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San
José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 18
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Election
prompts warning of slide danger
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Residents of Tres Ríos in the canton of La Unión, Cartago, are living under threat of a major landslide, according to a release issued Tuesday. The release quoted a geologist, who said that for five years the municipality has been aware of the danger but has not taken action. He is Julio Eduardo Madrigal. The announcement of the danger comes at a time when the vice mayor, Alex Emilio Montoya Richmond, is seeking election as mayor Feb. 7 under the banner of the Partido Rescate Cantonal. The announcement said that Montoya, as vice mayor, was head of the local emergency commission. The announcement that was issued by a local public relations firm said that a cliff above the Río Chiquito is just 800 meters from the population center. The release warned that millions of cubic meters of rocks, trees and soils could be propelled at high velocity toward the community. English teachers will hear U.S. professor By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
English teachers are gathering for their annual conference today, and they will be hearing from a U.S. professor who is an authority on teaching the language to non-native speakers. The conferences sponsored by the Ministerio de Educación Pública, the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano and the U.S. Embassy. The location is at the centro in Los Yoses. The speaker is Neil Anderson, a professor at Brigham Young University. This is the 31st such conference. Conquistadors' writings featured in book By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A new two-volume edition uses the writings of the conquistadors themselves to explain the invasion and settlement of Latin America. The set is "Conquistador Voices," issued by Spruce Tree Press. Says the publisher: "In this two-volume set written for the general reader, author Kevin H. Siepel takes you on the expeditions of five European explorers or conquistadors, using — to a greater extent than usual in historical works — the writings of the expedition participants themselves, allowing them to tell their own version of events, and supplying connecting narrative in the manner of a film documentary. The book therefore reads not as a dry, standard history book, but rather as a series of cohesive, lively stories told by the men who were there." Volume I includes the four voyages of Christopher Columbus and an account by his teenage son Fernando on the landing in Limón. The son published a popular book when he returned to Spain. The Limón visit in 1502 included an encounter with a local monkey. The book also includes the exploits of Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Pánfilo de Narváez, Álvar Núñez Cabeza and Hernando de Soto, according to the publisher.
University develops organic berry juice
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Universidad de Costa Rica has gone into the fruit drink business. The university said Tuesday that its researchers have developed an organic blackberry drink that holds its flavor and beneficial properties because the fluid is microfiltered and not heated. The project was developed by the Centro Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos of the university in conjunction with the French Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement. Blackberries are known as mora in Spanish, and the drink is a popular one. The university product will be marketed under the brand name of Siwa, a release said. Researchers under the direction of Ana Mercedes Pérez Carvajal are working with other fruits and vegetables to create more products. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 18 | ||
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| First case of zika here shows that virus was imported from
Colombia |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The zika virus has come to Costa Rica in the person of a 25-year-old Desamparados resident who picked up the disease while visiting Colombia, according to the Ministerio de Salud. Health experts assume that with the virus prevalent in adjacent countries, there is little to stop the virus from entering Costa Rica. The health ministry said that the Desamparados man
The zika virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti, the same insect that carries dengue, chikungunya and malaria, which is why it has been the continual target of health workers. Workers were busy Tuesday fumigating in a 100-meter radius of the home of the Desamparados man. They also reported that they visited the homes of relatives to see if the virus has spread. Meanwhile, University of Notre Dame researchers reported that they have found populations of the Aedes aegypti mosquito in a Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, D.C. More troubling is their report that genetic evidence shows that the insects overwintered for the last four years, meaning that they are adapting to the northern climate well out of their normal range. Infections with zika usually are mild, but the virus can have devastating effects on the unborn. In October 2015, a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Universidad de Sucre in Colombia ran the first tests confirming the presence of zika virus transmission in the South American country. |
 Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention/James Gathany
The Aedes aegypti
