An enormous 27,000-square-foot home in Winnetka, Ill. on the North Shore of Chicago is on sale for $27 million.
The home has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, and four half bathrooms.
This walled and gated chateau was designed by renowned architect Richard Landry.
Every day we're faced with decisions, from the trivial to extremely important.
Too often we simply go with our gut feeling and do what feels right.
The problem with that approach is that it leaves us open to a variety of behavioral and psychological biases that affect the way we think and can lead us to make the wrong choices.
By being aware of of the things that lead us down the wrong path and some ways to get it right, we can make better, more rational decisions.
People put too much value on having a wide variety of choices.
In fact, according to researchers Simona Botti from the London Business School and Christopher Hsee of the University of Chicago we spend so much time seeking out options that it outweighs any benefit of having additional choices.
When researching options, set a time limit for yourself, and make sure you're not just procrastinating to avoid the decision.
People have a tendency to imitate others' choices, even when they get different information.
Berkeley behavioral economist Matthew Rabin extends this further, this effect can be particularly strong and lead us to keep making the wrong choices because we overestimate how much people are acting on better private information, and underestimate how much they're simply following others.
Don't mistake other people's choices for real information in every case.
When presented with uncertain information, people tend to interpret in a way that confirms what they already think or want. This 'confirmatory bias' actually makes people overconfident in their choices without good reason.
If you have a preference for a certain choice because it's easier or more familiar, make sure you're not shaping contrary information to support it.
Weimar Germany after World War One went through one of the worst hyperinflations in history, unleashing untold horrors on the German people and their economy.
Memories of Weimar still haunt the eurozone today. The European Central Bank, widely considered to be the only institution with the firepower to stem the euro crisis, is somewhat restrained by the legacy of the German Bundesbank.
The Bundesbank – established in 1957 (well after Weimar) – for years before joining the euro was extremely conservative in expanding the money supply because of what happened during the Weimar years. And 90 years later, Germans are reminded of the perils of the printing press, whether or not the comparison is truly apt.
Adam Fergusson authored a book on the subject, entitled When Money Dies – and many consider it to be the definitive work on the Weimar hyperinflation.
It used to be out of print and a bit hard to find, but now you can find it in its entirety online.
We summarized the key elements of Fergusson's book.
Germany hoped that it would quickly win the war and reap bounty from the nations it conquered, which – to the government – justified the use of the printing press to fund it:
It may have been true — there is no reason to doubt it — that a short, sharp war and a speedy victory in 1914 had been both hoped for and expected. Together with the prospect of eventual war indemnities extorted from the Entente, this would possibly have justified taking temporary liberties, even outrageous ones, with the known laws of finance...that was indeed how it did begin: in part the natural result of having a self- willed Army itching for war and a Federal Parliament which, though with limited power over the country's constituent states, still had to find the money to pay for it.
The German government appealed to patriotism to fund the conflict, using slogans like "I gave gold for iron," and "Invest in War Loan."
Furthermore, it censored information heavily:
Every German stock exchange was closed for the duration, so that the effect of Reichsbank policies on stocks and shares was unknown. Further, foreign exchange rates were not published, and only those in contact with neutral markets such as Amsterdam or Zurich could guess what was going on...Only when the war was over, with the veil of censorship lifted but the Allied blockade continuing, did it become clear to all with eyes to read that Germany had already met an economic disaster nearly as shattering as her military one.
A German newspaper ascribed Germany's loss of the war partly to the fact that men were abandoning the front to return home and support their families:
With the benefit of two years' hindsight, The Vossische Zeitung could print in August 1921:
Our military defeat was due to the fact that for every 1000 men we had in the trenches, double that number of deserters and embusques remained at home. These deserters were activated less by military than economic motives. The rise in prices was mainly responsible for the poverty of the families of the enlisted men.
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Facebook reports its Q3 2012 earnings later this week, and as usual our friends at TBG Digital, one of the largest buyers of ads in social media, has given Business Insider a look at its Q3 Facebook ad performance report.
