In 2008, toxic subprime mortgages triggered a full-scale financial crisis in the United States and while the economy is moving towards a slow recovery, America’s housing market is still not out of the woods.
Globalisation was the buzzword for several years before the global economic crisis hit. Globalisation brought about promises of increased connectivity, growth, greater transfer of knowledge and wealth. Yet, recent economic drama shows that the process of globalisation brings about higher volatility, making the world economy a lot more vulnerable to contagion and external shocks. Have we been wrong? Will globalisation go bankrupt?
Tax collectors in Indonesia will soon be trading their office wear for military fatigues, reported the Financial Times on Thursday, after the finance ministry announced plans to send 32,000 of its tax officers for two to three weeks of physical training with the military in order to boost morale and promote professionalism.
The number of high net worth individuals, or multi-millionaires, in Asia Pacific outnumbered those in North America for the first time last year, boosted by a sharp increase in wealth in China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The World Wealth Report published yesterday by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management showed that the number of individuals in Asia-Pacific with at least $1 million in investable assets jumped 1.6 percent to 3.37 million in 2011, while the number of millionaires in North America declined by 1.1 percent to 3.35 million.
A global perfect storm is brewing. Across the world, dark, lowering financial and economic clouds are now looming over the economy, with the eurozone cloud set to be the largest to burst. Indeed, the global economy in 2013 could be a very difficult environment in which to find shelter.
NEW YORK – Dark, lowering financial and economic clouds are, it seems, rolling in from every direction: the eurozone, the United States, China, and elsewhere. Indeed, the global economy in 2013 could be a very difficult environment in which to find shelter.
The largest state-owned oil companies in India and China have renewed their pact to jointly explore for oil and natural gas worldwide, reported The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, after an initial agreement signed by both nations in 2006 had failed to bear any significant results.
Twenty years have passed since the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992; yet today, the world is still marked by a complete failure to implement any of the three great treaties signed during that historic conference. Is Rio+20 doomed to a similar outcome?
The International Monetary Fund has raised $456 billion in new firepower after major emerging economies pledged new funds to shore up the global financial system.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde revealed yesterday that 37 member states had pledged to contribute to the Fund – a commitment that ensures the IMF “has access to adequate resources to carry out its mandate in the interest of global financial stability.”
Speaking at the sidelines of the G20 summit, she said:
Two key events will hog the headlines this week: G20 leaders meet on Monday in Los Cabos for a two day summit, where the eurozone will be top on the agenda, overshadowed by mounting fears about Spain and Italy. On Wednesday, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, opens for a three-day conference.
Monday, June 18
The future of the planet is at stake in Rio. Without a real and lasting solution that recalibrates our current economic thinking at a systemic level, the scale and pace of change could soon push the planet past critical thresholds and make sustainable development everywhere an impossible dream. Yet with just days to go to the summit, many today are speculating about just how many world leaders will show up and what kind of agreements will be reached.
