2
 FEAR OF AN UNEQUAL PLANET Income inequality has come home to roost. 85 people at the top of the world’s ‘pyramid’ have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion people at the  bot tom . The Briti sh non -pr ofi t gr ou p O xfa m i ssu ed a r epo rt ci tin g th at fact just before the World Economic Forum kicked off Monday in Da- vos, Switzerland. Inequality of this volume is not just a moral problem, officials at Oxfam and the U.N. argue, it has the potential to exacer-  bat e e xis tin g e con omi c a nd soc ial iss ues. W orse sti ll, the gap bet ween the worlds’ rich and poor is widening, fast. Ma ny argue that the r ich wield economic and political influence to this end. Though malicious intent is far from proven in a court of law, world leaders should act to reduce the degree of income inequality at home and abroad.   WD T HE  P ENNSYLVANIA S TATE UNIVERSITY E CONOMICS  A SSOCIATION  P RESENTS : EDITOR: COLE  LENNON PRINT  EDUCATION  COORDINATOR  CONTRIBUTORS : WILL  D AWSON, LEAH  G ALAMBA, COLE LENNON S PRING 2014: WEEK OF  J ANUARY  23 RD  T HE  O PTIMAL  B UNDLE  Check out the articles: bit.ly/1jgYOUc ; slate.me/1fX96s0  JIM BEAM AND HIS NEW HOLDING COMPANY Upcoming Events: Psuea.org   EA Homepage Psuea.org/blog   Education Blog General Body Meeting: 1/23 The Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky represents the firm's American-m ade image, but a recent story ruins t hat feel- ing for Beam's customers. Beam's parent company was sold to Suntory, a Japanese distiller, setting off concerns about the validi- ty of the company’s American-based branding. Before this deal, two other Beam ventures were not American either. Canadian liqueur brand After Shock and Scotland’s Laphroaig Scotc h were  bot h o wne d b y B eam bef ore Sun tor y’ s p urch ase of Jim Bea m f or $16 billion. Foreign buyouts of American alcohol manufacturers are also becoming increasingly popular , as other American  br ands l ik e Narragansett are no w h ead qu artered in other cou n- tries.   CL Check out the Article: nyr.kr/1aqu5Pe Money Supply Report: 1/23 Evidence suggests that fear is justified. The deal is part of another American business tradition: consolidation.

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ON TARGET : HACKING AND CREDIT CARDS 

Roughly 110 million Target customers had payment information hacked

over the holidays, and a reason why concerns the magnetic stripes on

credit cards. Financial information is hacked easily with just magnetic

stripes that track customers’ purchases, but the United States hasn't

quickly followed other countries in creating more secure payment sys-tems. A new "chip-and-PIN" credit card system likely improves finan-

cial security, as it requires both a PIN number and a microchip embed-

ded on the card to be used. Banks might begin implementing it more

widely, but Target’s recent incident should increase their urgency in do-

ing so. — CL

THE ECONOMY , DOWN UNDER A recent JPMorgan report suggests that Australia’s economy will growmore slowly than usual. Australia's resource-heavy economy will likelysuffer as the country’s mining investment boom subsides, despite recordlow interest rates and 23 years of sustained economic growth. Iron oreand coal are Australia’s main exports, and trade based on these two ex-ports is declining. Home construction and other exports will help buoyAustralia's numbers for the time being, but not enough to subdue the ef-fects of an export slowdown. Australia’s GDP growth this year is fore-casted to be 2.75%, a slight disappointment from the hoped-for 3.25%

for the year. — CL

OPENING THE GATES OF DEVELOPMENT 

CHECK OUT THE ARTICLE: ON.WSJ.COM/19YQJON

Check out the Article: n.pr/1mtAtYk

Check out the article: bit.ly/1dByMqV

This person might be part of an

unfortunate 110 million.

Some countries would love to

have 2.75% growth, however.

In 21 years, no nation is expected

to be a poor one.

In a recently published letter, Microsoft founder and philanthropistBill Gates attempted to debunk the common myths surrounding de-veloping countries. Those myths include: poor countries are doomedto stay poor, foreign aid is a waste, and saving lives leads to over-population. His letter focused strongly on the fact that countries thatwere previously in a state of national poverty, such as Turkey andChile, now have per-person incomes equal to that of the UnitedStates in the 1960s. Gates was adamant in his belief that conditionswill continue to improve and even stated that by the year 2035, poornations will no longer exist. — LG