NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global growth is likely to remain tepid this year and central banks should keep their easy monetary policies in place, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.
"Thanks to the actions of policymakers, the economic world no longer looks quite as dangerous as it did six months ago," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told the Economic Club of New York.
But while there were signs that financial conditions are improving, Lagarde said those changes are not yet translating into improvements in the real economy.
"In present circumstances, it makes sense for monetary policy to do the heavy lifting in this recovery by remaining accommodative," Lagarde said ahead of meetings of global finance chiefs in Washington next week.
"We know that inflation expectations are well anchored today, giving central banks greater leeway to support growth," she added.
She said a three-speed recovery is underway, led by fast-growing emerging economies, followed by countries such the United States that are on the mend, and with the euro zone and Japan trailing.
In January, the IMF trimmed its 2013 forecast for global growth to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent, and projected a 4.1 percent expansion in 2014. It said the world economy grew 3.2 percent in 2012.
Lagarde said the exceptionally loose monetary policies of central banks in advanced economies is a concern for emerging economies, which fear a sudden reversal of the large capital flows that have flooded their economies in recent years as investors have sought higher yields.
"Right now, these risks appear under control," Lagarde said, but she urged emerging economies to boost their defenses to deal with the possible repercussions should central banks start to exit from quantitative easing.
The IMF chief welcomed the unprecedented burst of monetary stimulus announced by the Bank of Japan last week to revive the country's economy. She urged Japan to deliver a credible fiscal plan to lower its public debt, "which looks increasingly unsustainable".
"Japan needs a clear and credible plan to lower public debt over the medium term," Lagarde said. "It needs comprehensive structural reforms to shift the economy into higher gear."
Lagarde said the 'fiscal cliff' in the United States had been avoided, but that it is vital now for the Obama administration to put in place credible, medium-term plans to cut debt.
In Europe, Lagarde said monetary policy is "spinning its wheels" with low interest rates unable to translate into affordable credit for those who need it because of unfinished repairs to the banking sector.
"The priority must be to continue to clean up the banking system by recapitalizing, restructuring, or, where necessary, shutting down banks," Lagarde added.
The banking bailout in Cyprus, she reiterated, is not a template for future reforms. However, she said people, "whether investors or depositors need to know what the banking order is".
Cyprus received a 10 billion euro bailout from the euro zone and the IMF. However, the structure of the deal has injected a higher level of uncertainty into markets because it requires large depositors, many of them Russian, to share in the losses of the banking system.
"Cyprus was not a template, it doesn't set standards because it was not a standard itself. It was vastly different from many banks in the region," Lagarde said in response to a question.
In addition to banking reform, most European governments need to maintain tight fiscal policies to reduce debt levels, she said, but added that spending cuts need not be too severe too soon.
"We believe it is a question of pace," Lagarde said. "(Reforms) don't have to be brutal or abrupt or massively front-loaded. Those under financial pressure have to demonstrate the ability to do so but be mindful of the fabric of society."
The IMF's spring meeting will be held in Washington April 19-21.
(Writing by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama; and Peter Galloway)
Doctors not informed of harmful effects of medicines during sales visitsPublic release date: 10-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barbara Mintzes barbara.mintzes@ti.ubc.ca 604-822-7130 University of British Columbia
The majority of family doctors receive little or no information about harmful effects of medicines when visited by drug company representatives, according to an international study involving Canadian, U.S. and French physicians.
Yet the same doctors indicated that they were likely to start prescribing these drugs, consistent with previous research that shows prescribing behaviour is influenced by pharmaceutical promotion.
The study, which had doctors fill out questionnaires about each promoted medicine following sales visits, was published online today in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. It shows that sales representatives failed to provide any information about common or serious side effects and the type of patients who should not use the medicine in 59 per cent of the promotions. In Vancouver and Montreal, no potential harms were mentioned for 66 per cent of promoted medicines.
"Laws in all three countries require sales representatives to provide information on harm as well as benefits," says lead author Barbara Mintzes of the University of British Columbia. "But no one is monitoring these visits and there are next to no sanctions for misleading or inaccurate promotion."
Serious risks were mentioned in only six percent of the promotions, even though 57 per cent of the medications involved in these visits came with US Food and Drug Administration "black box" or Health Canada boxed warnings the strongest drug warning that can be issued by both countries.
"We are very concerned that doctors and patients are left in the dark and patient safety may be compromised," says Mintzes, an expert on drug advertising in UBC's School of Population and Public Health.
Doctors in Toulouse were more likely to be told of a harmful effect in a promotional visit, compared to doctors in Canada and the U.S., according to the study. Researchers suggested that this may reflect stricter regulatory standards for promotion of medicines in France.
NB: Figures showing the study's key findings are available at
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gzo3d9uqy19rexl/ULFOzdk5d-.
###
BACKGROUND | DRUG SALES VISITS LACK DETAILS
About the study
The UBC-led study is the most comprehensive to date of the quality of pharmaceutical sales representative promotions to family physicians.
Researchers recruited physicians to participate using random samples from lists of primary care physicians at four sites Vancouver, Montreal, Sacramento and Toulouse. Among 704 eligible physicians contacted, 255 (36 per cent) chose to participate. Information was collected on 1,692 drug promotions at sales visits between May 2009 to June 2010.
