Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 4, 2010
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Portugal and the US on the list of countries with largest gap between rich and poor:
Top 11 Countries With the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor
No. 1 Hong Kong
ED Jones/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
Gini score: 43.4
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 207.2
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 34.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.8
Renowned for its high concentration of Rolls-Royces, expensive real estate, and posh shops, the Chinese special administrative region has plenty of rich who enjoy showing off their wealth. However, Hong Kong also has one of the largest public housing sectors in the world, with about half the population living in government-supported or -subsidized housing estates. The city has no minimum wage—except for domestic helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries.
No. 2 Singapore
Gini score: 42.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 161.3
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 32.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.7
Singapore is one of the world's most open economies, and it suffered badly following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers last year. Recently, though, the city-state's economy has rebounded, with GDP growing an annualized 14.9% rate in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter.
No. 3 U.S.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Gini score: 40.8
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 13,751.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 29.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.9
The share of income for the top percentile of Americans was 23.5% in 2007, the highest since 1928, according to Emmanuel Saez, a Berkeley economist who won the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal in April. Income for the top 0.01% hit a record-high 6.04%. And the recession may be exacerbating income inequality.
No. 4 Israel
Gini score: 39.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 164.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.1
Richest 10%: 28.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 13.4
Gone are the days when Israel was one of the world's most egalitarian societies. Early Labor Zionist pioneers built kibbutzim for Jewish immigrants, but those collectives have fallen on hard times. The growing number of haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, with large families and men who study the Torah rather than work has worsened the inequality problem.
No. 5 Portugal
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Gini score: 38.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 222.8
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 29.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.0
While Portugal emerged from recession in the second quarter, the unemployment rate tops 9%. The ruling Socialists retained power in elections last month but lost seats to parties on the far left.
No. 1 Hong Kong
ED Jones/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
Gini score: 43.4
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 207.2
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 34.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.8
Renowned for its high concentration of Rolls-Royces, expensive real estate, and posh shops, the Chinese special administrative region has plenty of rich who enjoy showing off their wealth. However, Hong Kong also has one of the largest public housing sectors in the world, with about half the population living in government-supported or -subsidized housing estates. The city has no minimum wage—except for domestic helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries.
No. 2 Singapore
Gini score: 42.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 161.3
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 32.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.7
Singapore is one of the world's most open economies, and it suffered badly following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers last year. Recently, though, the city-state's economy has rebounded, with GDP growing an annualized 14.9% rate in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter.
No. 3 U.S.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Gini score: 40.8
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 13,751.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 29.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.9
The share of income for the top percentile of Americans was 23.5% in 2007, the highest since 1928, according to Emmanuel Saez, a Berkeley economist who won the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal in April. Income for the top 0.01% hit a record-high 6.04%. And the recession may be exacerbating income inequality.
No. 4 Israel
Gini score: 39.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 164.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.1
Richest 10%: 28.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 13.4
Gone are the days when Israel was one of the world's most egalitarian societies. Early Labor Zionist pioneers built kibbutzim for Jewish immigrants, but those collectives have fallen on hard times. The growing number of haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, with large families and men who study the Torah rather than work has worsened the inequality problem.
No. 5 Portugal
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Gini score: 38.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 222.8
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 29.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.0
While Portugal emerged from recession in the second quarter, the unemployment rate tops 9%. The ruling Socialists retained power in elections last month but lost seats to parties on the far left.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Yesterday Bruno came home with two gigantic fresh eggplants!! Before I could let the skin get wrinkly or any soft spots to form I got chopping.
1. Rinse and rub the eggplant under running water
2. Slice in round disks or half moons no thicker than a little pinky finger width
3. leave on a cookie tray sprinkled with course salt until water is released (20 min), wipe dry with a towel, paint with olive oil and bake in the over for 10 minutes
4. Make a white bechamel sauce - melt butter in a saucepan (2-3 Tablespoons), add flour spoonful by spoonful and stirring constantly until a dry paste is formed. Add milk splash by splash stirring and blending. Keep adding milk until you have a smooth creamy sauce
5. sautee onions, garlic, a bay leaf, a piece of cinnamon stick in olive oil. Add a can of peeled crushed tomatoes with sauce and let cook a few minutes
6. Now you can layer like lasagna - eggplant slices, red sauce, white sauce, eggplant, red, white etc until the big pan is full and covered with white sauce on top
Bake for 30 some minutes, 180 C
Yum!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Vitamins in Lisbon
First of all, hello and happy Summer to all,
We've been waiting for a heat wave and here it is folks, been quite hot for the last few weeks and although the water is chilly the beaches keep filling up more and more.
So Bruno and I have been talking about vitamins lately - I've always taken some kind of something whether just regular vitamin C, emergen-c powder, or multi supplements and as you all probably remember a lot of protein shakes and tinctures.
I ran out of vitamins and was thinking about which route to take this time around when we got into a real honest discussion about what ever got me to take vitamins in the first place.
Most Americans do, at least the kind of folks we know, right? But I always just "knew" that you should take them. Take B vitamins for stress, C for colds, zinc for colds, A for skin . . . but I usually just buy whatever is cheapest and most accessible in the place I live. I never really asked myself why.
An interesting article came out in the ny times:
Sure enough it may be worth asking ourselves, why?
Of course nothing can replace a balanced diet enough rest and exercise and well not walking on cold linoleum floors with your bare feet, or getting soaked in the cold pouring rain etc.
Anyhow my conclusion is to not take daily vitamins but to try and eat even more fresh veggies and fruit and keep some good quality source of concentrated C on hand (like a juice or extract which is easy to absorb) and some kind of superfood or mineral to amp your energy and combat stress for a few months out of the year.
Vitamins are crazy expensive here in Portugal but I have discovered a way . . . German Amazon.com!! Weleda has a sea buckthorn juice that is supposed to have lots of C and A and it's about 7 euros, not bad.
Then there's Schindeles mineral powder for 12 euro bucks, not bad either.
So what are y'all taking these days?
We've been waiting for a heat wave and here it is folks, been quite hot for the last few weeks and although the water is chilly the beaches keep filling up more and more.
So Bruno and I have been talking about vitamins lately - I've always taken some kind of something whether just regular vitamin C, emergen-c powder, or multi supplements and as you all probably remember a lot of protein shakes and tinctures.
I ran out of vitamins and was thinking about which route to take this time around when we got into a real honest discussion about what ever got me to take vitamins in the first place.
Most Americans do, at least the kind of folks we know, right? But I always just "knew" that you should take them. Take B vitamins for stress, C for colds, zinc for colds, A for skin . . . but I usually just buy whatever is cheapest and most accessible in the place I live. I never really asked myself why.
An interesting article came out in the ny times:
Sure enough it may be worth asking ourselves, why?
Of course nothing can replace a balanced diet enough rest and exercise and well not walking on cold linoleum floors with your bare feet, or getting soaked in the cold pouring rain etc.
Anyhow my conclusion is to not take daily vitamins but to try and eat even more fresh veggies and fruit and keep some good quality source of concentrated C on hand (like a juice or extract which is easy to absorb) and some kind of superfood or mineral to amp your energy and combat stress for a few months out of the year.
Vitamins are crazy expensive here in Portugal but I have discovered a way . . . German Amazon.com!! Weleda has a sea buckthorn juice that is supposed to have lots of C and A and it's about 7 euros, not bad.
Then there's Schindeles mineral powder for 12 euro bucks, not bad either.
So what are y'all taking these days?
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