The US economist widely credited with having predicted the financial crisis has warned we are already planting the seeds of the next crisis. Nouriel Roubini told the BBC that he is concerned about the growing gap between the bubbly and frothy stock markets and the real economy.
The European Central Bank left the main rate at 1% and President Jean Claude Trichet said at a press conference in Venice on Thursday that the ECB has no plans to raise borrowing costs, describing their level as “appropriate”.
The Bank of England voted Thursday to hold interest rates at its 0.5% record low and continue with its £175 billion program to boost the money supply at its latest two-day meeting. The decision was taken despite concerns over the fragility of the UK recovery from recession.
Economist Nobel Milton Friedman use to say there is no such thing as a free lunch - but for years the majority of Cubans have been given free meals at state-run workplace canteens.
The US budget deficit more than tripled to a record 1.4 trillion US dollars in the fiscal year to 30 September, according to US Congress estimates. Congressional analysts had previously predicted a deficit of 1.6 trillion but revised their latest estimate, which comes after the end of the fiscal year.
Chilean dairy farmers on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the government’s decision to impose safeguards on powder milk (whole and skinned) and Gouda cheese from Argentina and Uruguay.
Controversy sparked between Spain’s government and the governor of the Central Bank over the magnitude of the budget deficit and rising unemployment which threatens loans and consumers’ repayments plus the stability of some Spanish banks.
The Brazilian unit of Spanish banking giant Santander has raised 14.1 billion Reais, approximately 8.1 billion US dollars) in the country's biggest share offering.
French retailer Carrefour is seriously considering exiting Latin America, one of its most lucrative markets, under pressure from top shareholders, Le Monde newspaper reported in a preview of its Thursday edition.
Following his forty minutes Tuesday meeting with IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Argentine Economy Minister Amado Boudou said that ”the new relationship (Argentina is) building with the IMF is purely technical and numbers-related, but by no means does it mean an interference with Argentine policy.”