Doctors were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the information provided for each promoted medicine following each visit they received from pharmaceutical sales representatives. Sales representatives regularly visit doctors' offices to promote medicines by providing information, free samples and in some cases food and invitations to events. The study focused on how often information was provided about drug safety.
The team includes researchers from UBC, York University, University of Montreal, University of California, Davis and the University of Toulouse.
Third-party comment
Dr. Tom Perry, an internal medicine and clinical pharmacology specialist at the UBC Hospital in Vancouver, who is not part of the study, expressed concern about the findings:
"Doctors learn relatively little about drugs in medical school, and much of their exposure to pharmacology after graduation may be in the form of advertising. If they are unaware of the potential harms from drugs they prescribe, patients inevitably suffer the consequences."
Perry also called for much stricter control of drug advertising in Canada.
Dr. Perry can be reached by pager 604-707-1427 or e-mail tperryjr@shaw.ca.
CONTACT
Prof. Barbara Mintzes
UBC School of Population and Public Health
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Doctors not informed of harmful effects of medicines during sales visitsPublic release date: 10-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barbara Mintzes barbara.mintzes@ti.ubc.ca 604-822-7130 University of British Columbia
The majority of family doctors receive little or no information about harmful effects of medicines when visited by drug company representatives, according to an international study involving Canadian, U.S. and French physicians.
Yet the same doctors indicated that they were likely to start prescribing these drugs, consistent with previous research that shows prescribing behaviour is influenced by pharmaceutical promotion.
The study, which had doctors fill out questionnaires about each promoted medicine following sales visits, was published online today in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. It shows that sales representatives failed to provide any information about common or serious side effects and the type of patients who should not use the medicine in 59 per cent of the promotions. In Vancouver and Montreal, no potential harms were mentioned for 66 per cent of promoted medicines.
"Laws in all three countries require sales representatives to provide information on harm as well as benefits," says lead author Barbara Mintzes of the University of British Columbia. "But no one is monitoring these visits and there are next to no sanctions for misleading or inaccurate promotion."
Serious risks were mentioned in only six percent of the promotions, even though 57 per cent of the medications involved in these visits came with US Food and Drug Administration "black box" or Health Canada boxed warnings the strongest drug warning that can be issued by both countries.
"We are very concerned that doctors and patients are left in the dark and patient safety may be compromised," says Mintzes, an expert on drug advertising in UBC's School of Population and Public Health.
Doctors in Toulouse were more likely to be told of a harmful effect in a promotional visit, compared to doctors in Canada and the U.S., according to the study. Researchers suggested that this may reflect stricter regulatory standards for promotion of medicines in France.
NB: Figures showing the study's key findings are available at
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gzo3d9uqy19rexl/ULFOzdk5d-.
###
BACKGROUND | DRUG SALES VISITS LACK DETAILS
About the study
The UBC-led study is the most comprehensive to date of the quality of pharmaceutical sales representative promotions to family physicians.
Researchers recruited physicians to participate using random samples from lists of primary care physicians at four sites Vancouver, Montreal, Sacramento and Toulouse. Among 704 eligible physicians contacted, 255 (36 per cent) chose to participate. Information was collected on 1,692 drug promotions at sales visits between May 2009 to June 2010.
Doctors were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the information provided for each promoted medicine following each visit they received from pharmaceutical sales representatives. Sales representatives regularly visit doctors' offices to promote medicines by providing information, free samples and in some cases food and invitations to events. The study focused on how often information was provided about drug safety.
The team includes researchers from UBC, York University, University of Montreal, University of California, Davis and the University of Toulouse.
Third-party comment
Dr. Tom Perry, an internal medicine and clinical pharmacology specialist at the UBC Hospital in Vancouver, who is not part of the study, expressed concern about the findings:
"Doctors learn relatively little about drugs in medical school, and much of their exposure to pharmacology after graduation may be in the form of advertising. If they are unaware of the potential harms from drugs they prescribe, patients inevitably suffer the consequences."
Perry also called for much stricter control of drug advertising in Canada.
Dr. Perry can be reached by pager 604-707-1427 or e-mail tperryjr@shaw.ca.
CONTACT
Prof. Barbara Mintzes
UBC School of Population and Public Health
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Crucial's budget-friendly yet high-capacity 2.5-inch M500 SSD has finally cropped up for sale today, as have the reviews of it from the usual enthusiast sites. While it's still not exactly low-cost, many applaud the fact that the company's $600 960GB drive is the cheapest near-1TB model you can get on the market. It uses Micron's 20nm MLC NAND flash, a SATA 6 Gb/s controller and is the first to implement the new 128Gb MLC NAND die. According to Benchmark Reviews, it certainly bests its m4 predecessor with peak speeds that reach 500 MB/s read and 400 MB/s write, with 80,000 IOPS in operational performance.
Both TweakTown and Anandtech concur that it's not quite as fast as its closest competitor, the Samsung 840 Pro, but as Anand Lai Shimpi said in his review: "If you need the capacity and plan on using all of it [960GB], the M500 is really the only game in town." TechnologyX, however, gives the nod to the 480GB model, if only because it's about $200 cheaper if you're willing to compromise on space. Crucial also offers the M500 in 120GB and 240GB for $130 and $220 for those with smaller wallets. If you're keen to see the full breakdown on this tiny wonder, head on over to the sources to judge for yourself, or just click on the Crucial link below to get your own.
