The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report this week pertaining to poverty levels among member nations. According to the report, a few surprising nations ranked high on the list, with Israel at number one and the United States at number four.
Stock selloff has reached panic levels as oil falls below the psychologically critical level of $30/barrel. WTI futures fell below $30 for contracts expiring in February briefly on Wednesday, before ending the day slightly above at $30.58. The decline was prompted by news that Iran will add 500,000 barrels a day of exports within a week of the removal of sanctions against the country.
President Francois Hollande announced that new business-friendly policies intended to strengthen the economy. The socialist president entered office in 2012 on a campaign of taxing the wealthy to sustain growth. On New Year’s Eve, Hollande declared an economic state of emergency pertaining to slow growth and high unemployment. The president will release more details of the measures on Monday.
The World Bank announced this week that it has suspended all road projects that it has funded in Uganda. The announcement came after the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) failed to meet certain social and environmental standards that the bank imposed as conditions of receiving the funding.
Oil fell to its lowest price since 2003 as a supply glut, weakening demand, and a global slowdown in growth makes the fossil fuel less in demand. WTI oil futures fell to near $30 per barrel in a volatile session in which the commodity ranged from $30.41 to $32.22, while rumors have begun that OPEC is planning an emergency meeting on how to manage the supply and price of oil in the face of a constant downward spiral.
The Russian state issued a mandate forcing departments to slash spending by 10 percent as low oil prices plague the country’s finances, according to The Economic Times. Russia’s federal budget relies on high oil prices to make ends meet, and the added burden of western sanctions has not helped matters. Russian shares fell 5.0 percent this week due to lower energy prices and Asian market instability.
For months, economists have worried about the state of the Chinese economy. As the world’s second largest economy, a slowdown of the Chinese economy could drag down the economy of the entire world. Fortunately, China’s economic slowdown may end later this year according to a report released Monday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
San Francisco has become the most expensive place to rent an office as tech startup cash flows to commercial landlords. While San Francisco commercial rents rose 14 percent in 2015, Manhattan saw rents increase at only half that rate, with a 7 percent climb for the once most expensive city in America.
Over 500 victims have reported allegations of sexual assault, groping, and theft taking place in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve, forcing German Chancellor Angela Merkel to take a tougher stance on migration. Germany has welcomed more migrants and refugees than any other nation in Western Europe, accepting over one million refugees in 2015, but the government is turning away more migrants wishing to get in from the southern border.
TransCanada, the Canadian company synonymous with the Keystone XL pipeline, announced its intention to sue the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The case will be filed in both an international tribunal and a U.S. Federal Court in Dallas.
