Eurozone unemployment reaches new record … The seasonally-adjusted rate for April was 12.2%, up from 12.1% the month before. An extra 95,000 people were out of work in the 17 countries that use the euro, taking the total to 19.38 million. Both Greece and Spain have jobless rates above 25%. The lowest unemployment rate is in Austria at 4.9%. The European Commission's statistics office, Eu...Read More
Households Still Haven't Rebuilt Lost Wealth … Americans have recovered only 45% of the wealth they lost during the recession, adjusted for inflation, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimated. The findings were released as part of the St. Louis Fed's 2012 annual report, which was made public on Thursday. In the report, the Midwestern bank announced the launch of a new Center f...Read More
Tiananmen group condemns Chinese leader Xi Jinping … Relatives of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen killings have criticised Chinese President Xi Jinping for failing to initiate political reform. The open letter, from the Tiananmen Mothers group, came ahead of the 4 June anniversary of the crackdown. It also came as Mr Xi departed for a tour of Latin America and the Caribbean that will culminate...Read More
Is the Dollar Dying? Why US Currency Is in Danger … The U.S dollar is shrinking as a percentage of the world's currency supply, raising concerns that the greenback is about to see its long run as the world's premier denomination come to an end. When compared to its peers, the dollar has drifted to a 15-year low, according to the International Monetary Fund, indicating that more count...Read More
Central Banks Act With a New Boldness … When James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, arrived in Frankfurt last week, he issued an unusual public warning to the European Central Bank: Be bolder. Central bankers, anywhere in the world, are a cautious lot. They prefer slow and steady over the dramatic gesture. And they rarely go public with criticisms of other central...Read More
The Wisdom of Bob Dole … Bob Dole no longer recognizes the Republican Party that he helped lead for years. Speaking over the weekend on "Fox News Sunday," he said his party should hang a "closed for repairs" sign on its doors until it comes up with a few positive ideas, because neither he nor Ronald Reagan would now feel comfortable in its membership. "It seems to be...Read More
UBS Hunts for Hidden Billionaires as It Expands in Africa UBS AG (UBSN), the Swiss bank seeking to boost profit from wealth management, said it plans to expand in Africa as economic growth rates surpassing 5 percent boost demand for banking services from the continent's rich. "Wealth management is key to the Africa franchise," Sean Bennett, the Johannesburg-based managing director of...Read More
Is the Dollar Dying? Why US Currency Is in Danger … The U.S dollar is shrinking as a percentage of the world's currency supply, raising concerns that the greenback is about to see its long run as the world's premier denomination come to an end. When compared to its peers, the dollar has drifted to a 15-year low, according to the International Monetary Fund, indicating that more count...Read More
Central Banks Act With a New Boldness … When James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, arrived in Frankfurt last week, he issued an unusual public warning to the European Central Bank: Be bolder. Central bankers, anywhere in the world, are a cautious lot. They prefer slow and steady over the dramatic gesture. And they rarely go public with criticisms of other central...Read More
The Wisdom of Bob Dole … Bob Dole no longer recognizes the Republican Party that he helped lead for years. Speaking over the weekend on "Fox News Sunday," he said his party should hang a "closed for repairs" sign on its doors until it comes up with a few positive ideas, because neither he nor Ronald Reagan would now feel comfortable in its membership. "It seems to be...Read More
UBS Hunts for Hidden Billionaires as It Expands in Africa UBS AG (UBSN), the Swiss bank seeking to boost profit from wealth management, said it plans to expand in Africa as economic growth rates surpassing 5 percent boost demand for banking services from the continent's rich. "Wealth management is key to the Africa franchise," Sean Bennett, the Johannesburg-based managing director of...Read More
Confidence at Five-Year High as U.S. Housing Climbs: Economy Consumer confidence climbed to the highest level in more than five years and home prices advanced by the most in seven as the housing rebound gives the U.S. economy a lift. The Conference Board's sentiment index rose to 76.2 in May, exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists and the highest since February 2008, data...Read More
France and Germany: A Tale of Two Countries Drifting Apart … A political, economic and demographic divide has opened up between France and Germany. And, if that were not trouble enough, a new Pew Research Center survey suggests that these two countries, which have for decades been the driving force behind European integration, increasingly see the world through different lenses. – Pew/...Read More
Germany fears revolution if Europe scraps welfare model … German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that failure to win the battle against youth unemployment could tear Europe apart, and dropping the continent's welfare model in favor of tougher U.S. standards would spark a revolution. Germany, along with France, Spain and Italy, backed urgent action to rescue a genera...Read More
India's Golden Problem … The legendary Indian obsession with purchasing gold has been passed down for generations. Families purchase gold on auspicious religious occasions and, in larger quantities, for weddings. It forms a significant part of savings, particularly in rural areas, and is often passed down as inheritance. Today, however, it is also being credited as one of the main reason...Read More
Confidence at Five-Year High as U.S. Housing Climbs: Economy Consumer confidence climbed to the highest level in more than five years and home prices advanced by the most in seven as the housing rebound gives the U.S. economy a lift. The Conference Board's sentiment index rose to 76.2 in May, exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists and the highest since February 2008, data...Read More
France and Germany: A Tale of Two Countries Drifting Apart … A political, economic and demographic divide has opened up between France and Germany. And, if that were not trouble enough, a new Pew Research Center survey suggests that these two countries, which have for decades been the driving force behind European integration, increasingly see the world through different lenses. – Pew/...Read More
Germany fears revolution if Europe scraps welfare model … German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that failure to win the battle against youth unemployment could tear Europe apart, and dropping the continent's welfare model in favor of tougher U.S. standards would spark a revolution. Germany, along with France, Spain and Italy, backed urgent action to rescue a genera...Read More
India's Golden Problem … The legendary Indian obsession with purchasing gold has been passed down for generations. Families purchase gold on auspicious religious occasions and, in larger quantities, for weddings. It forms a significant part of savings, particularly in rural areas, and is often passed down as inheritance. Today, however, it is also being credited as one of the main reason...Read More
Government Bonds (JGBs) and that can't be a good thing. Panic tends inevitably to lead to crisis, and goodness knows, global financial markets could hardly deal with another crisis without contagion on a massive scale. – CounterpunchDominant Social Theme: Turbulence? What turbulence?Free-Market Analysis: Japan's market turbulence may only be a glitch in a larger globalist plan to eve...Read More