Word: asia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...similar sense of crisis has been growing across Asia over the past few months as the price of a barrel of oil has skyrocketed to almost $140, up more than 30% since January. The spike - coupled with galloping consumer price inflation in general and a slumping U.S. economy - is contributing to fears that an era of remarkable economic growth, particularly in developing countries such as India, may be drawing to a close. One ominous sign: stock markets throughout the region suffered sharp declines following a record one-day surge in oil prices of more than $10 a barrel on June...
...India, in particular, was supposed to weather a downturn relatively well because its economy depends largely on domestic consumption rather than massive exports as does China's. But there's nowhere to hide from higher oil prices, and several factors make the crunch particularly painful in Asia. The vast majority of countries in the region are net importers of oil. Only Malaysia and Vietnam are able to produce enough crude to be net sellers. In addition, several Asian governments for years have spent billions of dollars subsidizing fuel costs to keep it cheap for their poor and often quarrelsome citizens...
...keep global oil prices high, since growing demand from China has contributed significantly to crude's price run-up in the past few years, according to economists. It's too early to say, but the recent spike in oil prices could be another nail in the coffin in which Asia's sizzling economic run of the past several years is finally laid to rest...
...most Chinese, victory in Beijing will not only prove their country's status as a potential superpower but also erase its historic humiliation by colonial powers. Stupefied by opium, cowed by Western firepower, China was dismissed at the outset of the 20th century as the "sick man of Asia." Indeed, the first article Chairman Mao ever published was on the importance of sporting success to the national psyche. "Our nation is wanting in strength," he fretted back in 1917. "If our bodies are not strong, how can we attain our goals and make ourselves respected?" Winning, Mao and his followers...
Thanks to Asia's construction boom, the price of copper has risen from less than $1 per pound (0.45 kg) in 2003 to more than $4 per pound in April, and burglars are lifting the metal wherever they can find it. The copper in plumbing, air conditioners, utility wire, rain gutters, sprinklers and bronze sculptures like Dan (bronze is a copper alloy) is easy to sell and tough to trace, police say, making it a popular cash source for meth addicts...