Word: absorb
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...tactic as a cynical stunt aimed at winning Singh a new constituency among the lower-caste voters. At stake are an estimated 50,000 government jobs that until now were open to upper-caste students. The competitive university system produces far more graduates than the job market can absorb, and young upper-caste Indians are extremely eager to find jobs that will pay well enough to meet their middle- class expectations. Now they face a situation where no matter how well they do in school, it will be considerably harder to get those posts. "Politicians are playing vote-catching gimmicks...
...extreme drought have hurt both people and vital ecosystems. In cities and towns, water scarcity means quick showers, brown lawns and dirty cars. But the real economic burden falls on farmers, who use between 80% and 90% of the water available in the Far West. While cities can easily absorb drought-related water-price increases, many farmers are being driven out of business by their water bills...
...first quarter of next year and an increase in unemployment from the current 5.5% to 7.5%. The threat would not be so great if the economy were not already teetering on the edge of recession. Says Barry Bosworth, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution: "We could not absorb a big price shock given the fragility of the economy...
...Japan and the countries of Western Europe, though big oil importers, are not especially worried. They will be cushioned against the increases because OPEC oil is paid for in U.S. dollars, which in recent months have depreciated against other major currencies. Japan can well absorb a price increase because of its enormous trade surplus, which it would like to whittle down anyway. Moreover, after the price shocks of 1973 and '79, Japan put the brakes on oil consumption, mainly through a serious conservation regimen, and did not release those brakes after the crises...
...seems a distant prospect, Saddam's sudden pre-eminence within OPEC does make it conceivable. The Iraqi despot has made clear that he believes oil should be used as a weapon in the Arab fight against Israel and its supporters, notably the U.S. If Saddam were gradually able to absorb Kuwait -- and Baghdad has long claimed, without any historical basis, that the country should rightfully be part of Iraq -- he would command an additional 10.3% of the world's proven oil reserves, making his country the unrivaled No. 2 oil power...