French economy in recession once again

Bad news for the French as recession hits French economy for the second time in less than four years.

The official figures show that the French economy has shrunk by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year. It may be recalled that French economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012.

President Francois Hollande has said he expects zero growth in 2013, lower than a 0.1% growth forecast by the French government.

Separate figures showed that the recession across the 17-nation eurozone has continued into a sixth quarter.

Elsewhere, annual figures from Germany also show the German economy has shrunk by 1.4% when compared with a year ago.

Read more about it at: BBC News
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Global economy figures out in top agenda at Asia-Europe Meeting

Final preparations for the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) were underway here on Sunday with delegates from 51 members gathering for what has been termed the largest ever international event hosted by Laos, an official said here.

Many of the estimated 4,000 delegates from the member countries have arrived in the capital prepared for strong engagement during the two day summit that kicks off on Monday afternoon under the theme "Friends for Peace, Partners for Prosperity."

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European leaders attending the Laos talks are expected to provide an update on efforts to address tensions in financial market, to restore confidence and to stimulate growth and jobs.

Read more about it: Xinhua

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Britain faces a sink or swim moment, says British PM

Britain faces a sink or swim moment and must take painful action to avoid falling behind its global competitors, Prime Minister David Cameron was set to warn on Wednesday.

Photo: Swim Across America

The struggling Conservative leader will use a crucial speech to his party's annual conference in the industrial city of Birmingham to urge recession-hit Britons to work harder and brace for more austerity.

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"Unless we act, unless we take difficult, painful decisions, unless we show determination and imagination, Britain may not be in the future what it has been in the past. Sink or swim, do or decline," he will say according to advance extracts.

Read more at: Business Recorder

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012

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Spanish PM to unveil fresh cuts

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has begun addressing parliament, setting out a new raft of austerity measures aimed at balancing the budget.

His speech comes as hundreds of Spanish miners arrived in Madrid to protest against government cuts to subsidies.

Mr Rajoy is expected to unveil a rise in VAT as well as cuts to social security and unemployment benefits.

The measures are in return for a eurozone bank bailout and an extension to Spain's deficit reduction targets.

Read details: BBC News

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Why America Is Slouching Towards Third World Status

The United States has been in decline relative to other countries for the last 30 years. On key metrics, we've fallen behind our peer group of industrialized countries, such as the UK, France, Germany, and Japan.

Am I exaggerating? Well, according to the Corruption Perception Index, we rank 24th in the world (only slightly better than Qatar) for public sector corruption. We rank 25th (way behind our peer group) in the OECD for math scores among 15-year-olds.

Over the past 30 years, our national debt has grown from about 30 percent of GDP to about 100 percent, and will become much worse based on current trends. In a recent survey of 10,000 Harvard Business School Alumni, "66 percent of respondents see the U.S. falling behind emerging economies." It is difficult to find many encouraging metrics.

By the way, China has been one of the most successful countries economically of the last 30 years. It's fitting then to quote the architect of its economic renaissance Deng Xiaoping: "It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice." For too many Americans, what matters is not whether the policy works, but whether it fits our preconceived ideologies.

Read more: Business Insider / Steven Strauss, Harvard University

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Britain: Headwinds turning into a hurricane

George Osborne suffered a new blow yesterday after it emerged that the first double-dip recession in Britain since 1975 has been even deeper than previously thought.

Official figures showed that the economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year.

That is worse than the 0.2 per cent decline initially reported. The slump between January and March plunged the UK back into recession – defined as two quarters of contraction in a row – following the 0.3 per cent fall in output at the end of 2011.

And it is feared that output will fall again in the current second quarter because of the extra bank holiday

Read more: Mail Online

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Brazil 'overtakes UK's economy'

Although notorious for taking loans, BBC reports that Brazil has become the sixth-biggest economy in the world, quoting Brazil's finance minister.

The Latin American nation's economy grew 2.7% last year, official figures show, more than the UK's 0.8% growth.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and other economic forecasters also said  that Brazil had now overtaken the UK.

Read details: BBC News Business

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Greek ministers resign over bailout

Five Greek politicians, including the deputy foreign minister, resigned Friday over a crunch bailout agreement that the country needs to avoid bankruptcy. Greece’s future in the euro is now increasingly precarious and violence erupted in Athens.

The country’s beleaguered coalition government promised Friday to push through the tough new austerity measures and rescue a crucial EUR 130 billion ($170 billion) bailout deal, as six members of the Cabinet resigned.

Read details: France24

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Sarkozy, Merkel meet to discuss eurozone game plan

[ via France24 ] 9 Jan

The German and French leaders meet on Monday to discuss ways to boost growth in euro zone states struggling to overcome the sovereign debt crisis and rising unemployment, and finalise a deal to increase fiscal coordination within the currency union.

