deadly effluent can spill into rivers or lakes and disturb marine life and cause problems for animals and humans who use the rivers or lakes as their sources of water.

It therefore extremely important for governments to ask for environmental impact assessments to be carried out as part of the groundwork for a major project or investment.

International aid has always been portrayed as benevolence being extended to poor countries by rich countries in order to enhance economic development in the beneficiary countries. Aid is channeled in a number of ways. It comes via multilateral institutions like the World Bank or UNHCR or is given directly to particular country giving by another.

However, it is unfortunate that aid has not had the desired effect .In many cases, aid has done little good for the poor folks in the developing countries. For example, poor countries that receive substantial amounts of aid funds do not grow faster than on average than those who receive little aid. Sub Saharan Africa has received most of the most of aid from the rich nation but it remains the poorest part of the world despite the substantial reserves of oil and minerals.

As long as aid funds continue to pass through the hands of corrupt government officials, the common people will not benefit. Donations have often ended up in offshore bank accounts of corrupt officials. It often been argued that corruption is a symptom of poverty. However, in this instance it is a symptom of greed as some of high ranking officials who handle these funds cannot in any way be classified as poor.

Related to this is the fact that aid funds often have unintended consequences. According to an economic note written by Nathalie Elgrably, an economist with the Montreal Economic Institute international assistance often leads to internal struggles for the control of the funds at the expense of the collective well being.

Furthermore, aid has often been given with strings attached and in some instances much of the aid money has been spent in purchasing goods from companies in the donor countries. In such a situation, aid actually stimulates economic growth in the donor country as there is actually no transfer of funds to the supposed beneficiary country.

The United States and some West European countries are also the major culprits. They offered aid for political rather than economic goals. They gave aid to countries as long as there were anti communist even if they were being led by characters who were notorious for their corrupt tendencies. Mobutu Seseko of Zaire(now Democratic Republic of Congo) is a case in point.

According to an Actionaid aid must be of good quality which means that it must focus on tackling the real causes of poverty and the donors must also fund projects the beneficiary countries identify themselves. The aid also has to be provided on a stable basis over a number of years so that countries can plan for the long term. A paper presented at the Paris High-Level Forum on Harmonization in Paris from 28 February to 2 March 2005,( found on http://www.milleniumcampaign.org/) noted that improving aid quality may double its value in terms of advancing economic development.

While international aid has a role to play in economic development, the governments in poor countries must also urgently rethink the direction of their economic policies. While some East Asian countries were as poor as those in Africa, some few years ago, they have achieved enormous economic growth. According to Nathalie Elgrably Singapore’s living standards rose 1048% between 1960 and 2005 in comparison to Ivory Coast which rose by just 2%.

Elgrably further states that in the last 50 years , East Asian countries have opened their markets and let their currencies float. It is noted that the most open countries recorded average growth of 5% during the 1990s, while closed countries grew by a mere 1.4%

It is indeed acknowledged that situations differ but economic policy makers in poor countries need to diligently study the economic experience of the East Asian countries. They are bound to gain a thing or two.

Despite the urgent situation in Somalia, it is very rare to hear an African leader speak out about Somalia. Furthermore, were it not for the piracy problem that has gained topicality, even the international news organisations had shut the Somali issue in their backyards.

The lone voice has been that of Hadija Aideed, wife of former Somali General Mohammed Farah Aideed who has pleaded with former UN chief Kofi Annan to intervene in the Somali crisis and for African leaders to take action.

Dealing with pirates is a small part of the solution. The piracy problem is just a symptom of yawning governance gaps in Somalia.

The Somali crisis was triggered by the death of dictator Said Bare . Despite the obvious disadvantages, Said Bare’s iron hand somehow cemented the country together. Those who pushed him simply ran out of ideas and had no viable strategy to carry the country forward in the post Bare era. Somalia is largely ruled by clan based militias.

