Occupy Protesters Were Right, Says Bank of England Official
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The anti-capitalist protesters who occupied St Paul’s Cathedral were both morally and intellectually right, a senior Bank of England official said last night.

Andrew Haldane, a member of the Bank’s financial policy committee, said the Occupy movement was correct in its attack on the international financial system.

The Occupy movement sprang up last year and staged significant demonstrations in both the City of London and New York, protesting about the unequal distribution of wealth and the influence of the financial services industry. Members of the movement occupied the grounds of St Paul’s and remained camped there for more than three months until police evicted them in February last year.

“Occupy has been successful in its efforts to popularise the problems of the global financial system for one very simple reason; they are right,” Mr Haldane said last night. Mr Haldane, the Bank’s executive director for financial stability, was speaking to Occupy Economics, an offshoot of the Occupy movement, at an event in central London.

In a speech entitled Socially Useful Banking, he said the protesters had helped bring about a “reformation” in financial services and the way they are regulated.

Partly because of the protests, he suggested, both bank executives and policymakers were persuaded that banks must behave in a more moral way, and take greater account of inequality in wider society. » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor | Monday, October 29, 2012

Almost Five Million British Workers Paid Less Than the Living Wage
THE GUARDIAN: TUC describes new research that the standard of living in one of every five families is being hit as 'shocking'

One in five British workers and their families are likely to have inadequate standards of living because they are being paid less than the living wage, according to a study.

The research by the consultants KPMG found that 4.82 million workers have to survive on less than a living wage, currently £8.30 an hour in London and £7.20 in the rest of the country. The TUC described the findings as "shocking".

The government has resisted campaigns to increase the currentminimum wage of £6.19 to living wage levels, fearing that it would hit employment figures. It argues that it is a poorly targeted poverty measure.

But an increasing number of employers, notably the London mayor Boris Johnson, have introduced a living wage rate for their staff. According to KPMG's study, the voluntary measure has helped 10,000 employees, and redistributed £96m to the lowest paid. » | Matthew Weaver | Monday, October 29, 2012

Greek Magazine Editor in Court for Naming Alleged Tax Evaders

THE GUARDIAN: Kostas Vaxevanis at centre of political storm after publishing names of wealthy Greeks alleged to have Swiss bank accounts

A magazine editor in Greece will appear in court after publishing the names of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks alleged to have Swiss bank accounts, triggering a row over tax evasion that threatens the stability of the government.

Kostas Vaxevanis was arrested on Sunday, after his weekly journal, Hot Doc, printed the list of names, which including prominent members of Greece's political and business elite.

The editor was giving a live radio interview when police arrived, and broke off saying he had to go "to be arrested". At the same [time] he tweeted about the arrest, comparing the police to German stormtroopers in the second world war. In another tweet he wrote: "They're entering my house with the prosecutor right now. They are arresting me. Spread the word."

Police officials said that Vaxevanis had illegally published personal details without proof that the people involved had broken the law. But he and other critics of the government have portrayed his arrest as part of a cover-up intended to obscure claims that the finance ministry had had the list for more than two years without taking action against those named. » | Julian Borger | Sunday, October 28, 2012

Archbishop of Canterbury Contender Criticises Banks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The frontrunner to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury has accused banks of having “no socially useful purpose” and being “exponents of anarchy” in a speech warning that the battered financial services industry cannot be repaired.

The Rt Rev Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, says the sector must be rebuilt “from the ruins” of the financial crisis to become something that “helps people rather than being there for people to help it”.

Bishop Welby, who is a member of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, called for the introduction of formal banking qualifications, for the Government only to only support financial institutions that have a “clear and explicit social value”, and to offer an easier tax regime and lighter regulation for banks that demonstrate a “social purpose”.

Speaking at a conference in Zurich, Switzerland, Bishop Welby said: “At the moment clearly these are merely ideas in the mist.

"But one principle seems to me to be clear, we cannot repair what was destroyed in 2008, we can only replace it with something that is dedicated to the support of human society, to the common good and to solidarity.

"Financial services are crucial to human development, but they only do their job when the work they carry out is done in a way that is truly a service." » | Graham Ruddick | Saturday, October 27, 2012

Prince Albert of Monaco on Tax and Space

Westerwelle für Freihandelszone mit den USA
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Berlin (Reuters) - Bundesaußenminister Guido Westerwelle (FDP) hat EU und USA dazu aufgerufen, zur Bewältigung der Schuldenkrise eine Freihandelszone zu schaffen.

