http://www.globalstrategywatch.com Markets and globalization and such. daily 1 2008-07-17T01:44:28Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/economist/news_analysis/~3/uo_kCDS21c4/displaystory.cfm Chile’s outlook has darkened as commodity prices drop In the light of the international economic turbulence since September—which has brought sharp drops in commodity prices, the value of the peso and in investment expectations—the outlook for Chile’s economy has deteriorated notably. A significant slowdown in growth is expected next year, and while the financial sector is strong enough to withstand fallout from the global crisis, the country’s corporate sector may be more exposed. At its monetary policy meeting of November 13th the board of the Central Bank kept its monetary policy rate unchanged at 8.25%, a decision that it said was consistent with the sharp downward revision of its macroeconomic projections for the next two years, which it published a day later. The Bank now expects GDP growth to be 2-3% in 2009, but this is still well above the 1% growth forecast by the Economist Intelligence Unit. (Growth in 2008 is estimated at 3.9%.) ... No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:36:00Z Feed Item http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/slate/~3/nlNFdPflI9A/ It was no surprise that the cab driver tried to rip us off. We're in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after all, and we'd made the rookie error of requesting a vague destination instead of giving a precise address—naturally he interpreted this as a license to take us from La Boca to the Plaza de Mayo by way of southern Nicaragua. What we hadn't expected was the predicament the driver found himself in when it came time to pay. The fare had come to 14 pesos and 6 centavos. I proffered a 20-peso note (worth about $6.70), and he handed back 50 centavos, suggesting that I was going to be shorted 44 centavos. Then he realized that continuing on this course would require him to give me two 2-peso notes and a 1-peso coin. He sighed dramatically and gave me three 2-peso notes instead. Factoring in the 50 centavos he had already handed over, this effectively reduced the fare to 13.50 pesos, which, for reasons I'll get to in a moment, is actually more than 14.50 pesos. [ more ... ] No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:56Z Feed Item http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/03/credit-crunch-china-investment-corporation China Investment Corporation is to put the brakes on making investments in western banks until governments come up with coherent policies to cope with the global economic downturn. Lou Jiwei, the chairman of the sovereign wealth fund, said today: "Right now, we do not have the courage to invest in financial institutions. We have to wait for the time when there won't be massive collapses of financial institutions." China had lost confidence in many financial institutions, Lou said, because foreign governments seemed to be changing their policies "every week". The announcement by CIC, which has a 9.9% stake in US investment bank Morgan Stanley and a $3bn stake in US private equity firm Blackstone Group, will come as a big blow to many American banks that had hoped CIC would help bail them out. Mark Williams, an economist at consultants Capital Economics, said: "I think it would be unlikely that they would rule out any investment in western institutions whatsoever, but such investments would have to be structured so there's next to no chance of them losing any money." He said it was unlikely that CIC would pull out of institutions such as Morgan Stanley and Blackstone because it would lose too much money. CIC was given $200bn to invest by the Chinese government last year. Its biggest investment to date is $5bn in Morgan Stanley, staked in December 2007. Since then, it has been relatively cautious as the credit crunch has worsened. Credit crunch UK banking sector European banks US housing and sub-prime crisis US economy China guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:57Z Feed Item http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7762294.stm Thailand's central bank cuts interest rates by the biggest amount in eight years, as it aims to lift an economy hit by unrest. No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:59Z Feed Item http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,594237,00.html Germany's ruling coalition is debating additional ways to stimulate the flagging economy. One of the ideas discussed is to give every adult a €500 voucher to spend on consumer goods -- a scheme that would cost up to €40 billion. No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:54Z Feed Item http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/business/economy/04economy.html?partner=rss&emc=rss In another report, worker productivity slowed in the summer while wage pressures increased. No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:54Z Feed Item http://blog.atimes.net/?p=230 The main thrust of international debate on the economic crisis has been on how to salvage the US financial system, yet numerous proposed measures fail to address a crucial issue - wherewith is future growth coming? - Francesco Sisci No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:58Z Feed Item http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JL04Dj02.html The declaration