Word: skittishness
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...slightly strapped for cash. The government has been forced to borrow $7 billion to fulfill commitments to the U.S.-led alliance. Despite a wartime surge in oil production from 5.5 million to 8 million bbl. a day, Western economists estimate a budget deficit of $25 billion this year. Skittish about both the expense and foreign entanglements, Fahd has reneged on an agreement to base a Pan-Arab defense force composed primarily of Egyptian and Syrian troops on Saudi soil. The plan envisaged an exchange of Egyptian and Syrian military manpower for economic and financial...
...point. While emergency actions by industry and government may ease the crisis, California will have to adopt a better system for allocating water to attract skittish businesses and stabilize its agriculture industry. Analysts across the political spectrum prescribe a market system in which those who have water can easily sell it to those who need it more. Many agree on the root of the recent dislocations: California water is much too cheap. The federal authorities that sell it lose millions of dollars a year by charging farmers far less than it costs them to provide new supplies...
...blood. The proposals call for such workers to be tested for HIV infection and, if they prove positive, to refrain from performing invasive procedures unless they have the informed consent of the patient or are faced with an emergency. The new policy would be voluntary, but medical institutions, already skittish about potential | lawsuits, could be expected to pressure their staffs to submit to testing and dismiss those who turn up positive...
...Jersey residential builder, Calton Inc., has an antidote: through its "Peace of Mind Guarantee Program" it promises skittish home buyers that if they lose their jobs due to economic conditions within a year of closing, Calton will cover mortgage payments up to $1,500 a month for six months or until the owner returns to work. Says newlywed Wendy Goldberg, a computer instructor who will soon close on a $150,000 home: "The idea of taking all our funds and running them dry to buy a house was very scary. At least this way we'll have a place...
Stempel's biggest challenge is to shake up a bureaucracy that has stifled innovation. On that count he is amply qualified. His communication skills have been recognized ever since he was first sent on the road in 1966 to persuade skittish dealers of the merits of the front-wheel-drive Toronado. Later he helped defuse a bitter environmental fight at a major new plant site. Associates say he has a photographic memory for both faces and statistics. While Stempel was general manager of Chevrolet in the early 1980s, he gave a detailed presentation of 17 different vehicles, ranging from...