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Justdo it, киевская, Kyiv (2026)

22/05/2022

Gold Keeps Shining, 40 Years After Nixon Ended Gold Standard

The best example of something is often called the “gold standard.” It sets the standard against which other things are measured. In economics, the term describes how major trading nations once used gold to set currency values and exchange rates. Many nations continued to use the gold standard until the last century. In the United States, people could exchange paper money for gold from the eighteen seventies until nineteen thirty-three. President Richard Nixon finally disconnected the dollar from the value of gold in nineteen seventy-one. Some politicians from time to time call for a return to the gold standard. But in nineteen seventy-eight the International Monetary Fund ended an official gold price. The IMF also ended the required use of gold in transactions with its member countries. Since that time, gold prices have grown, but unevenly. Prices – uncorrected for inflation – have hit record highs recently above fourteen hundred dollars an ounce. But people keep buying. Neang Chan Nuon is a gold shop owner in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, and says: “Some of my customers have even bought more as they believe the price will probably go higher. I sell more gold at these higher prices.” Some people are “gold bugs.” These are investors who say people should buy gold to protect against inflation. People have valued gold for thousands of years. The soft, dense metal polishes to a bright yellow shine and resists most chemical reactions. It makes a good material for money, political power – and, more recently, electrical power. If you own a device like a mobile phone or a computer, you might own a little gold in the wiring. The gold standard was the subject of one of the best-known speeches in American political history. It took place at the eighteen ninety-six Democratic National Convention in Chicago. William Jennings Bryan wanted the country to use both gold and silver as money. The idea was to devalue the dollar and make it easier for farmers to pay their debts. Bryan said: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” The speech made William Jennings Bryan famous. He was a presidential candidate three times. But he never won.

21/05/2022

Apartheid

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced through legislation by the National Party (NP) governments of South Africa. In this system, which lasted from 1948 to 1994, the rights of the majority black inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained. South West Africans were also victims of apartheid as this country was administered by South Africa under a League of Nations mandate until it gained independence as Namibia in 1990.

Apartheid as an official policy was introduced following the general election of 1948. New legislation classified inhabitants into four racial groups (“native”, “white”, “coloured”, and “Asian”), and residential areas were segregated, sometimes by means of forced removals. Non-white political representation was completely abolished in 1970, and starting in that year black people were deprived of their citizenship. The government segregated education, medical care, beaches, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of white people.

Apartheid sparked significant internal resistance and violence as well as a trade embargo against South Africa. In addition to the unrest resulting from the internal protests, the sanctions placed on South Africa by the West made it increasingly difficult for the government to maintain the regime. In 1990 President Frederik Willem de Klerk began negotiations to end apartheid, culminating in multi-racial democratic elections in 1994, which were won by the African National Congress under Nelson Mandela.

21/05/2022

Why Wal-Mart Won a Big Ruling in S*x Discrimination Case

In the American legal system, people generally bring civil claims as individuals. But if a lot of people have similar claims, they may try to bring a class action lawsuit.

Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf says a class action “allows a large group of people to bring their individual claims together as a group.” But groups need permission to bring a class action, and that can be denied. That happened to a million and a half current and former employees of America’s largest private employer. The women accuse Wal-Mart of discriminating against female employees in its stores. But the United States Supreme Court voted to block a huge class action against Wal-Mart in federal court. The women were seeking billions of dollars. They say men were given more pay and more chances to move up in the company. They accuse Wal-Mart of violating part of a federal law, the Civil Rights Act of nineteen sixty-four. The case started about ten years ago. A federal district court in California agreed that the case could go forward as a class action. Wal-Mart again lost in a federal appeals court. But, on June twentieth, Wal-Mart won its appeal in the nation’s highest court.

Professor Dorf — who was not involved in the case — says the justices disagreed about whether there was a “common question.” He says most of the justices found that Wal-Mart was not being accused of one kind of discrimination or one policy, but many different acts. “The key to being able to bring a class action here, and the issue that divided our Supreme Court, was whether all of these different claims — by over a million people — had enough in common to justify a single class action.” Wal-Mart has a policy barring discrimination. But the women accused the company of unfair policies and permitting bad behavior by some store managers.

The court was divided five to four in its ruling. Yet all nine justices agreed that the case could not go forward. The women needed to meet additional legal requirements because they were seeking payment for harm they say was done. All the justices agreed these requirements had not been met. Boston University law professor Michael Harper says the decision was widely expected. He says the class action failed because it did not target a single action or policy by Wal-Mart. But the ruling does not bar the women from bringing individual cases. They can also seek class actions at the state level.

19/05/2022

Bonds are issued by public authorities, credit institutions, companies and supranational institutions in the primary markets. The most common process of issuing bonds is through underwriting. In underwriting, one or more securities firms or banks, forming a syndicate, buy an entire issue of bonds from an issuer and re-sell them to investors. The security firm takes the risk of being unable to sell on the issue to end investors. Primary issuance is arranged by bookrunners who arrange the bond issue, have the direct contact with investors and act as advisors to the bond issuer in terms of timing and price of the bond issue. The bookrunners’ willingness to underwrite must be discussed prior to opening books on a bond issue as there may be limited appetite to do so.

19/05/2022

Saint Valentine’s Day

Hallmark Holiday

Hallmark holiday refers to a holiday that is perceived to exist mainly for commercial reasons, rather than to celebrate a traditionally significant religious or secular event. Although many people view these celebrations in a negative way, others have positive views. On the negative side, hallmark holidays don’t really celebrate an important event, and only exist for companies to make a lot of money. On the positive side, the term describes the perfect holiday in which family, friends, and fun come first. Everyday problems, worries, and stress can be put aside. Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated on February 14, is usually considered to be one of the hallmark holidays.

