So a case of Chateau Lafite Rothschild has dropped by 25% in the past few months. It’s still too expensive. But that drop is a sign that even the rich are beginning to care about the cost of living. If we see art prices coming off then we’ll know for sure that the fluff is …
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Category:Economy
Helping us get real – the IMF owns up to the recession
The IMF has issued revised forecasts for Advanced Economies’ output in 2009. They have revised their forecast from 0.5% growth (made a month ago) to 0.3% shrinkage. They forecast US output change of -0.7%, EU change of -0.5% and Japan change of -0.3%. (Emerging market and developing economies still to grow at 5.1%.) Admitting that …
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World in crisis …
We may be feeling the financial crisis, but the destruction of our planet is of greater concern. Thanks to Kevin Kallaugher of The Economist for showing us the reality:
Greenspan admits naivety …
Making comments to Congress, former Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan, said that the recent financial crisis had left him “in a state of shocked disbelief”. This might surprise financial players and pundits who had elevated Greenspan to godlike status. Others, who have been doing simple sums of fundamental resource constraints and human behaviour against a background …
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Financial meltdown dwarfed by economic destruction of nature.
While the collapse of credit markets around the world is bearing on our minds, and curtailing our consumption today, the destruction of the earth’s biosphere by humanity’s footprint is so massive and immediate that its effects will compound the economic dislocation now and be felt directly within a year. The global economy is losing more …
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IMF Global Financial Stability Report
Here’s the IMF’s timely Global Financial Stability Report -Financial Stress and Deleveraging Macro-Financial Implications and Policy. And their media release warning about a failure to act decisively. This attitude may well be destructive given that the whole nature of the financial system must change fundamentally. Knee jerk reactions tend to be unproductive. This can be …
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Thinking recession … feeling it yet?
The past couple of weeks people have really started to pay attention to the dislocation of financial markets and their impact on the economies, especially those of US and Europe. People have started to say they think we’re in a recession. I’m afraid this is the beginning only. We will start to feel the pain …
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Get the right perspective.
So, the media leads with the headline that China’s economy slowed during the olympics because businesses were closed to help clear the atmosphere. But its important to get the detail. The rate of growth remains high. Far beyond what western economies are experiencing. industrial output growth of 12.8% in August retail sales up at an …
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Is the US economy really growing?
Today’s report of 1.9% annualised growth of the US economy in the second quarter is surprising. With virtual stagnation of property markets, dry credit and inflation it seems implausible that this growth is occurring. These numbers from the Department of Commerce are preliminary and may be downgraded. Many analysts, including us, believe that the US …
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Changing Games in the Global Casino
Hazel Henderson has pioneered natural capitalism for several decades and writes tirelessly on the dysfunctioning of iniquitous economic systems. In mid-June she published a summary and analysis of current events which is reproduced below and on EthicalMarkets.com here. Changing Games in the Global Casino © Hazel Henderson, 2008 Ever since the 1980s when Britain’s Margaret …
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