Germany Says “No” to Euro Bonds
Germany has signaled that it will not support plans to create euro zone-wide government bonds. German Vice-Chancellor Philipp Roesler was quoted as saying that “euro bonds are the wrong signal to weaker economies”.
Category: Markets
US Freeze on US$37 Billion in Libyan Assets to Remain For Now
The United States will keep in place its freeze on US$37 billion in Libyan assets until they are absolutely certain that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his supporters can no longer access the funds, said a White House official on Monday.
The freeze had begun in February this year, when the Obama administration decided to impose unilateral sanctions against the Libyan leader and his family, including shutting off access to Libyan government assets.
Biden to China: “The US Has Never Defaulted and Never Will Default”
US Vice-President Joe Biden wrapped up his five-day visit to China on Sunday by assuring Chinese students at Sichuan University that the US were dedicated to solving its economic problems, while remaining the “single-best bet in the world in terms of where to invest.”
Responding to questions posed by members of the audience, Biden assured the congregation that China’s US$1.17 trillion investment in US Treasury securities were safe.
Anarchy in the UK: The Socio-Economic Factors Behind The London Riots
19 August 2011.
The worst riots in England for several decades have drawn widely divergent interpretations from politicians and commentators. Views range from the right-wing position, which is that the rioters were all “thugs and delinquents” and should be punished accordingly, to the liberal view that prevailing socio-economic conditions in Britain played a major role in provoking an upsurge of anger.
EconHumour: What if Economists Told “Yo Momma” Jokes?
The “Yo Momma” jokes has become one of the most popular forms of insults that exists in the world of comedy. But what if economists started to use these jokes?
Here’s a collection of “Yo Momma” economics-related jokes that we have found by scurrying the world wide web.
User contributed jokes on reddit:
Global Markets Slammed, Wiping Out Gains From Recent Trading
The world’s major stock markets tumbled back into free fall Thursday on a raft of negative economic indicators and a warning that the U.S. and Europe are dangerously teetering the brinks of a recession. More than US$3.2 trillion has been wiped off from U.S. equity markets since the start of May, leaving the benchmark for U.S. a mere 29 basis points of entering a bear market.
Gorbachev: Putin has “Castrated” Democracy in Russia
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has killed off democracy in Russia, says former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Speaking to the BBC on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the unsuccessful Soviet coup d’état attempt, Mr. Gorbachev denounced Mr. Putin and his team for killing development in the country, which needs to start pushing towards democracy again.
Europe’s Last Hope – Will Germany Step Up? : George Soros
18 August 2011.
Time is running out for the eurozone. Unless a euro-bond regime of one kind or another can be reached, the euro will break down. As the EU’s largest and best-rated economy, Germany has a critical role to play in Europe’s future. But the Germans are not willing to accept any level of responsibility. Till the day they do, Europe is headed towards a breakdown of the euro that will precipitate a banking crisis beyond the control of global financial authorities.
Obama’s Approval Rating on Economy Slumps to Record Low
Americans voiced their dissatisfaction at US President Barack Obama on Wednesday, after a poll conducted by Gallup showed that only 26 percent of respondents approved of President Obama’s handling of the US economy.
The results was 11 percentage points lower than the last time Gallup measured it in mid-May and well below Obama’s previous low of 35 percent in November 2010.
Dominoes of Doom – The Political Economy of the Global Financial Crisis: George Friedman
17 August 2011.
Politics and economics are intrinsically linked. For classical economists, it was impossible to understand politics without economics or economics without politics. Accordingly, the current global economic crisis can also be best understood as a crisis of political economy. The evolution of the crisis across the US, Europe and China has one overriding theme: the relationship between the political order and economic life.
