Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Worries About How U.S. Will Pay for Stimulus Spending - NYTimes.com
Worries About How U.S. Will Pay for Stimulus Spending - NYTimes.com: "Mr. Roach said the focus would shift to “who foots the bill and what is the exit strategy. We don’t have the answer to either question.”"
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Idealab Reloaded - Bill Gross
Idealab Reloaded - September 5, 2005: "Gross, with his superkinetic inventiveness and geeky charisma, seemed to embody the promise of the web. Some of Idealab's brainchildren were lasting successes--like GoTo.com, which pioneered the idea of paid search, paving the way for Google (GoTo sold to Yahoo in 2003 for $1.6 billion); or Picasa, which Google bought for an undisclosed sum last July. But most of Idealab's dot-coms imploded with the boom. So did Gross's reputation, and so did Idealab, nearly."
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
WEATHERING GLOBAL UPHEAVAL / Stiglitz: Basic global financial reform needed : Business : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)
WEATHERING GLOBAL UPHEAVAL / Stiglitz: Basic global financial reform needed : Business : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri): "he U.S. and the IMF pushed the deregulation philosophy. They inflicted enormous suffering and pain on other countries, not on the basis of economic science, but on the basis of special interests and ideology."
U.S. can learn from Japan's experience : Business : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE
U.S. can learn from Japan's experience : Business : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri): "in practical terms, there is a role for the government to play. Put in academic terms, there is a need for what is known as welfare economics. I am afraid that the increased role the government would play in the operation of welfare economics is something that would not sit easily with most Americans, partly because of your historical background (in the end, your ancestors left Europe because they disliked government control) and partly because of your business-first culture."
Mike Whitney: How the Chicago Boys Wrecked the Economy
Mike Whitney: How the Chicago Boys Wrecked the Economy: "Imagine what could be done if pension funds had put their money into housing for their contributors, instead of into the stock market to buy and bid up prices for the stocks that CEOs and other insiders were selling."
Monday, January 19, 2009
Japan in move to the left with 'tenderhearted capitalism' - Times Online
Japan in move to the left with 'tenderhearted capitalism' - Times Online: "Many foreign observers are convinced that Japan already operates a system of capitalism which bears little relation to the Anglo-Saxon version practised on Wall Street and in the City."
The Crash: What Went Wrong
The Crash: What Went Wrong (washingtonpost.com): "The Crash: What Went Wrong?
How did the most dynamic and sophisticated financial markets in the world come to the brink of collapse? The Washington Post examines how Wall Street innovation outpaced Washington regulation."
How did the most dynamic and sophisticated financial markets in the world come to the brink of collapse? The Washington Post examines how Wall Street innovation outpaced Washington regulation."
The Truth About Japanese Stimulus - WSJ.com
The Truth About Japanese Stimulus - WSJ.com: "After months of a slow slide, the Japanese economy seemed to jump off a cliff in November. The value of Japan's inflation-adjusted exports fell a record 19% from the prior year. Manufacturing output fell 13% over the same period. Many economists believe that GDP fell by an annualized rate of 8% in October-December, the worst quarterly decline since at least 1955, when comparable statistics begin."
The Growing Foreclosure Crisis- middle class ruin
The Growing Foreclosure Crisis - washingtonpost.com: "One oft-repeated assertion no longer holds true. Those in trouble are not, primarily, lower-income borrowers. The foreclosure crisis has become a wave, afflicting neighborhoods of every stripe -- but particularly communities created by the boom itself."
Retooling Obama's campaign machine for the long haul - Los Angeles Times
Retooling Obama's campaign machine for the long haul - Los Angeles Times: "The vast network that helped elect Obama will be tapped to lobby lawmakers on behalf of the president, with an eye toward reelection. A service organization as a nonprofit arm is also considered."
The Road to Riches Is Called K Street
The Road to Riches Is Called K Street: "'There's unlimited business out there for us,' said Robert L. Livingston, a Republican former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and now president of a thriving six-year-old lobbying firm. 'Companies need lobbying help.'"
