115 … 114 … Lindsay Lohan is finally clicking off her community service hours in a desperate race to keep her ass out of jail — she reported for work in Brooklyn … and immediately reconnected with an old, young friend.
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Recently, the value of the U.S. dollar has risen from strength to strength against a basket of currencies, notably against the euro and the yen. In fact, the dollar has reveled in the longest streak of gains since 1971.
While the strong U.S. dollar is good news for American consumers who can get more bang for their bucks when buying some imported goods or traveling abroad to certain areas, like Europe or Japan, American multinational companies find themselves in a different boat, say experts from Wharton and elsewhere. For one thing, their overseas earnings are worth a lot less when they translate unhedged profits into U.S. dollars.
This can have a big impact on U.S. firms when, for example, nearly 40 percent of total sales of S&P companies come from abroad. In the long run, however, the higher dollar is a mixed bag of pros and cons for U.S. global companies.
Why the U.S. Dollar Shot Up
How exactly the strong American currency will play out is hard to predict. In just the past year, the dollar has climbed an average of 18 percent and is now higher than it’s been in more than a decade against major currencies. “People are freaking out about the strong U.S. dollar but in fact it’s been much stronger before,” says Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First, a currency house in London. “In 1985, it was 33 percent stronger than where it is now so there is a lot more room to rally.”
“The reason the U.S. dollar is strong is not so much what the Americans are doing but rather what the Europeans are doing with quantitative easing,” adds Mauro Guillén, Wharton management professor and director of The Lauder Institute. As the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program takes off in Europe, the dollar should continue to gain in value over the euro. The dollar is already worth over 30 percent more than last year against the euro, making Parisian vacations a lot more affordable. Trip Advisor reported a nine percent drop in European hotel prices in dollar terms. “Industries that have to do with tourism will benefit, including companies that take American tourists abroad,” says Guillén.
“Companies were caught out a little bit, but what has been bad for American companies has been good for European companies.” — Joao F. Gomes
Undoubtedly, the news is better for European companies than American ones as the former are now able to price products more competitively against American goods. It is already had a huge impact on growth in the eurozone, notes Joao F. Gomes, Wharton finance professor. U.S. importers of foreign-made goods like French wines and German appliances might “experience a windfall” as their products become cheaper, adds Guillén.
The Japanese yen, meanwhile, has slid by 40 percent since early 2012 in part due to extreme quantitative easing, part of Abenomics, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s monetary and fiscal stimulation efforts to escape decades of slow economic growth and deflation. This has put pressure on China — which is experiencing its slowest growth in 24 years — to defend itself in Asia’s currency wars. “There is speculation that the People’s Bank of China will increase policy stimulus this year in the face of slowing growth,” which in turn will weaken the yuan, says Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London.
To continue reading my article, go to Knowledge@Wharton.
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Welcome to the final part of “Depression’s Peculiar Grip on Black LGBTQs.” As I’ve stated, I’m writing this multi-part series to shine a bright light on how depression can have a more pronounced and peculiar effect and impact on black LGBTQ persons. And as an African-American gay man, one who’s suffered from this illness throughout periods of his life, I can attest to its near-crippling effects.
As one might imagine, if you’re black, LGBTQ and depressed, you’re stumbling around with an even heavier, crushing burden on your shoulders than if you’re (simply) black, straight and depressed.
After reading the first two installments of “Depression’s Peculiar Grip on Black LGBTQs,” Louis Graham, DrPH (Doctor of Public Health) and an assistant professor for the School of Public Health and Health Services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was good enough to send me research articles he’s penned on depression and black MSM (men who have sex with men). Dr. Graham is African-American.
“Exploring the Mental Health of Black Men Who Have Sex with Men,” which Graham co-authored with Kisha Braithwaite, Pilgrim Spikes, Charles F. Stephens and Ugo F. Edu, states, “Current research indicates that black men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately burdened by depressive distress and anxiety disorders as compared to their white gay and heterosexual counterparts.”
Adding to that, “Factors Influencing Depression and Anxiety among Black Sexual Minority Men,” which he co-authored with Robert E. Aronson, Tracy Nichols, Charles F. Stephens and Scott D. Rhodes, states:
Racial and sexual components are core for BSMM (Black Sexual Minority Men, or Black MSM). Graham et al. explored the psychological health of BSMM and found that BSMM were challenged in developing a healthy identity.
They concluded that struggles related to the unique experience of being BSMM such as negative attitudes and beliefs concerning their race and sexuality as well as gender conformity pressure contributed to depression and anxiety.
In the previous installment of this series, I outlined how misconceptions, denial and stigma exact a heavy toll on the psyches of far too many blacks of every gender and sexual orientation. These factors, coupled with the lack of access to medical care, prevent them from seeking treatment.
Fortunately for me, whenever I’ve had episodes of depression, I was open to and sought help. My first major bout began in 1975, when I was a freshman majoring in journalism and political science at the George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C. I’d won a four-year scholarship.
At that time, very few African-Americans were part of the student body. For me, this was a significant change because I’d attended public schools that were overwhelmingly black. The GWU experience became my first confrontation with full-throated discrimination and racism.
Additionally, I was seriously grappling with being gay — and desiring to express those feelings openly, without guilt. Now, keep in mind that this was the ’70’s: Being “out and proud” simply wasn’t an option. Particularly if you were black.
