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Japan’s demand for services fell at the fastest pace in 12 years in March as job cuts discouraged consumers from spending in the world’s second-largest economy.
The tertiary index, a gauge of money households and businesses spend on phone calls, power and transportation, dropped 4 percent from February, the Trade Ministry said today in […]
Filed under: money by Finance Boss
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Australian consumer confidence dropped in May after the government said it will push the nation into debt to counter a recession that may swell the jobless queue to 1 million within two years.
Australia’s dollar declined after Westpac Banking Corp. and Melbourne Institute said their consumer sentiment index fell 4.3 percent from April to […]
Filed under: business, management by Finance Boss
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Former U.K. finance minister Norman Lamont, who drew fire during the 1990s recession for announcing the “green shoots” of recovery, said he wouldn’t use the phrase again now because the banking system remains broken.
“There are some optimistic signs but I wouldn’t call them green shoots,” Lamont said today at the Banking Outlook 2009 […]
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U.S. regulators are arguing over how much influence the government should wield over bank management, pitting taxpayer protection against concern at roiling fragile financial markets.
The clash intensified as supervisors completed last week’s stress test results on the biggest U.S. banks. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials sought to make top executives and boards of […]
Filed under: business by Finance Boss
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U.S. regulators are arguing over how much influence the government should wield over bank management, pitting taxpayer protection against concern at roiling fragile financial markets.
The clash intensified as supervisors completed last week’s stress test results on the biggest U.S. banks. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials sought to make top executives and boards of […]
Filed under: economics by Finance Boss
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The world economy may face near- stagnation for 10 years similar to Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said.
“The world as a whole looks quite a lot like Japan during its lost decade,” Krugman, 56, said at a forum today in Taipei. “I am very optimistic about the […]
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The Federal Reserve may soon need to raise interest rates, said John Taylor, the former Treasury official who devised the “Taylor Rule,” a formula for rate- setting based on the outlook for inflation and growth.
“My calculation implies we may not have as much time before the Fed has to remove excess reserves and […]
Filed under: money by Finance Boss
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The world’s biggest investors are increasing bets that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will boost purchases of Treasuries as the steepest losses on government debt since 1994 send mortgage rates above 5 percent.
The slump in Treasuries the past seven weeks pushed yields on longer-maturity bonds up by more than half a percentage […]
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Inventories at U.S. wholesalers fell in March for the seventh straight month after a record drop in February, as distributors focused on eliminating excess supply from their shelves.
The 1.6 percent decline in stockpiles followed a revised 1.7 percent decrease in February that was bigger than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said today in […]
Filed under: economics by Finance Boss
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Peru’s central bank will probably cut its benchmark lending rate for a fourth straight month today as slowing inflation allows policy makers to lower borrowing costs and bolster flagging domestic demand.
The seven-member board, led by bank President Julio Velarde, will lower its reference rate to 4 percent from 5 percent, according to nine […]
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