Porto to Meet Once Caldas in Toyota Cup

  
Associated Press (via Yahoo News)
Wed Nov 3, 9:09 AM ET
  
TOKYO -  Portugal's FC Porto and Colombia's Once Caldas will meet in the 25th and last edition of soccer's Toyota Cup on Dec. 12.
  
Porto, the European champion, will face the South American Libertadores Cup winners in Yokohama in the annual pairing of the top club teams from Europe and South America, organizers said Wednesday.
  
Japan has hosted the event since 1981.  In 2005 and 2006, it will hold the World Club Championship, which will feature a club from each of world soccer's six confederations.
 
Porto will be making its first appearance in 17 years in the tournament while Once Caldas will be making its debut.
  
  

    

Financial Times:  Stern School of Business Rankings

     
Earlier today the Financial Times released the results of its 2004 rankings of Executive MBA programs around the world.  According to Thomas Cooley, Dean of the Stern School of Business at New York University,

NYU Stern moved up one spot to #4, maintaining its position in the top five since this ranking?s inception.  Additionally, Stern ranked #2 in the quantity and quality of its doctoral placements, second only to Wharton, and moved up two spots to #8 in the faculty research rating.

This particular ranking assesses career progression of alumni, diversity and the international experience offered, and intellectual output based on surveys of the Class of 2001, a business school questionnaire and an independent research assessment.

The Financial Times has also published its MBA rankings for 2004 in which NYU has maintained its #8 position for the past few years.  For further details, the rankings tables can be downloaded below.
 

• 2004 MBA Rankings (pdf )
• 2004 EMBA Rankings (pdf)

  
Following is an article from CBS MarketWatch...
  

Homebuilding outlays down for first time since Feb. 2003

Economic Report
By Gregory Robb
CBS MarketWatch.com
10:17 AM
November 1, 2004
    
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - A surprising decline in homebuilding ended seven months of strong spending on U.S. construction projects.
  
Construction spending was essentially flat in September, the Commerce Department estimated Monday.
  
This is the first month that construction outlays have not increased since an outright decline in spending in January.
  
The flat reading in September was below expectations of Wall Street economists surveyed by CBS MarketWatch. Economists were expecting a gain of 0.5 percent in September.
  
August outlays were also revised slightly higher to a 0.9 percent gain from the 0.8 percent increase previously estimated.
  
Technically, construction outlays decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.013 billion in September, from $1.014 billion in August, but the percentage decline is less than one-tenth of one percent.
  
Year over year, construction spending is up 8.9 percent in September.
  
Homebuilding fell 0.2 percent to $551.6 billion annualized in September after gaining 1.8 percent in August. Private residential spending is up 13.1 percent in the past year.
  
Nonresidential private spending rose 0.2 percent to $225.8 billion annualized in September after a 0.7 percent gain in August. Nonresidential private spending is up 5.7 percent in the past year.
  
All told, private spending decreased 0.1 percent.
  
Within the private sector, spending on offices fell 2.8 percent and transportation fell 1.7 percent.
  
Public construction outlays rose 0.3 percent to $236.4 billion in September. Public spending is up 3.0 percent in the past year.
  
In the public sector, spending on educational facilities rose 2.2 percent and spending on sewage and waste treatment plants rose 2.4 percent.
  
In separate reports, the Institute for Supply Management said its September manufacturing index was weaker than forecast. U.S. Oct. ISM 56.8% vs. 58.9% expected
  
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said consumer spending rebounded in September, while income growth remained moderate.

   
  

Pope asks EU to recall Christian roots

   
Reuters article by Rachel Sanderson¹:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul, reflecting Vatican disappointment that Italy's nominee had to step down from the EU executive because of his religious beliefs, has repeated his call for Europe to remember its Christian roots.
   
The 84-year-old pontiff made the statement a day after Rocco Buttiglione, a devout Catholic and close friend of the Pope, withdrew from the incoming EU Commission after his views on homosexuality and women sparked an unprecedented crisis.
   
The Pope first dived into the debate this week saying it had to be resolved by showing respect for all points of view.
   
"To take into account the Christian roots of the European continent means to avail oneself of a spiritual patrimony that remains fundamental for future developments of the Union," the Polish pope told thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Sunday.
   
Buttiglione became the first nominee to be rejected by an EU parliamentary committee, after he called homosexuality a sin and said marriage allowed women to have children.
   
Buttiglione's torpedoing roused debate among Catholics and non-Catholics as to whether a drive for political correctness in Europe was leading to intolerance of those in the 25-nation bloc who hold conservative views.
   
It was also a latest blow for the Vatican, which failed in its attempts to have Europe's Christian roots enshrined high up in the EU constitution signed by leaders on Friday.
   
Pope John Paul's repeated calls were resisted by secular politicians but also EU leaders aware of the risk of offending Turkey, a secular state which wants to join the EU but has a largely Muslim population.
   
"I hope that in the years to come Christians will continue to bring to all circles of European institutions the gospel message that is the guarantee of peace and collaboration between all citizens in the shared pursuit of common good," the Pope, who has Parkinson's disease, said in stronger than usual voice.
   
