Fracking through the "shale gas revolution" created an economic boost during a time the economy needed all the help it could get, according to a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Fracking boosted the economy by $48bn per year between 2007-13, according to the study's authors: Catherine Hausman and Ryan Kellogg of the University of Michigan.
The furious pace of energy exploration in North Dakota is creating a crisis for farmers whose grain shipments have been held up by a vast new movement of oil by rail, leading to millions of dollars in agricultural losses and slower production for breakfast cereal giants like General Mills.
Several spots along North America's new oil-by-rail corridors find residents and officials restless, following six fiery derailments in the past 10 months. Some want to limit or halt the traffic, fearful that existing precautions will not prevent deadly blasts, air and waterway pollution, or nuisances including nasty odors.
Despite many underlying tensions, the Middle East has maintained a positive economic outlook, according to Frost & Sullivan's "International Supply Chain Excellence Programme-Gulf Edition 2014." This is evident from the region's ability to maintain a positive growth rate when most economies globally have struggled to be above the red line.
