The U.S. is still the most productive

The New York Times reports that, according to the International Labor Organization, “American workers are the world’s most productive, followed by the Irish, though productivity is rising fastest in China and much of the rest of Asia.  When productivity was measured by the hour rather than by the total number of hours worked, however, Norway, an oil nation, was the most productive, followed by the United States and France, the organization said in a report released over the weekend and published every two years. It mostly used 2006 data.”

According to the Associated Press, “[t]he iPhone can be bought in China, even though Apple Inc. isn’t selling it there and the gadget doesn’t function properly despite costing twice as much as in the United States.  Enthusiasts willing to pay 8,800 yuan ($1,170) can buy the iPhone at electronics markets in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the computer and electronics newspaper Dian Nao Bao reported in its Monday editions.”

InfoWorld reports that “[t]he web site of Bank of India, one of India’s leading banks, was restored early Tuesday. The bank had closed the site on Friday after it found that the site had been hacked, and was dispensing malicious code.”

USA Today.com writes that “[b]ots, the millions of compromised computers remotely controlled by crooks, are doing more than spreading spam and phishing.  Increasingly, they’re agents for various forms of fraud, such as money laundering.  Over the past five months, RSA senior researcher Uriel Maimon has witnessed a spike in the use of bots on gaming sites to move money overseas. An estimated $200,000 to $300,000 has been moved monthly – a reflection of a crackdown on online gambling in the U.S. after the passage of a federal law in October.”

The Seattle Times warns that, according to the European Union’s trade chief Peter Mandelson, world trade talks could go ‘into the freezer’ and not come back out for at least two years.  “Monday’s resumption of World Trade Organization talks in Geneva ‘will determine whether we could achieve a breakthrough this autumn or see the whole round put on ice indefinitely,’ EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told a news conference in The Hague.  […]  Political changes such as the U.S. presidential election next year mean ‘it will be very difficult to take the round out of deep freeze if that’s where it’s heading to a breakdown rather than a breakthrough in talks this autumn,’ Mandelson said.”