G-8 leaders to marshal support for Arab nations; President Barack Obama and the other leaders will seek to marshal their combined economic might behind …

G-8 leaders to marshal support for Arab nations May 25, 2011, 9:57 a.m. EDT Associated Press Journal By Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr., Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Selection Poll B.O.Page! PARIS (AP) — Arab uprisings are pushing aside deficits and austerity as the biggest worry of the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations this year. President Barack Obama and the other leaders will seek to marshal their combined economic might behind the grass-roots democracy movements that have swept the Arab world — and driven away tourists and investors. Egypt and Tunisia, where popular revolts this year overthrew authoritarian regimes, want to show G-8 leaders and international financiers that they are still sound investment destinations — which might be a tall order as the future shape and policies of their governments remains unclear. The discussions starting Thursday in the chic Normandy resort of Deauville will see the host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, bring together the heads of wealthy nations for what one of Sarkozy’s top advisers describes as “the founding moment” of a partnership between the G-8 and the Arab countries. That partnership may be strained, however, by tensions over how to handle Libya’s rebel movement and entrenched leader Moammar Gadhafi. NATO appears to have no exit strategy, and efforts to oust Gadhafi remain elusive. The leaders of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy and Russia will greet counterparts from Tunisia, Egypt and the head of the Arab League to hash out details of what some are calling a new “Marshall Plan” for these countries, similar to the massive U.S. aid to Europe after World War II that helped the continent rebuild and stave off communism. The historic parallel is fitting, as Deauville is just a short drive along the English Channel from the D-Day landing beaches where the U.S. and its allies began to roll back the Third Reich in 1944. A top Sarkozy official drew another historical analogy, saying the aid and investment to be promised to the Arab nations would resemble that which the G-8 offered to Eastern and Central European nations after the collapse of communism in 1989. Last week President Barack Obama said the U.S. has asked the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to present a plan at the G-8 summit that sets a path to stabilize and modernize the economies of Tunisia and Egypt. The U.S. will forgive up to $1 billion in Egyptian debt and guarantee another $1 billion to finance infrastructure and new jobs. Obama said he will ask Congress to finance enterprise funds that will provide money for investment in both countries — a request that comes as Congress seeks to cut spending. Tunisia, followed by Egypt, kicked off change around the Arab world, as broad-based popular movements took to the streets demanding greater rights and political representation from their authoritarian governments. But the street demonstrations in Cairo and Tunis that thrilled and inspired the Arab world also drove away the tourists and investors on which these economies are heavily dependent. “The first thing they will be looking for is direct financial aid,” said Said Hirsh, a Middle East economist with Capital Economics consultancy in London. “Both countries need quite a lot of money considering the hit to their economies and their revenues.” While U.S. officials say G-8 countries will discuss their role in the process, they say it is too soon to reach a deal on dollar amounts for assistance. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a London-based institution set up in 1991 to foster transition to market economies in post-communist Europe, could be “repurposed” to focus its expertise on the southern Mediterranean region, a top official in Sarkozy’s office said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of protocol. The heads of the World Bank and the United Nations will also be present and add their signatures to the partnership declaration. Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, under house arrest in New York following his indictment for sexual assault, will be replaced for the event by the institution’s acting managing director John Lipsky. Finding a permanent replacement for Strauss-Kahn is likely to take up a good part of the summiteers’ small talk. Nuclear safety will be another topic, with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan scheduled to provide leaders with an update on the continuing crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The future of the Internet will also figure in the G-8 leaders’ talks. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Eric Schmidt of Google and other Internet executives took part in two days of debates focused broadly on the Internet’s impact on the global economy. Several of the Internet conference’s speakers will then take policy recommendations to Deauville in talks with the G-8 leaders. Police have established one security cordon around the conference center where the leaders are meeting, and another perimeter encompassing all of Deauville. Local ports, train stations and the airport will be shut from Wednesday to Friday, and a no-fly zone enforced over the town. The show of force may have discouraged radicals and other protesters from attempting to organize demonstrations close to the summit. Anti-G8 protesters plan symbolic demonstrations in the neighboring towns of Caen and Le Havre, but they do not plan to try to disrupt the event in Deauville itself, according to a statement circulated by radical groups online. ___ Associated Press writers Julie Pace in Washington, D.C., Geir Moulson in Berlin, Charmaine Noronha in Toronto, David Stringer in London and Paul Schemm in Rabat, Morocco contributed to this report. Greg Keller can be reached at http://twitter.com/Greg_Keller _________________________________________________________ Video Section: PS., Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Make Your Selection Below!   _________________________________________________________________ Calvin Ledsome Sr., Owner and Founder of:  http://PublicBlogNewsPostingServices.com http://economicnewsblog.wordpress.com http://USAPolitics2012.wordpress.com  http://www.imaginemakingrealmoneyonline.com http://digitaldownloadable-electronicbooks.blogspot.com Thank you for visiting, do come back for more news… Warmest regards,

