Monday 31 October 2011

Le chômage atteint un niveau historique en zone euro

LE POINT: Selon les calculs d'Eurostat, 16,198 millions de citoyens européens étaient au chômage en septembre. Du jamais-vu.

Le taux de chômage dans la zone euro a atteint 10,2 % de la population active en septembre, son plus haut niveau historique, légèrement au-dessus des 10,1 % enregistrés en août, selon des données publiées lundi par l'office européen des statistiques Eurostat. Il avait déjà atteint ce niveau record en juin 2010, a précisé Eurostat. Cela fait à présent cinq mois consécutifs que le chômage est au moins à 10 %. Eurostat a revu en hausse sa précédente estimation pour le mois d'août, qui donnait initialement le chômage à 10 %. » | Source AFP | lundi 31 octobre 2011
Greeks Threatened with Power Cuts If They Fail to Pay Property Tax

THE GUARDIAN: Civil disobedience campaign puts pressure on Athens government as it pushes EU/IMF austerity measures

The Greek authorities are bracing for a broader campaign of civil disobedience as a nation infuriated by austerity and incensed at the engagement of EU and IMF "monitors" takes matters into its own hands.

Sales of generators have shot up as households, resisting further belt-tightening, have sought to bypass a new property tax that the beleaguered government will collect through electricity bills.

Announcing the measure in a desperate attempt to plug a budget black hole, the finance ministry warned that failure to pay the tax would automatically result in power supplies being disconnected.

"But when 70% of Greek households don't pay it what are they going to do, cut off the whole lot?" asked Giorgos Zisimos, a shopowner-cum-driver. » | Helena Smith in Athens | Sunday, October 30, 2011

Sunday 30 October 2011

"Die Währungsunion wird zur Zombie-Zone"

WELT am SONNTAG: Die Euro-Zone ist nicht gerettet, sagt der Historiker Niall Ferguson. Sie ist eher zu einem zermürbenden Überlebenskampf verdammt.

Sogar Wirtschaftsnobelpreisträger müssen dazulernen. Noch vor drei Jahren offenbarte der deutsche Laureat Reinhard Selten der „Welt am Sonntag“ sein Erfolgsgeheimnis. „Ich schaue in den Börsenkursteil der Zeitung und picke mir die Aktien mit der höchsten Dividendenrendite und dem höchsten Substanzwert heraus. Mit dieser Strategie habe ich bislang noch stets die Märkte geschlagen.“

Doch mit dieser Methode dürfte Selten seit 2008 ziemlich schlecht gefahren sein. Denn die Regeln haben sich geändert. Statt schnöder Bewertungskennziffern zählt das Wissen um politische und historische Zusammenhänge. Wenn die Welt einen Zeitenwechsel erlebt, benötigen Anleger einen neuen Kompass.

Nicht nur verschieben sich die Machtpole vom Westen gen Osten. Auch innerhalb der Alten Welt bleibt kein Stein auf dem anderen. Die Währungsunion hat die Länder der Euro-Zone nicht zusammengebracht, sondern wirtschaftlich auseinandergetrieben. Die Kosten für ein Zusammenbleiben sind hoch, doch die Staaten sind mangels Alternativen nun dazu verdammt, zusammenzubleiben.

Das meint Harvard-Historiker Niall Ferguson, der die Finanzgeschichte kennt wie kaum ein Zweiter. Der Rebell der Geschichtswissenschaften kommt zum Gespräch direkt von seiner Buchpremiere aus den USA („The West and the Rest“). Im lockeren Outfit ist ihm nach der Landung in Berlin kein Jetlag anzumerken. Und er wundert sich als Erstes, als er aus dem Gate kommt, über die momentane Euphorie nach dem EU-Gipfel am Mittwoch.

Im Interview mit der „Welt am Sonntag“ bringt der gebürtige Schotte Ordnung ins neue Weltgefüge. Er erklärt, wie Anleger historische Umwälzungen erkennen und für sich nutzbar machen und warum trotz der Machtverschiebungen nach Osten kurzfristig auch China harte Zeiten bevorstehen. » | Autor: Holger Zschäpitz | Sonntag 30. Oktober 2011

Berlusconi macht Schlagzeilen mit Euro-Lästerei

WELT ONLINE: Schuldenkrise? Was soll's: Die gemeinsame Währung sei sowieso nicht ernstzunehmen, lästert Italiens Regierungschef. Erst nach scharfer Kritik rudert er zurück.

Italiens Regierungschef Silvio Berlusconi hat in seinem Land Schlagzeilen mit Euro-kritischen Äußerungen gemacht – die er nach Kritik dann korrigierte. "Es gibt einen Angriff auf den Euro, der als Währung niemanden überzeugt hat, weil er nicht die Währung eines Landes ist, sondern von vielen", sagte Berlusconi nach einem Bericht des Mailänder "Corriere della Sera". Diese Länder hätten keine einheitliche Regierung und keine Referenzbank. All das ermögliche spekulative Attacken auf die europäische Währung. » | dpa/ks | Samstag 29. Oktober 2011

Saturday 29 October 2011

Can America Survive without Its Backbone, the Middle Class?

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As the gaps within the classes widen, American society is starting to fracture.

My friend J grew up in Chicago, but spent his summers in a small town on a Michigan lake. His family, because they came from the city and because they were “summer” visitors, were slightly more privileged than those who lived in the town. Nevertheless, the town considered itself “middle class” and the children observed no social distinctions playing together. J told me recently that he had been back to that town and found it utterly changed: shops were boarded up, houses were being repossessed, cars were old. He no longer had much in common with people he had known as children, some of whom were now unemployed, all of whom had far lower incomes than he.

J isn’t a hedge-fund manager or a plutocrat, but he is a member of the American upper-middle class, a group which is now sociologically and economically very distinct from the lower-middle class, with different politics, different ambitions and different levels of optimism. Thirty years ago, this wasn’t the case. A worker in a Detroit car factory earned about the same as, say, a small-town dentist, and although they might have different taste in films or furniture, their purchasing power wasn’t radically different. Their children would have been able to play together without feeling as if they came from different planets.

