global economy

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Billionaire Merckle Kills Self
 Billionaire Merckle Kills Self 

Billionaire Merckle Kills Self

(Newser) - German businessman Adolf Merckle, 74, killed himself yesterday in the face of mounting debt and a crumbling multibillion dollar empire, Bloomberg reports. Merckle’s personal fortune of $9.2 billion put him 94th on Forbes' list of the world’s richest people, but his holding company, which owned stake in...

Vindicated in 2008, Some Experts Foresee Gloomy '09

A few who called last year's calamities correctly see grim days ahead

(Newser) - Labeled overly pessimistic for years, a few Wall Street prognosticators became the oracles of 2008 by correctly predicting the unwinding of the global economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The doomsayers correctly anticipated bank failures, stock market declines, and the housing market collapse of the second half of 2008. As...

Plunging Exports Roil Asia
 Plunging Exports Roil Asia 

Plunging Exports Roil Asia

Declining global demand sends shock across the continent.

(Newser) - Asia, the manufacturing powerhouse of the last few decades, is experiencing a plunge in exports unprecedented in modern history, the Washington Post reports. Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, reported yesterday that exports dipped 27% in November, while Thailand’s exports shed 19%, the most in 17 years. Taiwan’s...

Russia Tycoons Seek $78B Kremlin Bailout

Looming foreign debt forces oligarchs to return power to state

(Newser) - A dozen years after bailing out the Soviet government, Russia’s oligarchs are seeking $78 billion in Kremlin handouts to weather the credit crunch, Bloomberg reports. Russian businesses have racked up some $110 billion in foreign debt due in 2009. The one-year loans, sought by more than 100 companies, would...

Euro Central Banks Slash Interest Rates
Euro Central Banks Slash Interest Rates
UPDATED

Euro Central Banks Slash Interest Rates

Bank of England drops rate to 2%, ECB to 2.5%, Sweden to 2%

(Newser) - The Bank of England cut interest rates a full 1% today to 2%, the lowest level since 1939, and the European Central Bank followed with a cut of 75 basis points, to 2.5%, the largest cut in its 10-year history, MarketWatch reports. Those moves came on the heels of...

China's Heavy Industries Steel for Crash

Global downturn freezes country's industrial transformation

(Newser) - The global slowdown is rapidly shutting down China's heavy industries, the New York Times reports. Just months after the government warned that the red-hot economy could lead to runaway inflation, the nation's steel, cement and construction industries now find themselves with a huge excess of capacity—and workers. Growth is...

What Recession? Dubai Throws $20M Party

Star-studded night boasts fireworks display visible from space

(Newser) - Rich and famous people from around the world avoided the recession blues last night by flocking to a ridiculously extravagant party on a man-made island in Dubai, Bloomberg reports. Boasting a performance from Kylie Minogue and a fireworks display that could be seen from space, the party was the emirate’...

US Dominance 'Fading Fast' as Global Upheaval Looms

Report predicts increasingly unstable world future as wealth and power shift

(Newser) - US intelligence agencies believe the next 20 years will be the twilight of America's global dominance, the Times of London reports. A report from the National Intelligence Council paints a bleak future of an increasingly unstable world in which new powers and alliances emerge as competition for dwindling resources heats...

To Save Economy, Go Shopping
 To Save Economy, Go Shopping 
OPINION

To Save Economy, Go Shopping

Friedman suggests how Obama should lead America out of its economic mess

(Newser) - To stop the economic recession from slipping into a depression, Barack Obama shouldn’t mince words: Americans need to go shopping and support federal efforts to rescue banks and homeowners, Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times. “No, it’s not fair. But fairness is not on the...

Summit Puts Off Thorniest Questions Until Next Year

(Newser) - Today's summit of world leaders may have found broad agreement on the need for bold reform of the global markets, but it left the toughest decisions to future meetings, the Wall Street Journal reports. The broad strokes include greater oversight of banks and credit-rating agencies, a review of executive pay,...