Positive and Negative Lessons of the Japanese Bubble for Americans
Kaneko Masaru and A DeWit: Subprime Learning: Positive and Negative Lessons of the Japanese Bubble for Americans - financial,USD,this,markets,crisis,even,global trade,Wall Street: "We all learned from the Japanese experience that it is imperative to act fast, but it is also just as critical to act intelligently and in the collective interest. Wasting precious time allows the crisis to deepen and thus increases the eventual costs of bail-outs and economic losses"
Why Are Saving Rates of Urban Households in China Rising? - Brookings Institution
Why Are Saving Rates of Urban Households in China Rising? - Brookings Institution: "We argue that these patterns are best explained by the rising private burden of expenditures on housing, education, and health care. Th"
Richard Bitner, sub-prime mortgage baron | Business | The Guardian
The Friday interview: Richard Bitner, sub-prime mortgage baron | Business | The Guardian: "The former loan company boss now sees himself as little better than a mid-rank drug dealer"
Water Scarcity: The Real Food Crisis Fred Pearce
Water Scarcity: The Real Food Crisis | Water | AlterNet: "A map of world food trade increasingly looks like a map of the water haves and have-nots, because in recent years the global food trade has become almost a proxy trade in water -- or rather, the water needed to grow food. 'Virtual water,' some economists call it. The trade has kept the hungry in dry lands fed. But now that system is breaking down, because there are too many buyers and not enough sellers.
According to estimates by UNESCO's hydrology institute, the world's largest net supplier of virtual water until recently was Australia. It exported a staggering 70 cubic kilometers of water a year in the form of crops, mainly food. With the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia's main farming zone, virtually dry for the past two years, that figure has been cut in half."
According to estimates by UNESCO's hydrology institute, the world's largest net supplier of virtual water until recently was Australia. It exported a staggering 70 cubic kilometers of water a year in the form of crops, mainly food. With the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia's main farming zone, virtually dry for the past two years, that figure has been cut in half."
Water Scarcity: The Real Food Crisis Fred Pearce
Water Scarcity: The Real Food Crisis | Water | AlterNet: "A map of world food trade increasingly looks like a map of the water haves and have-nots, because in recent years the global food trade has become almost a proxy trade in water -- or rather, the water needed to grow food. 'Virtual water,' some economists call it. The trade has kept the hungry in dry lands fed. But now that system is breaking down, because there are too many buyers and not enough sellers.
According to estimates by UNESCO's hydrology institute, the world's largest net supplier of virtual water until recently was Australia. It exported a staggering 70 cubic kilometers of water a year in the form of crops, mainly food. With the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia's main farming zone, virtually dry for the past two years, that figure has been cut in half."
According to estimates by UNESCO's hydrology institute, the world's largest net supplier of virtual water until recently was Australia. It exported a staggering 70 cubic kilometers of water a year in the form of crops, mainly food. With the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia's main farming zone, virtually dry for the past two years, that figure has been cut in half."
Krugman- Fighting Off Depression - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist - Fighting Off Depression - NYTimes.com: "Let’s not mince words: This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression."
Sunday, January 18, 2009
What Our Cities Will Look Like in a World Without Oil
The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand | Choosing What Our Cities Will Look Like in a World Without Oil: "If we start now, we can choose what we want our cities to look like in the future. We can make them the resilient, sustainable centers of culture, justice, art and creativity that we hope they will become."
Friday, January 16, 2009
Letter from Iceland
The Blog At the End of the World: Letter from Iceland: "Fellow countrymen... If there was ever a time when the Icelandic nation needed to stand together and show fortitude in the face of adversity, then this is the moment. I urge you all to guard that which is most important in the life of every one of us, to protect those values which will survive the storm now beginning"
- Christmas, but not as Reykjavik knows it
FT.com / In depth - Christmas, but not as Reykjavik knows it: "Jon Omar Gunnarsson, a youth pastor at the church, was ordained the day before the crisis hit. One of his jobs is to visit schools and teach about bereavement.
