Markets Archives - Page 661 of 782

China Boosts Military Spending By 11.2 Percent

China announced this week that its military budget would rise 11.2 percent this year, on top of the 12.7 increase from the previous year. With the new budget, China’s military spending will cross the $100 billion mark for the first time, renewing existing concerns over China’s military agenda.

In recent years, the People’s Liberation Army has had double-digit budget increases, spending that has helped established China’s position as a growing international and regional power.

2011 Disasters Cost At Least $380B, The Costliest By Far: UN

The 2011 natural disasters, such as the twin earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, was by far the costliest, with the United Nations disaster risk reduction agency UNISDR estimating the economic cost to be at least $380 billion.

The Asian Argument For Austerity: Stephen Roach

With Europe on the brink of recession and recovery in the US finally getting some traction, the case for fiscal consolidation appears increasingly weak. But the case becomes stronger when one considers Asian countries’ path from crisis in the late 1990’s to astounding growth and prosperity today.

TEPCO Shareholders Demand $67 Billion From Company Executives To Compensate Fukushima Victims

Shareholders at Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO) want executives at the utility company to pay out over 5.5 trillion ($67.4 bilion) back to the company, said a report by Reuters, on Monday, in order to use the money to compensate those affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year.

Cotton Prices Soar After World’s Second-Largest Producer Ban Exports

The Indian government, the world’s second largest producer of cotton behind China, has unexpectedly announced an immediate ban on all of its nation’s cotton exports – a move that has stunned the global markets and enraged shippers, sellers and growers in the country.

EU Wants Minimum Quota For Women In Corporate Boardrooms

Too few women presently sit on the boards of public companies in the European Union, said a senior EU justice official on Sunday, as the European Commission intends to press ahead with new quotas and timetables for its member states on gender equality in the corporate boardroom.

“I think we’re slowly running out of patience everywhere in Europe,” said the EU’s justice commissioner Viviane Reding in an interview with the Guardian.

US & Israel At Odds Over Iranian Action

US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayanhu fundamentally disagreement over possible military action against Iran’s nuclear program, claimed a report by Reuters on Sunday, with the two leaders set to meet in the White House on Monday to discuss their mutual ties.

China’s CIC Receives $30 Billion Boost To Buy European Assets

The Chinese government injected close to $30 billion of new capital into the nation’s second largest sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), at the end of last year, said a senior CIC executive on Sunday, with a part of the money expected to fund new asset purchases in debt-stricken Europe.

Whistleblowing Could Reap You A Reward, Provided You Don’t Go To The FBI

As the fight against Wall Street fraud heats up, the FBI recently recruited Michael Douglas to star in its public service announcement, urging the public to report insider trading leaks to the authorities. However, this could mean that whistleblowers miss out on a potential reward simply by going to the FBI.

Michael Douglas who played the white-collar villain in Wall Street, famously said in the character of Gordon Gekko that “greed, for lack of a better word, is good”.

The Price of India’s Nuclear Ambitions: People’s Lives?

After being in denial for years, India’s Department of Atomic Energy finally admitted last month that the deaths of some employees and their dependents at the Kalpakkam nuclear site were caused by multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer linked to nuclear radiation. Will this news put a damper on India’s plans to broaden their nuclear power capabilities?