mosquito.In a study published Tuesday researchers document a disease trajectory that started with nine positive patients and has now spread to more than 13,000 infected individuals in Colombia. “Colombia is now only second to Brazil in the number of known zika infections,” said lead author Matthew Aliota, a research scientist in the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. Pregnant women in Brazil and Hawaii infected with zika have given birth to babies with small heads and underdeveloped brains, a condition called microcephaly. “If you’re pregnant or planning on being pregnant, absolutely, cancel your vacation,” says Aliota, echoing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning that pregnant women not travel to the more than 20 countries now known to have active zika transmission, like Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and in the Caribbean. In these countries, mosquitoes are spreading the virus to people. The symptoms of zika virus are “really nonspecific and it overlaps with a lot of things, especially with dengue virus and chikungunya,” says Aliota. “It’s hard when someone comes in with a fever and a rash to narrow it down.” |
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| Lawmaker promoted bill to put more women at head of
political tickets |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Lawmakers are considering a bill that would require political parties to establish what proponents say is vertical and horizontal parity for woman. Emilia Molina, a legislator with the Partido Acción Ciudadana, supported the measure in a speech Tuesday in which she decried what she termed political discrimination against women. She noted that not even a quarter of the 605 mayoral-level candidates in the Feb. 7 municipal elections are woman. There are 116 woman on the ballot. |
She supported
bill No. 19.010 that would require political parties to adjust their
internal rules to provide equality for woman. Now the law requires women on political tickets, but typically the head of the ticket is a man while the woman occupies second place. That is the case now with the current presidential administration. And in the Feb. 7 election, Lawmaker Molina noted that 81 percent of the female candidates were for vice mayor. Vertical parity would mean more women in the top spot. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | ||
| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 18 | ||
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| Polls that are supposed to illuminate sometimes sow
confusion instead |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The political season brings out the best and worst in polling techniques, and there is no wonder that many are confused. Recent news stories have shown Donald Trump way ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz in Iowa and also tied with him. Bernie Sanders may be ahead of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, and, then again, he may not be. The very nature of the polls introduces error because the pollsters seek to learn the opinion of the public by obtaining information from very few. This type of inferential survey assumes the limited number of responses are typical of the larger group. Such surveys are highly accurate when the group is uniform. The Gallup Organization can pretty well assess the public mood on an important issue by contacting a bit more than 1,000 persons. The simpler the question, the better the results. Complicating the landscape are polls designed to produce a desired result. Question: 1.) Should Americans act to stop global warming or 2.) should we all die in our beds. Advocacy organizations produce these polls all the time to further their agendas. The Iowa caucuses and Costa Rica's municipal elections next month present another problem, limited participation. Minimal participation can confound polling results because surveyors do not really know which people actually will show up to vote. |
 Estado de Nación graphic
Graphic shows turnout in
last three municipal elections.Then there is lying. People have a tendency to stretch the truth when a surveyor asks them about a socially acceptable activity. And voting is socially acceptable. A well-drafted survey will include some trap questions: Question: Did you vote for 1.) Lincoln or 2.) Hoover in the last presidential election. More and more the U.S. election scene is being clouded by the the extremes of the candidates. The primary process itself generates extremes, which encourage unrepresentative turnouts at the voting booths. Pollsters have trouble compensating for this. Hot-button issues like gay marriage, abortion, immigration, corporate income and nuclear war are some of the reasons candidates pander and why voters cast ballots. The media encourages polling so commentators have something to fill air time or newspages. As the candidates know, the important result is in the votes and not the polls. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's
Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 18 | |||||||