Sequestration budget cuts could stand between Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Gaith, and a trial on American soil timed almost to match up with the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Judge Lewis Kaplan today said Abu Gaith could go on trial in federal court in Manhattan as early as September of this year, around the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks the suspect lauded in al-Qaeda videos. Gaith's lawyer protested, saying a September start might be too soon, because of sequester cuts to public defenders.
The judge said it would be unfortunate if sequestration issues interfered with a trial of this importance, and he agreed to appoint other lawyers to assist the federal defenders service.
The U.S. court system stands to lose almost $350 million to sequester cuts. Last month Judge Julia Gibbons, chair of the Judicial Conference Budget Committee, testified that leaving sequestration as is would "have a devastating effect on federal court operations nationwide."
READ MORE: 57 Terrible Consequences of the Sequester
"We believe we have done all we can to minimize the impacts of sequestration but a cut of this magnitude, particularly so late in the fiscal year, will affect every facet of court operations and impact the general public as well as individuals and businesses looking for relief in the courts," Gibbons told the House subcommittee on financial services and general government of the appropriations committee.
She warned the courts could face up to 2,000 layoffs or furloughs before September.
"In our defender services program, federal defender attorney staffing levels will decline which could result in delays in appointing defense counsel for defendants," Gibbons said.
Last week, the results of furloughs became visible as a federal public defenders' office in Maryland all but shut down, while elsewhere, some agencies have managed to delay staffing cuts until mid-April or later.
READ MORE: Where's That Worker? Sequester Furloughs Start
Republicans have criticized the president for his administration's decision to try Abu Gaith in a federal court, instead of a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.
ABC's Aaron Katersky and Ariane de Vogue contributed to this report.
In this Jan. 2013 photo provided by Phil Grabsky Films, art historian Tim Marlow, left, curator Larry Nichols and the curator of the Manet exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts Mary Anne Stevens talk in front of a Manet painting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. On April 11, BY Experience is launching EXHIBITION, broadcasts of current or just closed art exhibitions from around the world to select movie theaters and performing arts centers in nearly 30 countries. (AP Photo/Phil Grabsky Films)
In this Jan. 2013 photo provided by Phil Grabsky Films, art historian Tim Marlow, left, curator Larry Nichols and the curator of the Manet exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts Mary Anne Stevens talk in front of a Manet painting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. On April 11, BY Experience is launching EXHIBITION, broadcasts of current or just closed art exhibitions from around the world to select movie theaters and performing arts centers in nearly 30 countries. (AP Photo/Phil Grabsky Films)
In this Jan. 2013 photo provided by Phil Grabsky Films, employees of the Royal Academy of Art move a Manet painting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. On April 11, BY Experience is launching EXHIBITION, broadcasts of current or just closed art exhibitions from around the world to select movie theaters and performing arts centers in nearly 30 countries. (AP Photo/Phil Grabsky Films)
In this Jan. 2013 photo provided by Phil Grabsky Films, a film crew works on a film about an exhibit devoted to the portraiture of Edouard Manet at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. On April 11, BY Experience is launching EXHIBITION, broadcasts of current or just closed art exhibitions from around the world to select movie theaters and performing arts centers in nearly 30 countries. (AP Photo/Phil Grabsky Films)
NEW YORK (AP) ? From the people who brought live Metropolitan Opera performances to a movie theater near you comes the next big-screen cultural attraction: museum art exhibits from around the world.
It begins Thursday with a retrospective devoted to the portraits by Edouard Manet from the Royal Academy of Arts in London, screened to 450 theaters across the U.S. and about 600 around the globe, with many locations scheduling encore broadcasts.
Two more exhibits are already lined up: a June retrospective on the art of Edvard Munch from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, and an October showing of works by Johannes Vermeer from the National Gallery in London.
Unlike the live opera broadcasts, the art presentations are slickly produced documentaries giving viewers a VIP guided tour of current or recently ended exhibitions from noted art historian Tim Marlow, who lingers on each of the displayed works and explains why they are special. Curator interviews, artist profiles and backstage tours fill out the 90-minute, high-definition show ? for an average price of $12.50.
"This is a way for an armchair traveler to come to the arts world, have it brought to them," said Julie Borchard-Young, co-owner of BY Experience, the company distributing the broadcasts. "Because it's not live, we wanted to make sure that the programs are very immersive and contemplative, that the viewer has a chance to slow down his or her busy life and really take this in."
For BY Experience, fine art is a natural next step in spreading culture to the masses, building on the niche success of its live series from the Met Opera and London's National Theatre.
The Met Opera series, for example, has grown every year since it was first beamed in 2006 to 98 theaters in four countries. Today it's seen in more than 1,900 theaters in 64 countries, with nearly 13 million tickets sold since 2006, according to figures provided by the opera house.
It had gross ticket sales of more than $57 million around the world for 11 performances during the 2011-12 season. Its Feb. 16 screening of "Rigoletto" took in $2.6 million in North America, ranking it No. 12 in the weekend box office, beating "Argo" and "Lincoln."
Like the Met, which realized $11 million from the opera broadcasts last season, the participating art museums will get a cut of the profits.