The : Greek debt restructuring would be a “recipe for catastrophe” …

ECB official blasts ‘vested interests’ in US, UK May 18, 2011, 10:24 a.m. EDT Associated Press Journal By Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr., Owner and Founder of: http://www.LedSomeBioMetrics.com Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Selection Poll B.O.Page! LAGONISI, Greece (AP) — The European Central Bank‘s chief economist said a Greek debt restructuring would be a “recipe for catastrophe” and blamed “vested interests” in Britain and the United States for fueling market pressure on the country. As Greece announced deeper cuts, Juergen Stark said Wednesday that the struggling eurozone country’s “debt sustainability is insured” as long as it fully complies with its internationally monitored austerity program. Asked about the markets’ hostility to Greek efforts, Stark said: “This is not the view of all market participants, to be very clear. This is a discussion triggered from London and New York. I don’t know what is behind it — vested interests, people topping their books and so on. So it’s more complicated than just (saying) what markets expect.” Stark made the comments during a financial conference at a resort near Athens. Greece’s Socialist government was told by the European Union this week to take urgent measures to keep its austerity program on target, as part of its commitments for the €110 billion ($156 billion) package of bailout loans it is receiving from EU countries and the International Monetary Fund. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou heeded the latest EU warning, and confirmed that additional austerity measures worth €6 billion ($8.5 billion) for 2011 would be announced in the coming days. Greece on Tuesday vowed to slash its bloated civil service by 150,000 people by 2015 and effectively ended government jobs for life. Papaconstantinou insisted that the latest measures would not include more across-the-board salary and pension cuts that have sparked numerous labor protests. In Athens, police scuffled with striking municipal workers outside parliament and used pepper spray to disperse protesters. Greece remains frozen out of bond markets by sky-high interest rates as investors fret that the country may eventually have to restructure its debt, which is set to top 150 percent of gross domestic product this year. Stark said the restructuring option had not been properly thought through. “Debt restructuring would wipe out part or all capital of Greek banks,” he said. “So it would be a recipe for catastrophe.” He urged Greece to “double its effort” on structural reforms that critics say have been stagnating and insisted that the austerity measures would be enough to bring the country back on its feet. “Greece is solvent,” he said. “This is an important message.” Stark’s comments underlined the split among European officials over whether Greece should consider delaying repayment of its crushing debt load. Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurozone finance ministers group, held the door open Tuesday to what he called a “reprofiling” of Greece debt — a voluntary extension of bond maturities. Another top ECB official, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, backed up Stark, saying even a “soft” or voluntary stretching out of repayment would be “devastating for overall financial stability,” according to the Ansa news agency. “Time has been wasted these past months in the search for a way out, for an easy solution, like restructuring the debt,” Bini Smaghi was quoted as saying. He said government failure to pay all its debts would have “an immediate impact on the banking system.” Officials are concerned Greece’s troubles could harm Europe’s economic recovery by inflicting losses on banks elsewhere in Europe that hold Greek bonds. European officials are weighing whether to give Greece another bailout. Last year’s rescue loans were aimed at giving the country breathing space so it could return to borrowing from bond markets next year. But it remains unable to borrow from private investors as its economy deteriorates and it struggles to meet the terms of the first bailout. International debt monitors are currently in Greece to inspect the progress of cost-cutting reforms, and again warned that Greece needed to do more work to avoid sliding off target. “We are in a situation where if we do not get this acceleration of structural reforms, the (budget) deficit will get entrenched at where it is now, around 10 percent,” IMF monitor Poul Thomsen told the conference. Thomsen acknowledged pain was unavoidable given the country’s massive fiscal adjustment. “It’s impossible to deal with a deficit of 15.5 percent of GDP without having a recession,” he said. “People are dreaming if they think you can do this kind of adjustment without having a recession.” Thomsen, dismissing skepticism from analysts, urged Greece to speed up its ambitious privatization program worth €50 billion ($71 billion) through 2015. “Privatization makes a real difference. If the targets can be realized it would change very substantially the debt sustainability discussions,” Thomsen said. The government announced it had chosen a series of advisers for privatization projects — included Deutsche Bank and the National Bank of Greece as advisers for the sale of the state stake in the OPAP gambling monopoly; Credit Suisse and EFG Eurobank Equities for the privatization of the state lottery tickets company, and Credit Agricole and Emporiki Bank for the sale of its stake in the horse racing company. ___ Theodora Tongas in Lagonisi, Elena Becatoros in Athens, and David McHugh in Frankfurt contributed to this report. _________________________________________________________ Video Section: _________________________________________________________________ Calvin Ledsome Sr., Owner and Founder of:  http://PublicBlogNewsPostingServices.com http://economicnewsblog.wordpress.com http://USAPolitics2012.wordpress.com  http://www.imaginemakingrealmoneyonline.com http://digitaldownloadable-electronicbooks.blogspot.com Checkout The Lastest Polical Ticker Hosted By CNN Thank you for visiting, do come back for more news… Warmest regards, PS., Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? 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China is using high-level meetings to urge the United States to allow more technology exports