Now they couldn’t. Despite all the loud talk of the “1 per cent” of Americans who, according to a recent study, receive about 17 per cent of the income, a percentage which has more than doubled since 1979, the existence of a very small group of very rich people has never bothered Americans. But the fact that some 20 per cent of Americans now receive some 53 per cent of the income is devastating. Read on and comment » | Anne Applebaum | Friday, October 28, 2011

My comment:

This is the direct result of Reaganomics: Let the rich become ever richer! Damn the poor! Who cares about social cohesion? The result will be blood on the streets. If these ridiculous, selfish policies are not reversed, and soon, there will be revolution. It's inevitable. – © Mark

This comment also appears here
Canada: Why Aren’t We Talking about Income Inequality?

GLOBE AND MAIL: Equality is fitfully in the news. Demonstrators demand higher taxes on the “rich.” Would-be NDP leader Brian Topp says the “rich” should pay more. In the U.S., a smattering of economists and business people – even Warren Buffett – insists the very wealthy should pony up.

Deficits are large, social programs need to be funded, the poor are growing. Ergo, the rich should pay more. So goes the simplistic argument.

In Canada, we have fussed a great deal about equality, but not of the income kind. Instead, we’ve spent much money and changed laws to deal with equality of regions and equality (or equity) of ethnicity and gender. Read on and comment » | JEFFREY SIMPSON | Saturday, October 29, 2011
Cashless Transactions: Greeks’ Creative Crisis Solution

EU Takes Begging Bowl to Beijing

La crise de la dette en Europe n'est pas finie, dit Trichet

REUTERS – FRANCE: BERLIN (Reuters) - Le président de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), Jean-Claude Trichet, estime que la crise de la dette souveraine en Europe n'est pas terminée et qu'il est trop tôt pour estimer que les voyants sont revenus au vert.

Dans un entretien accordé au journal allemand Bild am-Sonntag, Trichet se dit toutefois confiant dans la capacité des gouvernements de la zone euro à rétablir une stabilité financière.

Selon lui, cela exige que le Pacte de stabilité soit global et qu'il soit mis en application d'une manière vigoureuse. » | Erik Kirchbaum, Pierre Sérisier pour le service français | samedi 29 octobre 2011
Financial Conditions for British Families Falling at Record Level

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The financial wellbeing of British families fell at the fastest rate in at least 14 years, according to data which underline how inflation and frozen wages are making life tough for many households.

Rising food prices, record gas bills landing on doormats and stubbornly high petrol prices has combined with steadily increasing unemployment and low wage growth to create a miserable few months for many. The eurozone crisis and plunging stock markets made matters worse, knocking confidence, according to Alliance Trust, which analyses a number of official data sources to compile its Financial Reality Index. Read on and comment » | Harry Wallop, Retail Editor | Friday, October 28, 2011
Michael Moore: ‘Capitalism – A Love Story’ (Trailer)

Friday 28 October 2011

Swiss Banker Releases Anti-greed Ode

A Swiss banker has ditched the sombre and staid image of the Alpine state’s banking fraternity by writing a humorous song about an impending economic meltdown and featuring in a slick video.


Read short article and comment here
Samsung détrône Apple comme premier vendeur de «smartphones»

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVES: Le géant sud-coréen de l’électronique Samsung a dépassé Apple comme premier vendeur de «smartphones» au monde au troisième trimestre 2011.

Le groupe américain Apple a ainsi laissé sa place de numéro un mondial du marché de ces "terminaux de poche" ou encore "ordiphones" qu’il avait arraché au trimestre précédent au groupe finlandais Nokia, au profit de Samsung. » | AFP | vendredi 28 octobre 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Samsung overtakes Apple smartphone sales: Samsung has shipped nearly 28 million smartphones in the last quarter and overtaken Apple to become the world’s largest vendor of smartphones, according to new research. » | Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor | Friday, October 28, 2011
A 49% Pay Rise for Britain's Top Bosses: Their Average Salary Hits £2.7m

MAIL ONLINE: • City firms to pay out £4.2billion this year in bonuses • Shell making £4.4billion in three months as oil prices soar • Critics say a minority continue to be rewarded for failure

Fat cat bosses at Britain’s top 100 companies have awarded themselves pay rises of 49 per cent in the last year.

As households suffer the biggest squeeze on incomes since the 1920s, a study showed executives can now expect to earn £2.7million on average.

That is 113 times the national average of £24,000 for a worker in the private sector, where salaries have risen just 3 per cent in the last year.

The extravagant pay packages were enjoyed by every member of the boardroom, from the chief executive down to far less high-profile roles.

In fact, chief executives and finance directors – usually considered the number two at a firm – did not do as well as more junior staff.

The average chief executive saw their total payout increase by 43.5 per cent to £3,855,172, while the rise for a finance director was up 34.1 per cent to £2,001,515.

Other directors enjoyed the largest rise, as they took home 66.5 per cent more in pay and perks, to the tune of £2,260,033 on average.

The bonus element of the average executive pay packet increased by 23 per cent, from £737,624 in 2010 to £906,044.

Former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott said: ‘These greedy bosses sit on each others’ remuneration committees and wave through each others’ offensive pay rises.

An average rise of 49 per cent includes vast rewards for failure while employees, shareholders and customers suffer. Read on and comment » | Rob Davies | Friday, October 28, 2011
David Cameron: London Is Under Constant Attack from Europe

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The City of London is "under constant attack" from European Union regulations, David Cameron has said.

Speaking on his way to Perth, Australia, for a Commonwealth summit, the Prime Minister also warned against the 17 eurozone nations colluding to undermine the European Union's free market rules.

He said: "London is the centre of financial services in Europe. It's under constant attack through Brussels directives. It's an area of concern, it's a key national interest that we need to defend."

Mr Cameron said that he will fight to prevent closer integration of the Eurozone countries leading to anti-competitive regulations.

"As the 27 we need to make sure that the single market is adequately looked after."
"There are a lot of things the eurozone is doing together. Having more meetings alone, establishing machinery - it raises the question of could there be caucusing [sic]?" » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political editor, in Perth | Friday, October 28, 2011

Thursday 27 October 2011

US Allays Recession Fears with Stronger Growth

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The US economy recorded its fastest growth in a year last quarter as American consumers and businesses defied the turmoil in financial markets and picked up their spending.

Gross domestic product in the third quarter expanded at an annualised pace of 2.5pc, up from 1.3pc in the second quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

Households and businesses drove the growth in a quarter marked by the debacle in Washington over the debt ceiling and a heightening of fear in the US over the threat posed to the global economy by Europe's debt crisis.

However, an easing in gasoline prices saw household spending climb at a 2.4pc pace in the quarter, more than double forecasts. American businesses, which are sitting on more than $1 trillion in cash, also dug into their corporate pockets to spend on a range of equipment including computer technology and software. Business spending jumped at [at] 16.3pc rate in the quarter.

