Much Puffery About Air-Powered Car

An automobile that runs on compressed air got a boost this week with an investment from India’s Tata Motors. MDI Industries, of Carros, France, designed the cars based on technology invented by Guy Negre, a former Formula One engineer. The project has been in development for 14 years, but no carmaker has yet put the car into production. Now, according to some reports, Tata is planning to manufacture and sell air cars in India later this year for the equivalent of about $5,000. But, in the Financial Times of London, Tata’s managing director downplayed expectations, saying: “It’s a very exciting concept, this way of running a car.

Wikileaks Shutdown Thwarted

Infoworld technology guru Robert X. Cringley said the attempted shutdown of the Wikileaks Web site by a U.S. judge at the request of a Swiss bank was a futile effort that only fueled greater interest in the bank’s financial practices. The move also caused the proliferation of “mirror” sites for Wikileaks around the world, he said, all carrying the leaked documents the bank wanted to keep from the public. Source:
“Look before you leak”
Infoworld, February 20, 2008

Wealth Gap Widens in Silicon Valley

The information economy may be firing on all cylinders, but in Silicon Valley more than 60,000 “midwage” jobs — defined as those paying between $30,000 to $80,000 annually — disappeared between 2002 and 2006. During that same period, however, Silicon Valley employers added more than 66,000 jobs paying less than $30,000. The Silicon Valley Index, published annually by a public-private consortium, details the changes, many of which contain “good news,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. This includes increased worker productivity, more venture capital, and growth in niche markets and new industries, such as “clean tech.” The report blames outsourcing as one of the main culprits in the exodus of higher-paying jobs, but also calls for more aggressive retraining of workers who have been sidelined by the global economy, and remain unaware of opportunities in other fields.

"Dodgy Collateral" Fuels New Bank Borrowing

U.S. banks have borrowed almost $50 billion in the last month from the Federal Reserve, using an expanded government program that some critics fear will deepen instability long-term. The Financial Times of London reports that the Reserve’s Term Auction Facility has enabled the government to reduce “financial stress” by “channelling liquidity into the banking system.” It achieves this by allowing banks to “borrow at relatively attractive rates against a wider range of their assets than previously permitted.” One analyst, however, told the Times that the move allowed banks to borrow more freely against “dodgy” or “garbage” collateral, and said the situation was “perilous.” Overall, however, the U.S. government program is popular with banks, and may even be expanded.

News You Might Have Missed * Vol. 7, No. 8

Important but overlooked news from around the world. QUOTED:
“For the moment, we see a tougher position … motivated by the political space which President Hugo Chavez has tried to open for them.” — Colombia’s peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, on the Venezuelan leader’s hostage negotiations with leftist rebels in Colombia (see “Chavez,” below). CONTENTS:
*Top Stories*
“Dodgy collateral” fuels new bank borrowing
Wealth gap widens in Silicon Valley
Wikileaks shutdown thwarted
*Transportation*
Much puffery about air-powered car
*Chavez*
Friend of hostages, or friend of hostage-takers?