In der "Neuen Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Samstagausgabe) forderte er, die EU solle mit den Vereinigten Staaten nicht nur außen- und sicherheitspolitisch, sondern auch wirtschaftlich enger zusammenarbeiten. "Ich dringe darauf, dass Europa und Nordamerika so schnell wie möglich Gespräche über eine transatlantische Freihandelszone aufnehmen", sagte der Außenminister. » | Samstag, 27. Oktober 2012

Debt-stricken Spain Hit by Record Joblessness
New statistics show unemployment rate now above 25 per cent, with about 800,000 people losing jobs in past 12 months.

Spain Jobs Woes Deepen as Unemployment Rate Hits 25pc
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Spain’s unemployment rate reached 25pc, official data showed of Friday, the highest level since the nation’s transition to democracy, with further layoffs predicted next year.

Tens of thousands of jobs were lost between July and September raising the number of unemployed to 5.78 million people, Spain’s National Statistics Institute reported, a level unseen since the dictatorship of Francisco Franco ended in the mid-1970s.

The number of Spanish households in which every member is out of work climbed to 1.74 million, roughly one tenth of all Spanish families.

The rise in the number of jobless comes as Spain sinks deeper into recession, with output expected to decline for the third consecutive quarter.

It comes as Spain struggles with deep austerity measures that have forced many out onto the street in protest.

Unions have called a general strike for November 14, the second since Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government came to power in December. » | Fiona Govan, in Madrid | Friday, October 26, 2012

The Economics of Hajj: Money and Pilgrimage

BBC: Millions of Muslims from all walks of life have converged on Saudi Arabia to perform the pilgrimage known as the Hajj.

The annual occasion has become a lucrative business in recent years, proving a great financial asset to the economy of the oil-rich kingdom.

Many pilgrims, however, struggle to reconcile their spiritual needs with their wallets.

Mohammed Zayan, a 53-year-old pilgrim from Tunisia, has waited a lifetime to perform the religious obligation, which does not come free.

"I spent up to $6,000 (£3,700) on my Hajj," says Mr Zayan, who wears the traditional white pilgrims' clothes.

"I thank God that he enabled me to save this amount of money but I'm sad I could not afford taking my wife and son with me."

The millions who come to Mecca every year bring billions of dollars to the Saudi economy. » | Ahmed Maher, BBC Arabic, Mecca | Thursday, October 25, 2012

Cash-strapped Cyprus Plots Russian Exit from Austerity
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: It has been three years since I was last in Paphos, a resort on Cyprus's west coast, and at first glance not much has changed.

In a taxi from the airport, down a rollercoaster road of potholes and speed bumps, we drive past white-walled villas draped in bougainvillea. At the quayside of the old harbour, traditional fish restaurants continue to do steady business, as tourists gather by the castle to watch a magnificent sunset. Behind this façade of familiarity, however, the comings and goings have been so dramatic that many in Cyprus are struggling to understand what has happened to them. Important features of local life have, literally, disappeared – and I'm not talking just about thousands of feral cats that used to reside here.

This island, once a magnet for money, is perilously close to running out of cash. Standard & Poor's, the ratings agency, has downgraded Cyprus twice since the beginning of August, citing "deteriorating domestic credit conditions and eroding consumer and investor confidence".

With an election due in February and fears of a lurch to the left, a local café owner admitted to me that property buyers from overseas, many of them British, who in the past had been "robbed", would be foolish to rush back.

Evidence of plunging fortunes is everywhere, with billboards offering two-bedroom apartments, originally priced at €150,00 (£122,000), now €79,000. In the shopping zone close to Paphos's more expensive hotels, there are several boarded up premises, scarred with graffiti, where bars and car-hire companies used to flourish.

Things are so bad that some individuals, owed money by the government for appropriation of their land, have begun sending in the bailiffs to seize state assets. Only last week, seven vehicles owned by various departments, including the land registry, were grabbed and whisked away for auction. » | Jeffrey Randall | Monday, October 22, 2012

Im Wallis wird die «alpine Batterie» gebaut
Zwischen Martigny und Chamonix entsteht ein neues Pumpspeicherkraftwerk. Es produziert allerdings keinen neuen Strom, sondern soll ab 2017 ausschliesslich als «alpine Batterie» dienen. Das Kraftwerk soll für die Schweiz ein Trumpf in den Verhandlungen mit der EU über ein neues Energieabkommen sein.

