Happy Easter! Joyeuses Pâques! Frohe Ostern! Buona Pasqua! ¡Felices Pascuas! Pasg Hapus!

Wishing all my visitors, followers, and Twitter followers a very Blessed and HAPPY EASTER. – Mark

Counting the Cost: Libya: Heading towards Bankruptcy?

As oil output continues to slide since the fall of the Gaddafi regime, we look at the impact on the country's economy.

Gold: Abandoned Mines in Siberia Get New Lease on Life

Siberia and Russia's Far East hold 11% of global gold reserves. But after the fall of Soviet Union many mines were abandoned. This to be changed soon as new technology that allows to extract gold from stones emerged. RT's Thabang Motsei reports.

Mass Rally against Austerity Turns Violent in Rome

At least 80 people -- both police and protesters -- have been injured as street battles broke out in Rome, with rocks being flung and police deploying pepper spray

Tu felix Helvetia: 3300 Euro Mindestlohn für die Verkäuferin

DIE PRESSE: Die bevorstehende Volksabstimmung genügt schon, damit bereits jetzt Schweizer Unternehmen den Mindestlohn auf 4000 Franken erhöhen.

Beim Urlaub sind die Schweizer sparsam. Sechs Wochen? Nicht notwendig, befand das Volk im März 2012 und stimmte mit beachtlichen 67 Prozent gegen eine Initiative, die den Mindesturlaub um zwei Wochen ausweiten wollte.
Beim Geld aber kennen die Eidgenossen keine Grenze nach oben - oder besser: nur eine sehr, sehr hohe Grenze. Während die deutsche Bundesregierung am Mittwoch - nach überaus heftigem Tauziehen - einen Mindestlohn von 8,50 Euro brutto pro Stunde beschlossen hat, dringt man in der Schweiz in völlig andere Sphären vor: Lidl, Aldi (der Schweizer Hofer) und jetzt auch die Bekleidungskette H & M haben eben einen Mindestlohn von 17,98 Euro pro Stunde umgesetzt. Hochgerechnet auf den Monat sind das 3269 Euro brutto für eine ungelernte Arbeitskraft. Nur zum Vergleich: Das Durchschnittseinkommen in Österreich liegt bei 2163 Euro brutto. » | Von Norbert Rief | Die Presse | Samstag, 05. April 2014

Jim Rogers: China Will Gain Massive Power & Influence by Bailing Out EU

Europe is taking its chance to make sure China knows its arms are wide open for any investment it can get. President Xi Jinping is visiting the continent - and Paris and Berlin have laid out the red carpet.

And the issue of human rights, so often a key part of talks between the EU and China, is strangely absent this time around.

On Thursday, the EU trade chief agreed to drop a probe into under-priced Telecom equipment, imported from China. Karel De Gucht says that's because Europe needs to do much more to attract Chinese investment.

There was some hushed criticism on China's rights record, with Human Rights Watch describing the conditions most Chinese people live in as "appalling". But investor and financial commentator Jim Rogers says Europe knows it has to be nice.

Greece Child Abuse Rises As Economy Falters

Economic crisis has been linked to a growing number of abandoned and abused children, straining local charities.

Austerity Push: Britons Struggle with High Hidden Debt

Consumer debt has hit record levels in the UK with many borrowing to cover basic necessities like rent and utility bills. And new information's now come to light, revealing the problem affects far more people than previously thought, as RT's Laura Smith now reports

Wirtschaftskrise in Europa: Spanien fällt in die Deflation

SPIEGEL ONLINE – WIRTSCHAFT: Es ist eine ökonomisch gefährliche Entwicklung: In Spanien fallen erstmals seit 2009 die Preise. Was für Verbraucher angenehm klingt, ist fatal für die Wirtschaft. Muss die Europäische Zentralbank eingreifen?