The third-quarter figure, which matched the expectations of economists on Wall Street, barely registered with stock markets still digesting the deal that emerged from Europe overnight. While the number allays fears that the world's biggest economy is in imminent danger of a second recession, few were euphoric. » | Richard Blackden | Thursday, October 27, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: World power swings back to America: The American phoenix is slowly rising again. Within five years or so, the US will be well on its way to self-sufficiency in fuel and energy. Manufacturing will have closed the labour gap with China in a clutch of key industries. The current account might even be in surplus. » | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor | Sunday, October 23, 2011
Van Rompuy und Papandreou würdigen Ergebnisse

Eurozone Crisis: Banks Agree 50% Reduction on Greece's Debt

THE GUARDIAN: Private investors take 'haircut' on Greek bonds in €100bn bailout that also strengthens European rescue fund

Europe's leaders are claiming a victory in the eurozone crisis after agreeing new deals that slash Greek debt and increase the firepower of the main bailout fund to around €1 trillion (£872bn).

Athens will be handed a new €100bn bailout early in the new year. The accord was reached in the early hours of Thursday after hours of debate.

At one stage talks broke down with holders of Greek debt but they ended up accepting a loss or "haircut" of 50% in converting their existing bonds into new loans.

Investors are likely to welcome the breakthrough. Sharp gains are predicted for European markets on opening, with the FTSE 100 being called up 75 points and similar rises expected on the German and French stock markets.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, helped broker the deal in talks with the bankers that also included the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde.

Merkel said the swap would take place in January. Sarkozy said private sector investors would refinance Greek's remaining debt at preferential rates while governments would find €30bn to go alongside €100bn from the private sectors. » | David Gow in Brussels | Thursday, October 27, 2011

Video: Eurozone and investors agree to halve Greek debt: Breakthrough in crisis talks as banks accept 50% cut to Greek bonds that will be converted into loans and euro rescue fund is strengthened »

Eurozone bailout deal for Greece – full text: Read the full euro summit statement on the agreement to halve Greece's bond debt to banks, provide bailout funds and bolster the EU's emergency finance system » | guardian.co.uk | Thursday, October 27, 2011
Euro-Länder handeln Schuldenschnitt für Griechenland aus

Die Banken haben für den Schuldenschnitt einen Verzicht von 50 Prozent zugesagt. Bundeskanzlerin Merkel und Frankreichs Präsident Sarkozy werteten den Gipfel als Erfolg.

Das Video hier abspielen

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Einigung auf Schuldenschnitt für Griechenland: In den frühen Morgenstunden gelang der Durchbruch: Die Staats- und Regierungschefs der Währungsunion einigten sich mit den Banken darauf, Griechenland rund die Hälfte seiner Schulden zu erlassen. Zudem soll die Schlagkraft des Euro-Rettungsschirms EFSF auf eine Billion Euro ausgeweitet werden. » | Quelle: dpa, AP | Donnerstag 27. Oktober 2011
L'Europe demande l'aide des émergents

LE FIGARO: Le responsable du Fonds européen de stabilité financière sera dès demain à Pékin.

Pour se sortir du pétrin, la zone euro ne compte plus sur ses seuls moyens. Ses dirigeants se sont résolus à tendre la main à d'autres pays, disposant de réserves. Parmi eux, de rares pays occidentaux comme la Norvège, riche de ses gisements d'hydrocarbures. Mais surtout, de nombreux pays émergents, Chine en tête. » | Par Julie Desné | Shanghaï | mercredi 26 octobre 2011
Was the Big Bang Good for the City of London and Britain?

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The stock market was deregulated 25 years ago today, reprising the City’s golden age, but the 1980s boom is ultimately responsible for our current bust.

The eurozone unravelling, the governor of the Bank of England announcing the most serious financial crisis since the 1930s, Tent City dug in next to St Paul’s – it is piquant timing for today’s 25th anniversary of the City of London’s Big Bang. Researching and writing the City’s history, I used to find potential readers confronted by a double barrier: the perception that the City was not just incomprehensible but also boring, reflecting, as that old Monty Python sketch had it, “the dull life of a City stockbroker”. The City probably remains baffling to most people, but since the crash of 2008 no one can deny its interest and importance.

Big Bang itself, on October 27, 1986, coincided with the coming of screen trading, but was essentially about deregulating the Stock Exchange. Above all, it enabled 100 per cent outside ownership of member firms – a move enforced by the Thatcher government on a largely reluctant City, so that London could operate on a modern, properly capitalised basis as an international financial centre.

For those with a historical perspective, undoubtedly including Margaret Thatcher’s chancellor, Nigel Lawson, the gleam in the eye was the hope of reprising the City’s golden age, when London was the greatest financial centre the world had ever seen, disbursing capital and credit around the globe, before the guns of August 1914 changed everything.

The arrival of the Euromarkets in the 1960s, followed by the floating of exchange rates and abolition of exchange controls, began the re-internationalisation of the City, but Big Bang took it much further: a legion of deep-pocketed commercial banks, often foreign, bought up long-established broking and jobbing firms such as James Capel, Phillips & Drew, Panmure Gordon and Wedd Durlacher, while simultaneously ambitious American investment banks such as Goldman Sachs beefed up their London presence and would rapidly supplant the British merchant banks, traditionally the City’s crème de la crème

The gleam came to fruition. During the 1990s, neither Frankfurt nor Paris mounted a credible challenge to London as top European financial centre; by the new century, London was ahead of both New York and Tokyo in global terms; and for successive British governments, the City proved an almost miraculous (and relatively uncomplaining) cash cow, funding new hospitals and schools and much else besides. Yet, as all this went on, I would find myself wondering whether the new City that had emerged out of Big Bang was really so much better than the old City. » | David Kynaston | Wednesday, October 26, 2011

David Kynaston’s 'City of London: The History’, published by Chatto on November 3 (RRP £30) is available from Telegraph Books for £26 plus £1.25p p&p. To pre-order your copy please call 0844 871 1515 or go to books.telegraph.co.uk

My comment:

So many of us were taken in by Maggie Thatcher at the time. Few of us had a crystal ball, so few of us could foresee the disgusting greed and egocentricity her policies would eventually bring with them. Mrs. Thatcher was a disaster for this country, as was the Big Bang.

