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Key Economic News To Watch This Week: August 12

This week: Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Colombia and Brazil this week on efforts to deepen relations with Latin America; Negotiators from Palestine and Israel meet in Jerusalem for another round of peace talks following earlier discussions in Washington; North Korea holds talks with South Korea to normalise relations over the Kaesong Industrial Zone.

Monday, August 12

Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Colombia and Brazil this week on efforts to deepen relations with Latin America.

EU Steps Up Battle Against Money Laundering

The global financial crisis has brought a huge windfall for organised crime networks. Banks have profited handsomely from terrorists and drug lords, channelling billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system, while the European debt crisis has cemented the grip of the mafia on underground economies in peripheral eurozone countries like Italy and Spain. European authorities are now taking action against the staggering web of corruption – but is it too late?

Can Fear Necessarily Justify The Violation Of Rights?: George Friedman

U.S. missions across the Middle East and Africa will remain closed until the end of the week for fear that terrorist cell al Qaeda will launch an attack to mark the end of Ramadan. Calling it one of the most specific and credible threats since 9/11, U.S. lawmakers say the preemptive move would not have been possible if not for electronic intercepts by the National Security Agency. Do such threats legitimise the need for NSA’s surveillance programme which has become hotly debated since the revelations made by former contractor Edward Snowden?

Fukushima Emergency Declared As Radioactive Water Seeps Into Ocean

Japan’s top nuclear body on Monday warned that highly radioactive water is seeping into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, triggering alarm bells over the plant’s precarious state and the plant operator’s ability to control the leak.

In an interview with Reuters, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority task force Shinji Kinjo said contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier and is rising toward the surface, exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge.

Sloppy Policymaking Behind Asia’s Worst Performing Currency

Despite widespread investor concern, the Indian rupee, already Asia’s most volatile and worst-performing currency, continues to be weighed down by rising pessimism in Asia’s third largest economy, which is growing at a decade-low rate of 5 percent amid worsening public finances.

As John Maynard Keynes once famously stated, ‘When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’

US Willing To Engage Iran’s New Administration

The United States said on Sunday it is prepared to work with the new government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, adding that the new administration now had a chance to allay global fears over its controversial nuclear programme.

In a statement congratulating Rouhani on his inauguration, the White House said it would be a “willing partner” if Tehran decides to engage substantively and seriously” in honouring its international obligations and works toward a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue.

Key Economic News To Watch This Week: August 5

This week: A ban on some Apple products kicks in after a US court rules that it violates rival Samsung’s patents; The trial of former Chinese Politburo official Bo Xilai on charges of corruption and abuse of power may begin as early as Wednesday as China seeks to close the door on the biggest crisis to affect the Communist Party since the killings of democracy activists in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Monday, August 5

Standard Chartered, which has shifted its focus on emerging markets, is expected to announce its second-quarter results.

Are Sino-US Ties Still The World’s Most Influential Relationship?

Once the most influential and dynamic bilateral relationship in the global economic sphere, thorny issues of unbalanced trade, cybersecurity and intellectual property rights are now testing the political wisdom and strategic judgment of the two countries’ leaders, threatening to shake the fragile and vulnerable foundation of the Sino-U.S. relationship.

ECB Keep Rates On Hold As Europe Eyes Recovery

The European Central Bank on Thursday voted to leave borrowing costs in the euro area unchanged at 0.5 percent, while ECB chief Mario Draghi suggested that interest rates could fall further from their current record lows should the economic outlook for the eurozone deteriorate.

Speaking at a press conference after the policy meeting, Draghi hinted that the ECB’s policy would not be tightened until well into next year at the earliest, unless market data improves significantly.

What The BRICS Development Bank Means For Africa

The statutes of a new development bank proposed by leaders of BRICS could be ready as soon as next year, as leaders of emerging economies plan to create a funding institution that can rival Western institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, whom they accuse of bias and reflecting the interest of rich nations.

The unexpected announcement by BRICS leaders at its Durban conference in earlier in March to establish a parallel development institution to challenge the dominance of the IMF and World Bank must have ruffled a few feathers across the Western World.