See my 2/16/2011 blog RE: The Great Leveling

IMF report: Global economy is slowing sharply  – Jan 24, 2012

The world economy is slowing sharply, and the euro region headed for recession this year, the International Monetary Fund predicted Tuesday in a bleak update of global conditions.

Overall, the world economy is expected to expand 3.25 percent in 2012 — down from the 4 percent projected by the IMF in the fall.

That figure includes 8.2 percent growth in China, still the world’s most quickly expanding economy, and 7 percent in India. U.S. Growth is forecast at 1.8 percent, the same as the fund projected in the fall.

In those cases and for the rest of the world, the IMF said growth was being crimped by what remains the world’s major economic risk — the ongoing financial crisis in the euro zone.

In a trio of reports released Tuesday morning, the IMF forecasts a “mild recession” for the 17-nation euro zone this year, and warns that matters could easily worsen.

Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/imf-report-global-economy-to-hit-mild-recession/2012/01/24/gIQAWR6SNQ_story.html

If the French go down, do the lights dim in New England?

Northfield Mountain, Massachusetts

The world’s largest utility after taking control of Britain’s International Power, the company was initially formed by the merger of Gaz de France and Suez on 22 July 2008. wikipedia.com

FirstLight Power Resources

20 Church Street, 16th Floor                                                                      Please contact us at (860) 895-6900.
Hartford, CT 06103

Power Generation

FirstLight Power Resources is the owner and operator of a diverse portfolio of predominantly hydro-generation in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

FirstLight Power Resources’s 15 power generators located at 14 sites produce a total generating output of 1,442 megawatts. This includes:

Generation Type	Output
Pumped hydro storage	1,109 MW
Coal-fired	146 MW
Hydroelectric	167 MW
Jet-powered	20 MW
Total	1442 MW

GDF SUEZ develops its businesses around a model based on responsible growth to confront the great energy and environmental challenges: meeting energy needs, insuring the security of supply, fighting against climate change, and optimizing the use of resources.

The Group provides highly efficient and innovative solutions to individuals, cities and businesses by relying on diversified gas supply sources, flexible and low CO2 emission electricity production , and unique expertise in four key sectors: liquefied natural gas, energy efficiency services, independent electricity production and environmental services.

GDF SUEZ has 219,100 employees worldwide and 2010 revenues of  €84.5 Billion. Listed in Brussels, Luxembourg and Paris, the Group is represented in the leading international indexes: CAC 40, BEL 20, DJ Stoxx 50, DJ Euro Stoxx 50, Euronext 100, FTSE Eurotop 100, MSCI Europe, ASPI Eurozone and ECPI Ethical Index EMU.

Key figures at June 30, 2011

• 219 100 employees in nearly 70 countries (of which 62,400 in electricity and natural gas and 156,700 in services)
• €84.5 billion in 2010 revenues
• €11 billion in investments annually for the period 2011-2013
• More than 1,100 researchers and 9 R&D centers

 Electricity

No. 1 independent power producer in the world

• 114.5 GW of installed production capacity
• 18.4% of capacity production from renewable or recycled energy sources

Stringbean JT Spaceman

DJIA drops to 10,953! Ahhh! OMG! OMG! OMG!

When I was born the Dow hovered around 134, much lower than the high of 381 five years earlier.  (You think I dropped a zero?  Guess again.  LOL!)  The Dow first hit 10,000 early 1999. By mid-2002 it was back down to 7,592.  Five years later it peaked at 13,930.  Did it make sense to you that it went that high after correcting to 7,592?  How awful that it fell again to 7,063 in early 2009!  Well, later that same year it was back up to 10,000…and I said, “I hope it stays at or under 10,000 –  because that is, at most, what those DJIA companies are worth.”  Why did it go back up to 12,810 this year? Because investors – of all sizes – play the stock markets as though they are so many casino tables.  It matters not to us what the companies are truly worth today; we’re betting on the come.  Are we betting against the house?  You bet.  But WE ARE the house – you, me, Bill and Warren.  Why do stock markets exist then?   To amuse ourselves Vegas style?

Pea-brain Speaks

If the universe is larger than we can imagine, isn’t it also smaller than we can imagine?

Golf ball : Universe  ::   Basketball :   __________?

Fun…sort of…at first…movie review…from a cave

http://moviereviewsfromthedark.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/cave-of-forgotten-dreams/

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS:  I’m just saying, fabulous discovery in 1994, weak production values and managed to cram 30-minutes worth of documentary into 90-minutes.  So GO.  But after the first half-hour get up and find a martini bar.

Gonna build me a cabin down by the riverside…

“Yeh, but we need the rain.”

The Great Leveling

“Briefly describe how you would improve the [U.S.] economy more quickly – without a revolution.” with credit to Alan Kitty at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alan-kitty/9/60/225

Wow. Lots of great ideas here. It’s like a …hmm…now, when’s the last time you heard the term “Think Tank?”

I take a MACRO-view because that is what I feel most confident in.

1. Private and government think tanks need to be given the highest priority possible. This includes 100% sharing and cooperation between both types.

2. Those organizations should focus ONLY on QOL/SOL [quality of life/standard of living] issues …in the global economy framework.

3. If we only focus on individual facets of one economy, how would we achieve any improvement in QOL/SOL which are made up of dozens of measures? It’s like trying to wave off one raindrop at a time rather than opening the umbrella.

For a decade I have been talking about what I call “The Great Leveling.” People of good-will want everyone on the planet to have high QOL/SOL. As that is happening some national/regional economies will suffer while others grow. The most developed nations might suffer the most while The Great Leveling is in process. All of this is being accelerated by global communications becoming as easy as talking with the person sitting next to you. A focus on QOL/SOL, I believe, is the best way for any developed country to identify ways to minimize relative decline and maintain strength in the global economy. * Wikipedia and the World Bank are places to start to examine QOL measures.

Bloggers Ode? Got that lean clean Stringbean gene.

Thank you, Spaceman…

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it
There ain’t nothing to it
Nobody knows how we got to
The top of the hill
But since we’re on our way down
We might as well enjoy the ride
The secret of love is in opening up your heart
It’s okay to feel afraid
But don’t let that stand in your way
’cause anyone knows that love is the only road
And since we’re only here for a while
Might as well show some style
Give us a smile 

Isn’t it a lovely ride
Sliding down
Gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It’s just a lovely ride
Now the thing about time is that time
Isn’t really real
It’s just your point of view
How does it feel for you
Einstein said he could never understand it all
Planets spinning through space
The smile upon your face
Welcome to the human race
Some kind of lovely ride
I’ll be sliding down
I’ll be gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It’s just a lovely ride

Isn’t it a lovely ride
Sliding down
Gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It’s just a lovely ride
Now the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVq7VQv0TfU  ENJOY

The Perfect Spellchecker

No, there is no perfect spell checker.  I know because I’ve been looking for one for many moths.

Of course, it would not have taken so long if I were a better project manger.