I supported Thatcher at the time. In fact, I was a huge fan of hers. But as time has gone by, I can see the destruction that her American-style, jungle-like economic policies have brought with them. She has ruined so much of what was good about this country. The City would not today be populated by banksters, shysters, and crooks had Thatcher not wrought her destruction of the British way of doing things. To undo the damage she has done is probably well-nigh impossible. In any case, it is going to take years and years before this mess is cleared up, if it ever will be.

As a result of Thatcher, people have lost their homes, their life-savings, and their jobs; as a result of Thatcher, this country has lost its soul.
– © Mark

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Billionaire French Hotelier Shot Dead 'In Professional Hit'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A billionaire French hotelier has been shot dead in a wealthy Paris suburb in what police believe was a professional hit.

The lifeless body of Claude Dray, 76, was found with three bullet holes in the neck in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the Paris suburb where President Nicolas Sarkozy built his career and still owns property.

A butler found Dray's corpse at 9am on Tuesday following a death that had all the hallmarks of a professional hit.

Dray, one of the most prominent Jews in France, had been the subject of threats in the past. His palatial villa – which was called Madrid – was considered one of the most secure in the French capital.

It was regularly surrounded by police and private security guards, and is equipped with anti-intruder measures including cameras and infra-red alarms. » | Peter Allen in Paris | Wednesday, October 26, 2011
German Parliamentary Vote: Merkel Says Future Peace and Prosperity At Stake in Crisis Talks

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing a parliamentary vote on a new euro rescue package on Wednesday, said she was convinced the measures can help the EU to overcome the crisis. She declared that Europe's peace and prosperity were at stake, and that history would condemn EU leaders if they failed to live up to their historic duty.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Europe's future prosperity and peace were at stake in talks to overcome the debt crisis, and political leaders had a historic duty to restore economic stability.

"What is good for Europe is good for Germany, half a century of peace and prosperity in Germany and Europe testify to that," she said in a speech to the German parliament ahead of a vote on a comprehensive package of measures to rescue the euro, due to be agreed by European Union leaders at an emergency summit on Wednesday night.

"No one should think that a further half century of peace and prosperity is assured. It isn't. And that's why I say if the euro fails, Europe will fail, and that mustn't happen."

The Bundestag, Germany's parliament, is due to vote on measures including the controversial boosting of the €440 billion euro rescue fund, or European Financial Stability Facility, through leveraging, a move seen as necessary to enable it to contain the crisis. » | cro -- with wire reports | Wednesday, October 26, 2011
John Kampfner: Cameron's Little Englanders Need Some German Lessons

THE GUARDIAN: Europhobic talk of taking back powers from the EU to foster growth ignores Germany's route to real, lasting economic success

Nothing does your head in more as a Londoner than living in a small town in Germany. It was in the late 1980s that I found myself as a foreign correspondent living in Bonn, the "capital village", as it was known before reunification.

My first culture shock came as I crossed the border from Belgium. When I presented my credit card for payment at a service station the attendant looked at me blankly, and asked: "What would I want with that?" I gradually got used to elderly folk peering through net curtains to see what I might be up to. The neighbourhood committee would leave notes on my car windscreen addressed to the "Dear Respected Neighbour", asking me ever so politely to clean my car as it was bringing down the reputation of the street. And the shops … spindly corner shops that were never open when office folk needed them.

This was the time when in Britain, everyone was aspiring to be Gordon Gekko, or so the myth went. Work hard, play hard, chop and change jobs and enjoy the high-octane lifestyle. How I envied my friends back home. I was convinced that, for all its Thatcherite ugliness and excess, there was something about the UK's gritty liveliness that would leave the stolid Germans behind. The economists tended to agree. Flexible labour markets and low unit labour costs were the future. Deregulation was essential. Financial services presented the path to paradise.

So what has changed? Everything and nothing. Not only did (West) Germany absorb the economically decrepit East in the 1990s, with far less inequity and far greater success than any other country could have achieved, but it has withstood the vagaries of the financial cycle with greater ease than the rest of Europe.

It has done so by changing practices gradually, such as pension reform and labour market reform … and a limited loosening of shopping hours. But it has not altered the postwar settlement that produced the first Wirtschaftswunder, the economic miracle. The German model is based on long-term planning and investment, not the get-rich-quick City culture that has been the norm in Britain and the US. Read on and comment » | John Kampfner | Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Amazon Profits Plunge 73pc

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Amazon shares plunged in after-hours trading on Tuesday as the online retail giant said net profit fell sharply in the third quarter and provided a weak outlook for the holiday period.

Amazon shares shed 14.25pc to $194.77 after the Seattle, Washington-based company released its earnings for the quarter ending September 30.

Amazon said net profit declined 73pc to $63m in the quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Earnings per share of 14 cents were well below the 24 cents per share expected by Wall Street analysts.

Revenue was up 44pc to $10.88bn, slightly below the $10.93bn forecast by analysts.

Amazon said it expected revenue of between $16.45bn and $18.65bn in the current quarter, less than the midpoint of $18.1bn expected by analysts for the period, which includes the Christmas holiday. » | Telegraph staff and agencies | Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Eurozone Crisis Puts Britain ‘At Risk’ Of Double Dip Recession

DAILY EXPRESS: BRITAIN is at risk of another recession if the crisis in the eurozone is not dealt with quickly, a senior Bank of England figure has warned

Martin Weale, who sits on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which sets interest rates, said the economy was at risk of contracting in the final quarter of 2011 due to the crisis in the eurozone.

He claimed the British economy was already on the verge of shrinking.

He said: "Of the six recessions since the end of the First World War this looks to me at least like that with the weakest recovery,

"I find it difficult to... forecast how the euro area crisis is going to be resolved. » | Emily Fox for express.co.uk | Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Monday 24 October 2011

Occupy Wall Street - USA

Watch Journeyman Pictures video here
La panne de croissance met le gouvernement sous pression

REUTERS FRANCE: PARIS - La panne de croissance confirmée par les derniers indicateurs économiques met le gouvernement français sous pression en l'obligeant à des ajustements budgétaires inconfortables à six mois de l'élection présidentielle.

Fragilisée par ce ralentissement, la promesse de réduction des déficits français a pris l'allure d'un impératif depuis l'annonce par Moody's qu'elle évaluait la situation de la France, et la réaction des marchés financiers qui a suivi. » | par Jean-Baptiste Vey | lundi 24 octobre 2011
Euro-Zone auf dem Weg in die Rezession

REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Berlin - Die Wirtschaft in der Euro-Zone ist auf dem Weg in die Rezession.