But will art exhibits work at the movies? Unlike new opera and theater performances, just about every piece of art from current exhibitions can already be viewed over the Internet. And the exhibits will be a documentary film, not a live event.
Borchard-Young said By Experience was encouraged by the response to what served as the pilot for its art exhibit series: "Leonardo Live," a 90-minute film by Phil Grabsky on the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at London's National Gallery that was viewed by 125,000 people in 21 countries.
"We were convinced there was an audience for fine arts" after that, she said.
Patrick Corcoran, director of media and research at the National Association of Theatre Owners, believes the program has a good chance, noting that many in the industry were surprised by how popular the opera series has been.
"They're aiming at a similar kind of audience ... for events that are limited to one location. That has a market," he said. "People do love art exhibitions, and not all of them travel. This is a real opportunity to bring something to those customers."
At The Englert Theatre in Iowa City, Iowa, people "are responding very strongly to having something like this," Executive Director Andre Perry said. His theater has been offering live and encore broadcasts of National Theatre productions for more than a year.
The nearby Marcus Sycamore Cinema presents the Met broadcasts, and two weeks ago featured an Encore performance of Riccardo Zandonai's "Francesca da Rimini," an opera inspired by an episode from Dante's "Inferno."
"It's a smaller culture but a super vibrant one," Perry said of the arts crowd. "They're super enthusiastic and very positive about having the series."
The initiative appears to come at an opportune time for the city of 60,000 residents. The flood of 2008 shuttered the main building of the University of Iowa Museum of Art and a small number of its collection now is scattered among several venues while it rebuilds.
Museum director Sean O'Harrow said that while he supported the art exhibition broadcasts, he didn't want people to think it was a substitute for the real thing.
"A museum offers a three-dimensional experience. Seeing things on a screen for the most part is not," he said. "Seeing real objects in person is the most powerful experience you could possibly have."
The Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol, Calif., has been showing the Met HD series since its inception. Because of demand, it has expanded showings to two screens. Owner Ky Boyd said he expects the same kind of feedback from the art exhibit series.
"This is another great opportunity for people to experience blockbuster exhibitions," he said. "Typically, you wouldn't have a chance to see these unless you live in a radius within the museum or are traveling in that part of the world."
A handful of art and movie lovers interviewed in New York City weren't quite as enthusiastic.
Megan Orr, 17, of Davis, Calif., who was visiting the Museum of Modern Art, said she would check out an art exhibit via the movies only if there was no possible way she could visit for herself.
"Honestly, I think the appeal of going to an art museum is that you can get up close ... and it feels a lot more emotional. And I'm a huge fan of Manet. I don't think it would have the same exact draw for me," she said.
Justin Liebergen, 31, an actor from Manhattan, who had just stepped out of a multiplex cinema in mid-Manhattan, said he saw the idea as only for the art aficionado.
"I haven't thought, 'Oh, I wish I could go to this exhibit at this place on the planet somewhere' without physically wanting to go there," he said. "If I wanted to see a photo I would go online. Computers today have every image of every museum on the planet."
All Critics (90) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (83) | Rotten (7)
"No" is a picture that perches precariously on the cusp of a paradox.
A cunning and richly enjoyable combination of high-stakes drama and media satire from Chilean director Pablo Larrain.
A mesmerizing, realistic and often hilarious look at the politics of power and the power of ideas ...
A political drama, a personal drama, a sharp-eyed study of how the media manipulate us from all sides, No reels and ricochets with emotional force.
It's a funny look at the way the media warp public opinion, and a curiously hopeful one.
On every level, "No" leaves one with bittersweet feelings about democracy, love and the cost of compromise.
All historical and little drama.
Larrain does a fine job of making No look and sound authentic to its time period, although the VHS-quality photography, all washed-out with colors bleeding together as camcorders did in the '80s, is an occasional irritant.
Silliness is on the side of the angels in a brilliant and highly entertaining film that's part political thriller, part media satire.
It's clear that the language of advertising has become universal, and that political commodities can be sold like soap. But toppling a dictatorship? Now there's a story.
A reflection of a moment in time, made in the image of that moment.
Bernal deftly explores the layers of the character's complexity, including his political apathy.
"No" is filmmaking of the first order.
Old technology plus the packaging of a revolution add up to a Yes
Freshens up a decades-old story with vibrant humor and a good sense of storytelling.
No continually impresses for its slyness and savvy -- rarely has such an eyesore been so worth watching.
Larrain fashions an unlikely crowd-pleaser from a historical episode that has its share of tragedy as well as triumph.
Stirring as a celebration of voter empowerment, No may also inspire pangs of wistful nostalgia.
Fascinating work from director Pablo Larrain and screenwriter Pedro Peirano, who manage to slip into the skin of a beleaguered country and detail the urgency of a revolution, sold one jingle at a time.
Swims upstream against high-definition with a defiantly lo-fi approach that's also ingeniously evocative of the historical period.
Wildly colorful strokes, full of bitter humor.
No quotes approved yet for No. Logged in users can submit quotes.
From a purely financial standpoint, saving payments for a higher inflation rate makes sense. But that line of thinking neglects several key things.?
By Trent Hamm,?Guest blogger / April 8, 2013
A sold sign is posted in front of a home for sale in Mariemont, Ohio last month. Hamm argues that waiting to make mortgage payments because of inflation isn't necessarily an idea that will save significant money.
