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More US consumers gave a favorable view of their personal finances than in anytime since 2007. US consumer sentiment near six-year peak
  • World
  • May 17, 2013, 15:53

Consumers felt better about financial and economic prospects

A Walrus sits on a melting ice shelf in the Chukchi Sea. The earth’s atmosphere is warming faster than expected and evidence is mounting that sea levels could rise between nine and 88cm up to 2100. Photograph: Reuters Market blinds us to dangers of climate change

Foremost reason: civilization built on fossil fuels

Turkey’s government debt has fallen from 78 per cent to 40 per cent of GDP since prime minister Tayyip Erdogan came to power a decade ago. Photograph: Reuters/Umit Bektas Turkey pays off final IMF instalment
  • World
  • Bloomberg
  • May 14, 2013, 13:13

Last loan payment of $422 million to be made to International Monetary Fund after 52 years

Hong Kong is one of the top beneficiaries of investments by wealthy Chinese Tycoons keeps exit options open

China’s rich increase investment overseas

Getting a reservation at Beijing’s top restaurants is much easier now than a year ago, as government officials steer clear of pricey dinners. Graft clampdown hits high end catering

China’s new leader has made combatting corruption a priority

The commercial and shopping district in Kunming, Yunnan province. 20 years a-growing and Yunnan’s transformation amazes

Yunnan’s GDP reached €120bn last year, growth of 13% year on year, compared to national average of 7.8%

Do we have a major bond and/or stock bubble? On bonds, I’d say definitely not. On stocks, probably not, although I’m not as certain Brush aside talk of bubbles and get back to work

What is a bubble, anyway? I’d define it as a situation in which asset prices appear to be based on implausible or inconsistent views about the future

Carl Icahn: has proposed an alternative to a $24.4 billion buyout deal led by founder Michael Dell. Icahn and Southeastern offer alternative to Dell buyout
  • World
  • May 10, 2013, 17:20

Option of $12 a share in cash or $12 a share in stock valued at $1.65 a share

Workers clean empty cages, which were used to transport chickens, after morning trading at a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong. China records impressive growth but export data comes under scrutiny
  • World
  • May 9, 2013, 06:05

Evidence that exporting groups used over-invoicing to evade capital controls

China’s exports rose 14.7 per cent in April, while imports grew 16.8 per cent, leaving the country with a trade surplus of $18.16 billion for April. Photograph: China Daily/Reuters China trade beats expectations in April
  • World
  • May 8, 2013, 07:10

But data fails end scepticism that financial manoeuvring is masking demand weakness

National Australia Bank, Australia’s largest bank by assets, lowered its variable mortgage rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday, after the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced its main cash rate to a record low 2.75 per cent from 3.0 per cent. Photograph: Reuters/David Gray Australian Central Bank cuts interest rate
  • World
  • Bloomberg
  • May 7, 2013, 10:27

Reserve Bank of Australia follows global counterparts to cut rate to record low of 2.75%

Eurozone growth slump drags on
  • World
  • May 6, 2013, 13:59

Expansion in Chinese economy falls to weakest level since August 2011

The US unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.5 per cent in April. US job growth beats expectations in April
  • World
  • May 3, 2013, 16:06

Unemployment rate at four-year low of 7.5 per cent

Ireland ‘to test banks’ ahead of EU-wide exercise
  • World
  • May 3, 2013, 15:29

Standoff with international lenders over the timing of ‘stress tests’ of bailed-out banks resolved

New export orders fell for the first time this year, a private survey showed today. China’s factory sector growth eases in April
  • World
  • May 2, 2013, 09:08

New export orders fell for the first time this year, survey shows

Google, the world’s most popular search engine, submitted its proposals earlier this month after the European Commission outlined four areas of concern about its business practices, saying these could restrict consumer choice and competition. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters EU antitrust body seeks views on Google concessions
  • World
  • Reuters
  • April 25, 2013, 14:20

Search engine could face hefty fines if deal is not reached about business practices

A fall in dairy prices has impacted negatively on profits at the Tipperary-based Arrabawn co-op. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons/The Irish Times Arrabawn profits fall 46% to €1.14 million

Turnover at Tipperary co-op increased marginally in 2012 but fall in dairy price impacted on results

Manufacturing technicians pictured at Intel’s manufacturing facility in Leixlip. The price of computer, electronic and optical products rose 4.8 per cent in the 12 months to March, figures from the CSO show. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times Manufacturing prices rise in March

Computer and electronic goods show greatest increases

Burdened with high debt and facing uncertain prospects, South Korean consumers are tightening their purse strings, dampening hopes that they will lift the economy as exports - the country’s traditional growth driver - splutter. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters South Korea GDP growth hits two-year high
  • World
  • Reuters
  • April 25, 2013, 11:20

Concerns over exports and retail sales dampen outlook for rest of year

Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff “quickly achieved almost sacred status among self-proclaimed guardians of fiscal responsibility” as a result of their 2010 paper Growth in a Time of Debt. Photograph: Mary F. Calvert/The New York Times Intellectual foundations of austerity show subsidence

The Reinhart-Rogoff fiasco needs to be seen in the broader context of austerity mania

Chinese manufacturing slows as export orders shrink
  • World
  • April 23, 2013, 08:20

Latest PMI reading suggests world's second-largest economy still faces formidable global headwinds

Latest Economy

In the first three months of the year exports of chemical and pharmaceutical products fell by more than 11 per cent on the same period in 2012 Exports subdued but strengthen for second consecutive month
In Ireland, as in most European countries, the banking system is the most important conduit for channelling money from savers to investors. If the most important part of the financial system is impaired, under-investment follows, leading in turn to sub-par economic growth Too little credit or too few entrepreneurs?
The ECB is concerned that banks are not lending to smaller businesses in the euro zone periphery. Photograph: Bloomberg ECB ‘can only do so much to help SMEs’
Martin Weale, a member of the Bank of England’s nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee, said policymakers should tread carefully over flexibility in newly reworded mandate to help growth. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire BoE ‘must tread carefully’ with inflation approach
More US consumers gave a favorable view of their personal finances than in anytime since 2007. US consumer sentiment near six-year peak
A Walrus sits on a melting ice shelf in the Chukchi Sea. The earth’s atmosphere is warming faster than expected and evidence is mounting that sea levels could rise between nine and 88cm up to 2100. Photograph: Reuters Market blinds us to dangers of climate change