This article is about an important bid proposed by BHB Billiton, an Australian mining company, to takeover Canada's Potash Corporation in order to secure global commodity supply against growing demand and population growth in developing countries.

The lowering prices of Madagascar's vanilla, lower the wages for the farmers in this industry, which causes some of them to leave their crops. They earn a little over $1.50 per day, due to the new low costs of the crops ($500 per kilo before, and now $30 the kilo). These low prices are essentially caused by competition and the new popularity for synthetically produced spices such as vanilla.

Many people, especially people who can afford oil at the moment, complain of it being too expensive at $40 a barrel. However, economists say this is nothing compared to oil's future price. Some even say it is too cheap since its demand has increased dramatically while it can only be provided in a certain amount. By raising its price, it could lower the demand. At the Association for the Study of Peak Oil 's conference in Berlin, it was discussed about the consequences of oil's rising prices.

A study made by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and HSBC 's Climate Change Center of Excellence in Southeast Asia found out that the largest thermal and hydroelectric powerplants were located in areas greatly suffering from water scarcity. This poses a major problem since these power plants heavily rely on water.