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| Denmark approves new laws taking asylum-seekers' goods By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Denmark's parliament has passed new laws aimed at deterring people from seeking asylum there. The move has sparked widespread condemnation. After more than three hours of debate Tuesday, lawmakers overwhelming passed the so-called jewelry bill that allows authorities to seize asylum-seekers' property valued at more than $1,450. Items of special emotional value such as wedding rings will be exempt. Some critics likened the decision to the Nazis' confiscation of valuables from Jews during the Holocaust. Another provision calls for the asylum seekers to wait three years, instead of one, before they can apply to be reunited with their families. The bill is the latest attempt by Denmark's seven-month-old, minority center-right government to discourage the migration of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Scandinavian country took in a record 20,000 asylum-seekers last year. In reacting to the Danish parliament's decision, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric issued a statement that read, in part, "Our reaction would be that people who have suffered tremendously, who have escaped war and conflict, who have literally walked hundreds, if not thousands, hundreds of kilometers if not more, who put their lives at risk crossing the Mediterranean, should be treated with compassion and respect and within their full rights as refugees as called by the 1951 convention." The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees also described the bill as inconsistent with European Union policies. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, High Commissioner spokesman Adrian Edwards said the bill comes at a time “when the need for solidarity and responsibility-sharing at the EU level really is the first priority." "The decision to give Danish police the authority to search and confiscate valuables from asylum seekers sends damaging messages in our view. It runs the risk of fueling sentiments of fear and discrimination rather than promoting solidarity with people in need of protection. On the limited access to family reunification, we just remind people of the point that family unity is a fundamental principle in international law," said Edwards. Last week, human rights group Amnesty International urged the Danish parliament to reject what Amnesty called "cruel and regressive changes to refugee law." Amnesty's deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, Gauri van Gulik, said, "It’s simply cruel to force people who are running from conflicts to make an impossible choice: either bring children and other loved ones on dangerous, even lethal journeys, or leave them behind and face a prolonged separation while family members continue to suffer the horrors of war." Denmark is not the only place targeting refugee possessions. Switzerland has started taking valuables worth more than $985, while the German state of Baden-Württemberg secures valuables above $380. Other areas in southern Europe have been reported to follow a similar practice. EU Commission opens door to reintroducing border checks By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said Tuesday that it was not ruling out allowing member states of the Schengen zone to reintroduce border controls for up to two years. To cope with the migration crisis, the European Union interior ministers asked the commission to consider the extension of border checks at a meeting Monday in Amsterdam. Member states of the Schengen zone, comprising more than 20 countries and over 400 million people that currently do not require passports or other border controls, would be called upon to inform the commission about their security concerns. The commission would then review their reports before approving the reintroduction of controls. The commission said Thursday that it did not think that the situation was serious enough to warrant the extension, but it was considering options available to it under Article 26 of Schengen code. Presently, Article 26 entitles member states, which includes most European Union countries, to reintroduce internal border controls for a maximum of up to two years under exceptional circumstances. Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and non-EU member Norway have introduced temporary controls in response to the migrant crisis, but they are limited to six months. Poland is considering similar measures. The introduction of the temporary border checks has raised fears that the passport-free Schengen zone, a symbol of European unity, freedom and prosperity, could collapse. German polls show the impact of refugee molestation sprees By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
In Germany, polls show support for anti-immigrant political parties have risen since the hundreds of attacks on women in Cologne, apparently by groups of migrants. Sitting in a Cologne café, former English teacher Basheer Alzaalan scrolls through photos on his phone of his escape from Syria. He says Germany has offered sanctuary, and the attacks on New Year’s Eve filled him with anger. “Germany for the Syrians was some kind of mother, and at the head of that, Angela Merkel. I had fears after the incidents in Cologne," he admitted. "But after then I felt that the people just understand, they do not have that kind of strategy that depends on action and reaction.” Alzaalan wrote newspaper articles apologizing for the attacks on behalf of migrants, and imploring locals not to blame all refugees. But the attacks have had political consequences. One poll showed support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany Party has risen to an all-time high of 11.5 percent, putting it in third place. Hendrik Rottman, head of the party’s Cologne branch, says that Chancellor Merkel’s "open door" philosophy has ensured that Germany has an unbelievable amount of migration and asylum seekers, of which some are refugees. But he says a large portion are unregistered, so no one knows what they are doing here. Of the 1.1 million migrants who came to Germany in 2015, 10,000 have settled in Cologne. The attacks have prompted some to question if so many newcomers can be integrated. Others claim the differing cultures cannot be mixed. Cologne authorities insist it can be done. Gregor Timmer, spokesman for the mayor says the vast majority of the refugees want to start a new life and integrate peacefully. That is a lot