In Valentine’s Day billions of cards are sent. It is also an opportunity for customers to buy chocolates, flowers, engagement rings, romantic dinners, and so on. This commercial aspect can be traced back to the 19th century when printing technology improved to cheaply mass-produce greeting cards. But the origin of the celebration is much more ancient and can be traced back to a Roman festival called “Lupercalia” which was held in mid-February every year. The celebration purified new life in the spring. Around the third century A.D., the holiday became associated with Saint Valentine, although it isn’t exactly clear how.

Historical Origin of the Celebration

A popular explanation of the link between Saint Valentine and the Holiday says that at the time of the Roman “Lupercalia” Festival marriage was a common tradition, but when Claudius became Emperor he changed all of that. He outlawed all marriages because he was afraid that men would refuse their duty to fight because they would not want to leave their wives behind. Young couples still fell in love though and still wished to marry and they took these desires to the Catholic Bishop Valentine who, understanding love, began to secretly marry couples. When Claudius found out, he arrested Valentine and sentenced him to death. While waiting in prison, Valentine began exchanging letters with the prisoner’s daughter and soon had fallen in love with her. The day he was to be beheaded, he wrote her one last note and signed it: “From Your Valentine”.

In 496 A.D. Christianity had taken over Rome and Pope Gelasius outlawed the pagan Lupercian Festival. Knowing it’s popularity, he looked to replace it with something more “appropriate” and set aside a day in February to honor the martyr St. Valentine. Even though in 1969 the church removed St. Valentine’s Day from it’s calendar of “official” holidays, it is still widely celebrated today. And although Valentine’s Day has become quite commercial, it still contains an important aspect shared by all of the best holidays – time spent thinking of and being with the one you love.

15/05/2022

In the US, the New Look of Gas Exploration

Many people think the search for cleaner energy leads only to renewable resources like sun, wind and water. But it also leads to a fossil fuel. Natural gas is considered the cleanest of the fossil fuels – the fuels created by plant and animal remains over millions of years.

Burning it releases fewer pollutants than oil or coal. The gas is mainly methane. It produces half the carbon dioxide of other fossil fuels. So it may help cut the production of carbon gases linked to climate change.

Russia is first in what are called “proved reserves” of natural gas. The United States is sixth. Over the years, big oil and gas companies recovered much of the easily reached supplies of gas in America. They drilled straight down into formations where gas collects. As these supplies were used up, big drillers looked for similar formations in other countries.

But now the industry is taking a new look. Companies are developing gas supplies trapped in shale rock two to three thousand meters underground. They drill down to the shale, then go sideways and inject high-pressure water, sand or other material into the rock.

This causes the rock to break, or fracture, releasing the gas. Huge fields of gas shale are believed to lie under the Appalachian Mountains, Michigan and the south-central states.

Gas shale exploration is being done mainly by small to medium sized companies.

Eric Potter is a program director in the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin. He said the kinds of opportunities that are left for natural gas exploration in the United States have changed. So it is not as easy to develop. He says more than half the gas in the United States is now coming from these new reserves.

But hydraulic fracturing can also produce debate and anger over the risk of groundwater pollution. This method of drilling is not federally supervised under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Some in Congress want to end that exemption from the law.

Natural gas provides Americans with about one-fourth of their energy. And, unlike oil, most of it is produced in America. Gas producers invested heavily in reaching new supplies when prices were high.

But prices are down sharply now because the recession cut demand for energy. So energy expert Eric Potter says it is too early to know how the new gas shale reserves will affect the market.

Adapted by VOA Special English Economics Report from a radio program broadcast 23 Oct 2009.

15/05/2022

High-Speed Trains May Be Coming to California, Florida

People in Europe and Asia have enjoyed high-speed trains for years. This Japanese train set a speed record of 581 kilometers an hour. Yet the fastest American train reaches less than half that speed. It operates only between Washington and Boston. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says changes are coming to American trains.

RAY LAHOOD: The day will come when you can see travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in under three hours going 220 miles per hour.

Work on a high-speed train could start in California in two years. Conditions might be right for such a train. President Obama has announced plans to spend eight billion dollars to develop high-speed railroads. John Risch is with the country’s largest labor union for railroad workers.

JOHN RISCH: In California alone, it is estimated that 160,000 construction jobs would be created just to build those two high-speed rail corridors.

The federal project will develop 13 high-speed rail links. Steve Kulm works for Amtrak, the passenger railroad company. He says only the links in California and Florida will truly be high-speed.

STEVE KULM: There is a difference between, you know, high-speed in Europe and Asia and high-speed in America. In Europe and Asia, they are dedicated tracks where only high-speed trains operate on. Here in America, our passenger trains share tracks with slower freight trains.

Most of the money will go to improve service on slower trains and existing transportation. Kulm says Amtraks fastest train is already competing with airline companies.

STEVE KULM: Before, between Washington and New York, the passenger train only had about 37 percent of the market. Today, Amtrak has 61 percent of the market compared to air flights. Same thing that happened on the north end of the corridor, between New York and Boston.

Environmental groups have praised the project. Howard Lerner is head of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

HOWARD LERNER: On a per passenger-mile basis, rail is about three times as efficient as travel by car, in terms of fuel efficiency, and six times as efficient as travel by air. So there are pretty substantial pollution reduction benefits, both in terms of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

John Risch of the United Transportation Union has other reasons.

JOHN RISCH: Passenger trains are the safest form of transportation available with the exception of the elevator. Trains are fuel efficient, they relieve highway and airport congestion, and they also reduce our dependence on foreign oil, making trains – passenger trains – the safer, cleaner, greener transportation option.

Critics say the federal money will start many small projects, but not finish them. Supporters of the plan say it will lead to a new form of public transportation in the United States.

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