A quick preview of the key economic events for the upcoming week:
Last week’s economic and employment data from the world’s largest economy, the United States, brought much relief for global markets.
According to Fed data, the United States gained 200,000 payroll jobs in December, while official unemployment continued its downward trend, dipping to its lowest level in 3 years at 8.5 percent.
Monday, January 9
Venezuela will not accept any ruling made by the World Bank’s arbitration forum in regards to a compensation claim by ExxonMobil for the Cerro Negro project, said its President Hugo Chavez on Sunday, adding that his country was now likely to pull out from the arbitration forum in response to “unfair deals” that “rob” Venezuela of its resources.
Remember the Occupy Movement, the campaign against the ultra rich “1 percent,” corporate greed, socio-economic inequality? Latest research has found that the United States holds a disproportionate amount of wealth in the world, with American’s making up 48 percent of the world’s “1 percent.”
Iranian authorities have implemented new guidelines for Internet cafes within the country– including the compulsory collection of detailed personal information on customers as well as their online activity – in an attempt to clamp down on Internet expression by its citizens.
George Soros goes by many names. He is the man who famously broke the Bank of England, and at the same time a wealthy billionaire hedge fund investor. Soros, is also a philanthropist and is set to open his first Burmese office.
United States billionaire investor George Soros has agreed to set up a philanthropic base in Burma, following his recent visit and meetings with the country’s leaders, including opposition figure head Aung San Suu Kyi.
China’s State Council Information Centre is planning to broadcast a 24-hour television channel in New York starting sometime in the first quarter of this year, in order to wield greater cultural influence overseas as well as to curb the spread of foreign influence on Chinese society.
Too many patents have been approved, that it is stifling innovation – claim experts. According to some, the current patent system has become vulnerable to abuse, devolving into something the opposite of its original intent: a tool for tech-industry shakedowns and costly litigation.
Members of the European Union have come to a preliminary agreement to ban the imports of Iranian crude oil, though it has not been confirmed when the embargo will but installed. This follows the United States’ decision to impose financial sanctions on the belligerent country, leaving the future of oil prices in jeopardy.
Oil prices have been increasing since the start of the year, largely on the back of uncertainty over Iran’s future crude trade and security along the Strait of Hormuz.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has written a detailed account of how he spent his New Year’s Eve dinner, after a member of parliament questioned the appropriateness of holding a personal party at the Palazzo Chigi – the official residence for the Prime Minister’s office.
Casino gambling revenue in Macau grew by 42 percent in 2011 to a record $33.47 billion, thanks to an ever-increasing flow of wealthy mainland Chinese who flock to the sole Chinese territory where casinos are allowed to operate.
The total revenue is believed to be about five to six times higher than what gamblers in either Singapore or Las Vegas were thought to have spent during the same period, with estimates by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers claiming that the industry would be able to double its revenues within the next five years.