The Somali scenario was even too complicated for the United States whose army had to run out of the country with a bloody nose. The US hence was more than pleased to find an ally like Ethiopia who was willing to do the dirty work of overthrowing the Union of Islamic Courts in a vain attempt to track some Al Quaeda suspects. The result is well entrenched anti American sentiment.

The Ethiopian withdrawal left a vacuum which the Ugandan and Burundan forces can scarcely cover. The African Union is not giving the Somali crisis the attention it deserves. They are largely leaving the country to its vices.

We should however acknowledge that the Somali scenario is not an open and shut case. Any strategy that does not reach down to the tribes and clans is bound to fail. Efforts must be indeed be made to study how the Somali society functions before any plans are rushed through.

With regard to the piracy issue, these may just be chickens coming home to roost for the Western nations. These countries previously also took advantage of the governance cracks in Somalia and dumped waste in the Somali waters. The result is that the fish population in these waters drastically dwindled. Young Somali men who otherwise would survive on fishing have had to resort to only employment option they know, piracy.

Hence piracy is just a symptom of much deeper problems within the Somali political scenario. Hence in addition to augmenting naval forces in the Somali waters, a much more comprehensive plan is required which will lead to the stability of the country. The African Union should take the lead and identify willing international partners as it is clear that the Union has not got the resources required to deal with this massive challenge.

A lot has been written about the current financial crisis but most analysts have made little mention (perhaps conveniently) about the relevance of Basel II in light of the current crisis. However, it has to be conceded that an assessment of Basel II is not easy given the fact that the pace and manner of implementation of Basel II has not been uniform in the various regions of the world.

The origin of the current crisis certainly has little to do with Basel II. Crisis was triggered by defaults on subprime mortgages which in turn affected mortgaged based structured products. What at first appeared to be US problem latter turned out to be broad based downturn in asset prices resulting in losses and write downs in the books of many banks. However, there is a chorus of dissenting voices who argue that as a result of the introduction of the internal ratings based approach , banks sought to create innovative products that could exclude the risks off the balance sheet. Unfortunately these products became more complex and developed a life of their own.

However, this can be an argument for another day. While Basel II may not have triggered the crisis, the crisis has exposed some flaws in the Basel II regulatory regime. In its current state, Basel II requires that banks set aside more capital for high risk exposures. However there is certainly need for complex structured products and off balance sheet vehicles to be factored into the capital requirements.

Furthermore, there is need to structure the regulatory requirements in a way that is not potentially pro cyclical. In an uncertain financial regime such as the one we are experiencing, capital requirements for banks will be high and this will limit banks’ capacity to lend which further deepens the economic recession.

Of course, some of us wish for the day when we will wake up with a much less leveraged financial sector but this for now can only be a dream.

What is clear however is that the Basel II framework needs to be urgently revised even if implementation has not yet run its full course in some parts of the world.

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Despite the presence of international naval forces, Somali pirates are not letting up. Forgive the international forces, they can’t be everywhere, they have resource limitations. As for the pirates, while the risks are very high, they are cancelled out by the rewards. It is estimated that in 2008 alone, the pirates received over US$150 million. In the latest incident, involving the US operated container vessel, Maersk Alabama they are demanding a ransom of US$2 million dollars. They are known to lead high life and throw wild parties in their homeland.

They also take advantage of the governance gaps. While attempts have been and continue to be made to have some semblance of a government in Somalia, anarchy has up to now occupied a big space. On the Somali side, there is no credible institution to police the country let alone the waters. The fact that most the pirates are suspected to from the semi autonomous region of Puntland does not help matters. In a way the international community has been forced to intervene. The Gulf of Aden is a vital channel for international shipping the increasing piracy activity is costing the shipping companies a lot. Some of the ships have had to alter course by hundreds of kilometres and this increases fuel costs and man days at sea.

The fact of ransoms was being kept under wraps but now the affected countries are being more open about it. The fact that they are getting the ransom money makes their forays difficult to stop. They are able to purchase weapons and most of them are imported from Yemen. In addition to weapons, they also acquire communication equipment.

My recommendation would be that every ship be accompanied by armed guards because naval ships policing the waters can only do so much.

