As expected, there were no breakthroughs on the debt crisis at the EU Summit last week, except for the last minute deal to set up a banking union for the region by the 1st of January. This week, the Fed meets for a policy meeting and a GDP reading for the third quarter is expected to show improvements from the previous three months. Could a US recovery be on the cards?
Monday, October 22
Goldman Sachs has moved to combat ex-banker Greg Smith’s vitriol against the bank’s apparent “moral bankruptcy”. In a feisty nine-page report published yesterday, Goldman Sachs alleged that Smith quit not because he felt the company had “lost its way” but rather, he felt he wasn’t sufficiently compensated for his work.
Goldman Sachs has hit back at ex-employee Greg Smith who resigned publicly in March via a scathing op-ed in the New York Times.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that a single banking supervisory body will be set up in the course of next year, opening the way for the eurozone’s rescue fund to inject capital directly into the region’s ailing banks.
The announcement effective ends the political deadlock that had threatened to slowdown the European Union’s push for closer economic integration.
Once a standard bearer of economic liberty, the United States is rapidly losing its status as one of the freest economies in the world. This year, the United States dropped to 18th position on the charts, a far cry from its second-place ranking in 2000. How do the other countries measure up?
European leaders are scheduled to meet in Brussels today for a two-day summit, but early reports have revealed deep and uncomfortable divisions over a proposed banking union that is intended to underpin the eurozone.
In particular, member states are divided over the timeline and scope of the banking union.
In a radical policy shift, the European Commission had in May called for the creation of a banking union that can centrally oversee and if necessary bailout the banking sector without having to go through national governments.
Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz has described the Spanish and Greek economies as being in a state of depression, an impact which he says was brought about by Europe’s austerity-driven approach to the region’s debt crisis.
Speaking at a conference organized by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, Stiglitz expressed pessimism for the eurozone crisis, saying he sees “significant risk of continuing turmoil.”
China is slowing down but that may not necessarily be a bad thing. China’s economic transformation could probably mean better quality growth, according to Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill.
His comments came as China released yet another set of disappointing trade data in August, raising concerns of a “hard landing” in the world’s second largest economy.
Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs brought in $1.5 billion in profits for the third quarter this year, a strong comeback from its rare quarterly loss a year ago.
Goldman Sachs Group, the fifth-largest US bank by assets, reported profit that beat analysts’ estimates on higher underwriting fees and a jump in the value of the firm’s own investments.
As more people turn to the internet and social media for political information and answers, what role does social media play in the election process? More importantly, can we believe claims that social media can predict the presidential elections?
China could soon lose its position as the top purchaser of US government debt as its slowing economy reduces its need to recycle foreign exchange reserves into Treasury holdings.
According to the monthly Treasury International Capital report released today, Chinese holdings of US debt rose just 0.1 percent this year through August to $1.15 trillion.
On the other hand, Japan, a stronger ally of the US, raised its stake by 6 percent to $1.12 trillion – keeping it on pace to top the list of foreign creditors by January.
