Economy

• Thursday, November 25th 2010 - 04:29 UTC

  First possible suspected case of “mad cow” in humans sounds alarm bells in Brazil

  

  Brazilian health officials said this week that a suspected case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal illness that destroys brain tissue, probably wasn’t caused by eating beef of an animal infected with the mad cow sickness.

• Thursday, November 25th 2010 - 04:25 UTC

  Large sovereign bond trader adheres to Germany’s “hair-cut” proposal

  

  One of the world's largest private buyers of government bonds says the private sector should bear some of the cost of financial rescues such as for the Irish Republic. The comments came from Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, which holds investments worth 1.3 trillion US dollars (equivalent to 80% of Brazil's GDP).

• Thursday, November 25th 2010 - 04:19 UTC

  UK main supermarkets agree to origin labels for meats and dairy products

  

  UK's main supermarkets have signed up to a new voluntary code of conduct on food labelling to provide consumers with clearer information on the origin of their food. The new principles apply to meat and processed meat products as well as dairy products.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 20:55 UTC

  US on the path of Japan’s stagflation of 18 years ago, says Nobel Prize

  

  Economics 2008 Nobel Prize Paul Krugman said the United States is heading along a path of stagnation and deflation similar to that of Japan 18 years ago given the critical economic situation and the uncertain political scenario following the recent mid term elections that brought to Congress diehard Republicans.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 20:21 UTC

  IMF mission arrives in Buenos Aires first week of December

  

  The International Monetary Fund confirmed Argentina’s request for technical assistance on the elaboration of a Consumer Price Index (CPI). In a statement release by Nicolas Eyzaguirre, Director of the Western Hemisphere Department added “we are currently in contact with the authorities on planning the missions”.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 20:17 UTC

  Rousseff confirms flexible-orthodox Tombini to head Brazil’s central bank

  

  Brazilian president-elect Dilma Rousseff press office announced Thursday that economist Alexandre Tombini will be the next president of the central bank; economist Guido Mantega will continue as Finance minister and engineer Miriam Belchoir coordinator of PAC (program to bolster growth) will become Planning and Budget minister.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 20:03 UTC

  Irish government slashes benefits and raises taxes: VAT 24%

  

  The Irish government has unveiled a range of tough austerity measures designed to help solve the country's debt crisis. Among the spending cuts and tax rises are a reduction in the minimum wage, a new property tax and thousands of public sector job cuts.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 15:38 UTC

  Exports help UK economy expand but tight budget contracts domestic demand

  

  United Kingdom’s export growth helped the economy extend its recovery in the third quarter as growth in consumer, government and investment spending slowed by more than half. GDP rose 0.8% from the previous three months, when it increased 1.2%, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday in London.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 15:36 UTC

  IMF insists Europe needs “far-reaching” reforms to safeguard the “social model”

  

  Europe needs collaborative and far-reaching reforms to restore strong and balanced growth across the region and safeguard the European social model, the head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn told bankers and officials in Frankfurt.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 05:19 UTC

  EU and IMF are demanding more austerity and reforms from Greece

  

  EU and IMF auditors cleared a new slice of rescue funding for Greece on Tuesday but demanded more austerity action while acknowledging that the country faced potential strains in repaying on time.