A quick preview of the key economic events for the upcoming week:
Chief of International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde has offered encouraging words for the world economy. Specifically, she sees a slow but certain stability in the global economy, and thinks that we might already be on the path to recovery.
Should we be optimistic?
Related News: IMF’s Lagarde: Global Economy May Be On Path To Recovery
Zimbabwe consumes more energy than it can produce; and in order to meet this energy shortfall, the country has been importing energy from its neighbours. But what happens when Zimbabweans can no longer pay for their energy, and how did the country get into this situation in the first place?
In the 32 years of his benighted rule, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Gabriel Mugabe has done more damage to the country than its former white-led minority government ever did.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said that the global economy is showing signs of stabilisation, but warned that there is no room for policy mistakes at this critical point in recovery.
China’s woes do not stem directly from the fact that its local governments are struggling to repay its bank loans. After all, it has been correctly argued that the Chinese government can afford to, and will most likely allow the debt to ‘roll over’ to the country’s main balance sheet. But the key problem here is two-fold: China’s debt is rising and it will eventually blow up. Secondly, China needs to identify and ensure that its long-run engine of growth works, given the weak links that exist in China’s socio-economic model.
Argentina has vowed to take legal action against any company that wishes to conduct oil exploratory activities off the disputed Falkland Islands, claimed a report by Reuters on Thursday, as tensions continue to build between the South American country and the UK over the region’s sovereignty.
The everyday inequality that most Americans face has deep pernicious effects, which go beyond the typical arguments discussed during the “1% versus 99%” debate. But while these effects are fairly unknown, they still play a role in our daily lives and can even affect policy decision-making.
CHICAGO – Why did the household savings rate in the United States plummet before the Great Recession? Two of my colleagues at the University of Chicago, Marianne Bertrand and Adair Morse, offer an intriguing answer: growing income inequality.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said that the yuan is reaching its equilibrium peak, hinting that there would not be further appreciation of the currency, much to the dismay of the United States.
Speaking at the closing of the 2012 National People’s Congress, also the Premier’s last address before he steps down, Wen suggested that the rise of the yuan has ended.
Referring to the yuan’s 30 percent real gains over the last 7 years, Wen said:
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK’s official statistics agency, have included the popular “Twilight” teenage fiction book series, along with the Apple iPad, to its baskets of goods used to calculate the rate of inflation in the country.
U.K. Chancellor George Osborne says Britain could start selling 100-year bonds as the country tries to reduce the government’s long term debt costs.
The Debt Management Office said that initial talks with investors were positive, and the perpetual ‘century’ bonds will mean that the long-term cost of servicing part of Britain’s debt would remain at the current record low interest rates for a significantly long period of time.
One year ago, Japan was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami disaster that not only destroyed homes and infrastructure, but also led a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Yet today, the country can take heart that so many of its people, children in particular, are alive because of its early-warning systems, safety drills, and a strong emphasis on disaster-risk reduction.
