http://www.leap2020.eu fr 2010-03-11T04:28:26+01:00 48.8351898 2.3866701 tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1935243 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:33:00 +0100 fr Haaretz U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who came to Israel determined to embrace Netanyahu all the way to indirect talks with the Palestinian Authority, swore allegiance to the security of Israel, but was slapped in the face with such force that it was heard in Washington.

Netanyahu forced the White House to chose between two options: to turn the other check and lose the Palestinians for the last time, making Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's day, or to slap back immediately. Washington chose the second option...

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/The-slap-heard-round-the-world_b1935243.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1935225 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:18:00 +0100 fr CNN Money The United States dropped a record $220.9 billion further into the red in February, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

The shortfall was up from the previous record $193.9 billion shortfall in February last year...

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/Record-monthly-deficit-for-U-S-$221-billion_b1935225.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1935075 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:02:00 +0100 fr Bloomberg Hedge funds that trade currencies are taking hits from politicians casting them as speculators out to sink the euro and push Greece into insolvency. They are also losing money.

Macro funds, so named because they try to profit from macroeconomic trends, fell 1 percent in the first two months of the year, according to data compiled by Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc. Brevan Howard Asset Management LLC, Europe’s largest hedge-fund firm, Moore Capital Management LLC and Tudor Investment Corp. were among those reporting fund losses...

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/Hedge-Funds-Lose-Money-Even-With-Euro,-Pound-Tumbles_b1935075.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1935074 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:01:00 +0100 fr Market Watch British factory output showed an unexpected fall in January, while French and Italian production rose more than anticipated, according to data released Wednesday.

U.K. manufacturing output dropped 0.9% compared to December, the Office for National Statistics said. Compared to the January 2009, output rose 0.2%...

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/U-K-factory-output-falls-unexpectedly-in-January_b1935074.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1933895 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:23:00 +0100 fr Financial Times Germany and France are stepping up the pressure for urgent action by the European Union to regulate speculation in sovereign debt markets, in the wake of the Greek debt crisis.

Angela Merkel, German chancellor, called on Tuesday for the “fastest possible” adoption of new rules to clamp down on the most speculative elements of derivatives trading, including so-called naked transactions, which do not hedge the value of real assets.

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/Call-for-action-on-speculation-rules_b1933895.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1929909 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:28:00 +0100 fr Wall Street Journal Even small financial crises like the Greek embarrassment stir up a lot of fuss. Germans are complaining that the 1992 Maastricht Treaty did not have enough teeth to discipline states that broke its rules and that tougher measures are needed. In Athens, the public employee unions are loudly warning their socialist friends against any austerity measures that might cut employee benefits. For comic relief, there's the U.S. Senate, where Chris Dodd blames Greece's plight, not on the Greeks themselves but—of course—on "Wall Street."

Being Greek, the Athens demonstrators aren't likely to calm down. But everyone else should...

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/The-Euro-Has-Been-a-Smashing-Success_b1929909.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1929907 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:27:00 +0100 fr Der Spiegel German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has suggested setting up a European monetary fund to enable the euro zone to tackle debt crises such as that seen in Greece without resorting to the IMF. EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has welcomed the idea.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has won support from EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn for a proposal to set up a European monetary fund to tackle debt crises such as the one in Greece...

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/Greek-Debt-Crisis-Proposal-for-European-Monetary-Fund-Wins-EU-Support_b1929907.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1929388 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:10:00 +0100 fr Le Monde Conséquence de la crise grecque, la Commission européenne pourrait discuter mardi de la création d'un Fonds monétaire européen lors d'une réunion à Strasbourg, déclare, lundi 8 mars, le commissaire européen à l'industrie, Antonio Tajani. "C'est une proposition du commissaire Rehn", a-t-il déclaré à la presse à Milan en faisant référence aux propos du commissaire aux affaires économiques et monétaires dans le Financial Times Deutschland. "La question figure à l'ordre du jour et il est possible qu'elle soit discutée lors de la réunion de la Commission européenne demain", ajoute-t-il.

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/L-Europe-va-discuter-de-la-creation-d-un-Fonds-monetaire-europeen_b1929388.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1931053 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:47:00 +0100 fr Bloomberg White House adviser Paul Volcker said it’s too soon for U.S. policy makers to withdraw the stimulus measures and interest-rate cuts used to fight the worst slump since the Great Depression.

“This is not the time to take aggressive tightening action, either fiscally or monetary-wise,” said Volcker in an interview in Berlin March 6, pointing to “high” unemployment. “So I think we have to, as best as we can, maintain the expectation that it will be taken care of in a timely way.”...

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]]> http://www.leap2020.eu/notes/Volcker-Says-Too-Soon-to-Cut-U-S-Monetary,-Fiscal-Stimulus_b1931053.html tag:www.leap2020.eu,2010:rss-1930967 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:21:00 +0100 fr CNBC The true unemployment rate in the United States is actually higher than we think -- at 11.5 percent, said Stephen Roach, Asia chairman of Morgan Stanley.

"The (official) unemployment rate at 9.7 percent is distorted downwards by at least 3 million people who have simply given up looking for work and who have effectively taken themselves out of the work force for economic reasons," Roach said on CNBC...

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