of work for Germans, he says, such as language courses, integration courses, and finding jobs. This is all relatively new, he adds. Early next month, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line Cologne’s streets for the annual carnival. Groups of people are already out in costume. One woman dressed in a pirate outfit says people in Cologne know more migrants are coming and are approaching it positively. But she says Germans are not going to let them "take away our fun, this is our culture," she adds. Security is being heavily stepped up for the carnival. Cologne’s authorities are aware any further attacks like those on New Year’s Eve would have an impact far beyond the city’s streets. Aborted fetus case reactions split along political lines By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Abortion rights proponents are cheering and abortion foes are fuming over a grand jury’s decision in Houston, Texas, Monday to indict two videographers who conducted a covert investigation of a Planned Parenthood clinic that was meant to show such clinics sell body parts from aborted fetuses. The grand jury began its work two months ago after calls for an investigation of Planned Parenthood’s Houston clinic, which the video producers claimed was illegally selling fetal tissue for profit. But the grand jury found no fault with Planned Parenthood and instead brought indictments against the two people who did the surreptitious video recording, David Dalieden and Sandra Merritt. Each was charged with a felony for tampering with a government record, in this case, allegedly using fake California driver's licenses. The grand jury also indicted Dalieden for the solicitation or sale of human organs, a misdemeanor. Grand juries rarely indict people on misdemeanor charges, and the felony charge is based on a relatively obscure statute of the Texas Penal Code. Dalieden, who heads the California-based nonprofit Center for Medical Progress, said he and Ms. Merritt used well-established investigative journalism techniques and should be shielded by the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and press. But in an interview, legal expert Melissa Hamilton, a visiting scholar at the University of Houston, said prosecutors were likely to reject that argument. “If you are purporting to use a driver’s license, which is a public record, that is beyond the pale, because there are reasons for society to want to protect the legitimacy of purported government records,” she said. Planned Parenthood spokesman Eric Ferrero hailed the indictments, accusing the videographers of having an extreme anti-abortion political agenda. “As the dust settles,” he said, “and the truth comes out, it’s become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we’re glad they’re being held accountable.” Conservative religious leaders and politicians, however, condemned what they described as the unfair indictment of the anti-abortion video makers. A statement from the Texas Right to Life organization said, “When a grand jury indicts the very people who report a crime, rather than indicting the criminals, something goes clearly wrong.” Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott said the Houston grand jury decision would have no effect on a state investigation into Planned Parenthood’s practices, which he described as ongoing. Ms. Hamilton said the law used to indict the two anti-abortion activists is rarely used, but she said prosecutors most likely would go forward with the case, which she said would continue to draw news media attention. She said, “In the public eye, this case will continue to remain an issue, not because of these particular odd charges, but because the underlying issue is abortion rights.” The political divide between anti-abortion groups and reproductive rights groups has existed for many years. A woman’s right to an abortion was affirmed in the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade in 1973, but debates about what states can do to regulate and control abortion have continued. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not put undue restrictions on abortion clinics to effectively curtail their operations. But some states have continued to use regulations to limit the availability of abortion facilities. Texas, for example, drew nationwide attention in 2013 with a law that requires abortion clinics to meet standards that would result in the closing of all but 10 abortion facilities in the second most populated state in the country. The Supreme Court has blocked implementation of some parts of that law and is scheduled to rule on a challenge to the law in June, just before the two major political parties hold their national conventions and the last phase of the presidential election season begins. The abortion issue entered the presidential campaign debates last July when the videos shot in Houston and at other clinics around the country were first shown. Republican candidates condemned what they saw as horrible practices carried out at abortion clinics and the alleged illegal sale of fetal organs and tissue, while Democrats attacked the videos for using graphic images to incite audiences and for editing tricks that provided a fraudulent view of Planned Parenthood’s practices. Abortion has not dominated recent debates, but that could change, depending partly on the Supreme Court decision in June, and on news generated by the indictments in Houston, lawsuits filed against the video producers by Planned Parenthood in San Francisco, California, and results from the abortion clinic investigations in Texas and other states. Study confirms suspicion that Internet divides users By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Internet