“A lot of the young people recognised themselves in that cycle. They had the shock, the numbness, the anger – wanting someone, anyone to be punished,” he says. “We are all bereaved. This is a national tragedy.” new para"
“A lot of the young people recognised themselves in that cycle. They had the shock, the numbness, the anger – wanting someone, anyone to be punished,” he says. “We are all bereaved. This is a national tragedy.” new para"
What People Are Still Willing To Pay For: Hope
What People Are Still Willing To Pay For - Forbes.com: "It's called hope--brought to you by the freakishly resilient self-help industry."
The Politics Of Power - Forbes.com
The Politics Of Power - Forbes.com: "The Politics Of Power
Edited by Dan Bigman 10.01.08, 6:00 PM ET
Before the current financial crisis grabbed hold of Washington's attention, this was the year of energy politics. Soaring gas prices, a war in Iraq and, of course, the global panic over global warming dominated the debate for months. And though the bailout has the spotlight for now, energy will have it again soon. Count on it."
Edited by Dan Bigman 10.01.08, 6:00 PM ET
Before the current financial crisis grabbed hold of Washington's attention, this was the year of energy politics. Soaring gas prices, a war in Iraq and, of course, the global panic over global warming dominated the debate for months. And though the bailout has the spotlight for now, energy will have it again soon. Count on it."
Billionaire Blowups Of 2008
Billionaire Blowups Of 2008 - Forbes.com: "Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, former chairman and a large shareholder in Landsbanki, Iceland's second largest bank, saw the firm seized in October as the worst of the credit crisis tore through the island nation. The failure wiped out his $1.1 billion fortune. He has since had to put his holding company, Hansa, into voluntary liquidation and is selling his U.K. soccer team, West Ham."
The Rescue Of Astro Boy - Forbes.com
The Rescue Of Astro Boy - Forbes.com: "Amid the financial crisis a Hong Kong animation house with superheroic ambitions gets a reprieve for its exciting project."
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Is there life after Dell? - The Irish Times - Sat, Jan 10, 2009
Is there life after Dell? - The Irish Times - Sat, Jan 10, 2009: "The cuts at Dell will be felt far beyond its Limerick plant, as the fallout puts dozens of businesses and thousands of livelihoods in Munster at risk, writes Carl O'Brien , Social Affairs Correspondent."
Dirty Sexy Money - the recession proof industry?
Dirty Sexy Money - The Atlantic (January/February 2009): "Koenig is the founder and CEO of AdultVest, which he bills as the adult-entertainment industry’s first hedge fund, and according to him, he’s doing just fine. His fund (with a mix of public and privately held assets) is up 50 percent this year, he says,"
The Next Slum? - Suburban drift
The Next Slum? - The Atlantic (March 2008): "A structural change is under way in the housing market—a major shift in the way many Americans want to live and work. It has shaped the current downturn, steering some of the worst problems away from the cities and toward the suburban fringes. And its effects will be felt more strongly, and more broadly, as the years pass. Its ultimate impact on the suburbs, and the cities, will be profound."
The Demographics Bomb
Asia Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs: "In retrospect, it may seem silly for the baby boomers to have assumed that they could double the price of their homes and then all sell their homes to each other and retire on the proceeds. Demographics ultimately destroyed the home price bubble."
Prophet of Boom (and Bust) Ravi Batra
FWWeekly: Feature: Prophet of Boom (and Bust): "Despite all that short-term pessimism, he’s convinced that positive change is on the way as well. He sees it in his historical economics cycles and the social cycles.
“We are on the verge of a social revolution — it’s already started [with Obama’s election]. The second part, where the theories are discarded and new ideas take over and new reforms take over — that part has yet to occur, and that will take a few years,” he predicted. “After that occurs, the age of acquisitors will be over, and there will be a new age with a totally different attitude toward taxation and the economic system.”"
“We are on the verge of a social revolution — it’s already started [with Obama’s election]. The second part, where the theories are discarded and new ideas take over and new reforms take over — that part has yet to occur, and that will take a few years,” he predicted. “After that occurs, the age of acquisitors will be over, and there will be a new age with a totally different attitude toward taxation and the economic system.”"