This report is derived from 520 billion ad impressions for 282 clients in 190 for countries, from Q1 2011 through Q3 2012.
The main findings are that the average cost-per-click -- the price advertisers pay when their ads perform -- has declined by 40% in the most mature markets, like the U.S.
Click-through rates -- which measure how well the ads performed -- increased significantly.
The higher performance for lower prices seems to be a result of North American clients increasingly utilizing News Feed and Mobile ads (which also appear in the feed).
The charts on the following pages describe that performance; a summary of TBG's commentary is below each chart.
Last quarter’s showed the U.S. and Canada’s average cost per click (CPC) rise above $1 for the first time. This quarter, the United States dropped by 40% and Canada fell by 27%.
High click-through rates provided by News Feed ad placements has meant that advertisers do not have to spend as much. This may have had a positive effect on CPCs. We expect to see CPCs rise as competition for inventory increases.
CTRs are an indication of how engaging and relevant users find ads on Facebook. Last quarter saw an average increase of 11%. This quarter, the average CTR rate of the five major territories measured have increased by 81%. By far the largest increase has been seen in the United States with a 99% increase, followed by Canada with a 37% increase.
Q3 2012 is the first full quarter since Facebook provided advertisers with access to its Mobile user base. This territory has seen the biggest uptake in the new Mobile ad placement targeting. In an unchanging environment, a rise in CTRs could be attributed to improvements in ad creative and its targeting.
In campaigns designed to gather new fans and app downloads in the United States only, this quarter sees Mobile News Feed ads receiving CTRs almost 23 times that of “Desktop News Feed + Right Hand Side” ads. Targeting Desktop and Mobile News Feed together fares gets even better results.
The CPC of ads targeted to Mobile News Feed are 3.4 times that of Desktop + Mobile News Feed targeting.
Although the results for News Feed are very strong, the majority of impressions are provided by ads on the Right Hand Side panel.
Advertisers are finding lower CPC costs in the News Feed, especially with the “Desktop + Mobile News Feed” placement. The cheaper CPC values seem to derive from the fact that targeting both placements together opens up more inventory with less competition.
There may be an issue with accidental clicks due to the size of the action buttons in Mobile ads so advertisers will have to monitor engagement rates closely. We would expect any unintentional interactions to decline over time as users become more used to seeing ads in the Mobile News Feed.
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Sometimes it can feel like you’re throwing your money down a black hole that happens to be wearing a onesie.
Clothes they quickly grow out of, astronomical child care and food to feed a teenager–hey, where did my money go?
But there are ways in which you can invest your money in your child and see a big return, and we’re not just talking about buying savings bonds.
While many of the things you want for your children may seem out of reach now (a $200,000 college education?) Trusting them to handle a credit card all by themselves? Getting them to finish their peas?), by making little investments now, you can get them where you want them to be, even while improving your own finances.
Studies show that giving an allowance can actually lead to lower financial literacy, lower levels of motivation and aversion to work.
We’ve come down on both sides of the issue of paying for chores, but most experts agree that paying children extra cash for tasks that go above and beyond their normal duties will help both you and them reap benefits later. Them, because they’ll have solid finances.
You, because you won’t need to bail them out or support them.
Source: Learnvest
We like group activities because they encourage cooperation, learning and healthy habits. Girl Scouts is one of–if not the–most affordable activities available for young girls. But there’s another reason we love a membership: Girl Scout members now learn financial literacy skills as well.
Badges added to the roster in the latest overhaul include Money Counts, Money Manager, Philanthropist, Business Owner, Savvy Shopper, Budgeting, Comparison Shopping and Financing My Dreams.
Boy Scouts have similar merit badges in Entrepreneurship, American Business and Personal Management, which require them to save up for, budget and plan for a major purchase.
How much you pay for your own kid’s involvement with the Scouts will vary depending on where you live, but even at its highest price, it’s not too bad.
Source: LearnVest
A 529 plan lets you save tax-free for your child’s college education. Because it’s an investment account, money you deposit will grow at about 7% a year over the years you’ll be saving. That means if you deposit just $200 when your child is 5 years old, by the time she heads to college, your money will have more than doubled, and she’ll have about $500 to pick up everything she needs. Think about what depositing $200 a month will yield over 18 years!