Newsweek va arrêter son édition papier
LE FIGARO: Newsweek a décidé d'arrêter son édition imprimée dès la fin de l'année. Le célèbre hebdomadaire américain, fondé il y a près de 80 ans, va passer au tout numérique, sur le Web, le mobile et les tablettes. La dernière édition papier sera celle du 31 décembre. » | lefigaro.fr avec AFP | jeudi 18 octobre 2012

'Devastating Impact': Euro Exit by Southern Nations Could Cost 17 Trillion Euros
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A new study by a German think tank warns that a euro exit by Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy would cut global GDP by 17 trillion euros and plunge the world into recession, with France suffering the biggest loss. A Greek exit alone would be manageable, but must be avoided to forestall a domino effect, it says.

A Greek euro exit on its own would have a relatively minor impact on the world economy, but if it causes a chain reaction leading to the departure of other southern European nations from the single currency, the economic impact on the world would be devastating, a German study warned on Wednesday.

Economic research group Prognos, in a study commissioned by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, estimated that euro exits by Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy would wipe a total of €17.2 trillion ($22.3 trillion) off worldwide growth by 2020.

The researchers arrived at a particularly bleak assessment because they didn't just calculate the losses of creditors who had lent money to the crisis-hit nations. They also analyzed the possible impact of a euro collapse on economic growth in the 42 most important industrial and emerging economies that make up more than 90 percent of the world economy.

Using an econometric model, Prognos first calculated the effect of a Greek euro exit, and then simulated the step-by-step fallout from Portugal, Spain and Italy abandoning the currency as well. » | cro | Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Armutskonferenz: Schere zwischen Arm und Reich schadet Gesellschaft

WIENER ZEITUNG: Kluft wächst. / 511.000 Österreicher leben unter der Armutsgrenze.

Wien. Die Armutskonferenz hat anlässlich des heutigen Internationalen Tags der Beseitigung von Armut am Mittwoch bei einer Pressekonferenz vor den Auswirkungen einer größer werdenden Schere zwischen Arm und Reich für die Gesellschaft gewarnt. Laut Statistik leben 511.000 Österreicher unter der Armutsgrenze, was sich negativ auf ihre Lebenserwartung und Gesundheit auswirke, und am Ende höhere Kosten für die Gesellschaft bedeute.

Die Ungleichheit in Österreich wachse, so Martin Schenk, Sozialexperte der Diakonie Österreich. In vielen Haushalten müsse am Monatsende die Entscheidung getroffen werden, ob man die Miete zahlen oder sich beim Supermarkt Essen kaufen wolle. "Das sind Entscheidungen, die furchtbar sind, die aber in Österreich stattfinden." Grund für die Unterschiede ist laut Schenk die steigende Zahl von Menschen mit prekären Jobs, die von ihrem Gehalt nicht mehr leben können. Noch stärker seien die Unterschiede beim Vermögen, in das auch Immobilien, Aktien und Unternehmensbeteiligungen einberechnet werden: "Die obersten zehn Prozent der Bevölkerung besitzen die Hälfte des Gesamtvermögens." » | Mittwoch, 17. Oktober 2012

Goldman Pay Pot Hits $11bn as Profits Jump
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Goldman Sachs has joined in a much better-than-expected third quarter for Wall Street, raising the prospect its bankers will take home bigger bonuses this year.

The investment bank’s $1.51bn (£936m) profit in the quarter comfortably beat market expectations and compares with a loss of $393m in the same period last year. Bond trading and an increase in the value of some of Goldman’s investments helped drive an increase that follows better than forecast results from rivals Citigroup and JP Morgan. » | Richard Blackden, New York | Tuesday, October 16, 2012

French Business Erupts in Fury against "Disastrous" François Hollande

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: France is sliding into a grave economic crisis and risks a full-blown “hurricane” as investors flee rocketing tax rates, the country’s business federation has warned.

“The situation is very serious. Some business leaders are in a state of quasi-panic,” said Laurence Parisot, head of employers’ group MEDEF.

“The pace of bankruptcies has accelerated over the summer. We are seeing a general loss of confidence by investors. Large foreign investors are shunning France altogether. It’s becoming really dramatic.”

MEDEF, France’s equivalent of the CBI, said the threat has risen from “a storm warning to a hurricane warning”, adding that the Socialist government of François Hollande has yet to understand the “extreme gravity” of the crisis.

