Markets Archives - Page 658 of 708

Big Banks’ HUGE Bonuses Draw Federal Ire – But No Action

As long-term unemployment in US hits record levels,

top execs in the American financial sector were being rewarded at a pace even the Federal government –

which has otherwise given the big banks just about everything they want – finds unacceptable.

Of course, it’s not going to actually DO anything, but, hey, it’s still Cheney / Bush America, whoever may sit in the White House.

With the financial system on the verge of collapse in Black September 2008,

Long-Term Unemployment in US At Record Levels

In the US, unemployment has typically been a relatively brief affair.

The vast majority of people who lost jobs soon found new work.

That is not the way it has been in many other developed countries.

In Europe and Japan, long-term unemployment is far more common.

At any given time, most of the unemployed people in many European countries have been out of work for more than six months.

Now the United States appears to be becoming similar to Europe.

New Global Middle Class Consumers: Strategies for “Early Capture”

18 August 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com

At this particular time, one of the fabulous things for a Westerner living in Asia, or, indeed, anywhere outside the “developed” world,

is the opportunity to see concretely the rise of what is often called “the new global middle class.”

To a very real extent, this is an entirely new phenomenon in the history of the modern world,

China Combining Environmental Concern and Economic Growth

17 August 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com

Many lifetimes ago, I had the pleasure of advising the Master’s Thesis of a brilliant young man named Andres Edwards,

IRS Claims “Big Business / Global Tax Evaders” New Focus – We’ll See

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it would overhaul a unit devoted to scrutinizing large corporations and wealthy individuals,

a shift that would bolster the agency’s growing focus on international tax evasion.

The I.R.S. said that it would centralize operations at the core unit, which will now be known as the large business and international division,

Turkey Israel Economic Relations Continue Despite Tensions

16 August 2010.

Israeli business executives here in Istanbul like to point out that

most of the angry Turks who protested Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish-led flotilla to Gaza this past spring

do not know that their cellphones, personal computers and plasma televisions were made using parts and technology from Tel Aviv.

For Menashe Carmon, chairman of the Israel Turkey Business Council, such ignorance is a blessing for Israelis and Turks.

Austerity Programs Cripple Euro Infrastructure Projects

The battle to curb public deficits has forced EU member states to cut back on investments, and in particular on infrastructure projects.

The Spanish government has announced it would reduce the rate it pays for photovoltaic electricity by 45%,

a decision that will pose serious difficulties for the 600 solar operators in the country.

Eurostat Review Confirms / Upsets Conventional Views re Eurozone Economies

With the recent announcement of a post-unification “record” for German economic growth this past quarter – on which we will have more next week – and the equally bad news from Spain and Greece –

we thought it appropriate to consider some of the revelations contained in the 2009 regional yearbook of Eurostat, the EU’s official statistical agency.

Overall, the yearbook indicates the danger of a two-speed recovery across the 16-member euro zone

Kashmir “Intifada”: India’s “Other” Front

13 August 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com

We wrote yesterday about how India has been engaging in an “infrastructure confrontation” with China in the Himalayan region near Rohtang Pass.

Today, we see how India’s “other” – much more long-lasting and, in the more recent past, sporadically explosive – major “front” –

New India / China “Confrontation” in Himalayas Not Good Sign

12 August 2010. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com

We have often said one of the most important conditions for a positive future in both Asia and the world in general

is a good relationship between India and China.

Unfortunately, we’ve already documented the competition between the two countries that has been going on