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The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 44

Location:
Burlington, Vermont
Issue Date:
Page:
44
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Page 12Business Monday, July 10, 1989 Vermont economy Today's news Where it grows Japanese businessman tops Forbes billionaires list again Although there are far fewer farms the United Slates now than there were in the first half of the century, the average farm size has grown considerably, keeping the amount of acreage in crops fairly constant. The dough boys 7. Kitaro Watanabe, Japan, real estate, hotels, $7 billion plus. 8. Haruhiko Yoshimoto and family, Japan, real estate, $7 billion.

Hans and Gad Rausing, Sweden, liquids packaging, $7 billion. 10. Eitaro Itoyama, Japan, land, $6.6 billion. 11. Kenneth Roy Thomson, Canada, publishing, retailing, $6 billion.

12. Kenkichi Nakajima, Japan, pachinko, $5.8 billion. 13. Brenninkmeyer family, Holland, retailing, $5 billion. 14.

Kenneth Colin Irving, Canada, oil distribution, paper, land, $4.5 billion. 15. Takenaka family, Japan, construction, $4 billion. 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 i 1935 1945 1955 Soum: Tti. Kiplngw Agitation Latter Vermont Farm II? Ill 14 3 The Associated Press NEW YORK Six of the 10 richest people in the world are Japanese but the United States still leads the world in the total number of billionaires, according to estimates compiled by Forbes magazine.

For the third straight year, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi led Forbes' list of private billionaires even though his wealth wasn't quite as much as it had been 12 months earlier. Tsutsumi, head of Japan's Sei-bu Railway Group, has a personal net worth of at least $15 billion nearly $4 billion less than estimated last summer due mainly to a rise in the value of the dollar against other major currencies, Forbes said Sunday. The estimate was far greater than the $2.8 billion that Fortune magazine placed as Tsutsumi 's worth in its September 1988 ranking of those it considered the world's richest people. In last year's list, Forbes estimated Tsutsumi's net worth as $18.9 billion. The magazine reports in its July 24 issue that Tsutsumi edged out second-ranked Taikichiro Mori by less than $1 billion.

Mori, a former economics professor who owns 72 office buildings in Tokyo, has an estimated net worth of $14.2 billion. In last year's survey, Forbes placed Mori's worth at about $18 billion. The third-richest on the list was American Sam Moore Walton, founder of the third-largest retailer in the United States, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Walton and his April April Percent 1989 1988 Change Milk blend price paid to farmers per 100weight) $12.01 $11.36 6 Cost of a milk cow $900 $880 9 Hay, baled, per ton $97 $81 20 Dairy farm costs index (1977-100) 160 144 11 Price of milk index (1977-100) 127 120 6 NEW YORK Here Is a list of the top 15 billionaires, as estimated in the July 24 issue of Forbes magazine: Listed are the billionaires, their home nation, business and estimated personal net worth. 1.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, Japan, land, railroads, resorts, $15 billion. 2. Taikichiro Mori, Japan, property development, $14.2 billion. 3. Sam Walton and family, United States, retailing, $8.7 billion.

4. Reichman brothers (Paul, Albert, Ralph), Canada, real estate, $8 billion. Shin Kyuk-ho, Korea, candy, real estate, $8 billion. 6. Hirotomo Takei and family, Japan, publishing, real estate, $7.8 billion.

family are worth an estimated $8.7 billion, up from Forbes' 1988 estimate of $6.5 billion. Forbes said it identified 226 individuals or families around the world with personal assets worth more than $1 billion. The United States was the country with the most billionaires, with 55 individuals qualifying for that title. Japan ranked second, with 41, and West Germany was third with 20. American also accounted for the most billionaires in the 1988 survey, 47, followed by Japan's 32 and West Germany's 16.

Among the richest of the world's rich are people who didn't necessarily come by their money in an honest way. Colombia's cocaine barons, for instance, are still putting away piles of money from selling the illegal drug even though profit What's driving rates down now, analysts say, is that the Federal Reserve Board is letting them fall now that there are clear signs the economy is slowing. The board had pushed short-term rates up to curb inflation. Banks use the prime rate to set many business and consumer loans. If it drops, so would rates on variable-rate credit cards such as American Express' Optima and many Visa and MasterCard accounts.

Home equity loans tied to the prime including about 75 percent of home equity lines of credit also would fall. A half-percentage point drop on a $15,000, 10-year loan would save you about $500 over the life of the loan. Mortgage rates aren't directly tied to the prime, but they should keep falling, too. going to see below 9- Number of farms Acreage In farms (millions) Acreage In crops (millions) "I 1965 1975 1985 19SS Prices tions to determine which models would be subject to the gas-guzzler tax, a special levy placed on models that fail to meet fuel-efficiency standards. The EPA said Ford did nothing illegal but appeared to have violated the spirit of the complex gas-guzzler tax law.

Robert Maxwell, director of the EPA's Certification Division, said he could not confirm the $200 million figure. ni n' IS Si i New England Milk Production margins in the cocaine trade have been shrinking during recent years. Three of them made Forbes "World Billionaires" list, including Pablo Escobar Gaviria, leader of the notorious Medellin cocaine cartel, with an estimated personal net worth of $3 billion. The other cocaine kingpins on the list were the Ochoa family, worth more than $2 billion, and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, with more than $1 billion. In compiling its list, Forbes does not consider royal families and heads of state "because their wealth derives more from political heritage than from economic effort theirs are feudal fortunes, not capitalistic ones." The magazine also excludes dictators, such as Cuba's Fidel Castro or North Korea's Kim II Sung.

percent rates any day now" on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, says Bob Heady, publisher of Bank Rate Monitor in North Palm Beach, Fla. The average last week: 10.03 percent, down from 10.07 percent the week before. If you're willing to shell out more in closing costs, you can get a 9 percent fixed rate now. First Gibralter in Houston has a 9 percent fixed rate with 3Vi points, down from 4 points last week. A point is 1 percent of the mortgage amount, paid upfront.

At Columbia First Federal in Washington, D.C., a 9 percent loan has 4'i points, down from 6 points a week ago. The wait for 9 percent prime may not last another week March March Percent 1989 1988 Change Milk produced (millions of pounds) 447.1 455.1 -2 Fluid milk consumed (millions of pounds) 252.9 252.1 0 Value of milk (millions of dollars) $59.0 $56.3 5 Number of producers 4,955 5,331 -7 Daily average output pounds per farm 2,910 2,754 6 Vermont milk production as of N.E. total 43.2 42.7 1 Number of Vt. producers 2,735 2,582 6 Source: Compiled by University of Vermont Extension Service Ford accused of using gas-guzzler loopholes Gannett News Service Watch for banks nationwide to chop the 11 percent prime rate to 10.5 percent soon perhaps today. That would automatically make some credit cards and most home equity loans cheaper and could be followed by a rash of fixed-rate mortgages under 9 percent Wall Street expects major banks to follow Southwest Bank of St.

Louis, which cut its prime to 10.5 percent Friday. In early June, Southwest cut its rate from 11.5 percent to 11 percent on a Friday, and most banks followed on Monday. "It's a question of when, not a question of if," says chief economist David Blitzer of Standard Poors Corp. The Associated Press DETROIT Ford Motor Co. exploited loopholes to avoid paying $200 million in "gas guzzler" taxes during the 1986 model year, a consumer advocacy group claims.

Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety said that Ford substituted its 1986 Thunderbird for several larger, less fuel-efficient cars in compiling projec.

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