The immediate bone of contention is Article 6 of the new tax law, which raises the top rate of capital gains tax from 34.5pc to 62.2pc. This compares with 21pc in Spain, 26.4pc in Germany and 28pc in Britain.

“Let’s be clear, Article 6 is not acceptable, even if modified. We will not be complicit in a disastrous economic mistake,” Mrs Parisot told Le Figaro. An alliance of private organisations in France has issued a protest entitled “State of Emergency for Business”, warning that confiscatory tax rates threaten lasting damage to the French economy. » | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Monday, October 15, 2012

UK Faces $2.2bln Bill to Cover Eurocrat Pensions – Report
RT.COM: The EU’s bureaucracy is set to grow while the rest of Europe is wracked by austerity measures. UK taxpayers will reportedly fork out an extra $2.2 billion annually for the next seven years to pay for the doubling of pensions for Brussels’ officials.

A confidential letter leaked to The Telegraph also reveals that EU pensions are set to double to more than $3.2 billion a year by 2045.

In addition, it disclosed that the European Commission is requesting a 26 per cent increase to cover the growing costs of the civil service in the proposed 2014-2020 budgets, bringing the cost from $72 billion to $91 billion.

Currently, the EU’s retirement plan for bureaucrats consists of 60 per cent of final salary, which evens out to an annual pension of $91,000. This costs European national governments about $1.6 billion annually.

But, this number is continually growing, as the EU takes on more staff to accommodate its expansion from 15 to 27 countries since 2004. » | Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Indonesia Aims to be Islamic Fashion Powerhouse

WSJ – BLOG: JAKARTA–A new breed of designers is seeking to blend Islamic modesty with cutting-edge style to turn Indonesia into a global center of Islamic fashion.

The idea may seem like a bad fit for some fashion mavens, who when thinking of Islamic fashion usually picture drab black or white cloths used to cloak female beauty rather than celebrate it.

But the Islamic-fashion industry has taken off in recent years as designers look for ways to incorporate the bold colors and rich textile traditions prevalent in some Islamic societies while still maintaining sufficient modesty to adhere to Muslim mores.

Indonesia, as the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, is already one of the main players, with a local fashion industry now estimated to be worth $6.6 billion dollars a year. But local designers and retailers – led by an industry group called the Indonesian Islamic Fashion Consortium – are hoping to expand the Islamic fashion component of the industry even more by drawing up a road map to make Indonesia the “capital” of global Islamic fashion by 2020.

Right now, Malaysia, Thailand and France are among the leading Islamic fashion hubs, industry officials say. » | Ahmad Pathoni | Monday, October 15, 2012

Îles grecques à vendre

LE POINT: Pour alléger les dépenses publiques, l'État grec songerait à faire évacuer les îles de moins de 150 habitants. L'idée fait scandale.

La nouvelle a fait l'effet d'une bombe. Selon la presse grecque de ce week-end, les émissaires de l'Union européenne et du Fonds monétaire international auraient proposé au gouvernement grec de "déplacer les habitants des îles comptant moins de 150 habitants vers des lieux plus accessibles". Une proposition reprise publiquement par Kostas Mousouroulis, le ministre grec des Affaires maritimes. Le pays possède en effet une myriade d'îles, dont beaucoup sont proches des côtes turques. Vingt-deux d'entre elles sont habitées par moins de 150 habitants. Leur fonctionnement, selon le ministre, aurait un "coût trop élevé pour l'État".

Cette annonce a provoqué un tel tollé dans le pays que Kostas Mousouroulis a été contraint de revenir sur ses propos, affirmant qu'il s'agissait d'une plaisanterie. Dans la foulée, le gouvernement dans son ensemble s'est empressé de démentir l'information. Mais nombre d'experts doutent d'une simple gaffe du gouvernement et croient plutôt à un ballon d'essai pour que l'idée fasse son chemin. À l'image de Manolis Glézos, le député du Syriza, le parti de la gauche radicale : "Oslo ne peut pas donner le prix Nobel de la paix à une Union européenne qui demande l'évacuation d'un certain nombre d'îles." » | De correspondante di Point à Athènes, Alexia Kefalas | dimanche 14 octobre 2012

Crisis-hit Spaniards Seek Work in France
As the economic crisis is taking its toll on Spain, an increasing number of labourers - particularly construction workers - are crossing the border into France for work. French builders now complain that the foreign competition is stealing their business, and that unemployment is rising in French border towns. A French labourer earns $15, while a Spaniard will work for $10. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from the Franco-Spanish border.