Americans are jumping into the housing market as interest rates on mortgages plummet, and businesses across the country are betting on more demand from consumers. The Census Bureau reported that privately owned housing starts rose 1.8% year-over-year in January to 1.099 million, with single-family housing starts accounting for two-thirds of the total.
India’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) policy, announced in April 2000, has been the single most important initiative ever taken by the Indian government to promote private investment in industrial activity.
It is not the first time that India has tried to develop its SEZs. The first wave of export zones started in 1965 and ended in 2000 with little success. The prospects are better this time. The current policy targets private investment in SEZ development and offers several lucrative incentives and features that were not available in previous initiatives.
After one of the most highly contested Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) elections to date, the incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected to the top post of the Vietnamese regime in late January. However, victory in the elections is just the first challenge in Trong’s five-year term. The next major challenge for the new leader will be managing the relationship with China.
Signs of an improving job market in the United Kingdom are growing. Incomes are up and jobless claims are down, while the unemployment rate remains at its lowest point in a decade. According to the Office for National Statistics, unemployment remained at 5.1% in December, despite expectations that unemployment would fall 10 basis points to 5%.
Ratings firms believe North Korea’s missile launch and nuclear testing will have a minor impact on South Korea’s economic output. Ratings agencies will not adjust South Korea’s credit rating in wake of the North Korean incident, believing that the economy will remain in stable condition.
However, the South Korean won is the worst performing currency in Asia so far in 2016, and investors are looking for future rate cuts from the nation’s central bank.
For months, Great Britain has been talking about withdrawing from the European Union (EU). The matter is up for full debate, and shall be put to a referendum. This has left many to ask how the British could exit (or “Brexit”) the European Union? Would it be legally possible? After all, no other nation has left the EU.
Is the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) militant group gaining a foothold in the Philippines? The declaration of the first IS wilayat (province) in Southeast Asia appeared possible after Filipino and Malaysian militants from previously separate jihadist groups pledged allegiance to IS in an online video released in January 2016. Recognition from IS would certainly increase the attractiveness of Mindanao to jihadists based in Southeast Asia. However, there is little solid evidence of a formal relationship between Mindanao and IS.
The Department of Labor has asked for $12.8 billion in discretionary funding on top of $50.7 billion in other mandatory funding to feed training jobs for workers and other programs. The Department of Labor has asked for the extra $12.8 billion to fund a variety of apprenticeship and worker-training programs, as the agency acknowledges Americans are struggling to compete in the workforce.
Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, attempts to reach a deal with the European Commission over the 2016 budget before the economy tumbles further, according to Reuters. Italy faces a barrage of economic setbacks, including a shortage of revenue and a postponement of privatization initiatives. The government expected 1.6-percent growth for 2016, but such a goal seems unattainable now.
When Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn flagged up the potential re-nationalisation of British railways, and later made similar comments about the energy industry, his ideas were dismissed as a return to the past.
However, the evidence is that the public has bought into it. YouGov polls show that a majority of British people now support the nationalisation of the railways (66%) and energy sector (68%).
