Word: perring
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...People's Town. The central square is a traffic island with a Soviet T34 tank on a pedestal, a World War II memorial. Next to it is a farmers' market, where babushkas from nearby villages with woolly hats and dodgy teeth sell homegrown carrots and potatoes for 25¢ per pound. But look closer, and it's clear that even Lyudinovo isn't frozen in time. A shopping emporium that opened a year ago sells South Korean refrigerators, French yogurt and fake Italian pumps. Several houses are being built on the outskirts - the first new residential construction in more than...
Today, Russia's finances look a lot less robust. The government budget was based on oil at $70 per barrel, way above the current ? level, and it will consequently swing into deficit next year for the first time since 2001. The stock market has dropped more than 70% in the past year, as the nation's business élite dumped stocks to repay the huge loans they took out to finance acquisitions in Russia and abroad. Capital is fleeing - investors have pulled about $190 billion out of Russia since August - and the ruble is under pressure...
Such optimism can be found elsewhere. The Kaluga region to which Lyudinovo belongs continues to draw in foreign investors, including automakers. VW has to date invested about $350 million in an assembly plant, and is producing about 320 cars per day. Peugeot is not far behind. Dietmar Korzekwa, VW's group representative for Russia, says the automaker is continuing with its current growth plans. In part, it's betting that if the Kremlin raises import taxes on autos, as it has suggested it might, it will become more advantageous to manufacture in Russia...
...some workers will change jobs voluntarily or retire. "Companies may not be making expansionary or discretionary hires," says Marc Cenedella, founder of TheLadders.com a subscription service that lists only jobs that pay $100,000 and up. "But even in a downturn, there's still 20% to 25% natural turnover per year." In the six-figure category, he estimates that will mean 3.2 million hires a year instead of 4 million in a normal market. (See pictures of the Top 10 scared traders...
...months ago, the price of a barrel of was more than $140. By the beginning of December, it was down to about $45. That's a drop of more than two-thirds. In the U.S., we consume about 15 million bbl. of crude a day. The saving of $95 per bbl. adds up to more than $500 billion a year. That's big - enough to bail out the auto industry 15 times...