AL Behrman/AP/File
Enlarge
Karen writes in:
Skip to next paragraph Trent Hamm
The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds ? we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
My brother has argued with me that I shouldn?t make any extra payments on our mortgage because we?re losing money over the long term by making early payments. He says that with inflation at 3% and our money able to earn 1% at minimum in a savings account and more if we do other things, we?re losing money by making early payments on our 3.75% mortgage. What do you think?
From a purely financial perspective, your brother does have a good point. However, your brother?s case has a bunch of implied assumptions that don?t necessarily apply to your situation.
First, let?s look at the math of the situation. Let?s say that you get a raise at work that equals the rate of inflation. Since your mortgage payment stays the same (assuming it?s a fixed rate mortgage), that means that your mortgage payment will take up a smaller and smaller percentage of your income over time. With the percentages expressed by your brother, your mortgage payment will take up only about a third as much of your income by percentage during the last year of your mortgage compared to the first year of your mortgage.
Want real numbers? Let?s say your monthly mortgage payment is $1,000 and you bring home $30,000 a year. Right now, you?re paying $12,000 a year in mortgage payments, which is 40% of your take-home pay. Each year, though, you?re getting a 3% raise. After ten years, you?re making a little over $40,000 a year, dropping your mortgage payments down to only 30% of your take-home pay. After twenty years, you?re bringing home around $54,000 per year, dropping your mortgage payments down to about 22% of your take-home pay. During the last year of your mortgage, you?re bringing home $72,800 per year, making your mortgage payments around 16% of your take-home pay.
The argument against early payments is that at the point where mortgage payments make up 40% of your take-home pay, it doesn?t make sense to pay even more just so that you eliminate payments at a later date where the payment is only taking up 16% of your take-home pay.
That?s a pretty powerful argument. It forgets a few things, though.
First, it assumes your income steadily increases at the rate of inflation or better. The truth of the matter is that wage growth isn?t keeping up with inflation in most industries and, in many industries, wages are actually seeing negative growth.
Most Americans can?t rely on the idea that their wages will routinely go up. That?s just not reality for the majority of people out there. Yes, there are people who are smart and work hard and have an entrepreneurial bent and a big pile of transferable skills who can keep increasing their wages, but that?s not something you can plan on unless you?re exhibiting confidence bordering on arrogance.
Second, it assumes that you can earn a sizeable steady return from a small investment. If you have $500,000 sitting in the bank, you can probably find some ways to invest it that can earn a nice return on that money, better than the 4% or so return you might get from other things. It?s much harder to do that with $1,000 in the bank.
Most Americans do not have the capital on hand to buy a rental property. Many Americans struggle to have an emergency fund. With an extra mortgage payment, a person can get a steady 3.75% return (in the mortgage example above) from every single dollar they pay ahead on their mortgage.
Third, it assumes an inflation rate. The Consumer Price Index, which is likely the best tool for estimating inflation, has only touched 3% once in the last several years and is usually around 1.5 to 2%. Some people debate whether CPI is a good measure of inflation and some argue for other rates, but CPI is a pretty solid benchmark for inflation.
Inflation does vary over time, but we?re currently in a period of very low inflation. Most inflation-based arguments rely on an inflation rate of at least 3% for people to make financial moves based on the inflation rate.
Finally, it assumes inflexibility. If you?re in a position where inflation is at 5% and savings accounts are paying a 6% return, it makes a lot of sense to put money into a savings account and make minimum payments on a 3.75% mortgage. On the other hand, when we?re in the position we?re at now, with savings accounts paying 1% and inflation somewhere around 2%, you?re going to want different solutions. Just because you choose to make early payments now doesn?t mean you can?t choose to do something differently later on.
In the end, the decision to make early mortgage payments or invest in something else is a minor point compared to the real issue. As long as you are spending less than you earn, you?re getting ahead. If you?re spending $100 less than you?re earning each month, you blow away any investment returns you might get on that $100 by instead figuring out how to spend $150 less than you earn each month. Spending less than you earn is the real key to financial success, regardless of how you invest it.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on www.thesimpledollar.com.
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) ? Chilean port workers are returning to work after reaching a deal to end three weeks of strikes that blocked exports of copper, fruit and wood pulp.
The stoppage in the world's No.1 copper producing nation began in the northern port of Angamos when workers demanded a 30-minute lunch break. Dockers in 10 other ports joined in solidarity.
The Ultraport company managing the Angamos port agreed late Friday to compensate workers with a bonus following negotiations mediated by Chile's work minister.
The strike caused worries because Chile produces a third of the world's copper and its stable economy is built around exports of minerals.
Chile is also a major global exporter of wine, salmon and fruit.
Q. We realize that California requires pay statements to show ?total hours worked,? but we?re confused about what exactly this means. Does this include vacation or paid time off that employees have earned?
A. Section 226(a)(2) of the California Labor Code requires all pay statements to show the total hours worked. Many employer pay statements include on that line ?unworked? hours such as vacation time, available sick leave and holidays.
While there has never been any question that the section specifically requires that only the hours ?worked? must be shown, several cases have indicated that if the employee can add up the hours worked shown on other portions of the statements to arrive at this figure, the failure to print that total separately on the pay statement is not a violation.
