Economy

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 08:15 UTC

  Food high prices and volatility to continue; investment in agriculture critical, says UN

  

  Food price volatility featuring high prices is likely to continue and possibly increase, making poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity, the United Nations' three Rome-based agencies said in the global hunger report published Monday.

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 07:48 UTC

  China to increase oil and sales tax (5 to 10%) to reduce consumption

  

  China will expand a tax on oil and natural gas sales to the entire country as of November first to try and reduce consumption. The tax will be 5-10% of sales, the State Council said Monday.

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 07:44 UTC

  ”We are the 99%” protestors in downtown Chicago disrupt bankers’ events

  

  Thousands of protesters, including teachers and religious leaders, converged on downtown Chicago Monday to rally against economic inequality, with two financial industry events in their crosshairs.

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 07:38 UTC

  Business leaders tell Obama how millions of jobs could be created

  

  President Barack Obama could create millions of jobs by attracting more foreign capital to the United States, helping entrepreneurs and being more aggressive in energy, business leaders said.

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 07:20 UTC

  Mercosur a ‘priority’ almost a ‘sanctuary’ for Brazilian trade and diplomacy

  

  Brazil is reinforcing its diplomacy’s legal and trade departments in anticipation of a major impact from a possible global situation and in this context “Mercosur is a priority, almost a sanctuary” announced Monday the Foreign Affaire ministry.

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 07:13 UTC

  Brazil is a “decisive partner” for Argentina in the event of a major crisis

  

  For Argentina, Brazil is a “decisive partner” in addressing the negative effects of the world economic crisis which has hit the United States and the European Union, said on Monday Argentina’s Deputy Economy minister Roberto Feletti.

• Monday, October 10th 2011 - 23:00 UTC

  China warns Washington of a ‘trade war’ if US Senate votes punishing the Yuan

  

  China reiterated that an expected vote this week in the US Senate on a bill intended to pressure Beijing to allow its currency to raise if made into law would result in a trade war and hurt US-China ties.

• Monday, October 10th 2011 - 22:40 UTC

  Markets react positively to Merkel/Sarkozy promise of Euro zone plan

  

  Stocks rose sharply in Europe and in the US on Monday as investor sentiment were buoyed by a renewed pledge by France and Germany to come up with a plan to tackle the Euro zone debt crisis by month's end. International pressure has been building for bold steps from Europe to avert a global economic backlash.

• Monday, October 10th 2011 - 22:37 UTC

  Two US macro-economy experts awarded Nobel Prize in economics

  

  US academics Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in economics for work that helps governments and central banks weigh up responses to crises -though it offers no immediate answer to current global problems.

• Monday, October 10th 2011 - 07:58 UTC

  Paris Club group lays out terms for Argentina to repay defaulted debt

  

  Members of the Paris Club group of creditors want Argentina to repay an estimated 9 billion dollars in defaulted debt within three years and to make a big initial payment, Buenos Aires newspaper La Nacion reported over the weekend.