Buttiglione, a Catholic philosopher turned politician, stepped down on Saturday calling himself "an innocent victim".
   
In an interview on Sunday, he said that being anti-Christian had become the only acceptable prejudice in Europe.
   
"I sparked a battle, that has only just started and will continue," he told Italian daily La Repubblica.
   
"Europe is scared of itself, of opening a discussion about what it really is ... Instead it swings between two states which cannot identify it: its economy and political correctness."

   

1.  Reuters:  Pope asks EU to recall Christian roots (Sun 31 October, 2004 14:37)

   
     

The New York Times ran an article today (though actually dated tomorrow), discussing a topic I have frequently addressed.  New York State and its neighbors, Connecticut and New Jersey pay far more into the US government than they get out.  The NY Times points out that this area has 10.8% of the population and 13.1% of the income, but pays 15.8% of the taxes.
 
The article suggests a few reasons for this discrepancy.  But with the election approaching, I keep thinking of two reasons this area pays such a high proportion of the US taxes.  Voters in these three states have less Electorates per capita.  And none of these three states are swing states.  Our leaders in Washington know they can count on this area to vote the way this area has always voted.  There is no incentive to reward this area.
  
How can this be changed?  Simple, amend the constitution to repeal the Electoral College.  The current makeup of the Electoral College inequitably represents voters.  Voters from less populated states have more say, as do those in states that are in play.  Voters in more populated states that have a history of supporting one of the parties matter little in national elections.  It is unfair that as New Yorkers, we're expected to financially support the country while at the same time we have less of a say in the elections than people from Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Florida, or New Mexico...all of which are swing states, receive a positive inflow of Federal Government funds, and have fewer voters per Electorate.
  
The argument has been made that this area is more well off than the rest of the country and therefore can afford to pay more.  First, anyone making that argument has clearly never been to cities like Binghamton, NY, which are slowly decaying.  Second, if that were true, we'd be paying in at a percentage equal to our income.
  

Region Gets Less Federal Money For Taxes Paid, a Study Finds

October 29, 2004
By Ronald Smothers
New York Times

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.  Oct.  28 - If the tristate region seceded and established itself as a separate country, it would replace the United States as the second-wealthiest nation in the world behind Luxembourg in terms of per capita income, according to a new study by Rutgers University.

Given their wealth and the nation's progressive tax system, taxpayers in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey pay a disproportionately high share of the nation's federal income and employment taxes, the study found.  Those states rank 49th, 40th and 50th, respectively, in the amount of federal aid they receive per tax dollar, according to the study.

With 10.8 percent of the nation's population, the tristate region had 13.1 percent of the nation's personal income in 2003, and was responsible for 15.8 percent of the income and employment taxes collected by the federal government.

In New Jersey, the gap between what was sent to Washington in tax dollars and what came back to the state in federal assistance was $26 billion, an amount greater than the state's 2003-2004 budget.  New Mexico, on the other hand, got $2.08 in aid for every dollar of federal income tax its residents paid.

James Hughes, dean of the Edward J.  Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and principal author of the study, said the figures underscore the responsibility that comes with affluence in a system of progressive taxation.

"To the degree that the money is going for valid public policy purposes, it is fine," he said.  "But if it goes for subsidies and unfair tax breaks for cowboy capitalists in other states, then it is not fair."

The study,"Tri-State Affluence: Losing by Winning," was the first, Mr. Hughes said, to view the three states as a group in analyzing the return they get for federal tax dollars.  Similar studies for New York were done in the 1970's as the city grappled with a fiscal crisis and sought a rationale for increased federal aid.

Joseph Seneca, a faculty member at the school and a co-author of the study, said the region has been the nation's richest since the 19th century, and had "reinvented itself" as manufacturing declined to become a hub for service and financial businesses, which boomed in the 1990's.

In the study, Connecticut ranked first in per capita income in 2003 at $43,173, New Jersey second at $40,427 and New York fifth at $36,574. The national average is $31,632.

In terms of median household income, New Jersey led the nation with $58,588 annually, 34 percent above the national average.  Connecticut ranked third with $56,803, while New York was 17th with $46,195.

The study found that those higher incomes were not consistently spread throughout each state, but concentrated in a "wealth belt" made up of eight counties, including Manhattan, whose greater concentration of wealthy individuals outpaced all of the other counties in the nation in per capita income at $84,591.

The higher incomes were concentrated in Fairfield County in Connecticut; Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris and Bergen Counties in New Jersey; and Manhattan and Nassau and Westchester Counties in New York.

The wealthier areas of all three states were disproportionately dependent on the high salaries of the financial sector, said Mr. Hughes, and consequently were more sensitive to the volatile boom and bust cycles in the stock market.  One consequence, he said, was that soaring tax receipts in the 1990's during the economic boom financed an expansion of government functions that became "embedded" in state spending.

With the downturn in the economy and the stock market in particular between 2000 and 2003, this level of spending became harder to sustain.