You might be wondering if it’s even worth saving for college at all, when it’s so darn expensive. Well, a college education is still the fastest ticket to the American Dream … unless your child is burdened with students loans.
According to FinAid.org, gift aid from the government, colleges and universities and private scholarships pays for only about a third of total college costs. And taking out loans to cover the rest is much more expensive than saving ahead of time. FinAid.org estimates that if, in the years before your child enrolls in college, you save $200 a month for ten years at 7% interest, your child would then have almost $35,000 to use.
But if you borrow the same amount at 6.8% interest and pay it back over ten years, you’ll be making payments of over $400 a month. $400 versus $200 a month. Which would you choose?
Source: LearnVest
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Apple's mobile operating system comes pre-loaded with a bunch of default apps like Weather and Contacts.
Some will find them indispensable, but if you don't use them, you're stuck with a bunch of useless apps hogging screen space. There's no way to uninstall them without jailbreaking.
Until now, we learn via Lifehacker.
The sharp mind behind Ragemasta (he goes by @maty1500 on Twitter) has developed a way to end the frustration surrounding the un-deletable apps.
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A classically beautiful mansion called Solana in Santa Barbara, is on sale for $57.5 million.
The home spans 20,000 square feet and sits on 11 acres of land, with 360-degree views of mountains and the ocean.
The land was bought in 1912 by Forrest Peabody of Arrow Shirt, and is considered a "historic" estate, according to the listing.
While the economy and jobs remain the bread-and-butter issues of the 2012 presidential race, tonight's final debate will focus on topics that remain important to voters deciding on who will be their commander-in-chief for the next four years: Namely, how the candidates see the role of the United States on the global stage.
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each has a distinct vision for how the U.S. should pursue its relationships with key enemies and allies in the 21st century. And as the U.S. winds down it's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, both candidates have vastly different plans for the future of the military.
Here, we go through the candidates' achievements and plans for the future of U.S. foreign policy and national security.
The Obama administration has laid out plans to draw down U.S. military and defense spending, including cutting several Defense Department programs that civilian and military leaders have indicated are unnecessary.
These programs include the Medium Air Defense System (an attempt to make a better Patriot missile), the Global Hawk Drone (which has been replaced by other, more sophisticated models) and the C-130 Hercules transport plane (as the current fleet is sufficient for the planned shift away from airlifts.)
The White House's future plans for the military include a gradual reduction to pre-2006 levels, scaling back personnel between 1% and 2.5% depending on the branch of service.He is also in the process of cutting the Department of Defense workforce by around 10% through attrition.
Here's the administration's latest Defense budget plan >
More broadly, the Obama administration's plans for the military involve a significant "pivot" in focus to the Pacific to emphasize policy goals there. The administration has also given the go-ahead for production of the new Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carrier, and production of the F-35 new joint strike fighter is to continue on schedule.
Source: NDAA, White House
Romney wants to ensure that federal defense spending takes up at least four percent of GDP.
From his campaign website:
He will put our Navy on the path to increase its shipbuilding rate from nine per year to approximately fifteen per year, which will include three submarines per year. He will also modernize and replace the aging inventories of the Air Force, Army, and Marines, and selectively strengthen our force structure.
The Romney plan is in favor of more defense spending and personnel. Romney doesn't want to reduce troop levels on the same track that the Obama administration does and he has said that he would maintain the defense programs that Obama wants to cut, either in whole or in part, as well as expand acquisition for new missile sites in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic.
Romney has also indicated his interest in restarting the expensive and controversial F-22 aircraft program, in addition to buying up more F-35 joint strike fighters.
Finally, the Romney campaign has also laid out plans to reform the procurement process:
During World War II the United States built 1,000 ships per year with 1,000 people employed in the Bureau of Ships [...] By the 1980s, we were building seventeen ships per year, with 4,000 people in purchasing. Today, when we are building only nine ships a year, the Pentagon manages the shipbuilding process with some 25,000 people.