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
"Fewer Bankers, More Geeks" or "How Japan (can) Beat the Global Financial Crisis" | Japan -- Business People Technology | www.japaninc.com
"Fewer Bankers, More Geeks" or "How Japan (can) Beat the Global Financial Crisis" | Japan -- Business People Technology | www.japaninc.com: "When Japan's youth take a verbal battering for placing more value in
their video game consoles than their textbooks they should pick up the
financial newspapers and pull out a few select articles to back up the
case for more Nintendo-time.
In the midst of the continuing global financial crisis, Nintendo has
reported that video game sales have so far remained strong."
their video game consoles than their textbooks they should pick up the
financial newspapers and pull out a few select articles to back up the
case for more Nintendo-time.
In the midst of the continuing global financial crisis, Nintendo has
reported that video game sales have so far remained strong."
Japanese Banks - What they did in the last recession
Economy -- Japanese Banks | Japan -- Business People Technology | www.japaninc.com: "During Japan’s struggle with deflation in the 1990s, all the major economic stimulus packages offered clearly defined visions for the sectors and industries the government was going to sponsor."
Sir David Tang- Optimism is the cure for the downturn
BBC NEWS | Business | Optimism is the cure for the downturn: "Pessimism is the most serious cause for the global economic tsunami."
Rent-a-friend in Japan
BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Rent-a-friend in Japan: "In Japan, now back in recession, the economic situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent months. But the Japanese still like to use their money to have fun,"
Japan: Hakenmura, the Temp Workers Village
Global Voices Online » Japan: Hakenmura, the Temp Workers Village: "Over 300 people spent their nights between New Year`s Eve and the 5th of January in a tent camp stationed at Hibiya Park in central Tôkyô, referred to as 年越し派遣村 (toshikoshi hakenmura, or lit. “New Year's Village for Temporary Workers”)"
Akihabara massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Akihabara massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Akihabara massacre (秋葉原通り魔事件, Akihabara Tōrima Jiken?) was an incident of mass murder that took place on Sunday, June 8, 2008, in the Akihabara shopping quarter for electronics, video games and comics in Sotokanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan."
Capitalism's Demise? Immanuel Wallerstein
Capitalism's Demise?: "financial speculation always leads to a bust. It’s been doing that for 500 years, why should it stop now?"
Monday, January 12, 2009
Asia Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs
Asia Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs: "the reported implosion of the Harvard and Yale endowments. For years, these giant funds were held up as proof that superior intelligence was the ticket to excess returns. During the 10 years through 2007, Harvard and Yale produced compound annual returns of 15% and 17.8% respectively, far better than the market, the average endowment or the average hedge funds - only to blow up in 2008 by frightful proportions not yet released.
According to a recent study [1], the 'super endowments' sailed past their peers by loading up real estate, commodities, and 'private equity', precisely the sectors that underwent necrosis this year. Private equity is the subprime version of corporate finance, acquiring non-public companies with a minimum down payment and the maximum of debt."
According to a recent study [1], the 'super endowments' sailed past their peers by loading up real estate, commodities, and 'private equity', precisely the sectors that underwent necrosis this year. Private equity is the subprime version of corporate finance, acquiring non-public companies with a minimum down payment and the maximum of debt."
Climate scientists: it's time for 'Plan B' - Climate Change, Environment - The Independent
Climate scientists: it's time for 'Plan B' - Climate Change, Environment - The Independent: "Poll of international experts by The Independent reveals consensus that CO2 cuts have failed – and their growing support for technological intervention"
Bloomberg.com: Exclusive
Bloomberg.com: Exclusive: "For half a century, Chicago’s hands-off principles have permeated financial thinking and shaped global markets, earning the university 10 Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economic Sciences starting in 1969, more than double the four each won by Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Chicago’s laissez-faire imprint underpins everything from U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts and the fall of communism that decade to quantitative investment strategies."
Chicago’s laissez-faire imprint underpins everything from U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts and the fall of communism that decade to quantitative investment strategies."