   
   

  

New York University's
9^th Annual All-University
Business Ownership,
Self-Employment &
Entrepreneurship
Conference

Save the date:  The New York University 9^th Annual All-University Business Ownership, Self-Employment & Entrepreneurship Conference will be held Saturday, April 16, 2005 at NYU's Tisch Hall, 40 West 4^th Street, New York, New York (between Mercer St. & LaGuardia Place).
   
  

Event	NYU Entrepreneurship Conference
Date	Saturday, April 16, 2005
Price	$1000 - $2000
Location	Tisch Hall 40 West 4th Street New York City (between Mercer St. & LaGuardia Place)
Website	www.nyuconference.org

  
  

Real Estate Commissions are Likely to Continue Declining

   
According to the Wall Street Journal, Real Estate Commissions will likely continue to decline in the coming years.¹  Average commissions have already dropped from 6% to 5% and will probably continue to drop.  The three primary reasons cited for the decline are increased number of agents, soaring home prices, and (to a lesser extent) increased broker efficiency.
   

Tougher competition is coming from a rapid increase in the number of agents. Membership in the National Association of Realtors topped 1 million early this year, up from about 730,000 a decade ago. "There are too many people chasing too few deals."...

...Soaring house prices put pressure on commissions because customers are noticing that agents are taking away much larger paychecks. A 6% commission (typically shared by two agents and the owners of their brokerage firms) works out to $18,000 on a $300,000 home sale and $36,000 on a $600,000 sale. Customers, who don't believe the agents are doing twice as much work as they did five years ago, are demanding lower percentages.

   

Prepare for your Real Estate License

The article also points out that agents are becoming more efficient, but this is more a result of increased competition and lower commissions than it is a reason for the lower commissions.
   
   

1.  Wall Street Journal > Real Estate Journal > Broker Chief Expects Commissions to Fall
  
  

PORTLAND (Reuters) - A briefcase containing lyrics for songs meant to be used in U2's 1981 album 'October' has been returned to the group's lead singer Bono, 23 years after it was stolen at a Portland concert.  Cindy Harris of Washington state found the briefcase in the attic of a rental home in Tacoma, Washington, in 1981, but said she did not learn that it had been stolen until years later.  She contacted the band recently.

Hopefully, these returned lyrics will remind them of the songs they used to put out and save us all from the disasters they have been passing off as music since their 1991 Achtung Baby.  I hope Cindy Harris' return of their lost lyrics will help them Dismantle their recent Bombs, like their new Vertigo song that I had the displeasure of hearing last month.
 
 

Portugal Seeks Foreign Markets for its 'Green Wine'

Sun Oct 17, 6:37 PM ET
AFP - Worldwide News Agency

PONTE DE LIMA, Portugal (AFP) - Most people outside of Portugal have never heard of "Vinho Verde", or "Green Wine", a light sparkling wine with a slightly biting quality which is only produced in the country, but makers of the beverage hope to soon change that.

Each year the Minho province, a region of rich soil and plentiful rain in the northwest corner of Portugal, produces some 70 million litres (quarts) of the wine, which gets its slightly bubbly quality -- and its name -- because it is generally bottled right after fermentation.

But only eight million litres of "green wine", which come in red or white varieties, are exported each year, with Portuguese immigrant communities around the world accounting for roughly half of these sales.

To change this situation Portugal's association of green wine growers CVRVV plans to spend some 1.8 million euros (2.2 million dollars) between 2004 and 2006 to promote the wine abroad and help Portugal compete on the European market and earn a bigger share of global wine sales.

"Our 'green wine' is perfectly adaptable to 21st century lifestyles," the president of CVRVV, Manuel Pinheiro, told reporters during a tour of this wine-growing town some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Lisbon.

The advertising campaign, partly financed with European Union funds, will focus on the British, French, German and Spanish markets within the EU, as well on Brazil, Canada, the United States and Switzerland.

It will involve, in part, the promotion of the drink at international fairs and high-profile wine tasting events, such as one held recently at veteran Hollywood actor Robert De Niro's restaurant in New York.

The producers however face stiff competition in those markets from larger wineries from other European nations as well as from Argentina, Chile and Australia and the US.

"It is very difficult to enter a new market. It will take a while," Paulo Amorim, the owner of Quinta d'Avaleda, one of Portugal's biggest "green-wine" producing wineries, told AFP.


To boost the marketability of the beverage both at home and abroad, producers of "green wine" are changing age-old production techniques in order to reduce the acidity of the drink and improve its overall quality.

Traditionally the vines which grow grapes for "green wine" are found in the river valley of the northern Douro river where they are draped on trees or specially constructed trellises.

Wine for Dummies

But growers are increasingly planting the vines on plots of land on hills higher up from the river, where they get more sun and less water, reducing their acidity.

"The quantity of wine produced is less but it is of greater maturity," said Pinheiro.

Of the roughly 35,000 hectares of land which dedicated to growing grapes in Minho to make "green wine", some 10,000 hectares now meet these conditions.

"People continue to drink mostly red wine. It is a fashion but I am convinced that this will change," said Amorim.