Source: Mitt Romney 2012
Obama's record with Israel is somewhat mixed. On one hand, he has a notoriously tense relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a divide that could spell bad news for the future of negotiations in the region.
But Obama has also delivered on several key promises to Israel. Under his administration, the U.S. has strengthened its cooperation with the Israeli military on air defense, including the sale of advanced air defense systems to Israel and collaboration on developing new missile interception technologies.
Under the Obama administration, American contractors have been dispatched to help construct the Iron Dome missile defense system, the Arrow system, and an array of Patriot missiles. Raytheon is also actively building the next-gen David's Sling missile defense system with Israel.
Source: IDF Blog
It's been an absurd season in the Heisman Trophy race
At the beginning of the season the consensus was that Matt Barkley, Denard Robinson and Montee Ball were the biggest threats to take home college football's highest honor, but only one of those has a shot at this point in the season.
Several less prominent players have profited from a largely unpredictable season across college football to grab some attention.
We've assembled a list of the players that have earned the chance to win the honor and where they stand in the race at this point in the season.
He's the SEC's leader in total offense, but the freshman's performance against LSU has put his Heisman credentials on the back burner. He'll need huge performances against Mississippi State and Alabama to regain support.
Season Totals (seven gms.): 157/246, 1,965 yards, 14 TDs, 6 INTs
108 rushes, 703 yards, 10 TDs
Doege is a player that remains off several Heisman lists despite everything he's accomplished for the Red Raiders this season. Doege has thrown the most touchdowns in the nation and has Texas Tech at 6-1. A win over Kansas State on the road this weekend could launch his stock skyward.
Season Totals (seven gms.): 189/267, 2,209 yards, 28 TDs, 7 INTs
(No significant rushing stats)
The loss to Stanford, where he failed to throw a touchdown pass and had two interceptions, will remain a bruise on Barkley's chances. In a season where USC was expected to run the table, Barkley will need to remain unblemished from here on out to have a shot at the Heisman.
Season Totals (seven gms.): 140/213, 1,773 yards, 22 TDs, 6 INTs
(No significant rushing stats)
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Summer's over in Maine, but you’d hardly know it from the queue of vacationers and regulars at the Clam Shack.
A teenager shouts out orders of clam strips, chowder, and fried shrimp. But it's the whole, handpicked lobster piled onto a buttered roll that earns this eatery a place among the seafood greats.
Today’s culinary landscape is all about über-local ingredients and farm-to-table cooking. But before there were menus crediting farmers for their kale or acorn-fed pork, there were dockside establishments serving just-caught crab and lobster or oysters farmed a few miles up the shore. America’s seafood restaurants were sourcing fish from their backyard long before it was popular.
These iconic, unfussy joints, for many of us, define seafood at its best. After all, what could be better than plump, juicy bivalves paired with a cold beer and views of bobbing boats? Or picking crabs on brown paper–covered communal tables, your hands a mess of clarified butter and Old Bay?
Our top picks include as many (if not more) down-and-dirty restaurants—where no-frills décor meets the freshest grouper, blackened, simply dressed with mayo and lettuce, and served on a toasted bun—as high-end ones helmed by toques who marry French techniques and worldly ingredients with pristine bluefin, cobia, and escolar.
You’ll find America’s best seafood at a shanty overlooking Florida’s Sarasota Bay, and on Maui’s northern shore in a kitschy, yet romantic South Seas setting where the catch changes so often that menus are printed twice daily, but also in Atlanta, where seafood meets southern society over oysters and putt-putt at the Optimist.
Whether high or low, one thing is consistent: Each of these local favorites, in big cities and small towns, is a catch.
Best Italian Restaurants In The US
World's Strangest Vending Machines
This River North restaurant in Chicago wows with its nautical good looks: Dutch Master–style oil paintings of stormy seas, fishermen’s-netting chandeliers, and a massive chalkboard drawing of a swordfish skeleton are cool rather than kitschy when paired with cane-backed chairs, gold-trimmed black tables, and plush banquettes.
