A Special Report by The Economist. While it is the big companies and their CEO’s that get the headlines and the red carpet treatment, it is the small and medium sized businesses that make up the bulk of the world’s economy. They are the employers of most people, produce the most goods. They also are …
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Category:3 The World of Money
The markets were up, but the news was bad, bad, bad
Simply, … Because Citigroup (now owned by the US government) posted a profit FTSE 100 3715.23up 172.83 4.88% Dax 3886.98up 194.95 5.28% Cac 40 2663.68up 144.39 5.73% Dow Jones 6926.49up 379.44 5.80% Nasdaq 1358.28up 89.64 7.07% BBC Global 30 4342.34up 182.62 4.40% BUT Worst crisis since 1930s says Fed IMF predicts a global recession And …
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12 year lows are rare
I don’t think that the economic contraction has ended yet, but there are signs of a bottoming out of some markets. The US market has been cleaning itself out for six months, though moral hazard remains as do some big skeletons (like the Madoff, Stanford …). The Fed Chairman is concerned about stagflation too. But …
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China’s NPC opens with some interesting indicators
China’s National People’s Congress opened today with a speech by Premier Wen Jiabao. While these presentations are usually quite unrevealing and perhaps a bit propagandist, some interesting things were said. There will be a continued push to stimulate the economy including a € 0.5 trillion investment package. But part of the bdget includes an increase …
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Which country has the greenest bailout?
Which country has the greenest bailout? You’ll be surprised. China scores very well, South Korea is top of the list in percentage terms, Europe is OK, but the US, which could do so well from an energy security perspective as well as an economic one, lags. See the handy FT graphic here in Which country …
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Nothing changes …
A 4 minute video of the 1920s crash posted by the BBC is here: The Road to Hooverville. It’s a familiar story. And, unfortunately, without real solutions. But it puts us in the picture.
The Spiral of Ignorance
The best part of this opinion piece by The Economist is the title. It is, unfortunately, too true that we are ignorant of the situation we are in and ignorant of how to get out. That was made so clear in the few clips of the World Economic Forum that I saw – leaders bleating …
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Nationalisation, deglobalisation … Communism?
Not yet. But the hasty reaction to economic problems may become more self-destructive than necessary. Certainly moves to nationalise banks have been necessary to hold the global financial system “together”. And there has been a fall in trade as consumption has faltered. But the increasing popular call for government involvement and deglobalisation is dangerous and …
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Why sustainability is still going strong.
From the Financial Times In the wake of the deepening economic crisis, many commentators are warning of the demise of corporate sustainability, the practice of balancing profit with the social and environmental impact of doing business. Companies obsessed with their own short-term survival, they suggest, cannot possibly support long-term, “feel-good” initiatives to protect the environment …
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Lords of Finance or blinkered old men?
This new book by Liaquat Ahamed, Lords of Finance – 1929, The Great Depression, and the Bankers Who Broke the World, looks like a good read. See the review by The Economist here, which concludes: These great central bankers were so wedded to a dogma that they were incapable of imagining its failure. Perhaps this …
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