Madrid - Spanien ist überraschend in die Deflation geraten. Im März sanken die Verbraucherpreise erstmals seit Oktober 2009 auf Jahressicht, wie aus einer ersten Schätzung der nationalen Statistikbehörde vom Freitag hervorgeht. Die für europäische Vergleichszwecke harmonisierte Teuerungsrate fiel im März auf minus 0,2 Prozent. Im Vormonat hatte die Rate mit plus 0,1 Prozent immerhin noch knapp über der Nulllinie gelegen. » | yes/dpa-AFX | Freitag, 28. März 2014

Gefährlicher Preisverfall: Wie Deflation entsteht »

Russische Wirtschaft: Auch ohne Krim schon in der Krise

SPIEGEL ONLINE – WIRTSCHAFT: Das Kapital flüchtet, der Rubel bricht ein und es droht eine Rezession: Russlands Wirtschaft driftet allmählich Richtung Abgrund. Doch die Probleme sind nur zu einem kleinen Teil Folge der Krim-Krise. Viel schwerer wiegt, dass der Kreml seinen Modernisierungskurs aufgegeben hat.

mmerhin, für Siemens scheint die russische Welt noch in Ordnung zu sein. Konzern-Chef Joe Kaeser ist nach Moskau gereist, er hat Wladimir Putin getroffen. Der Präsident empfing ihn in Nowo-Ogarjowo, seiner Residenz vor den Toren von Moskau. Kaeser sprach von der "169-jährigen Tradition", die das Unternehmen mit Russland verbinde.

Allein 2,5 Milliarden Euro lässt sich der russische Staat 700 Siemens-Lokomotiven kosten, Siemens-Schnellzüge verkehren zwischen Moskau und Sankt Petersburg, Siemens-Regionalbahnen in der Olympiastadt Sotschi am Schwarzen Meer. » | Von Benjamin Bidder, Moskau | Freitag, 28. März 2014

Europe's Economic Crisis Is Getting Worse Not Better, Says Caritas Report

The Caritas report says that as a result of economic measures[,]
Greece's political scene has become increasingly toxic.

THE GUARDIAN: Survey shows increase in the number of new poor in seven countries and challenges the official European Union discourse

Far from being over Europe's economic crisis is getting worse with disturbing levels of poverty and deprivation being noted among children and youth, says a report compiled by the Catholic charity Caritas.

The survey, conducted over the course of the past year, not only challenges the official discourse – that Europe is on the mend – but documents a dramatic poor in the seven EU countries worst hit by the policies of austerity.

"We in Brussels keep hearing that the economic crisis is over," Thorfinnur Omarsson, a spokesman for Caritas Europa said in Athens where the network of Catholic relief organisations released the report. "These findings not only doubt that the crisis is over but show it is the poor who are paying for a crisis they did not cause." » | Helena Smith in Athens | Thursday, March 27, 2014

If the West Wants to Hurt Putin, Could Saudi Arabia Do Its Dirty Work?

THE GUARDIAN – ECONOMICS BLOG: Europe depends on Russian oil and gas exports, so an embargo may not be practical. But there is another way to apply pressure

Russia is vulnerable to sanctions. Economic weakness caused the collapse of the Soviet Union a quarter of a century ago and – the self-enrichment of the oligarchs apart – not much has changed since. Energy exports to the rest of the world pay for imports of machines and consumer goods. The population is ageing and there has been little industrial diversification. » | Posted by Larry Elliott | Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Sanctions: Potential Economic Damage

Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed a treaty making
Crimea part of Russia.

BBC: Russia, already teetering on the edge of recession, has a lot to lose from any economic sanctions imposed by Europe and the US - as does Europe, experts say.

The tense stand-off between Russia and the West over Crimea and Ukraine has led to sanctions being imposed on members of the Russian elite by the EU and the US.

US president Barack Obama has signed an order enabling economic sanctions against sectors of the Russian economy, and EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to consider their options.

"Russia can lose immensely out of this," says Paul Ivan, an analyst at Brussels-based think tank the European Policy Centre. "They are much more dependent on the European economy than we are on them."

Over half of Russia's budget comes from gas and oil it sends to the EU, making it vulnerable to any economic sanctions involving fossil fuel exports, Mr Ivan says.

By contrast, around 25% of European Union gas comes from Russia.

EU member states are linked to gas supplies flowing from countries such as Norway, making them less vulnerable to fluctuations in supply from Russia. » | Friday, March 21, 2014