They may also discuss a financial transaction tax, the “Tobin tax”, being promoted by France but resisted by Britain unless adopted on a global scale, which could split the European Union at a summit at the end of the month.

Read more: France24

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RightMinds's predictions for 2012

[ via Mail Online ] 

As we enter in year 2012, there have been many speculations made for this year earlier in the last days of 2011. Here is an interesting 'forecast' of how many see 2012 in the political plain of Europe.

Herein under are just some excerpts:

"In political terms, 2012 is all about women. David Cameron is desperate to win back the affections of 'let down ladies' who, as guardians of family budgets, part-time workers and far more likely to be working in the public sector, are feeling the brunt of austerity measures," predicts JAMES CHAPMAN, Daily Mail Political Editor

DOMINIQUE JACKSON talking of Social Media says:"Social Media, or the open web as I prefer to call it, will become more and more prevalent and increasingly important – whether in news breaking, news gathering, riot-organising or in new, communal forms of entertainment."

DONAL BLANEY, Young Britons Foundation on EU predicts:"The New Year will finally see the economic slaughter by the markets of the EU states known by the charming acronym of PIGS. Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (and maybe Ireland) will cease to remain members of the Eurozone as Germany's Chancellor fails to do what needs to be done."

Read Mail Online fro more interesting predictions and even more details on above. 

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Europe leaders warn of difficult 2012

[ via BBC Europe ] 1 Jan 2012

European leaders have warned of a difficult year ahead, as many economists predict recession in 2012.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe was experiencing its "most severe test in decades" but that Europe was growing closer in the debt crisis.

France's President Sarkozy said the crisis was not finished, while Italy's president called for more sacrifices.

The leaders' new year messages came as leading economists polled by the BBC said they expected a return to recession in Europe in the first half of 2012.

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The economy hums in Germany - the euro crisis seems elsewhere

[ via Business Insider ] 

If Berlin's Alexa shopping center is any indication, Germany is having a very good crisis.

While the rest of Europe enacts crippling austerity measures to soothe nervous creditors and bring down dangerously high interest rates, shoppers continue to pour out of Alexa's doors with bags full of presents to sip mulled wine in the cheery Christmas market outside.

Fenja Kothe, a social worker juggling three shopping bags, said she and her countrymen felt no need to cut back on their purchases this holiday season.

"Germany seems to be in a much better position than a lot of other European countries," Kothe said, "so we don't worry about the crisis."

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Japanese PM Noda in India on economic mission

[ via Channel News Asia ] 27 Dec

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday, for a visit that is expected to unveil a currency swap deal and reopen talks on a civil nuclear pact.

Coming hard on the heels of a trip to China where the main talking points were geopolitical - particularly in the aftermath of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il - Noda's visit to India will be heavy on business.

In a meeting Wednesday with Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, the two are expected to sign a dollar-swap accord worth up to $10 billion, through which Tokyo would provide capital when the rupee falls against the US unit.

It may be added that the Indian rupee has plunged about 15 percent against the dollar this year, making it the worst performing currency in Asia.

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Asian Countries Fearful of Backlash of Sanctions over Iran

[ via Reuters ] 15 Dec

While USA is planning to impose fresh sanctions to isolate Tehran, the Asian governments are having cold feet as they will have no way to pay for Iranian crude imports and face rising costs to fuel the region's growing economies.

At stake is around 1.4 million barrels of oil Iran ships to Asia every day, meeting 10 percent of demand from top buyers China and India. South Korea, Japan and India are scrambling to find ways to keep the oil flowing.

Any restriction on oil supplies from Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, could drive up already high oil prices and threaten economies already facing the impact of the euro zone debt crisis.

Read full story for details.

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IMF views world economies as gloomy

[ via BBC News / Busines ] 15 Dec 

IMF head Christine Lagarde has said the world economic outlook is "gloomy" and no country is immune from rising risks.

She said all nations, starting with Europe, needed to head off a crisis with risks of a global depression.

Lagards is qouted as saying:

"There is no economy in the world immune from the crisis that we not only see unfolding but escalating. It is going to be hopefully resolved by all countries, all regions actually taking action." 

Rad full story for details.

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Strong holiday shopping make stocks swell

Full Story: Yahoo News 29 Nov

A weekend of strong holiday shopping in the U.S. and radical proposals for stanching Europe's debt crisis sent stocks soaring Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index broke a seven-day losing streak and the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 291 points, its biggest gain in a month.

Markets in Europe also surged: France's CAC-40 jumped 5.5 percent. Indexes in Germany and Italy rose 4.6 percent. The battered euro rose against the dollar.

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