is helping to raise the rancor level in American political discourse, as many have suspected. In a new study, political science researchers say that access to broadband Internet has increased people’s hostility to those in the opposing party. It’s a small effect. But according to the authors, it’s contributing to an angry election season. The study, published in the American Journal of Political Science, used public opinion surveys from 2004 and 2008, as access to broadband Internet was growing. The surveys asked people to rate how much they liked and trusted presidential candidates from their own party and the opposite party. They compared those figures with measures of Internet access. Those with broadband were slightly more polarized. They disliked their opponents a little more than those without broadband. “The effect is only about a 1- or 2-point increase in polarization, and polarization in that time period increased about 15 points or so,” said study co-author Yph Lelkes, a political communication professor at the University of Amsterdam. “So, it’s not a huge effect. But it is part of the story.” The World Wide Web offers a nearly limitless variety of news and opinions. But research shows that people mostly seek out information they agree with. What people can end up with are endless opportunities “to hear only voices that are similar to themselves,” Lelkes said. “If you only hear your own side, you become more polarized.” Lelkes acknowledged that the study uses an imprecise measure. However, he added, “I think the fact that we found anything despite the bluntness of the instrument and the potential countervailing forces speaks to the strength of this effect.” While there’s always a risk in this kind of analysis that something else is causing the correlation, a Temple University political science professor, Kevin Arceneaux, said the results fit with what his research is finding. “The influence of partisan news media is not one of necessarily persuading people to support their side,” he said. “It’s preaching to the choir and pushing people on the other side even further into their corner.” It’s important not to overstate the impact, Arceneaux said. People who seek out political news “are probably already sort of ideological. There’s only so much further you can move them.” And most people actually avoid political news, he added. When you add it all up, though, “we do believe that it has some effect. Likely a small effect.” Social media may be increasing the effect. That’s an area Arceneaux and his colleagues are studying now. Prescription pain relievers fuel Appalachian addictions By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
There’s a disturbing trend in Appalachian country, a distinctive region in the eastern United States, perhaps best known for its mountain people and struggling coal mining industry. The seven Appalachian states account for more than a fifth of the country’s opiate-related deaths since 1999. Opioids are prescription pain relievers such as OxyContin, methadone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine and also heroin. The Appalachian states include Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. While these states have thriving urban and suburban communities, an Appalachian culture associated with people living close to the land, often associated with coal-mining communities, continues to persist along the Appalachian mountains. Drug overdose deaths are a nationwide problem. The death rate from drug overdoses has increased 137 percent since 2000. In 2014, more people died from drug overdoses in the United States than any other year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug overdoses killed 47,055 people in 2014, and 61 percent of those deaths were opiate-related. The Appalachian region was especially hard hit. The seven states accounted for 22 percent of all opiate-related deaths. The authors of a new report on the rising epidemic in Appalachia say poverty and a lack of higher education could be a factor. According to the report, “the hardest-hit counties, where death rates have soared … have about half the national median household income while twice as many people live below the poverty level. College educations are dramatically lower than the national average in the most affected counties, and in a room full of 100 people about 40 won’t possess even a high school level education.” “It’s pretty obvious that when you have a higher education level throughout a lot of these areas, that there’s more access to resources like places to go if you need help, drug resistance education, and things along those lines,” said Tristan Harris, project manager for the report from Heroin.net. State attempts to crack down on prescription drug abuse over the past few years seem to be driving the move from prescription drugs to heroin. North Carolina has managed to stem the tide. The state initiated a plan to combat opiated-related deaths in one of its hardest hit counties in 2008. By changing the way clinical professionals and residents were educated about and treated for opioid addiction, North Carolina was eventually able to reduce overall drug overdose deaths statewide. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica sixth news page |
| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 18 | |||||||||