Since the beginning of 2009, air crashes seem to be occurring more frequently than in the past. This certainly does not do any good to people with fear of flying. Spare a thought for people like Dennis Bergkamp, the former Arsenal Football Club star who travelled by road or sea while the rest of the team would be flying.

To make matters much worse, the airline industry is also suffering from the effects of the worldwide economic recession and these crashes will do their part in reducing the number of passengers

With regard to the crashes, the question is ‘ Is this the start of a trend or it is an isolated period?’

Aircraft crashes that have occurred this year include the following;

1.The Hudson river crash in January 2009

2. Ukrainian cargo plane crashed on takeoff in Egypt on February 20 and five crew members died

3. On February 25, a Turkish Airlines crashed in a field as it approached Amsterdam airport killing 9 and over 100 injured.

4.March 12, FedEx cargo plane crashed in Japan killing both pilots

5. Also on March 12, a plane crash in Montana kills 17 passengers mostly children

Put on top on that a few Helicopter crashes which includes one off the east of Canada which killed 17 people and latest one off the coast of Scotland .

In a way this is a new phenomenon, aircraft crashes have never been so common and rapid. Various reasons have put forward ranging from birds flying into the engine and ice forming on the wings. Is it an issue of poor design or poor standards? Or can we say that they are some challenges that are beyond the wits of the aircraft engineers.

This is indeed a cause of concern for the passengers. For example, given that both planes and birds fly, the probability of them coming into contact in the air is quite high. So for how long we will go on with having another incident like the Hudson river one? And then there is the ice on wings. Of course, one of the favourite lines for young schoolchildren is ‘the higher you go the cooler it becomes’. When flying, planes are subject to sub zero temperatures and this is conducive to ice formations. So can we conclude that aircraft engineers that cannot come with a device to deal with ice formations on wings.

Extreme weather conditions are also becoming more frequent and chances are that high winds like the ones which caused the FedEx crash are bound to occur again and coincide with a landing plane.

To the layman, it all sounds like there are some inherent flaws in the design of aircraft that make them susceptible to disasters. This calls for aircraft engineers and other experts to review the designs of aircraft. Well I am just a layman, I would welcome comments from the experts.

P.S. 20/04/2009

Opinion was sought from various expert bodies but it is only the Ontario Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Association who replied through the email and their reply is as follows

”Thank you for your email message.

While we are not in a position to comment on the cause of the aviation mishaps you highlighted, we do know the responsible aviation authorities will conduct thorough investigations to determine root cause with the objective to prevent reoccurrence of these events and preclude tragic loss of life.

AME Association of Ontario”

There has been some discontent in the EU hierarchy about the French auto industry bailout plan. The plan has been labelled protectionist. My view is the EU is being very naïve. Can they realistically expect national leaders to think ‘Europe first and their nation second’ under the current economic regime. The French leadership is accountable first and foremost to the French people who elected them into power. Furthermore, the 6 billion Euro loan is from French taxpayers and it quite sensible that the loan must serve French interests. There are systemically critical industries in any country and the auto industry in France is one such industry. Can we really not expect the French government to take action to protect this industry?

If jobs are lost in France and there is social unrest, is there an EU plan to deal with deal with social unrest in member states? I doubt it. These are exceptionally difficult times and the EU cannot really expect itself and its member states to operate in a ‘business as usual’ mode. Furthermore, the EU leaders also displayed double standards at a recent EU summit. A French proposal for an EU wide auto-industry bailout was thrown out. Can we then really say that the French are selfish? By making such a proposal, the French displayed an awareness that coordinated action will boost economies of scale but their European colleagues saw otherwise.

The EU leadership is certainly being naive in thinking that it can operate with its usual set of guidelines in a recessionary period. If they maintain this stance, they can be rest assured that more ‘surprises’ are on the way. As countries come up with individual bailout plans, they are bound to have some ‘protectionist flavour’ of some sort and EU will certainly become a yellow card merchant as it cautions one country after another.