Sowohl die Industrie als auch die Dienstleister schrumpften im Oktober so deutlich wie seit über zwei Jahren nicht mehr. Hauptgrund dafür: Wegen der Verunsicherung durch die Schuldenkrise stellen viele Kunden ihre Investitionen zurück. » | Reuters | Montag 24. Oktober 2011

Sunday 23 October 2011

Second Occupy London Camp Forms at Finsbury Square

THE GUARDIAN: Protesters call 'general assembly' at site in Moorgate and declare it a second occupation after St Paul's

A second Occupy London protest camp has sprung up in a sign that campaigners are spreading from St Paul's Cathedral to locations across the capital.

A group of protesters with placards marched from St Paul's to the new site, where up to 30 tents had been discreetly pitched earlier.

Within minutes, supporters of Occupy London had called a "general assembly" at the site in Finsbury Square, Moorgate, and declared that the square was a second occupation after the cathedral.

Organisers insisted, however, that the second site would not replace St Paul's, but alleviate pressure at an increasingly crowded venue. One protester said that a third and fourth occupation would follow. » | Mark Townsend and Tracy McVeigh | Saturday, October 22, 2011

Saturday 22 October 2011

Meltdown – Final Part: After the Fall

Some responded with denial, others by re-thinking capitalism, but who is preparing for the next crisis?

Watch Part 4 here
Meltdown Part 3: Paying the Price

As the toll of the financial crisis continues to mount, many are looking for its true causes - and finding a crime

Watch Part 3 of Meltdown here

Related: Parts 1 & 2 »
Meltdown Part 2: A Global Financial Tsunami

Meltdown examines how an epidemic of fear caused banks to stop lending, triggered protests and led to industrial action.

Watch video here

Related: Meltown Part 1 »
Kingdom's GDP Exceeds SR1 Trillion

ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded the SR1 trillion ($273 billion) mark in the first half of this year compared to SR811 billion in the same period last year on the back of higher oil output and energy prices, the Central Department of Statistics and Information said in its report.

The GDP, unadjusted for inflation, jumped 26.1 percent from a year earlier. The statistics department said GDP of the oil sector alone soared 38.9 percent to SR573.4 billion.

The Kingdom received another boost with the annual report of the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation for 2012 acknowledging its regional top rank in the Middle East and North Africa region with regard to facilitating business. The report “Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World,” which has been released in Washington, has ranked the Kingdom 12th in the domain of ease of doing business and other commercial transactions among 183 nations worldwide due to improvements introduced by the Kingdom concerning government procedures for corporate activities and making business easier for entrepreneurs. » | KHALIL HANWARE | ARAB NEWS | Friday, October 21, 2011

Thursday 20 October 2011

Sparplan gegen die Krise: Frankreich führt Sondersteuer für Besserverdiener ein

WELT ONLINE: Wer als Franzose mehr als 250.000 Euro im Jahr verdient, muss ab sofort mehr Abgaben zahlen. Das gilt solange, bis der Haushalt wieder ausgeglichen ist.

Frankreichs Regierung hat am Mittwochabend eine Sondersteuer für höhere Einkommen beschlossen: So zahlen Bürger mit einem Verdienst zwischen 250.000 und 500.000 Euro drei Prozent mehr und mit einem Verdienst über 500.000 Euro jährlich ab sofort vier Prozent mehr Abgaben. » | dapd/smb | Donnerstag 20. Oktober 2011
Cuckoo for Chocolate in China

China's double digit growth in chocolate sales has caught the attention of major Western chocolatiers who wish to convert the majority of the Chinese population into chocoholics.

Job Creation, China-style

BYD Senior Vice President Stella Li explains why a strong state is good for business.

Meltdown: The Men Who Crashed the World

The first of a four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that led to financial collapse.

Watch video here

Read short article here
Britons Are 'Lazy' and 'Addicted to Benefits', China Claims

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain's "sloth-inducing" work ethic and dependence on benefits are to blame for the current economic downturn, a senior Chinese official has claimed.

Jin Liqun, chairman of China Investment Corporation (CIC), the nation's sovereign wealth fund, warned that Europeans should "work a bit harder" if they want to pull the eurozone out of recession.

He said people in the West are too reliant on welfare payments and the benefits system, looking for external solutions to the debt crisis rather than tackling the problem from within.

Mr Jin also said the long-term economic slide could only be solved by amending the restrictive labour laws that mean Western workers are unable to compete in global markets.

He told Channel Four News: "Europe is not really short of money. Europe needs to give a clear picture to the Europeans themselves and to the rest of the world that their problems could be worked out.

"The root cause of the trouble is the over-burdened welfare system, built up since the Second World War in Europe - the sloth-inducing, indolence-inducing labour laws. » | Sarah Rainey | Thursday, October 20, 2011

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Dollar Losing Safe-Haven Status

The dollar is losing its safe-haven mantle as investors such as China worry about a lack of fiscal tightening and the risk of more monetary easing.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Mervyn King: Time 'Running Out' to Solve World Economy Crisis

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain is at risk from a fundamental crisis in the world economy and “time is running out” to solve it, the Governor of the Bank of England has said.

Despite record low interest rates, printing new money and other emergency measures, governments had not yet addressed the underlying problem of overspending that was at the root of the financial crisis, Sir Mervyn King warned. The consequences threatened to “inflict pain on everyone”, he said.

In a sobering assessment of the world economy, Sir Mervyn warned that even if world leaders managed to agree on emergency moves to support the banking system and debt-stricken economies such as Greece, they would still not have averted the threat to global stability.

Unless overspending by Western economies was curbed it would bring about an ever-larger debt crisis that would mean much lower long-term growth rates, he said.

Worse, he suggested, some of the measures being deployed to counter the short-term situation could actually exacerbate fundamental economic problems, worsening the debt crisis and leaving taxpayers footing an even larger bill.

Sir Mervyn delivered his gloomy verdict as official figures showed that inflation surged to 5.2 per cent last month, squeezing living standards and eroding the value of savings and pensions. Inflation was “at or close to” its peak and would soon start to fall back towards the Bank’s two per cent target, he said. » | James Kirkup | Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Euro Rescue Plan Will Not Be Enough and Anti-capitalism Protests Will Grow

Roger Bootle, Telegraph columnist and author of The Trouble with Markets, tells Robert Miller the Eurozone's proposed rescue package will not be enough to end the financial crisis and that support for the anti-capitalism protests in London, Madrid, the United States and elsewhere will grow.