But the real reason to come is Giuseppe Tentori’s cooking: tuna poke with mangoes and cucumbers; taro chips with smoked haddock dip; and clam bake in a cauldron with corn, sausage and spicy seaweed in a white wine broth.
There’s nothing understated or outdated about this Maui classic, est. 1973. The setting—palm trees, tide pools, white sand beach—is beyond romantic, and the fish is as fresh as it gets.
Menus, printed twice daily, credit fishermen by name, and may include local catches like opah, onaga, and ono, baked in a macadamia-nut crust, served up-country style with caramelized onions, avocado, and baby bok choy, or marinated in lime and coconut milk.
On Stock Island, Key West’s less rowdy neighbor, this low-key spot, tucked between a trailer park and the shrimp docks, is known for its pinks—Key West shrimp, distinguished by a pink dot in the center of its shell—and for its hogfish.
The former come fried and barbecued, stuffed in tacos, or battered with coconut. But there’s really only one way to order hogfish. Ask for the Killer, which pairs fried, just-caught hogfish with melted Swiss cheese and mushrooms on Cuban bread.
Of all the hurdles and agonies of traveling by air, one of the most frequent delays is simply the weather.
Any combination of atmospheric upheaval that reduces visibility or hampers an aircraft's flight has to be considered before a plane is cleared to fly. That's especially true aboard an aircraft carrier, as I saw last month in the Persian Gulf.
Check out meteorology on the IKE >
Imagine that a carrier travels about 40 mph across open ocean, through all manner of global weather patterns, with multiple ships escorting it along. Imagine the its deck filled with jets and helicopters all needed to fill a pressing Pentagon mission and that aside from getting them into the air and flying safely, the weather must permit them to land back on deck hours in the future.
Now imagine you're the person responsible for making all that happen without one bit of unexpected weather, and you'll understand what LCDR Tim Knapp's life is like aboard the aircraft carrier USS EISENHOWER in the Persian Gulf.
A steady stream of F-18s and Seahawk helicopters, surveillance planes, and transport craft take off and land from the carrier deck at a near constant clip during flight operations, and it can all come to a screeching halt with an advisory from Knapp in the IKE's Meteorological Office.
Knapp recently finished his Master's in Numerical Meteorological and Physical Oceanography at the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey, Ca. That stint included two years of some math and science most people wouldn't want to imagine, and might go a long way toward forming a certain opinion about the career officer. It might be wrong.
This is Knapp's second Navy career after spending over 11 years as a surface warfare officer on amphibious assault and coastal patrols ships, basically pulling badass missions that neither he or anyone else can talk about.
The work was a far cry from his crew's tidy office on the IKE with its decadent porthole windows, fresh hot chocolate, and basket of hard candy. But past the Jolly Ranchers and over by the door are a stack of boxes chatting it up with some very serious supercomputers back in the States.
The heart of that system sits in Monterey, processing 27 trillion meteorological possibilities per second from around the globe.
Those findings arrive at the black boxes by the door and get introduced to an algorithm that paints an image on the nearby LCD screens much like what we see on the Weather Channel, but not nearly as fancy.
Just like the Weather Channel, Knapp and his staff plot local weather two weeks in advance, taking special care in these parts to look for conditions on shore that would drive up sandstorms.
Even with all of that hardware there are limitations, and when asked if he ever gets it wrong, Knapp shrugs his shoulders and smiles, "Anything over 72 hours is a crap shoot."
And just in case anyone thought that was acceptable, he quickly adds: "But we're pretty confident at the seven to ten day mark. Especially out here," as he finishes extending his hand toward the clear blue sky over the Gulf.
Regardless of the job, or the skills sailors possess on a Navy ship, what kind of office they sit in or whether or not it lets in the sun, there is one constant among everyone I talked to onboard.
They love their job, but they miss their families with a sharpness I can almost feel.
Knapp aches for his four-year-old daughter in Virginia, but he also misses the rest of his large close-knit family — including his little sister who works at Business Insider — who he promises to see as soon as he gets home.
Whenever that might be.
