Rising food costs: many different events play a part in creating the current food crisis, but it is the inflationary policies of governments that must bear the lion's share of the blame.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From Nouakchott in northwest Africa to Port-au-Prince in the Caribbean, the situation is becoming grimmer by the day. The specter of world hunger, unseen in generations, even in the world's poorest nations, is once again raising its head as food prices spiral out of control,...

Crisis in California: Part 2 what really happened, and why.
In Part 1 of this article (Management Quarterly, Summer 2001), we reviewed the events surrounding California's recent experience with retail competition. As we noted, the American electric power system has long been one of the best -- if not the best -- in the world. In stark contrast to...

Value in the aftermath of Enron. (Risk in Focus).
Despite the mounting evidence of wrongdoing and alleged illegal activity, energy giant Enron has managed to bring solid value to the commodified risk transfer method with energy and weather derivatives will the approach survive without Enron? The collapse of an empire begins with its own arrogance and...

Beyond gridlock: the case for greater integration of regional electricity markets.
Electricity markets are an anomaly in a world where many energy markets are global or at least continental. Oil is traded at a single price in world markets; natural gas is traded at single prices in continental and increasingly global markets. Other commodities like wheat, nickel, copper and steel...

Fuelish food follies.
ITEM: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "said he would put together a special task force to help deal with the problem and called on the international community to help," reported the Associated Press on April 21. "He said the U.N. World Food Program plans to raise $750 million per...

OpenLink Acquires Austrian Energy Solution Provider.
ENERGY RESOURCE-16 January 2007-OpenLink Acquires Austrian Energy Solution Provider(C)2007 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com OpenLink, a provider of cross asset trading, risk management and operations processing software solutions, has purchased Austrian energy solution provider, IRM. Founded in 1998 and focused on energy asset optimizing and strategic planning,...

Despite obstacles, U.S. food exports to Cuba keep rising.
Corn from Iowa, cattle from Florida, rice from Texas and apples from Washington state--these are just a few of the farm commodities eagerly being snapped up by the Cuban government in an expensive and calculated effort to influence members of Congress to lift the embargo. Thanks to...

Alberta. (Legislative Reports).
The Spring Sitting of the Third Session of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature adjourned on May 15, 2003 after 46 sitting days. At the conclusion of the sitting, 36 Government Bills, 3 Private Members' Public Bills and 2 Private Bills were passed by the Assembly. Nine Government Bills were left on...

Which way now for OPEC? In the post-war period, too much oil in the markets could spell future problems for the OPEC cartel. (Business & Finance).
As expected, after the dismantling of the "war premium", crude oil prices have dropped steeply. Following the demise of Saddam Hussein's regime and a speedy end to hostilities--carefully planned to avoid collateral damage to Iraq's energy infrastructure including oilfields, pipelines and export terminals--prices had tumbled from pre-war highs of...

Company Watch - Northwest Airlines.
6/30/2008 Pilots at Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have reached a joint contract agreement that will go into effect if the two airlines merge. The two pilot groups have agreed on a system for creating one seniority list by the time the merger closes. 6/25/2008 ...