Free Republic

The California Milk Advisory Board may have shot itself in the hoof. The board, which promotes the state's dairy farmers and is overseen by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is again preparing to film commercials touting California milk from California cows -- in New Zealand. In January, it plans to shoot part of its new series of 10 California "Happy Cows" TV commercials in Auckland, taking advantage of that country's low production costs. It comes just after California began offering film tax incentives this summer to reverse so-called runaway production that has caused the loss of thousands of...

Can money buy happiness? Since the invention of money, or nearly enough, people have been telling one another that it can’t. Philosophers and gurus, holy books and self-help manuals have all warned of the futility of equating material gain with true well-being.Modern research generally backs them up. Psychologists and economists have found that while money does matter to your sense of happiness, it doesn’t matter that much. Beyond the point at which people have enough to comfortably feed, clothe, and house themselves, having more money - even a lot more money - makes them only a little bit happier. So...

It is true that the riots in France were not the only reason behind the decline of the euro It is quite natural that 13 days of nighttime unrest on the streets of Parisian suburbs had an overall negative impact on the economic situation in France. The riots impacted the EU financial system since the France is one of the "driving belts" of the EU. The events triggered the so called negative investment and virtually toppled the exchange rate of the single European currency. Yesterday the euro fell to all-time low at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange: European currencyit became...

Argentina Defaults on $3 Billion IMF Debt September 09, 2003 10:28:00 PM ET By Simon Gardner BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Argentina defaulted on a $3 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, the biggest single missed payment in the IMF's history and likely to further isolate the precarious economy. The default, which comes nearly two years after Argentina racked up the biggest sovereign debt default ever in the throes of economic collapse, means Latin America's No.3 economy joins the ignominious ranks of IMF defaulters like Liberia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. ``To avoid compromising 25 percent of (Central...

BERN, Switzerland - Switzerland said Wednesday it would freeze all Iraqi government and corporate assets in Swiss banks until the U.N. Security Council determines the rightful owners. The decision was the government's "answer" to last month's U.S. demand that other countries confiscate frozen Iraqi assets so the money could be used by a postwar Iraqi government, a Foreign Ministry statement said. "The measures taken by Switzerland fulfill completely the request that all assets of the Iraqi state should be preserved for the people of Iraq," the statement said. The move tightens restrictions in compliance with U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's...

Dutch give nod to 'guru currency' More than 100 Dutch shops accept 'raams' By Danielle Rossingh BBC News Online business reporter A new "currency" issued by a group founded by Beatles guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi may be used and has not violated Dutch law, the Dutch central bank has said. The Global Country of World Peace, set up by the Indian mystic, issued the brightly coloured notes of one, five and 10 "raam" last October. Since then, more than 100 Dutch shops, some of them part of big department store chains, in 30 villages and cities have accepted the notes....