Economy

Chinese Media Say Google to Leave China Next Month

Chinese media reports say U.S. Internet giant Google will close its business in China after complaints of censorship and cyber-attacks. The reports say the announcement could come as early as next week, although Google is refusing all comment.

World Bank Raises China Growth Forecast

According to The World Bank's latest quarterly report, China will again enjoy robust growth this year. But Beijing will need to adopt tighter monetary policies if it is to keep inflation in check and prevent unsustainable prices in the booming real estate sector.

Greek Crisis Questions

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The situation in Athens has forced the EU to look at its internal workings to see whether another crisis on this scale could be avoided. A European Monetary Fund to complement the IMF has been touted, however, some still believe individual nation states' responsibility supersedes solidarity.

Asia-Pacific Nations to Create World's Largest Free Zone

Officials from eight Asia-Pacific nations have begun talks being billed as laying the groundwork for what could become the largest free trade area ever seen. The talks seek to add the United States, Australia, Peru and Vietnam to the Trans Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement that groups Chile, Singapore, New Zealand and Brunei. The eight countries are home to 470 million people and account for a combined gross domestic product more than $16 trillion dollars.

Decline in Toyota Sales

U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles declined nearly 9 percent in February, the first full month since the Japanese automaker suspended sales and recalled 8.5 million cars for accelerator problems.

Iceland Rejects Bill to Repay Britain, Netherlands

Icelandic voters overwhelmingly rejected a $5.3-billion deal to repay debts to Britain and the Netherlands for their losses in the 2008 collapse of Iceland's private online bank, Icesave.

Spanish housing bubble

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We’re going to Spain, another country hit by the economic crisis. Because of an explosion of the property bubble, last year in Spain, there was too much construction: for example on the coasts, the equivalent of two pyramids of Kheops was built daily. But only debt remained. The average debt for each family was 45%. Too much. And then the system exploded like an air bubble.

EU, the largest integrated economic area in the world

The enlarged EU is now the largest integrated economic area in the world, accounting for more than 30% of world GDP and more than 17% of world trade. Income per capita in new Member States has risen from 40% of the old Member States' average in 1999 to 52% in 2008 and growth averaged 5.5% from 2004-2008 compared to 3.5 % in 1999-2003.

Interim forecasts for 2009-2010: slowdown sharpens but growth will come back before the end of 2009

GDP growth in the European Union is expected to fall by 1.8 % in 2009 before recovering moderately to 0.5% in 2010. This is the result of the impact on the real economy of the intensified financial crisis, the ensuing global downturn manifested in the severe contraction of world trade and manufacturing output and, in some countries, housing-market corrections. Government consumption and public investment, however, will provide relief. The fact that inflationary pressures have eased also contributes to private consumption. The discretionary fiscal measures announced since August 2008 will limit the contraction in GDP growth by about ¾ pp. this year. The severity of the economic downturn will have a significant impact on employment and public finances over the forecast horizon.