In at least two cases, courts have found that the section 226(a)(2) requirements were not met because the required total could not be easily added up from the information provided on the statement.
A recent development has called all of these cases into question. Senate Bill No. 1255, which amended Labor Code section 226(e), went into effect on Jan. 1, 2013. It was enacted to codify injury that could result from inaccurate or incomplete pay statement information. Because Labor Code section 226(e) provides for significant damages that can be recovered directly by employees as ?statutory? penalties and additional ?civil? penalties under the Private Attorney General Act of 2004, this new amendment makes it risky for employers to do anything other than simply making certain that the ?Total Hours Worked? are printed separately on all employee pay statements.
Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!
Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...
We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.
The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.
" This information is proudly provided by Business Management Daily.com: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/34393/for-pay-statements-does-total-hours-worked-include-vacation-and-pto "
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, Samsung introduced a new crop of smartphones for China and India, the Lumia 520 hit store shelves and Verizon introduced an LTE router... of all things. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of April 1st, 2013.
The hundreds of volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io aren't where they're supposed to be, scientists say.
Io's major volcanic activity is concentrated 30 to 60 degrees farther east than models of its internal heat profile predict, a recent study reports, suggesting that the exotic,?volcanic Jupiter moon Io is even more mysterious than researchers had previously thought.
"The unexpected eastward offset of the volcano locations is a clue that something is missing in our understanding of Io," study lead author Christopher Hamilton, of the University of Maryland, said in a statement. "In a way, that's our most important result. Our understanding of tidal heat production and its relationship to surface volcanism is incomplete."
Io is the most volcanic body in the solar system, boasting activity 25 times that of Earth. Some of Io's volcanoes blast plumes of sulfur and other material 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the moon, which is completely resurfaced every million years or so. On Thursday (April 4), NASA released a video of Io's volcano plumes based on five images snapped by the agency's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft in March 2007. ?[Amazing Photos of Io by NASA Spacecraft]
This intense activity is ultimately generated by gravitational tugs from Jupiter, with an assist from the nearby moons Europa and Ganymede.
Io completes two orbits for every one that Europa makes, and four for every one of Ganymede's laps. As a result of this regular timing, Europa and Ganymede have pulled the orbit of Io into an oval, with explosive consequences for the 2,260-mile-wide (3,640 km) moon.
As Io moves closer to Jupiter, the planet's powerful gravity pulls hard on the moon, deforming it. This force decreases as Io retreats, and the moon bounces back. This cycle of flexing creates friction in Io's interior, which in turn generates enormous amounts of volcano-driving tidal heat.
Common sense suggests that Io's volcanoes would be located above the spots with the most dramatic internal heating. But Hamilton and his colleagues found that the volcanoes are significantly farther to the east than expected.
They reached this surprising conclusion after studying data gathered by several ground-based telescopes and a number of spacecraft, including NASA's Voyager and Galileo probes, then comparing this information to a detailed geologic map of Io that scientists put together last year.
What's causing the disconnect between expected and observed volcano locations remains a mystery. It's possible that Io is rotating faster that scientists think, researchers said. Or models of Io's tidal heating may be missing some components, such as the complications caused by an underground magma ocean.
"Our analysis supports a global subsurface magma ocean scenario as one possible explanation for the offset between predicted and observed volcano locations on Io," Hamilton said. "However, Io's magma ocean would not be like the oceans on Earth. Instead of being a completely fluid layer, Io's magma ocean would probably be more like a sponge with at least 20 percent silicate melt within a matrix of slowly deformable rock."
Learning more about how Io's tidal heating works could shed light on the ability of other moons in the solar system to support life, researchers said. Tidal heating is thought to be the force making subsurface oceans of liquid water possible on frigid, ice-covered satellites, such as Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus.
The study was publised in January in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall.?Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?or?Google+. Originally published on?SPACE.com.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CAIRO (AP) ? A group of hardline Islamists angered by the Egyptian government's push to improve ties with Tehran threw rocks and tried to storm the residence of Iran's top diplomat in Cairo on Friday.
Although only about 40 people took part in the demonstration, it underscored deep suspicions many Egyptians have toward their country's rapprochement with Iran.
The rally was sparked by the visit earlier this week of a group of Iranian tourists who arrived in Egypt on the first commercial flights between the two countries in 30 years.
The Iranian tourists were only allowed to visit certain sites, such as ancient Egyptian temples and tombs in the country's south. They did not visit Cairo after objections by some ultraconservative Sunni Muslims to visitors from Shiite Iran. There were also concerns that Iranian visits to Shiite shrines in the Egyptian capital could spark violence.
Friday's protesters were mostly ultraconservative Salafis who consider Shiite Muslims heretics. Some Salafis accuse Iran of trying to spread its practices among Sunni Muslims.
The crowd gathered outside the Iranian diplomat's residence, chanting "Egypt is Sunni," and "No Shiites in Egypt!"
Many of the protesters, who had the traditional beards of Salafi hardliners, raised their shoes in the air ? a sign of disrespect in the region ? and tore down the official sign outside the building's gate, then stomped on it.
Some of the protesters threw rocks that smashed a window of the building. Others hung a green-striped Syrian rebel flag on the gate and chanted against Tehran's support of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and the killing of mostly Sunni anti-government protesters in Syria.