Comment here
Sarkozy kämpft um Bestnote: Frankreichs Rating-Sorgen verunsichern Euro-Zone

SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: Die Ratingagentur Moody's bezweifelt, ob das verschuldete Frankreich seine Top-Bewertung weiter behält. Doch weil bald Präsidentschaftswahlen sind, verzichtet Nicolas Sarkozy wohl auf durchgreifende Reformen. Sollte Frankreich sein AAA verlieren, hätte das heftige Folgen für den Euro-Rettungsschirm - und damit für Deutschland. Die Krise dringt nach Kerneuropa vor.

Wenn sich an diesem Wochenende die Staats- und Regierungschefs der Europäischen Union zu ihrem Gipfel treffen, ist die Tagesordnung lang und das überwölbende Motto eindeutig: Es geht um die Zukunft Europas. Doch daneben geht es auch um eine persönliche Zukunft - die von Nicolas Sarkozy. » | Von Johannes Aumüller | Dienstag 18. Oktober 2011

Monday 17 October 2011

Liliane Bettencourt : Elle va être placée sous tutelle

FRANCE SOIR: C'est fait. La troisième fortune de France, héritière du fondateur du groupe L'Oréal, va être placée sous tutelle, a annoncé lundi une avocate de sa fille, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers.

La riche héritière, en conflit ouvert avec Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, sa fille, va-t-elle s'exiler comme elle a pu le laisser entendre ? C'est ce qu'elle annonçait dimanche, dans une interview au Journal du Dimanche, si Stéphanie Kass-Dano, la juge des tutelles à Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine), en charge du dossier, prenait une telle décision. Plusieurs possibilités s'offraient à la magistrate : un placement sous tutelle ou sous curatelle renforcée, ou encore la révocation d'une telle demande. Pascal Whilem, avocat de Liliane Bettencourt, âgée de 89 ans, avait annoncé samedi que si une telle mesure (tutelle ou curatelle) était décidée, un recours serait formé. » | Par Actu France-Soir | lundi 17 octobre 2011

LE FIGARO: Liliane Bettencourt placée sous tutelle : Liliane Bettencourt, héritière du fondateur de L'Oréal et troisième fortune de France, va être placée sous tutelle, a annoncé aujourd'hui une avocate de sa fille, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers. » | Avec Reuters | lundi 17 octobre 2011

LE MONDE: Liliane Bettencourt va être placée sous tutelle » | LEMONDE.FR | lundi 17 octobre 2011
Andy Burnham on the NHS Bill: 'Tories Distrust National Planned Healthcare'

Former health secretary Andy Burnham, recently made shadow health secretary in Labour leader Ed Miliband's reshuffle, looks at the controversial NHS bill. He says patients will be faced with a postcode lottery, with huge variations in standards of treatment around the country and a lack of accountability

Sunday 16 October 2011

Bettencourt : "Si ma fille gagne, je pars à l’étranger"

leJDD: EXCLUSIF. Liliane Bettencourt attend en "tremblant" la décision, lundi, de la juge des tutelles qui doit, ou non, confier le reste de ses affaires à sa fille. La femme la plus riche de France confie ses angoisses au JDD.

Sur la table basse du salon, le bouquet d’hortensias est piqué de branches de saule tortueux. Il semble assorti aux lignes de la guitare du Picasso bleu accroché juste derrière. Le parc, en plein cœur de Neuilly, avec ses couleurs d’automne, est un petit bijou. Ce vendredi d’octobre, les dernières roses paressent au soleil. Liliane Bettencourt, en cette fin de matinée, profite des rayons dans le fauteuil de sa chambre, à l’étage. L’héritière L’Oréal, même fatiguée, a le sourire poli. Mais son visage de star d’une autre époque trahit une immense lassitude… "J’ai tout pour être heureuse", admet la première fortune de France. Et pourtant, non. Les mots qui reviennent dans sa bouche, "cauchemar", "étouffement", semblent incongrus dans ces murs tapissés de toiles de maître.

Lundi, à la demande de sa fille unique Françoise, la juge des tutelles de Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine) dira si Liliane Bettencourt doit, ou non, être placée sous tutelle et si le mandat de protection de Me Pascal Wilhelm doit être révoqué. L’avocate de Françoise Meyers a demandé que celle-ci et ses deux fils deviennent les tuteurs. "On ne veut aucun mal à Liliane, on demande simplement que ses affaires soient bien gérées", assure un porte-parole du camp Meyers.

Françoise Meyers, de son côté, refuse systématiquement "toute communication". "C’est une histoire de fous, réplique un proche de la mère. Sa fille dispose déjà de quasiment toute la fortune, tout s’est réglé dans l’accord de décembre dernier. Il ne reste en fait “que” deux milliards d’euros environ, correspondant aux liquidités restantes de Liliane. C’est cela l’enjeu de la dernière bagarre, car cet argent, par simple testament, Liliane Bettencourt peut le donner demain à la Croix-Rouge ou à une fondation de son choix…" » | Laurent Valdiguié - Le Journal du Dimanche | samedi 15 octobre 2011
Failing Dreams: California Faces Its Own Great Depression

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: It is less than 20 miles from the pristine surfing beaches of the California coast to a scene of Third World deprivation.

In Skid Row, a grimy pocket of downtown Los Angeles, the prostrate forms of homeless people lie strewn across the pavements.

The lucky ones have tents for shelter but others make do with a sliver of cardboard for a bed and a supermarket trolley to carry their rags.

At the last police count 1,662 people live on these streets, twice as many as a year ago.
And now amid the drug addicts and the drunks there are families who not so long ago had homes and ordinary suburban lives.

“Los Angeles is re-experiencing the Great Depression,” said Rev Andy Bales, who runs the nearby Union Rescue Mission shelter. “This is the worst I have ever seen it and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. This is all these people have as a last resort and I think there’s going to be over 2,000 by Christmas.

“I don’t think people around the world understand just how bad it is here.”

California – the Golden State, the world’s eighth largest economy - is spluttering and stalling and for many the dream life is turning increasingly sour. » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Friday, October 14, 2011
Across the World, the Indignant Rise Up against Corporate Greed and Cuts

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Violence mars Rome protest, but in scores more cities tens of thousands take peacefully to the streets

Protests against corporate greed, executive excess and public austerity began to gel into the beginnings of a worldwide movement yesterday as tens of thousands marched in scores of cities. The "Occupy Wall Street" protest, which started in Canada and spread to the US, and the long-running Spanish "Indignant" and Greek anti-cuts demonstrations coalesced on a day that saw marches or occupations in 82 countries.

