Month: November 2004

The World Bank reports that East Asia is experiencing its fasted rate of economic growth since the 1997 financial crisis. The upshot is that the strong economic growth has lifted an estimated 40 million people out of poverty in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In a press release, the World Bank’s Regional Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Mr. Jemal-ud-din Kassum said (emphasis added),

We are estimating that by the end of this year, the number of people living on less than $2 a day will be around one third of the region’s population. Even excluding China, the absolute number of poor would be at their lowest level ever, finally overcoming the higher poverty created by the 1997 crisis. This expansion is happening during a time of major political advances with a sweep of legislative and presidential elections, including Indonesia’s first ever direct election of a president, capping what looks like being a remarkable year for the region.

The main obstacle to further growth in 2005 and beyond, the World Bank notes, are continuing high oil prices which could cut 0.5 to 1 percentage point off of the current 7 percent growth rate the region is experiencing.

Economic growth, as usual, is the key to lifting people out of poverty.

Source:

East Asia Region Set To Grow by Healthy 7 Percent In 2004. Press Release, World Bank, November 9, 2004.

East Asia poverty at ‘record low’. The BBC, November 9, 2004.

Economy pushes Asia poverty down. CNN, November 8, 2004.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, reported this month that they had developed a method to increase the resistance of grain crops to drought.

In research to be published in the December issue of The Plant Journal, the researchers describe how lowering the levels of an enzyme called ACC synthase in turn reduces production of ethylene. Ethylene is responsible for the deaths of leaves in response to adverse environmental conditions, such as drought.

The researchers searched through thousands of plants, looking for ones that had naturally lower levels of ACC synthase. In a press release announcing their findings, the University of California, Riverside noted,

In addition, the plants were more resistant to the effects of adverse environmental conditions. Surprisingly, by reducing the level of ethylene, all the leaves of the altered plants contained higher levels of chlorophyll and leaf protein, and functioned better than control leaves.

“Thus, they are able to survive conditions of drought and remain productive,” said Professor [Daniel] Gallie, who led a research team that included UCR Colleague Todd E. Young and Robert B. Meeley, of Pioneer Hi-Bred. “Erratic rainfall and conditions of drought have plagued farmers from time immemorial, and are responsible for substantial losses in crop yield when they do occur.”

This opens the possibility, of course, of using traditional plant breeding or genetic modification to create crop plants well suited for more arid parts of the world.

Source:

Researchers discover new way to boost grain crops’ drought tolerance. Press Release, University of California, Riverside, November 17, 2004.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Gregory Stanford wrote a column the other day in which he includes part of a discussion he had with Lani Guinier. Stanford includes a paraphrase of Guinier putting down the Republican Party. Stanford writes,

The Republican vision sustains a materialistic, individualistic, consumeristic culture, Guinier said.

And that’s a problem how? If the Republicans would just ditch their “morality” issues and focus on the individualistic consumerism, they’d have my vote any day of the week. (Guinier is apparently horrified that Bush urged Americans to go shopping after 9/11 — but what is more American than shopping?)

Ditch the abortion and gay stuff and focus on cutting taxes and killing terrorists — now there’s a political party I could get behind.

Guinier, on the other hand, contrasts this with the Democrats who she thinks should stress the idea of “shared responsibility and shared sacrifice.” Ugh. Thanks, but no thanks. If your religion calls for sacrifices, who am I to object, but please do it privately amongst yourselves.

Source:

It seems Democrats must work on passion, vision. Gregory Stanford, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, November 20, 2004.