After someone from inside the gate pulled down the flag, some in the crowd tried to storm the diplomat's residence but Egyptian riot police pushed them back.
Iran and Egypt do not have embassies or ambassadors in one another's countries but do have diplomatic representatives. Full diplomatic ties were frozen after Egypt signed its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and Iran underwent its Islamic Revolution.
One of the protesters, Yasser Sami, said he blames Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for attempts to improve ties with Iran. Dressed in T-shirt and jeans, he said he had a message for Morsi.
"When we elected you, it was for Islamic Shariah, not to get Shiites in Egypt," he said in a reference to Morsi's Islamist platform.
Morsi's predecessor, Hosni Mubark, was ousted in a popular uprising two years ago that paved the way for the country's first free presidential election last summer.
Shortly after his June election, Morsi broke barriers by visiting Tehran, marking the first visit by an Egyptian leader in more than three decades. Months later, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Cairo to attend a conference of Islamic nations.
Apr. 4, 2013 ? Isolated coral reefs can recover from catastrophic damage as effectively as those with nearby undisturbed neighbours, a long-term study by marine biologists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) has shown.
Scott Reef, a remote coral system in the Indian Ocean, has largely recovered from a catastrophic mass bleaching event in 1998, according to the study published in Science today.
The study challenges conventional wisdom that suggested isolated reefs were more vulnerable to disturbance, because they were thought to depend on recolonisation from other reefs. Instead, the scientists found that the isolation of reefs allowed surviving corals to rapidly grow and propagate in the absence of human interference.
Australia's largest oceanic reef system, Scott Reef, is relatively isolated, sitting out in the Indian Ocean some 250 km from the remote coastline of north Western Australia (WA). Prospects for the reef looked gloomy when in 1998 it suffered catastrophic mass bleaching, losing around 80% of its coral cover. The study shows that it took just 12 years to recover.
Spanning 15 years, data collected and analysed by the researchers shows how after the 1998 mass bleaching the few remaining corals provided low numbers of recruits (new corals) for Scott Reef. On that basis recovery was projected to take decades, yet within 12 years the cover and diversity of corals had recovered to levels similar to those seen pre-bleaching.
"The initial projections for Scott Reef were not optimistic," says Dr James Gilmour from AIMS, the lead author on the publication, "because, unlike reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, there were few if any reefs nearby capable of supplying new recruits to replenish the lost corals at Scott Reef.
"However, the few small corals that did settle at Scott Reef had excellent rates of survival and growth, whereas on many nearshore reefs high levels of algae and sediment, and poor water quality will often suppress this recovery.
"We know from other studies that the resilience of reefs can be improved by addressing human pressures such as water quality and overfishing," says Dr Gilmour. "So it is likely that a key factor in the rapid recovery at Scott Reef was the high water clarity and quality in this remote and offshore location."
Dr Andrew Heyward, Principal Research Scientist at AIMS, highlights another conclusion from their findings.
"Previously we've tended to factor proximity to other reefs as a key attribute when estimating the resilience of a reef following a major disturbance, but our data suggests that given the right conditions, reefs might do much of the recovery by themselves." This finding could have implications for the management of marine protected areas.
In their publication the team also draws attention to the important role played by climate change in the longer-term prospects for coral reefs, as Prof Morgan Pratchett of CoECRS explains.
"While it is encouraging to see such clear recovery, we need to be mindful of the fact that the coral recovery at Scott Reef still took over a decade. If, as the climate change trend suggests, we start to see coral bleaching and other related disturbances occurring more frequently, then reefs may experience a ratcheting down effect, never fully recovering before they suffer another major disturbance.
"By preventing illegal fishing and enhancing water quality on coral reefs in all regions we will give these reefs a greater capacity to recover from major disturbances."
The highly detailed, long-term data set makes Scott Reef the best studied reef in Australia's Indian Ocean territory. The study provides valuable new perspectives on ecosystem function and resilience of coral reefs situated in the northwest Australia, and in other contexts such as the Great Barrier Reef, and illustrates the importance of AIMS' research collaborations with its industry partners.
The paper "Recovery of an isolated coral reef system following severe disturbance," by J. P. Gilmour, L. D. Smith, A. J. Heyward, A. H. Baird and M. S. Pratchett appears online in Science on Friday, 5th April, 2013.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Path of King Arthur Free - Android'; var s = ''; if (!ad_total) { return; } var end_prefoto = 0; /* banner prefoto */ if ($('#bannerUp_prefoto').length) { s += sCap; var end_prefoto = max_ads_prefoto; for (ad_seguent; ad_seguent 1) { s = ''; s += sCap; if (end_prefoto == 0) { var end_postfoto = end_prefoto+max_ads_prefoto+max_ads_postfoto; } else { var end_postfoto = end_prefoto+max_ads_postfoto; } for (ad_seguent; ad_seguent ' + '' + ga.line1 + '' + ' '+ ga.visible_url + '' + '
' + ga.line2 + ' ' + ga.line3 + '
' + ''; } google_ad_client = 'pub-7897364620851203'; google_ad_channel = '1440044427+1937719618+2071285907'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = 11; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_feedback = 'on'; $(document).ready(function () { //show / hide embed widget var embedVisited = false; $('.buttonEmbed').click(function() { if ($('.embedCode').is(':visible')) { $('.embedCode').hide(); $(this).removeClass('hover'); } else { if (!embedVisited) { $('.embedResult').html($('.embedCode > textarea:first').val()); embedVisited = true; setTimeout("$('.embedCode').show();", 250); } else { $('.embedCode').show(); } $(this).addClass('hover'); $('a.close').click(function () { $('.embedCode').hide(); $('.buttonEmbed').removeClass('hover'); }); } }); }); //]]>???? Path of King Arthur FreeA free ad-supported version. All ads are locally hosted. If you like the game please support us by purchasing the ad-free version.
