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Population adds pressure not only to the global environment, but also for societies and economies. Sustained growth in developing nations like China and India rapidly lifts people from poverty and the world must adjust, warns Moisés Naím, editor in chief of Foreign Policy. A growing middle class around the world is already increasing demand for meat, milk and other foods, thus increasing the prices of staple products. The middle class can afford more energy, precious metals and commodities per capita than the poor. In 2006, China added to its overall energy use as much as France consumes in one year. The larger middle class will increase demand for a lifestyle that many in developed nations now take for granted, along with increased urbanization and immigration, notes Naím. New technologies may cover some demand, but big changes, higher costs as well as some conflict are in store. Naím predicts that “unanticipated effects of the new global middle class will become part of our daily news.” – YaleGlobal
Can the World Afford a Middle Class?
Yes, but it will be awfully expensive
Moisés Naím
Foreign Policy, 28 February 2008
The middle class in poor countries is the fastest-growing segment of the world’s population. While the total population of the planet will increase by about 1 billion people in the next 12 years, the ranks of the middle class will swell by as many as 1.8 billion. Of these new members of the middle class, 600 million will be in China. Homi Kharas, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, estimates that by 2020 the world’s middle class will grow to include a staggering 52 percent of the global population, up from 30 percent now. The middle class will almost double in the poor countries where sustained economic growth is lifting people above the poverty line fast. For example, by 2025, China will have the world’s largest middle class, while India’s will be 10 times larger than it is today.
While this is, of course, good news, it also means humanity will have to adjust to unprecedented pressures. The rise of a new global middle class is already having repercussions. Last January, 10,000 people took to the streets in Jakarta to protest skyrocketing soybean prices. And Indonesians were not the only people angry about the rising cost of food. In 2007, higher pasta prices sparked street protests in Milan. Mexicans marched against the price of tortillas. Senegalese protested the price of rice, and Indians took up banners against the price of onions. Many governments, including those in Argentina, China, Egypt, and Russia, have imposed controls on food prices in an attempt to contain a public backlash.
These protesters are the most vociferous manifestations of a global trend: We are all paying more for bread, milk, and chocolate, to name just a few items. The new consumers of the emerging global middle class are driving up food prices everywhere. The food-price index compiled by The Economist since 1845 is now at an all-time high; it increased 30 percent in 2007 alone. Milk prices were up more than 29 percent last year, while wheat and soybeans increased by almost 80 and 90 percent, respectively. Many other grains, like rice and maize, reached record highs. Prices are soaring not because there is less food (in 2007, the world produced more grains than ever before), but because some grains are now being used as fuel and because more people can afford to eat more. The average consumption of meat in China, for example, has more than doubled since the mid-1980s.
The impact of a fast-growing middle class will soon be felt in the price of other resources. After all, members of the middle class not only consume more meat and grains, but they also buy more clothes, refrigerators, toys, medicines, and, eventually, cars and homes. China and India, with 40 percent of the world’s population, most of it still very poor, already consume more than half of the global supply of coal, iron ore, and steel. Thanks to their growing prosperity and that of other countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, and Vietnam, the demand for these products is booming. Not surprisingly, in the past two years, the world price of tin, nickel, and zinc have roughly doubled, while aluminum is up 39 percent and plywood is now 27 percent more expensive. Moreover, a middle-class lifestyle in these developing countries, even if more frugal than what is common in rich nations, is more energy intensive. In 2005, China added as much electricity generation as Britain produces in a year. In 2006, it added as much as France’s total supply. Yet, millions in China still lack reliable access to electricity; in India, more than 400 million don’t have power. The demand in India will grow fivefold in the next 25 years.
And you know what happened to oil prices. Again, oil reached its all-time high of $100 per barrel not because of supply constraints but because of unprecedented growth in consumption in poor countries with rising middle classes. China alone accounts for one third of the growth in the world’s oil consumption in recent years. The middle class also likes to travel: The World Tourism Organization estimates that outbound tourists will grow from today’s 846 million a year to 1.6 billion in 2020. Venice and Paris will be even more expensive—and crowded—to visit.
The public debate about the consequences of this global consumption boom has focused on what it means for the environment. Yet, its economic and political effects will be significant, too. The lifestyle of the existing middle class will probably have to change as the new middle class emerges. The consumption patterns that an American, French, or Swedish family took for granted will inevitably become more expensive. Some, like driving your car anywhere at any time, may even become prohibitively so. That may not be all bad. It may mean that the price of some resources, like water or oil, may more accurately reflect its true costs.
But other dislocations will be more painful and difficult to predict. Changes in migration, urbanization, and income distribution will be widespread. And expect growing demands for better housing, healthcare, education, and, inevitably, political participation. The unanticipated effects of the new global middle class will become part of our daily news.
The debate about the Earth’s “limits to growth” is as old as Thomas Malthus’s alarm about a world where the population outstrips its ability to feed itself. In the past, pessimists have been proven wrong. Higher prices and new technologies, like the green revolution, always came to the rescue, boosting supplies and allowing the world to continue to grow. That may happen again. But the adjustment to a middle class greater than what the world has ever known is just beginning. As the Indonesian and Mexican protesters can attest, it won’t be cheap. And it won’t be quiet.
Moisés Naím is editor in chief of Foreign Policy.



