On the one-year anniversary since passing the historic Marriage Equality Act, which granted same-sex couples the right to marry, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Tuesday that the new law had generated over $259 million for the city’s economy, with at least 8,200 same-sex marriage licenses issued in the first year alone.
Europe’s paymaster and the region’s largest economy, Germany, is at risk of losing its stellar AAA credit rating as Moody’s reiterates its warning that no country is safe from the crisis that has already brought Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain to its knees.
Credit ratings agency Moody’s has put Germany’s AAA rating on negative watch, a sign that eurozone’s largest economy could soon be downgraded.
SPONSORED – One of the big-four accounting giants, Ernst & Young, has reported that the global economy is likely to fall into recession by the next six months, triggered by a series of eurozone debt defaults.
According to a study conducted by Ernst & Young, globalisation may have brought about rapid expansion and increased connectivity between world markets, but it has also been the key source of vulnerability in the global financial system.
All countries cannot gain a greater share of global aggregate demand at the same time. But what may look like a zero-sum game is not: if countries increase productivity with the aim of boosting their tradable sectors’ relative productivity and growth potential, this will increase incomes and accelerate growth in global demand.
Spain’s bailout fears have peaked in the wake of Black Friday as analysts warn that current austerity measures are not enough to save the country from a death spiral. In the US, Congress is still far from any deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, while the Fed remains coy on how it plans to stimulate the world’s largest economy.
Related Infographic: The Controversy Surrounding the US Federal Reserve System
At their meeting at the end of June, European leaders acknowledged for the first time the multiple dimensions of the crisis, accepting that austerity – putting everyone’s house in order – will not suffice. What is still missing, however, is recognition of the need for greater flexibility on fiscal-consolidation efforts.
Since its creation on December 23, 1913, the U.S Federal Reserve has played a key role in shaping U.S. monetary policy, as well as developing appropriate responses in times of financial crises.
But despite its key function to prevent bank runs and public panic, the Fed has often been criticised for its attempts (or lack of) when dealing with financial crises. Additionally, the Fed is infamous for its secrecy and lack of transparency, with critics calling for The Fed to be held more accountable for its actions.
Mental illnesses will cost the Canadian economy about $20.7 billion in 2012, said a new report by the Conference Board of Canada on Thursday, with nearly 452,000 Canadians believed to be suffering from mental problems that prevent them from participating in the labour force.
In a bid to strengthen ties and mutual cooperation, China has promised $20 billion in credit for Africa over the next three years. The loan is double the amount China pledged in a three-year period in 2009, since which time China has become Africa’s largest trading partner.
Chinese president Hu Jintao had made the announcement at a summit in Beijing yesterday, where leaders from 50 African nations were in attendance.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti plans to cancel at least three public holidays from the national calendar so as to improve economic productivity, reported Sky News on Wednesday, with the nation’s public debt now spiralling up to more than $1.5 trillion.
