Kirk Smith: Business/FinanceBusiness, economy and economics, finance, investment news and information.Who's Paying For Your Fix- July 8, 2003 by Kate Duncan MayJun 2003 Issue Unless your morning latte was a fair trade blend, it probably cost more than what the farmer who picked the beans earns in a day. Conventional coffee prices are at their lowest in a century, even below the cost of production. Farmers have been leaving the fruit to rot on the tree, pulling the kids out of school, abandoning the family land and pouring into the cities to find non-existent work. That&146;s why, as the most heavily traded commodity after oil, and...http://www.clamormagazine.org/features/issue20_1-1.html There Was a Reason They Called It... The Casino Economy- July 4, 2003 by Thomas Croft 02 Jul 03 In the last three years, a 'perfect storm' of rising energy costs, record consumer and corporate debt and massive trade and current account deficits joined with unsustainable investment practices, and resulted in an economic collapse. The first recession since 1929 to be primarily caused by over-investment, these 'collateral damage' investing schemes-in overseas boondoggles and sweatshops, extreme mergers, absurd dot-coms and derivative scams-all came home to roost....http://www.counterpunch.com/croft07032003.html |