Some protests were small, as in Tokyo, where only 200 turned up; some were large, as in Spain, where around 60 separate demonstrations were staged; and some were muted, as in London, where nearly 2,000 intending to march on the Stock Exchange obeyed police who turned them back. As dusk fell, some 500 of them were kettled in St Paul's churchyard.

Containment tactics were also used by police in New York last night as thousands of demonstrators were penned behind barricades in Times Square. They had marched through Manhattan and protested outside the city's banks, withdrawing their money as they did. » | David Randall and Matt Thomas | Sunday, October 16, 2011

Friday 14 October 2011

Prosperity Without Austerity - Sweden

Watch Journeyman Pictures video here
The Explainer: Libya and Its Oil-rich History

Aug. 24 - Reuters breaks down the history of Gaddafi’s oil-fueled regime and explains how a ruthless dictator was able to stay in power for over 40 years.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Mitt Romney: 'European Socialist Policies Not Right for US'

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says Barack Obama has been taking his political inspiration from 'socialist democrats in Europe', and it isn't working.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Barack Obama's Jobs Package Defeated in the US Senate

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The US Senate has defeated President Barack Obama's job-creation package, as several members of his own party joined Republicans in dealing a significant but expected blow to the White House's attempt to seize the initiative on the economy ahead of the 2012 election.

The $447 billion package of tax cuts and new spending failed by a vote of 50 to 48, well short of the 60 votes it needed to advance in the 100-member chamber.

Mr Obama, campaigning in Florida, said the vote was not the end of the fight for the measure. In a statement after the vote, Obama accused Republicans of obstruction and said he would work with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make sure that individual proposals in the bill would get a vote as soon as possible. "Ultimately, the American people won't take 'no' for an answer. It's time for Congress to meet their responsibility, put their party politics aside and take action on jobs right now," he said. » | Alex Spillius in Washington | Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Lösung der Eurokrise bis Ende Oktober

Steve Jobs' Official Cause of Death Released

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, died of respiratory arrest caused by a pancreatic tumour, according to the death certificate.

Jobs died last Wednesday at his home in Palo Alto, California, at about 3pm, according to the certificate, which lists "respiratory arrest" as the immediate cause of death with "metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumour" as the underlying condition that caused the respiratory problem.

No autopsy was performed on Jobs, who was listed as an entrepreneur in the high tech industry with "some college" education on the certificate released by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

Jobs died at the age of 56, surrounded by his wife and immediate family. » | Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Charity Volunteer and Premier Foods Supervisor Win £101 Million Lottery Jackpot

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The winners of a £101 million EuroMillions jackpot have been revealed as a food company supervisor and a charity volunteer.

It really was third time lucky for Dave Dawes, 47, a shift supervisor for Premier Foods, and Angela Dawes, 43, a volunteer for the British Heart Foundation, when they hit the £101,203,600.70 jackpot last Friday.

The couple, from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, who share the same surname but are not married, had only played twice before, they revealed today. They are now the third biggest lottery winners in the UK.

Mr Dawes described today how they discovered their win.

He said: "We were watching TV and the EuroMillions draw show came on so we kept watching, not thinking we would win anything.

"We got our tickets out and watched in shock as, one by one, the numbers came up on the line I'd chosen. » | Amy Willis | Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Monday 10 October 2011

Food Prices to Rise under New EU Set-aside Plans

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Food prices in the UK will rise under European plans to force farmers to set aside land for conservation, it has been warned.

Under major reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), farmers would see their subsidies cut by 30 per cent unless they turn 7 per cent of their land over to nature.

They will be required to leave land fallow as “ecological focus areas” that would have to be managed to benefit wildlife like farmland birds.

But the National Union of Farmers has condemned the plan, saying that if farmers are forced to take land out of production they will have to put up the price of their crops at a time when the cost of food is already rising dramatically. » | Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent | Thursday, October 06, 2011
Eurokrise: Vorhang auf zum Finale der griechischen Tragödie

STERN: Monatelang bemühte sich Europa, Hellas vor der Pleite zu bewahren. Inzwischen ist klar: Die erste Bank muss mit 95 Milliarden Euro gestützt werden, nur ein Wunder wird Griechenland noch retten. Auch Kanzlerin Merkel sieht das mittlerweile so.

Große Wunder geschehen immer wieder. Dass Griechenlandin die Eurozone durfte, war so eins. Schließlich wurde es damit auf eine Stufe gestellt mit Deutschland und Frankreich - also mit den taffsten Staaten des Kontinents. Inzwischen ist bekannt, dass sich die Hellenen den Euro mit geschönten Statistiken über die wahre Lage des Landes ertricksten. Begünstigt wurde das von Poltikern in anderen Teilen der EU, auch hierzulande, die alle Warnungen an der Euro-Fähigkeit Griechenlands in den Wind schlugen.

Auch kleine Wunder geschehen immer wieder. Dass Griechenland plötzlich mehr Geld in der Hinterhand hat als bisher öffentlich bekannt, war so eins. Nachdem die Euro-Finanzminister die Auszahlung der nächsten acht Milliarden aus dem 110 Milliarden Euro schweren Hilfsprogramm verweigerten und die Hellenen auf Mitte November vertrösteten, erklärte der griechische Kassenwart Evangelos Venizelos: "Bis Mitte November - das ist klar - gibt es kein Problem."

Selbst Analysten gerieten ins Grübeln, wieso die Griechen plötzlich Hunderte Millionen Euro aus ihren Hüten zaubern können. Schließlich hieß es vor dem Beschluss der Finanzminister, wenn Hellas bis spätestens Ende Oktober die acht Milliarden Euro nicht erhalte, sei der Staat pleite. Auch die griechische Regierung hatte dies gestreut - sicher in der Absicht, Druck aufzubauen. » | Von Thomas Schmoll | Montag 10. Oktober 2011
Independent Website to Launch Paywall for Non-UK Readers

THE GUARDIAN: New York Times-style system of 20 free articles a month is part of push to bolster Independent's multimedia credentials

The Independent, which celebrated its 25th birthday on Friday, is to launch a paywall for non-UK readers, a top-priced iPad application and strip more than 70,000 free bulk copies from its circulation, in a strategy designed to reinforce its credentials as a premium multimedia title.