Bloomberg.com: Exclusive
Bloomberg.com: Exclusive: "For half a century, Chicago’s hands-off principles have permeated financial thinking and shaped global markets, earning the university 10 Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economic Sciences starting in 1969, more than double the four each won by Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Chicago’s laissez-faire imprint underpins everything from U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts and the fall of communism that decade to quantitative investment strategies."
Chicago’s laissez-faire imprint underpins everything from U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts and the fall of communism that decade to quantitative investment strategies."
Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.
Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.: "Watch out, Americans - a generation from now, your kid is going to fetch coffee for a Chinese boss."
Sunday, January 11, 2009
36 Hours - Reykjavik, Iceland - NYTimes.com
36 Hours - Reykjavik, Iceland - NYTimes.com: "from what I can see and what I’m told, this country’s financial collapse — a sharp devaluation of the currency that has made this once prohibitively expensive destination more affordable for visitors — hasn’t emptied them a bit."
Economic icon Heizo Takenaka needs listening to now - Telegraph
Economic icon Heizo Takenaka needs listening to now - Telegraph: "From 2001 until 2005, Takenaka was Japan's economics minister in Junichiro Koizumi's government. More than any other individual, this softly-spoken academic pulled the world's second-largest economy out of its decade-long slump of the 1990s."
Only full disclosure of toxic debts will get the West moving again - Telegraph
Only full disclosure of toxic debts will get the West moving again - Telegraph: "We're creating our very own 'zombie banks' – technically alive, but commercially dead due to the weight of their toxic debts. A Western 'lost decade' now looms."
China's Reverse Migration: As Orders Dry Up, Factory Workers Head Home - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
China's Reverse Migration: As Orders Dry Up, Factory Workers Head Home - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "China's global factory is shedding its slave-like workers, cost-effectively and efficiently, almost as if they too were products on an assembly line. They sit in long rows, shoulder-to-shoulder, waiting for the trains that will take them back to their home provinces, to the places they once left for China's industrial east, lured by the promise of prosperity. Xiaoju"
Depfa Bank top team's pay deal is criticised - Irish - Independent.ie
Depfa Bank top team's pay deal is criticised - Irish - Independent.ie: "Depfa paid its seven-member executive committee a total of €21m last year, or almost 4pc of the group's annual net income."
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Insider Trading Alleged at Hypo Real Estate: A Black Hole in the Banking Bailout - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
Insider Trading Alleged at Hypo Real Estate: A Black Hole in the Banking Bailout - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "sider trading at Hypo Real Estate, the Munich-based mortgage lender that has recieved billions of euros in government bailouts -- the most of any company so far -- as a result of risky investments in US subprime loans."
Is the Whole World Financial System One Big Madoff Swindle?
Is the Whole World Financial System One Big Madoff Swindle?: "Western governments and central banks, according to Italy's former Finance Minister Domenico Siniscalco, frittered away around Eur3 trillion in 2008 alone, in one rescue package after another—all of it taxpayers' money, mind you—the crisis in the financial sector continues to worsen, and the real economy continues to collapse worldwide. Three trillion: That's twice the value of all the privatizations that occurred over the past 30 years—just to give an idea of the proportions we're dealing with here."
Friday, January 9, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Fiscal Therapy: What went wrong and what to do about it
Fiscal Therapy: "Over and over for the past decade, our leaders argued that the fundamentals holding up our economy were strong. Now we know that this floor of shiny statistics merely concealed the rot below. But there is an upside to this realization: The economic crisis can help us clear away the rot and build a more solid foundation—one that elevates people over capital, kick-starts commerce, and removes some of the costliest barriers to individual success and national progress."
At the ski resort Stowe, fear for owner AIG - The Boston Globe
At Stowe, fondness, fear for owner AIG - The Boston Globe: "Insurer's downhill slide stirs talk that elite resort may be up for sale"
How to Repair a Broken Financial World - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Contributors - How to Repair a Broken Financial World - NYTimes.com: "Treasury’s heroic deal-making has had little effect on what it claims is the problem at hand: the collapse of confidence in the companies atop our financial system"
The grim reaper of foreclosure - Plain Dealer Extra
The grim reaper of foreclosure - Plain Dealer Extra: "The first time Rob Kole shows up on your doorstep, it's time to pack your bags and prepare to leave your home. His visit is to notify you of an eviction. It's a courtesy call."