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A CBS News instant poll says Obama crushed Romney, and a CNN poll has Obama winning the final presidential debate by eight points.
After watching the debate from start to finish, it was evident that Romney did lose out in the zingers and memorable moments category to Barack Obama – and even moderator Bob Schieffer.
By the end of the debate, it seemed like most people were talking about what Obama and Schieffer said.
Romney, meanwhile, played it safe and kept his aggression to a minimum during the final presidential debate before the election.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Phil Falcone, the founder of Harbinger Capital, and his wife Lisa Maria, have turned their Upper East Side palatial home into an incredible house of horrors.
The Falcones bought the 27-room mansion, which is just steps away from Central Park, for $49 million in 2008, according to a Bloomberg News report.
We ran into Lisa Maria, who is the mother of twin daughters, while she was decorating the building's exterior on Monday afternoon.
She declined to comment for this article, but one thing is for sure -- She's really into decorating for Halloween.
We've included some photos of the Falcones' masterpiece in the slides that follow.
[Hat Tip: NYTimes]
Source: NYTimes
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Apple's iPad Mini—a smaller version of the iPad with a 7.85-inch screen—is expected to be announced tomorrow at an event Tuesday at the company's Cupertino, Calif. campus.
As tech improves, all tablets are heading towards being lighter, thinner, and faster.
But smaller? The iPad has pretty much defined the tablet category for consumers. So most aren't sure what to make of these "tweeners"—smaller tablets more geared around media consumption than the full-featured mobile-computing experience of an iPad.
But there are a lot of alternatives—and Apple could, paradoxically, boost its rivals' prospects by making people aware that there's more than one size for tablets.
Google's Nexus 7 is currently the king of the miniature tablets. Some would even say the Nexus 7 is the best budget Android tablet around.
Google dictated the Nexus 7's software and hardware specs, making the device ultraportable and lightning-fast. The Nexus 7 also uses very little power so you can go longer on a single charge.
Nexus 7 specs include:
The Nexus 7 is one of the best tablets around. Best of all, it takes advantage of Google's latest mobile operating system. And its form factor makes it perfect for travel or a commute.
Price: $199 for the 8GB version, $249 for the 16GB version.
The Kindle Fire is perfect for the user who is a fan of Amazon and purchases digital books from the service.
Check out our full review of the Kindle Fire HD.
Price: $199
Price: $159
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National home prices are expected to rise 1.7 percent from Q3 2012 - Q3 2013, according to Zillow's latest report.
In fact, the report finds that 183 of the 252 markets surveyed have hit a bottom, but the recovery has been different in different parts of the country.
We drew on the report to rank seven cities where home prices are projected to rise the most in the next year.
We also included an estimate of when home prices bottomed, and the actual value of a home.
Change in home prices 2012-2013:
3.5 percent
Projected bottom in home value:
Q1 2012
Price in Q3 2012:
$397,000
Source: Zillow
Change in home prices 2012-2013:
3.8 percent
Projected bottom in home value:
Q4 2011
Price in Q3 2012:
$149,700
Source: Zillow
Change in home prices 2012-2013:
3.8 percent
Projected bottom in home value:
Q1 2012
Price in Q3 2012:
$497,600
Source: Zillow
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More than 100 years after the Titanic's demise, it is still eerie to look at the advertisements for the luxury steamer's maiden voyage.
Copy boasting squash courts and "Turkish and electric baths" accompanied beautiful — imaginary — pictures of the ship cutting through a welcoming, iceberg-free sea.
Less than half of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board the ship survived. Here's why they signed on.
This ad was geared towards less elite travelers.
It lists third class prices and shows photographs of less luxurious accommodations.
To prevent mingling between the upper and lower class passengers, the Titanic was fit with gates to keep the groups separated. Many of these gates weren't opened after accident, leaving some of the poorer passengers to go down with the ship.
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The San Francisco Giants crushed the Cardinals in Game 7 to advance to the World Series last night.
In the ninth inning, the skies opened up. But with San Fran up 9-0, the umpires decided to let the players finish the game through the rain.