Developing Nations Get a Say in Economic Summit

Signals expanding of world power

(Newser) - When George Bush convenes his economic summit today, he’ll see some less familiar faces around the table. In what could signal a historic shift in global power, Bush hasn’t just invited the wealthy nations of the G-8 to this summit, but a wider Group of 20, including developing...

Chinese Stimulus Lifts Dow
 Chinese Stimulus Lifts Dow 
MARKET Open

Chinese Stimulus Lifts Dow

Index surges 150+ at open, following Asian lead

(Newser) - Stocks jumped out of the gate today, thanks to a $586 billion stimulus package from Beijing. The Dow was up nearly 200 just after opening, the Wall Street Journal reports, and the S&P and Nasdaq climbed 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively. The moves followed rallies overseas, including a...

Stocks Take Early Plunge
 Stocks Take Early Plunge 
MARKET opener

Stocks Take Early Plunge

(Newser) - Stocks took a big plunge at the open today, with the Dow down 411 points, after a morning that saw Dow and S&P futures fall so far that trading was halted. Driving the pessimism were similar plunges overseas, with the Nikkei down 9.6%, and London’s FTSE down...

Starbucks Helped Brew Meltdown—Just Check a Map

Coffee empire's rise tracked (and fueled) housing's, and store locator mirrors trouble spots

(Newser) - A simple tool could hold the key to predicting where the financial crisis will strike next, Daniel Gross writes on Slate: Starbucks’ Internet store locator. “Having a significant Starbucks presence is a pretty significant indicator of the degree of connectedness to the form of highly caffeinated, free-spending capitalism that...

Bush to Host Economic Summit

World meeting to be held 'in the near future'

(Newser) - President Bush will soon announce his plan to host a global summit on the financial crisis, MSNBC reports, to be held in the near future. “The president wants participation and ideas from both developed and developing nations,” one official said on condition of anonymity. Bush will meet with...

From Carnage of Crisis Rises Vast Opportunity
From Carnage
of Crisis Rises Vast Opportunity
OPINION

From Carnage of Crisis Rises Vast Opportunity

World must act to overhaul finance for next era: Gordon Brown

(Newser) - The British plan to recapitalize world banks helped calm global markets, but Gordon Brown isn't done yet. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, the prime minister declares that we face "a defining moment for the world economy" on par with the aftermath of World War II, and that...

Oil Sinks Below $70 as Economy Tanks

Price oil halves in 3 months as demand takes a dive

(Newser) - Dropping demand sent a barrel of oil dipping below $70 for the first time in 14 months yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reports. Prices have dropped more than 50% in three months—a sign of a deeply troubled economy, but one that could help the world recover as companies that...

Nikkei Up 14% in Record Rally
 Nikkei Up 14% in Record Rally 

Nikkei Up 14% in Record Rally

Bank support plans boost Japan's index to biggest gain in its history

(Newser) - The Nikkei  surged over 14% on the news that the US and Europe will buy up stakes in troubled banks, Bloomberg reports. The index's biggest gain in history follows its biggest loss in its history last week. Japan's markets were closed for a holiday yesterday when global indexes soared. Hong...

Global Markets Rally After Rescue Talks

Banks gain big in European trading

(Newser) - Asian and European markets were up today following announcements by global leaders of wide-ranging economic rescue packages. France's Cac 40 index and London's FTSE 100 index both bounced more than 5%, with banking shares posting some of the biggest gains, the BBC reports. Australia's main index jumped 5.6% and...

Stocks Plunge 600, Rebound
 Stocks Plunge 600, Rebound 
MARKETS

Stocks Plunge 600, Rebound

Panic grips the street

(Newser) - Stocks continued their rocky ride this morning, plunging more than 600 points after the opening bell before rebounding, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Dow, in what the Journal calls a “slow-motion crash,” was down about 250 points after the first hour. The Nasdaq and S&P followed...

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