Word: boomings
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Funds and Talent Needed For Russia's arms-export boom to continue, its defense industries need a huge infusion of fresh funds and talent. Russia's defense department buys only 15% of the weaponry the country's factories produce, while old customers such as India and China have begun producing their own weapons in the past decade or so. Unless Russia modernizes its factories, Moscow could lose more clients, says the Stratfor analysis. If that happens, the report states, "the Russian defense industry will be hard-pressed to keep from becoming irrelevant...
What a difference a financial crisis makes. After the worldwide economic boom went bust, demand abruptly evaporated for many commodities that go into the production of houses, cars, computers, and all kinds of durable goods. The Dow Jones-AIG commodity price index has shed more than half its value since mid-2008. Due to falling metal prices, BHP Billiton in January announced the mothballing of an Australian nickel mine only eight months after it officially opened. The most visible turnaround has been in oil. A year ago, Western governments were pleading with Persian Gulf oil states to ramp up production...
...aughts have been a boom decade for the revival of seemingly terminal franchises. Batman Begins redeemed the Caped Crusader from the hell of Batman & Robin. Casino Royale restored a vividness to James Bond that I wouldn't have believed possible after Die Another Day. The new Battlestar Galactica was a triumph. Superman Returns ... well, you can't blame them for trying...
Charge cards have been around since the 1920s, when service stations, department stores and hotel chains began offering them to automobile-loving consumers who didn't want to trek back to their hometown bank to get cash. But it wasn't until the postwar boom of the 1950s that credit cards really caught on. In 1950, Diners Club issued its first card--made of cardboard--for use in 27 restaurants in New York City. A year later, nearly 20,000 Americans carried it in their wallet. American Express, which had specialized in traveler's checks, created its card...
Computerization spurred a boom in the 1970s and '80s, as did new methods of analyzing consumer data to unearth the most lucrative "revolvers," those who often carry high balances but are unlikely to default. Critics say contracts today, with their ever shifting terms and complex legalese, have helped customers get into more debt than they bargained for. Though Congress shelved earlier proposals for a credit-card holders' bill of rights, a new version was introduced in January, and this time, economic hardship coupled with populist outrage could translate into legislative change...