Planet Business

Laura Slatteryperuses the week in business

THE NUMBERS

$50 billion

- The likely size of the investment fraud committed by Bernard Madoff in what is thought to be the biggest Wall Street scam ever, with victims including Royal Bank of Scotland, Spanish bank Santander, fund manager Nicola "superwoman" Horlick and a Steven Spielberg charity foundation.

0-0.25%

The advent of free money is beckoning in the US, as the Federal Reserve pledges to use "all available tools" to lift the economy out of recession, a strategy dubbed the "kitchen sink" approach by one economist.

 94p

€1 reached this sterling value in currency trading yesterday morning. With parity between the two currencies approaching fast, those Newry logjams look set to become even tighter.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

"Somewhere along the line we began to think that we weren't happy with deferred gratification.

- President Mary McAleese says Irish shoppers are beginning to "find our way back to a more rooted and possibly more modest time" after becoming "consumed by consumerism".

"Some day, this recession is going to end. Confidence is going to come surging back with all the biological inevitability of the new infatuation that follows a broken heart. In the meantime, there's always bicycle hire schemes and bacon sandwiches"

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, tries to take a more optimistic approach to the recession.

"GOOD WEEK

Mark McCormack

A Canberra court ruled that the Australian solicitor could serve legal documents via Facebook on a couple who defaulted on a mortgage, after more conventional methods to track down the couple failed. Facebook said the use of the site was thought to be the first of its kind and advised users who wanted to avoid such legal machinations from cropping up on their News Feed to adjust their privacy settings. Still, it makes a change from drunken photos and Word Twist updates.

Leonard Cohen

Proving that even renowned miserablists can find themselves at the centre of seasonal festivities, the deep-toned singer-songwriter could find his 1984 song Hallelujah at both number 1 and number 2 in the UK Christmas chart, courtesy of X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke and an anti X-Factor download campaign to get the late singer Jeff Buckley's version into contention. Royalties from the cover versions are estimated to earn Cohen at least £250,000.

BAD WEEK

Aid agencies

Unfavourable exchange rates will result in a loss of up to 20 per cent in the value of Concern's 2009 budgets for several countries where the local currency is pegged to the dollar, the aid agency warned this week: for example, where an aid programme may have been able to buy a 10kg bag of seeds for €10 two years ago, they will now only be able to buy an 8kg bag of seeds, according to Concern, which said it may have to scale back some of its activities.

Cadbury

Not even Wispas and drumming gorillas can help the world's second-biggest chocolate maker overcome increased budget-consciousness among North American and European consumers, who they say are cutting back on trips to the convenience stores, airports and train stations where they previously picked up their bar-shaped serotonin-enhancers. Retailers, meanwhile, are frantically destocking their shelves, preferring to comfort themselves with cash.