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U.S. lowers more Cuban trade barriers By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United States is clearing the path for more travel and commerce with Cuba as it seeks to further engage the Cuban people and normalize relations with the island nation. The Obama administration Tuesday announced a series of actions it says will promote ties between U.S. and Cuban citizens and urged the Communist government to do its part to remove impediments that have been holding Cubans back. Steps taken by the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments include removing financing restrictions for most types of authorized exports, amending regulations to make it easier for some individuals and entities to get export licenses, and further easing regulations on authorized travel. The White House said the new actions to ease sanctions continue a policy to empower the Cuban people by creating economic opportunities between Cubans and Americans. “By expanding people-to-people ties, business opportunities, and greater access to information, we are promoting the transformation of our relationship in ways that advance U.S. interests and improve the lives of the Cuban people,” the White House said. The U.S. urged the Cuban government to take steps to make it easier for Cuban citizens to start businesses, engage in trade and access information online. During a speech in Havana, U.S. Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda urged Havana to expand Internet and communications connectivity. While the government has taken some positive steps in the last year, Sepulveda urged Cuba to upgrade its wireless technology, establish more Wi-Fi hotspots and lower the cost of Internet access, which is $2 an hour. That effectively means that it costs the average Cuban about 10 percent of his or her salary to get online, Sepulveda said. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Tuesday the U.S. will continue to take steps to help the Cuban people achieve the political and economic freedom that they deserve. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said the regulatory changes will help strengthen civil society in Cuba and enhance communications to, from and among the Cuban people. In December 2014, President Barack Obama announced the United States would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and begin the process of normalizing relations more than 50 years after they severed ties. The policy change is sharply opposed by many in the Republican-led Congress and by some Republican presidential hopefuls, including former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who has threatened to reverse the change in U.S.-Cuba relations. Critics argue Obama gave Havana too many concessions without insisting the Communist government bring an end to its oppressive policies and human rights abuses. Teen who fled to México says he'll go home By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. teen who claimed his family's wealth made him unable to understand the consequences of his actions in a deadly drunken-driving crash will soon return to the United States after fleeing to México. Lawyers for Ethan Couch told Mexican authorities Tuesday that they wanted to drop their fight against his deportation. Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, fled the country in December as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation in the case of a 2013 wreck that killed four people. Couch pleaded guilty of driving while intoxicated and received just 10 years' probation because of the novel affluenza defense. Mother and son were taken into custody later that month in Puerto Vallarta, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts. |
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| From
Page 7: U.S. Fed to announce rate decision later today By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The U.S. central bank is not likely to raise interest rates at this time and may delay expected rate hikes for a while. That is the finding of a survey of economists by the financial news network CNBC. The rate-setting committee of the U.S. Federal Reserve gathered in Washington for their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, and will report a decision this afternoon. Many economists told the network that global economic weakness as well as recent drops and wild swings in stock and oil prices mean Fed officials may delay their next rate hike till May. The Fed raised rates slightly from record-lows late last year and was expected to continue raising rates, very gradually over the next year. Low interest rates tend to stimulate economic growth, but can also spark damaging inflation and other serious problems if they stay too low for too long. The key U.S. benchmark rates had been cut to near-zero during the financial crisis in a bid to boost economic growth and jobs. Since then, economic growth resumed, and the unemployment rate has fallen by half. The improving job market and low gasoline prices are encouraging consumers, according to consumer confidence studies by the Conference Board and the Consumer Technology Association. Analysts at Wells Fargo Bank said improving business conditions mean consumers shook off recent stock market chaos. Economists watch consumer attitudes closely because consumer demand drives two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity. Both market volatility and rising consumer confidence are related to lower oil prices. A World Bank study published Tuesday lowered its predicted oil price for this year from $51 a barrel to $37, which is higher than the current price. World Bank experts say oil prices are likely to remain at relatively low levels for some time, but will probably increase at least a little from recent market lows. The bank’s experts say low prices are forcing some high cost producers to stop pumping oil. At the same time, they expect recovering economic growth to increase demand for energy. Together, those two factors will bring oil supply more in line with demand, which should bring prices up a bit. |