released after the recent Group of Twenty economic summit in Washington, DC, is a significant - and contradictory - document, riddled with meaningless and empty hortatory language. As leading economies still lurch from one massive bailout maneuver to the next, it offers little hope for the future. - Robert Weissman No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:59Z Feed Item http://feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublica/main/~3/473668417/ by Paul Kiel , ProPublica - The first big report from the Government Accountability Office on the $700 billion bailout is a pretty mild affair. Given that TARP is just 60 days old, the watchdog office says it’s too soon to assess the impact of having pumped billions into the country’s banks. And since the Treasury Department is still working at getting its special bailout section, the Office of Financial Stability, off the ground (it had about 48 full-time employees as of late last month and Treasury hopes to have as many as 200), the GAO report is mostly full of recommendations on how Treasury can streamline and improve the entire process. The Treasury Department accepted eight of the GAO’s nine recommendations for how to improve its bailing. But the one it rejected is a biggie: the GAO observes that Treasury has no way to assess how each financial institution is spending the government’s investment. It should, says the GAO. But Treasury disagrees.  The question of whether the banks would hoard the invested capital or use it to buy weaker banks instead of lending it out has been a concern since Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson first announced the program. Read more... No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:57Z Feed Item http://feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublica/main/~3/473746016/ by Paul Kiel , ProPublica - Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is "debating" returning to Congress to ask for a second helping of bailout money, reports the Wall Street Journal. If he were to take the plunge, he’d have to submit a report detailing how the second $350 billion installment of the $700 billion bailout would be spent. Congress could then vote to approve or deny the additional funds. The big ask would come next week, if Paulson decided to ask at all, the Journal reports. (It's not clear from the piece what the Journal's source is for Paulson's thoughts. No Treasury official is cited either on the record or on background.) If indeed Paulson does go again to Congress with hat in hand, the trip likely wouldn’t be a pleasant one. Read more... No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:55Z Feed Item http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/JL04Ag01.html Russia's foreign currency reserves are being fast eroded as the government tries in vain to brake the declining value of the rouble, weakened by tumbling commodity prices. Under conditions of increasing economic hardship all around, Russia looks to be on the road to a still more authoritarian state. - Robert M Cutler No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:59Z Feed Item http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2081123.ece/Second_round_of_capital_injections_expected Governments will soon have to give widespread support to banks and insurance companies which have been hit by the credit crisis for the second time. No publisher bcarliner economics 2008-12-03T19:35:55Z Feed Item http://traxfer.ft.com/cms/s/0/47e2ffa6-c094-11dd-9559-000077b07658.html?o=%2Frss%2Fworld%2Feconomy Several emerging Asian economies have followed Indonesia's example in approaching international donors to plug holes that might appear in their budgets next year No publisher admin economics 2008-12-03T17:58:01Z Feed Item http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/business/economy/03fed.html?partner=rss&emc=rss An emergency lending facility and one that makes loans to money market mutual funds are covered by the decision. No publisher admin economics 2008-12-03T17:58:38Z Feed Item http://feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublica/main/~3/473015136/ by Paul Kiel , ProPublica - The first big report from the Government Accountability Office on the $700 billion bailout is a pretty mild affair. Given that TARP is just 60 days old, the watchdog office says it’s too soon to assess the impact of having pumped billions into the country’s banks. And since the Treasury Department is still working at getting its special bailout section, the Office of Financial Stability, off the ground (it had about 48 full-time employees as of late last month and Treasury hopes to have as many as 200), the GAO report is mostly full of recommendations on how Treasury can streamline and improve the entire process. The Treasury Department accepted eight of the GAO’s nine recommendations for how to improve its bailing. But the one it rejected is a biggie: the GAO observes that Treasury has no way to assess how each financial institution is spending the government’s investment. It should, says the GAO. But Treasury disagrees. JUMP The question of whether the banks would hoard the invested capital or use it to buy weaker banks instead of lending it out has been a concern since Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson first announced the program. Read more... No publisher admin economics 2008-12-03T17:58:41Z Feed Item