Stated differently, if Simon was really betting that inflation-adjusted prices of a basket of commodity prices have a significantly negative trend over long periods of time, and Ehrlich was betting that the slope of that line was significantly positive, I think Simon wins the bet.

FORBES: But Why Did Julian Simon Win The Paul Ehrlich Bet?

"It's been a trend for us for a long time now, not getting one or two guys to stand up and score that hundred or even that 70 or 80 continuously, " Vettori said .

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Over a very long time, however, the market does follow a predictable trend.

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This trend is hindering Japan's long-time strategy of relying heavily on exports to drive growth and adding to pressure to find fresh momentum through stronger domestic demand at a time when the workforce is aging and shrinking and corporate investment remains feeble.

NPR: Japan Posts Record $17.4B Trade Deficit In Jan.

But, she said, unemployment was unlikely to fall until economic growth returned to its trend rate, and this would take a long time.

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Well, the American historical record is the worse the recession, the stronger the recovery, as the American economy snaps back to its long term, world leading, economic growth trend, which entails actually faster than normal growth for a time to catch up.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

But it may also herald the re-emergence, after a decades-long trend among Israel's neighbours to accommodate the Jewish state, of a broad rejectionist front, this time inspired by pan-Islamist feeling rather than the pan-Arab nationalism of the 1960s and 1970s.

ECONOMIST: The Arab world