Word: shifting
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...more important or more cherished ways for those outside the political system to express themselves than by contributing to a political party that reflects their views. McCain-Feingold seeks to stamp that out. What would the bill do if it became law? Abolish influence peddling? Hardly. It would simply shift influence away from the inarticulate groups that today must buy media time or support political parties to participate in politics, and radically increase the influence of those already at the crossroads of information--journalists, broadcasters, media owners and incumbent politicians...
...tens of thousands of years at a stretch, and periods of warmth have pushed the tropics well into what is now the temperate zone. But given the normal year-to-year variations, the only reliable signal that such changes may be in the works is a long-term shift in worldwide temperature...
...higher than anyone expected. By 2100, says the IPCC, average temperatures will increase between 2.5[degrees]F and 10.4[degrees]F--more than 50% higher than predictions of just a half-decade ago. That may not seem like much, but consider that it took only a 9[degrees]F shift to end the last ice age. Even at the low end, the changes could be problematic enough, with storms getting more frequent and intense, droughts more pronounced, coastal areas ever more severely eroded by rising seas, rainfall scarcer on agricultural land and ecosystems thrown out of balance...
...rise is significantly larger, the result could be disastrous. With seas rising as much as 3 ft., enormous areas of densely populated land--coastal Florida, much of Louisiana, the Nile Delta, the Maldives, Bangladesh--would become uninhabitable. Entire climatic zones might shift dramatically, making central Canada look more like central Illinois, Georgia more like Guatemala. Agriculture would be thrown into turmoil. Hundreds of millions of people would have to migrate out of unlivable regions...
Still, I would argue that a little cushion is better than no cushion. And small-cap foreign stocks give you the most protection. Over the past three years, their correlation with U.S. stocks has been just .57. And remember that market relationships constantly shift. High correlations don't have to stay that way. Now that the global tech bubble has burst, different stock groups may emerge as leaders in different regions. Which makes now a fine time to buy a good foreign small-cap fund, such as T. Rowe Price International Discovery or Wanger International Small Cap. On Wall Street...