The result: Beautiful images of drenched players, childlike, celebrating an NLCS victory.
For our money, this was the coolest-looking title celebration in recent sports history.
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The International Monetary Fund recently released its World Economic Outlook — and it's not pretty.
GDP growth projections growth for advanced economies were revised from 2.0 percent to 1.5 percent, while emerging markets were lowered from 6.0 percent to 5.6 percent.
Chief Economist Oliver Blanchard notes, "Explicit indexes of uncertainty, such as the VIX in the United States or the VStoxx in Europe, remain at fairly low levels."
Blanchard suggests that this uncertainty is existential in nature, and reflects widespread doubt regarding the ability world leaders to solve the economic problems of our era. He acknowledges that the IMF's forecasts may prove "too pessimistic" if uncertainty is reduced.
The IMF gives economic forecasts for 185 economies.
We scoured the IMF's report and the CIA World Factbook to bring you the twenty slowest-growing economies according to their forecasted compounded annual growth rate from 2013 through 2017.
Characteristics for these underperformers includes:
The countries are ranked based on compound annual growth rates (CAGR) through 2017.
Est. 2012 GDP: 0.45%
Est. 2013 GDP: 1.25%
Est. 2013-2017
GDP CAGR: 1.7%
Economy: The economy of this banana-producing nation has been increasingly buoyed by tourism. The government has enacted comprehensive reforms since 2003 in an attempt to liberalize and diversify the economy. This island nation is vulnerable to hurricanes like Dean which caused damages totaling 20% of GDP in 2009.
Sources: IMF World Economic Outlook, CIA World Handbook
Est. 2012 GDP: -2.22%
Est. 2013 GDP: -0.36%
Est. 2013-2017
GDP CAGR: 1.66%
Economy: Slovenia has among the highest amount of state control over the economy for all E.U. countries. Unemployment has continued to rise even after recovery from the recession. Foreign investment has declined in favor of India, China, and other emerging markets.
Sources: IMF World Economic Outlook, CIA World Handbook
Est. 2012 GDP: -0.94%
Est. 2013 GDP: 0.76%
Est. 2013-2017
GDP CAGR: 1.66%
Economy: The government exerts massive control over the economy, and generates the vast majority of its revenues through oil. Sanctions for its nuclear program have devastated the oil-exporting nation. Unemployment lingers in double-digits, and Iran’s most educated citizens seek work abroad.
Sources: IMF World Economic Outlook, CIA World Handbook
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South Africa, which emerged from apartheid as one of the most exciting economic stories on the African continent, has lately descended into crisis.
Strikes are debilitating the country's mining sector, which is a large employer and a key producer of South African exports.
At the same time, unemployment remains staggeringly high – about 1 in 4 people in South Africa are without jobs.
Part of this is due to capital-intensive industries like mining, which increasingly use more machines at the expense of manpower, are rising in importance in South Africa, and demand for skilled laborers far outweighs that for unskilled workers.
Another key contributor, however, has been South Africa's labor union structure. NBER economists explained in a research paper examining South African unemployment:
One could imagine that the presence of so many unionized workers might drive up wages faster than productivity growth, thereby exacerbating unemployment. This is especially a problem because collective agreements reached by bargaining councils in South Africa can be extended to all workers and to all firms in an industry, even if they were not parties to the negotiations (see Bendix, 2003). Bargaining council agreements cover about 25 percent of formal sector employees (Godfrey, Maree and Theron., 2006).
Wages have been outpacing labor productivity in South Africa for years. Now, a new round of collective bargaining agreements has brought the imbalances to a head and have thrown the South African economy into crisis.
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Verizon customers should be ticked off about the company's practice of selling user data to marketers. Customers' geographic location, app usage, and Web browsing habits are quite literally for sale. Verizon's defense is simply that users can opt out if they want to. Here's how to do it.
Go to Verizon's privacy management page by clicking here and log in to your account. As you scroll down, you'll see that you're currently opted into a number of things that will share your data. Click the "Don't Share" option for each one, saving as you go, and your data is safe and sound from Verizon, as it should be.
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