I was confused, conflicted, constrained. I felt like I’d been pronounced dead, shoved into a coffin and buried underground. But the fact of the matter was that I was still alive, struggling to break free from this rather peculiar confinement.
As a result, I was deeply and chronically depressed.
So, I entered group therapy. As I began to open up, some of the feelings that poured out of me were more than a little uncomfortable. And as I continued to dig deeper, I really became unnerved.
As a result, I shut down.
And suddenly, out of the blue, the white male in our group committed suicide. He’d jumped off a building.
I was thrown into a complete tailspin!
After driving home in an emotional and mental haze, I barricaded myself in my room. Sobbing uncontrollably, I kept thinking, “I’m just so tired… I just wanna sleep and not wake up.”
Immediately, something clicked in my head.
That’s when I scrambled about for the sleeping pills.
After emptying them on my bed, I reached for the large glass of water. Next, I scooped up most of the pills, poised and ready to shove them into my mouth.
And swallow.
Suddenly, though, I froze! “Wyatt, how was your day? I made banana pudding for you!” That was my mom’s voice.
Next, the following thoughts hit me like a jackhammer. “I can’t do this to my mother! She’d be the one to find me… it would destroy her! Besides, if I give up, I won’t realize my hopes and dreams…”
Sweating profusely, I gathered the pills. Dashing to the bathroom, I flushed them down the toilet. Pulling myself together, I checked in on mom.
And when I ambled back to my room, this odd wave of tiredness washed over me! I didn’t wake up until late the next morning.
The suicide attempt scared the hell out of me! Abruptly, I left group and entered one-on-one therapy. After months of successful treatment, I was able to accept my sexual orientation and developed coping skills.
After being “released from my coffin,” I was able to breathe like never before.
Remember: the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is there for you 24/7 — in both English and Spanish. Call: 1-800-273-8255. Website.
Follow Wyatt O’Brian Evans at Wyattevans.com, and on Twitter.
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Your iPhone isn’t biodegradable.
Of course, you know that. But what you might not understand is the massive problem that electronic waste represents for our planet. A recent report from United Nations University in Japan declared that about 46 million tons of e-waste — discarded phones, computer screens, lamps, microwaves and so on — were produced in 2014 alone. That amount is only expected to rise in the coming years.
Many of these devices have toxic components. A lot of them could be recycled — but aren’t. Instead, they’re shipped to developing countries — sometimes illegally — where they end up in landfills, waterways or public spaces.
Since 2013, the jarring photographs of the BIT ROT Project have shined a light on the human price of electronic waste, showing civilians digging through potentially dangerous heaps or struggling to dispose the materials themselves.
“If people would be more conscious about where their electronic trash would finish and in which way they are affecting others, poorest peoples’ lives, I think they would act more carefully,” photographer Valentino Bellini told The Huffington Post via email.
Take a look at the selections below to see the reality for yourself. For more photographs and information, visit the BIT ROT Project.
H/T Business Insider
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I’ve been discussing the war on the poor in the United States for a long time on The David Pakman Show. One the distinguishing factors of the war on the poor when compared to other so-called wars is that the war on the poor actually exists.
Conversely, the wars on Christmas, white men, the rich, and religion don’t really exist. One of the most notable wars that doesn’t exist is that on Christians. Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn hoped her assertion that Christians are being persecuted would slip by without being questioned, but The Undercurrent’s Lauren Windsor asked the most basic and necessary of followup questions: Can you name a single example of such persecution of Christians. Take a guess…could Blackburn come up with one example? Watch:
If persecution of Christians were as real as Blackburn and so many others believe it to be, wouldn’t she be able to come up with at least one example? Even if it were an out of context and incorrect example, it would still be something to cling to. But no, Blackburn couldn’t come up with a single example.
Of course, the reality is that there is no Christian persecution in the United States. Not being allowed to discriminate based on completely self-professed and arbitrary “sincerely held religious beliefs” is NOT an example of persecution. Having the only federal religious holiday be Christmas is NOT a characteristic of a persecuted group, it’s a characteristic of a group granted special privileges by civil society. Marsha Blackburn and her cronies are going to have to come up with something — and quickly — if they want to continue pushing the canard that Christians are being persecuted in this country.
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After security firm CrowdStrike discovered a virtual machine security flaw that could (in theory) put millions of data centers at risk for malware attack this week, the comparisons came on hot, sticky, and thick. It was Heartbleed , all over again…..but this time, even WORSE.
Watches are awesome, ancient technology. They’re simple, often beautiful, completely functional tiny clocks we strap to our arms and wear out into the world. I love watches, but I think making them “smart” makes them worse. Instead, we should be making smart bands for the dumb, beautiful watches that already exist.
CMS and LHCb collaborations describe the first observation in a lab of the very rare decay B0s particle into two muon particles. Why should this matter to you, you might be asking? Why should this science have any effect on your lifestyle? It really won’t – but it will affect the way we continue to unfurl the never-ending scroll of … Continue reading
Bee population numbers are important, so much so that data on colony information has been tracked for the past several years, but particularly the last handful of years. The Apiary Inspectors of America, Bee Informed Partnership, and United States Department of Agriculture recently published the preliminary data on honey bee colony losses as determined in the ninth annual national survey. … Continue reading
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