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////////////////////The CO2 StateTexas produces more carbon emissions than most countries, but the state government and business community don't seem too concerned.



//////////////////We become what we think about." -- Denis Waitley



////////////////////We learn to walk by stumbling.-- Bulgarian Proverb Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.-- Dan Stanford



/////////////////////Soy is good for you!Soy has long been viewed as a miracle food that protects your heart, fights against cancer and serves as a safe alternative to hormones. Studies show that eating large amounts of soy-based foods or taking soy supplements has a positive, measurable effect on your heart. Learn how adding soy to your daily meals can be beneficial to your health.



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//////////////////researchers indicate that shopping is a two-stage process.
First, a consumer deliberates over the need to purchase an initial item, weighing the pros and cons.
Once this initial “deliberation phase” has ended — once a consumer has decided to buy one thing — the consumer deliberates less about subsequent items.
Essentially, once a person decides to buy one thing, this creates “shopping momentum”, increasing the likelihood that he will buy additional items. If you pick up an impulse item (like a magazine or candy bar) as you enter a store, this can serve as a trigger to encourage you to buy more.
I’ve actually noticed this tendency in my own life. If I’m at the comic book store trying to decide whether to buy the latest Superman compilation, I can escape without spending anything if I stand my ground. But if I buy one book, it’s much easier for me to buy a second and a third. It’s almost as if I’m not making a decision on the Superman book I had planned to buy — it’s like I’m really deciding “will I buy stuff today or not?”
This study supports the notion that to avoid spending too much, it’s best not to lead yourself into temptation. I shouldn’t even enter the comic book store. If you like to shop for clothes, stay away from your favorite stores. It’s best to avoid temptation entirely.



////////////////////CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.[3] The LHC is a particle accelerator, which will be the world’s largest and most complex scientific instrument when it switches on in summer 2008.



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Photos: Africa's Spear-Carrying Chimps
On the savannas of Senegal, chimpanzees hunt other primates by using spearlike sticks—offering clues to our own evolution, experts say.


//////////////////intake of supplemental vitamin E was associated with a slightly increased risk of lung cancer



///////////////////......Rough Childhood Can “Jump-Start” Depression
February 27, 2008
Persons who become clinically depressed have generally experienced more severe difficulties in childhood than those who do not become depressed. Indicators include mild or severe childhood trauma,such as sexual or physical abuse, a turbulent upbringing, separation from a parent, or mental illness in a parent. Researchers are now saying that a problematic childhood may trigger an early-onset of depression (first episode occurs before age 20). The most significant event that seems to be related to clinical depression is separation from or death of a parent before the age of 11.
It is not clear just how a difficult childhood can result in adult depression, but there are a few theories. One theory suggests that children who experience great unhappiness growing up have a harder time adjusting to changes in their life such as adolescence and the new roles of adulthood. Another theory is that these children may either lack appropriate emotional development or they become emotionally damaged making them vulnerable to developing depression. Experiencing great difficulties as children, these individuals may be more likely to have low self-esteem, feel powerless, and become dependent on others to make them feel good about themselves. These kinds of traits may increase a person’s susceptibility to depression. Still another theory has to do with the developing brain of a young child. Early experiences may affect the development of the limbic system in the brain. If a child experiences great emotional distress, this could affect his or her ability to adapt to new environments and regulate emotions.



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