What is ironic is that these vines represented about the least scary GMO crop imaginable. They were engineered to be resistant to a disease called Fan Leaf Virus that is spread by nematodes that live in the soil. Back before people understood this disease it was unintentionally spread to many grape-growing areas. Once a given vineyard is contaminated with the nematodes and virus, grapes will only survive for a few years on that site before declining and dying. Some of the best wine production areas around the world are seriously compromised this way, and there has been no lasting cure.
Group items matching
in title, tags, annotations or urlRed, Green, and Blue | Patriotism that loves our country, our land, and our planet - 0 views
-
-
at was being tested in Colmar was a “rootstock.” All grapes are cuttings of the desired variety (Gewurtztraminer, Cabernet, Chardonnay…) grafted on to a root that is resistant to various pests. The Colmar roots would have also been resistant to the virus. The top of the vine (all that is above ground) would be exactly like all the neighboring vineyards. In theory the grapes wouldn’t die in a few years (that is what the researchers were hoping to demonstrate).
-
but this same irrationality is hindering efforts to provide things like virus resistant Cassava to poor farmers in Africa or virus resistant Papayas to people in Thailand.
Will bank supervision in Ohio and Austria be similar? A transatlantic view of the Single Supervisory Mechanism | vox - 0 views
-
At the inception of the euro, it was thought possible to have a centralised monetary authority and decentralised bank supervision, but the inability to separate sovereign-debt problems from those of bank stability has led the leaders of the member states of the EU to agree to centralise supervision in the Single Supervisory Mechanism.
-
The states retained their powers to supervise the small number of state-chartered banks that seemed little threat to the stability of the new more tightly regulated national system.
-
What was not anticipated was that the more stable national banks would fail to adequately supply credit to the economy.
- ...9 more annotations...
The Eurozone's Delayed Reckoning by Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate - 0 views
-
For starters, the European Central Bank’s “outright monetary transactions” program has been incredibly effective: interest-rate spreads for Spain and Italy have fallen by about 250 basis points, even before a single euro has been spent to purchase government bonds.
-
The introduction of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which provides another €500 billion ($650 billion) to be used to backstop banks and sovereigns, has also helped, as has European leaders’ recognition that a monetary union alone is unstable and incomplete, requiring deeper banking, fiscal, economic, and political integration.
-
But, perhaps most important, Germany’s attitude toward the eurozone in general, and Greece in particular, has changed. German officials now understand that, given extensive trade and financial links, a disorderly eurozone hurts not just the periphery but the core.
- ...10 more annotations...
ECB Raises Pressure on Greece - WSJ.com - 0 views
-
FRANKFURT—The European Central Bank said it would reject Greek government bonds as collateral for its normal lending operations beginning Wednesday,
-
Government bonds and other debt securities backed by Greece "will become for the time being ineligible for use as collateral" in the ECB's monetary policy operations, the bank said in a statement.
-
Greek banks, which are largely shut out of private markets for financing, depend critically on cheap ECB loans to meet their daily funding needs. In June, Greek banks tapped the ECB and Greece's central bank for a combined €136 billion ($166 billion) in loans through normal refinancing operations and emergency credit, an amount roughly equal to two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product.
- ...3 more annotations...
The Greek package: Eurozone rescue or seeds of an unravelled monetary union? | vox - 0 views
-
The plan will not work.
-
The IMF has the option of suspending its disbursements and forcing a default, as it did with Argentina.
-
Once the markets realise this, they will further raise the interest that they request to roll over the maturing debt or simply refuse to refinance the debt.
- ...7 more annotations...
Productivity: Technology isn't working | The Economist - 0 views
-
Technology isn’t working
-
Technology isn’t working
-
n the 1970s the blistering growth after the second world war vanished in both Europe and America. In the early 1990s Japan joined the slump, entering a prolonged period of economic stagnation.
- ...12 more annotations...
Taiwan's information-technology industry: After the personal computer | The Economist - 0 views
-
Information and communications technology now makes up one-third of GDP.
-
its companies make 89% of the world’s notebooks, as well as 46% of desktop PCs. These days they make them mainly with Chinese labour: 94% of their hardware, by value, is produced on the mainland.
-
It is moving into retailing and wants to develop its own technology, for which it intends to hire another 5,000-10,000 engineers in Taiwan.
- ...3 more annotations...
Italy's Mob Extends Reach in Europe - NYTimes.com - 0 views
-
Italy’s Mob Extends Reach in Europe
Irish Charm With Germans Leads Nation Out of Bailout Wilderness - Bloomberg - 0 views
-
Before the new government could go on the offensive, it needed to play defense. It fended off an attack on Ireland’s 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, the cornerstone of an economic policy that transformed Ireland from a financial backwater into a European hub for companies such as Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra, and Google Inc.
-
Two days after commencing his premiership, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, 62, became embroiled in what he called a Gallic spat with French President Nicolas Sarkozy after refusing to raise the tax rate in return for an interest-rate cut on aid.
-
“The attitude was: ‘You misbehaved and here’s what you have to do’,’”
- ...5 more annotations...
1 - 11 of 11
Showing 20▼ items per page