Foreclosure focus: Why Cleveland? - Nov. 13, 2007
Foreclosure focus: Why Cleveland? - Nov. 13, 2007: "or Rokakis, this long-term lack of accountability enabled lenders to continue to make bad loans virtually unchecked. These included many subprime, hybrid ARMs, also called 'toxic ARMs,' products he considers predatory.
Rokakis told of a 78-year-old Cleveland woman recently saddled with an unaffordable, 30-year ARM arranged by her minister, a mortgage broker. 'I asked him why,' said Rokakis, 'you would give an elderly woman an ARM. He said, 'She wanted the house.''
Rokakis shook his head. 'I want a date with Uma Thurman,' he said, 'but you have to be realistic.'"
Rokakis told of a 78-year-old Cleveland woman recently saddled with an unaffordable, 30-year ARM arranged by her minister, a mortgage broker. 'I asked him why,' said Rokakis, 'you would give an elderly woman an ARM. He said, 'She wanted the house.''
Rokakis shook his head. 'I want a date with Uma Thurman,' he said, 'but you have to be realistic.'"
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Return to self-reliance | The Australian
Return to self-reliance | The Australian: "'I don't think that what's going on is all bad because it reminds us that actions have consequences.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Reckoning - Chinese Savings Helped Inflate American Bubble - Series - NYTimes.com
The Reckoning - Chinese Savings Helped Inflate American Bubble - Series - NYTimes.com: "In the past decade, China arguably enabled an American boom. Low-cost Chinese goods helped keep a lid on inflation, while the flood of Chinese investment helped the government finance mortgages and a public debt of close to $11 trillion.
But Americans did not use the lower-cost money afforded by Chinese investment to build a 21st-century equivalent of the railroads. Instead, the government engaged in a costly war in Iraq, and consumers used loose credit to buy sport utility vehicles and larger homes. Banks and investors, eagerly seeking higher interest rates in this easy-money environment, created risky new securities like collateralized debt obligations.
“Nobody wanted to get off this drug,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who pushed legislation to punish China by imposing stiff tariffs. “Their drug was an endless line of customers for made-in-China products. Our drug was the Chinese products and cash.”
Mr. Graham said he understood the addiction: he was speaking by phone from a Wal-Mart store in Anderson, S.C., where he was Christmas shopping in aisles lined with items from China."
But Americans did not use the lower-cost money afforded by Chinese investment to build a 21st-century equivalent of the railroads. Instead, the government engaged in a costly war in Iraq, and consumers used loose credit to buy sport utility vehicles and larger homes. Banks and investors, eagerly seeking higher interest rates in this easy-money environment, created risky new securities like collateralized debt obligations.
“Nobody wanted to get off this drug,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who pushed legislation to punish China by imposing stiff tariffs. “Their drug was an endless line of customers for made-in-China products. Our drug was the Chinese products and cash.”
Mr. Graham said he understood the addiction: he was speaking by phone from a Wal-Mart store in Anderson, S.C., where he was Christmas shopping in aisles lined with items from China."
Japan Recession Fears Reinforced by New Data - NYTimes.com
Japan Recession Fears Reinforced by New Data - NYTimes.com: "Japan’s export-dependent economy has been hit especially hard by the downturn in the United States and Europe because those economies are key markets for corporate giants like Panasonic, Nissan and Toyota.
“It was U.S. excess consumption that was behind Japan’s growth in the past few years,” said Mr. Kono of BNP Paribas."
“It was U.S. excess consumption that was behind Japan’s growth in the past few years,” said Mr. Kono of BNP Paribas."
Worldwide, a Bad Year Only Got Worse - NYTimes.com
Worldwide, a Bad Year Only Got Worse - NYTimes.com: "Stocks lost 42 percent of their value in 2008, as calculated by the MSCI world index, erasing more than $29 trillion in value and all of the gains made since 2003. Just about the only assets to prosper were government bonds of developed countries and gold, where prices rose as investors ran for cover."
Saturday, January 3, 2009
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