The paywall will initially target online readers from the US and Canada, and allow access to 20 articles for free a month with a charge for unlimited usage. Following the limited free access models of the New York Times and the Financial Times, north American readers will be charged at $6.99 (£4.50) a month.

About 40% to 50% of the Lebedev-owned title's traffic comes from readers outside the UK, with monthly unique users now at about 16 million. Senior executives say that there are "a couple of hundred thousand" of users in North America that have been identified as viewing more than 20 articles a month who are the initial target of the paywall strategy. » | Mark Sweney | Monday, October 10, 2011

Sunday 9 October 2011

Zeit Akademie: Die Entstehung von Finanzkrisen

Wenn Gelassenheit an den Finanzmärkten in Panikreaktionen übergeht: Hintergründe von Rüdiger Pohl, Prof. für Volkswirtschaftslehre und langjähriger Wirtschaftsweiser. | 04.10.2011

Saturday 8 October 2011

Small Private Funeral for Steve Jobs at Unidsclosed [sic] Location

THE AUSTRALIAN: THE funeral for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs [1955 – 2011] is taking place today, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The funeral is characterised as a small private gathering, this person said. The person wouldn't say where or when the event was taking place, citing respect Jobs and his family's privacy.

The event comes two days after Mr Jobs died after battling an undisclosed illness. He previously underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant. » | The Wall Street Journal | Saturday, October 08, 2011

APPLE.COM: Share your thoughts, memories, and condolences »

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Steve Jobs: The Secular Prophet – Steve Jobs turned Eve's apple, the symbol of fallen humankind, into a religious icon for true believers in technology. But can salvation be downloaded? » | Andy Crouch | Saturday, October 08, 2011

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Mossberg: The Steve Jobs I Knew » | Walter S. Mossberg | Thursday, October 06, 2011
Hamburg 1931: So schnell kann ein Staat Bankrott machen

WELT ONLINE: Der drohende Bankrott Griechenlands ist kein neues Phänomen der Weltgeschichte. 1931 befand sich Hamburg in einer ganz ähnlichen Situation.

Vater Staat pleite: Diese Vorstellung war bis zu den Finanzkrisen unserer Tage weithin nicht vorstellbar. Das hat sich geändert. Die Supermacht USA stand kürzlich vor der Zahlungsunfähigkeit, das EU-Mitglied Griechenland kann von der europäischen Gemeinschaft nur noch mit größter Mühe über Wasser gehalten werden.

Auch Hamburg war vor 80 Jahren in einer solchen Situation. Im Herbst 1931 stand die Stadt kurz vor dem Staatsbankrott, und in der ersten Oktoberwoche 1931 spitzte sich die finanzielle Lage derart zu, dass die Staatspleite faktisch eingetreten war.

Nur ein Eilkredit des Reichsfinanzministeriums, mit dem ein kurzfristiges Darlehen des Bankhauses Warburg über 3,5 Millionen Reichsmark abgelöst wurde, konnte das Schlimmste verhindern. Es war vor allem der Umsicht des legendären Finanzstaatsrat Leo Lippmann (1881 bis 1943) zu verdanken, dass dies gelang.

Wie konnten Hamburgs Staatsfinanzen in eine so verheerende Schieflage geraten? Ursache war die Weltwirtschaftskrise, die am 25. Oktober 1929 mit dem „Schwarzen Freitag“, dem Zusammenbruch der durch hektische Aktienspekulation überhitzten Kurse an der New Yorker Börse, begann. Die Folge waren Milliardenverluste von Unternehmen und Privatpersonen innerhalb kürzester Zeit. Weiter lesen und einen Beitrag abgeben » | Autor: Uwe Bahnsen | Samstag 08. Oktober 2011
Lehrstellen nach Schweizer Vorbild sollen die britische Wirtschaft ankurbeln

Obwohl die Weltmeisterschaft der besten nicht-akademischen Berufsleute in London tausende Zuschauer anlockt, haben Berufslehren in Grossbritannien wenig Ansehen. Premierminister David Cameron will nun neue Lehrstellen nach Schweizer Vorbild schaffen. Diese sollen zum Wirtschaftswachstum beitragen.

Tagesschau vom 08.10.2011

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Grossbritannien will Lehrstellen nach Schweizer Vorbild: Obwohl Berufslehren in Grossbritannien wenig Ansehen haben, will Premierminister David Cameron neue Lehrstellen nach Schweizer Vorbild schaffen. Damit soll das Wirtschaftswachstum angekurbelt und die Jugendarbeitslosigkeit verringert werden. » | sf/stus | Samstag 08. Oktober 2011
Euro Fear as Spain and Italy's Debt Ratings Are Downgraded

THE GUARDIAN: British banks and building societies lose rating while pressure mounts on EU to restore faith in single currency

The eurozone crisis intensified on Friday when Spain and Italy were downgraded by the ratings agency Fitch, heightening fears over the health of Europe's banks.

Fitch's move came at the end of a day which had already seen 12 UK banks and building societies downgraded by the rival agency Moody's and amid speculation about co-ordinated European action to bolster the finances of the continent's banks by next weekend.

The euro fell against most major currencies, piling fresh pressure on European politicians to restore confidence in the single currency. Germany's Angela Merkel said Europe needed to find a solution for its banks by 17 October. Analysts from Capital Economics estimate the total financial package may top €200bn (£172bn).

Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy of France are due to meet in Berlin on Sunday to discuss the crisis, with bank recapitalisation expected to be at the heart of their negotiations.

George Osborne attempted to distance UK banks from the crisis, despite speculation that there might need to be a fresh capital injection into British institutions, particularly Royal Bank of Scotland. He said: "People ask me how are you going to avoid Britain and the British taxpayer bailing out banks in the future. This government is taking steps to do that … I'm confident British banks are well capitalised, they are liquid, they are not experiencing the kinds of problems some of the banks in the eurozone are experiencing at the moment." » | Jill Treanor and Patrick Wintour | Friday, October 07, 2011
EuroMillions Results: UK Ticketholder Wins £101m Prize

THE GUARDIAN: Third largest lottery win ever in Britain – the largest ever EuroMillions jackpot of £161m went to Scotland couple in July

A UK ticketholder has won the estimated £101m EuroMillions jackpot. It is the third largest lottery prize ever won in the UK, according to Camelot.

It is not yet known if the jackpot was won by a single ticketholder or a syndicate. » | Press Association | Saturday, October 08, 2011