Growth is weakening and inflation is likely to remain high across most OECD countries, according to the OECD Economic Outlook. US activity is now projected to be flat through 2008 (and that is still deceptive) and the Euro area economy growth will also be restrained by tighter credit and lower export market growth. The culprits, …
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Category:Economy
The mood has changed, time to face reality.
Its not just people in the street that are starting to feel the pinch. Official data says it too – so it must be true. We’ve noticed price increases in many areas (except housing). Certainly petrol and other oils are up by at least 10% this year so far. And food prices seem to have …
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End of credit crunch …?
US Treasury Secretary thinks that it is the “end of the credit crunch“. It is likely that he said “peak” rather than “end”, or meant that anyway. And take that message with caution: yes this may be the peak of the unwinding of the US sub-prime mortgage mess, but unwinding will continue till year end. …
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IMF World Economic Outlook
IMF Predicts Slower World Growth Amid Serious Market Crisis. Global growth will decelerate in 2008, led by a sharp slowdown in the United States, amid a housing correction and a financial crisis that has quickly spread from the U.S. subprime sector to core parts of the financial system, the IMF says in its latest World …
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Bernanke thinks there might be a recession – duh!
“Fed boss says recession possible.” Its a bit worrying when the big cheese is pussyfooting around with language like “we’ll have to wait till the data is in” and “the economy might shrink in the first and second quarter” and ” a recession is a technically defined term” … When the ship is in trouble, …
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Greenspan negative on US economy, again.
Alan Greenspan has warned that US economic growth has stalled and a quick recovery is not likely. It is easier for him to make public statements like this now that his job performance does not depend on America’s economic confidence.
US employment down – a serious sign of slowdown
US employers cut 17,000 jobs from their payrolls in January, US Labor Department figures showed. Economists had been expecting a rise of 80,000. If this figure proves to be in line with actual events (after adjustments), it shows severe declines in economic activity in the US. There has been modest wage inflation over the past …
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How to win economically
Amory Lovins (a long time alternative technology guru) giving a presentation on “winning the oil endgame”. He shows a number of current technologies that can save money, reduce oil use and create jobs. It’s marketed to a US audience, but that doesn’t mean everyone else can’t get a head start. See the online video here.
IBM report explores sustainable economic development in Africa
The Global Innovation Outlook 3.0 report explores sustainable economic development in Africa. GIO is sponsored by IBM. It attempts to synthesise a consensus from more than 150 business, government, academic and NGO leaders across nine deep dive sessions. Read the summary here or download the report here (3.8mb pdf).
Nature’s Investment Bank – marine habitats
The Nature Conservancy has published a report Nature’s Investment Bank, which examines four marine protection areas in Fiji, Indonesia, Philippines and the Solomon Islands, to assess what constitutes a successful community conservation scheme that provides sustainable economics. Research into four successful schemes showed that getting villagers involved in protection projects reduced harmful overfishing and protected …
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