If Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s had a decent public relations consultant he/she would advise a calm period of low profile, or, in other words, the exact opposite strategy to the headline-chasing frenzy that appears to have gripped all three agencies. It is as if they are desperate to get the message across that hey, they’re not afraid of downgrading anything any more.
Any economic model that doesn’t properly address inequality will eventually face a crisis of legitimacy, as today’s global protests are now demonstrating. Unless the relative economic roles of the market and the state are rebalanced, the protests of 2011 will become more severe, eventually harming long-term economic growth and welfare.
China, the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries, cut their holdings by US$36.5 billion in August – The same month that saw Standard & Poor downgrade America’s credit rating score.
In a report by Chinese state-controlled news agency China Daily, China’s 3.1 percent cut is also the first decrease in its holdings since a 0.8 percent decline in February. It was the biggest dollar sell-off by China this year, following net buying of more than $8 billion in July.
There are two sides to the current world food crisis. On the one hand, the world is facing a global food shortage, where hundreds of millions of people are malnourished with little to no access to food. Furthermore with global population growing exponentially every day, the problem will be exercerbated even further in the future.
The Libyan Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund in which Muammar el-Qaddafi’s regime allegedly stashed and misused Libya’s oil wealth, has cast a dark shadow on SWFs all across the world. While no one should infer from the Libyan case that other SWFs are riddled with corruption and conflicts of interest, there are critical issues that are applicable to global corporations and funds.
Obese American workers have cost companies more than US$113 billion in productivity losses each year from absenteeism, according to a Gallup poll released on Monday.
A recent study by Gallup has found that overweight or obese full-time workers with chronic health conditions miss 450 million more days of work each year than would healthy workers, costing businesses US$153 billion annually lost in productivity. In the same study, it was revealed that 86 percent of workers are obese, or have other chronic health issues.
The United Nations is predicting that the milestone seven billion population mark will be achieved on October 31st. But the UN Population Council vice-president has also warned that the population surge will have a devastating impact on the environment.
According to demographers, the world’s population didn’t reach 1 billion until 1804, and it took 123 years to hit the 2 billion mark in 1927. Then the pace accelerated – 3 billion in 1959, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1998.
Increased volatility in global food prices has left millions of Pakistanis unable to achieve the basic levels of food security, admitted Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in a public message observing World Food Day on October 16.
“The food insecurity caused by high food prices is an issue that, unfortunately, is faced by millions in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the World Food Day theme for 2011 – Food Prices – From Crisis To Stability – highlighted “the growing trends of high food prices and its impact on the most vulnerable.”
17 October 2011.
The eurozone crisis is now a global crisis. If the crisis cannot be resolved quickly, the entire world will suffer. Despite the global implications, the eurozone continues to try and rely on itself to solve its woes. This is a recipe for trouble. The eurozone should suppress any wounded pride, acknowledge that it needs help, and provide quickly what it has already promised.
A quick preview of the key economic events for the upcoming week:
Monday, 17 October
UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs visits North Korea.
U.S. Industrial Production data released, the main gauge of industrial activity measuring the output of factories, mines and utilities.
Tuesday, 18 October
Ukrainian-Russian inter-regional economic forum held in Ukraine.