Build up your army and guide King Arthur through Camelot! A mix of Tower Defense, Action and Strategy, Path of King Arthur contains all of your favorite Camelotia characters, and some of your least favorite, too!
Adding Microsoft Outlook to RT devices like Microsoft's Surface certainly won't hurt the platform.
(Credit: CNET)
A fresh rumor out today holds that Microsoft Outlook is coming to Windows RT.
The popular e-mail application is conspicuously absent on Windows RT devices. That is, RT devices -- which run a limited version of Windows 8 on the ARM chip platform -- come with Microsoft Office sans Outlook.
Today there's word that Outlook has been seen running on Surface RT tablets.
And that's not all. SuperSite for Windows claims that an ARM-related firmware issue was causing Outlook to crash. Possibly offering at least one reason for its exclusion until now.
Adding Outlook certainly wouldn't hurt, said Craig Stice, an analyst at IHS iSuppli. "Consumers can find this frustrating. They think they're getting a Windows 8 system but there's no Outlook," he said.
And that's a larger ongoing problem for RT. "They don't know what they're getting into when they buy an RT device," he said. Consumers buy an RT device because it's less expensive than a full-blown Windows 8 system but miss the fact that it's incompatible with older "legacy" Windows software, Stice explained.
Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, whose ARM chip powers the Microsoft Surface RT tablet, said in no uncertain terms last month that Outlook is necessary for RT's success. "Outlook god, please," Huang said at that time, pleading for Microsoft to add Outlook.
(Note that RT products come preloaded with Word 2013 RT, Excel 2013 RT, PowerPoint 2013 RT and OneNote 2013 RT.)
Sunrisers Hyderabad, with some help from that marauding fast bowler Dale Steyn, rose from the ashes of the Deccan Chargers to post their first ever victory in the Indian Premier League at the first time of asking.
Playing in their own backyard at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, the brand new franchise pulled off a 22-run win over Pune Warriors India in a low-scoring encounter, which lacked the fizz and panache that you normally expect of an IPL game.
Needing just 127 for a win, after Pune's bowlers had restricted the Sunrisers to 126 for six from their 20 overs, the away side fumbled and stumbled to a forgettable loss, crashing to 104 all out in 18.5 overs.
The problem with chasing a low total is that sometimes you don't know whether to go all out in the first six overs, or start cautiously, keeping the wickets intact knowing that you can chase down the total in the last few overs.
PWI, the wooden spooners of last season, probably went about it the wrong way, taking a little too much time to get their runs on the board -- although they were up against the best bowler in the world in Steyn in the opening overs - as Robin Uhtappa and Manish Pandey, in particular, got stuck a little.
Once Uthappa, a free flowing batsman at his best, got out for a 22-ball 24, it was all the Sunrisers as Pune made a complete mess of their chase.
Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Thisara Perera all bowled admirably, tying down the away team's batsmen while also picking up wickets at regular intervals, which in turn increased the pressure with every passing over.
At 50 for four in 11.2 overs, the Sunrisers were in complete control, before Pune threatened a mini-revival through Ross Taylor and Abhishek Nayar.
However, once Nayar and Taylor fell to the bowling of Mishra and Ashish Reddy respectively, the curtains were as good as drawn on the Pune innings as Steyn (three for 11) finished things off in style, picking up the final three wickets in four balls.
In the first innings, the bowlers strangled the Sunrisers with great effect, restricting them to a sub-par total.
The opening partnership of Parthiv Patel and Akshath Reddy showed much promise, with the pair putting together 34 runs in a little over five overs.
Once Patel got out, clean bowled to Ashok Dinda, skipper Kumar Sangakkara (15 in 16 balls) and Reddy went along slowly but surely building that platform for the final assault in the last few overs.
However, as is the case with this Sunrisers team - the franchise might be different, but it is essentially the same squad, which finished second bottom last season - there was not enough quality once the Sri Lankan veteran lost his wicket to the excellent Rahul Sharma.
Sharma (one for 21) and the rest of the bowlers took complete control of the middle overs, with Cameron White and Reddy finding it hard to even find the singles, as dot balls became very much the norm rather than the exception, as is normally the case in T20 cricket.
Once Reddy and White lost their wickets, the Sunrisers were precariously placed at 83 for four, desperately needing someone to play that little gem of an innings.
Perera, a man who is well capable of doing just that, threatened to cut loose with a couple of monster hits, but his 18-ball 30 just wasn't enough to propel the Sunrisers to a total nearing 140, as Dinda (two for 29) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (one for 17) bowled the last couple of overs admirably.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 10-Apr-2013
Share ] 
???? Path of King Arthur Free 