China urges US to lift controls on hi-tech exports
May 10, 2011, 6:49 a.m. EDT
Associated Press

Journal By Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr.,

Owner and Founder of: http://www.LedSomeBioMetrics.com

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WASHINGTON (AP) — China is using high-level meetings to urge the United States to allow more technology exports into the booming Chinese economy as a way of balancing trade.

The United States, meanwhile, has criticized the communist-led nation’s latest crackdown on democracy advocates, arguing that long-term stability depends on respecting human rights.

Both sides issued familiar grievances at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which began in Washington on Monday, but they took pains to stress a generally positive track in relations between the two economic superpowers.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo said common interests between the world’s two largest economies now make them “inseparable” and destined to grow more interdependent.

The annual two-day round of talks brings together leaders on economics, foreign policy and security. The meetings, involving scores of officials, wrap up Tuesday with news conferences.

President Barack Obama met Dai and Chinese delegation leader Vice Premier Wang Qishan after Monday’s deliberations. He encouraged China to implement policies to support “balanced global growth as well as a more balanced bilateral economic relationship.” On human rights, he underscored his support for freedom of expression and political participation, a White House statement said.

This year’s dialogue follows a January state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao that helped eased tensions over the U.S. arms sales to self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of Chinese territory. The U.S. and China also have been at odds over China’s intervention in currency markets, which the U.S. says has kept the value of the yuan low against the dollar, giving an unfair advantage to Chinese exporters.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday softened the long-standing U.S. criticism of China’s economic policies, possibly in a belief that the outside pressure was proving counterproductive.

Geithner praised China’s efforts, which include a decision last June to resume allowing the yuan to rise in value against the dollar after freezing the currency’s value for two years during the height of the financial crisis. The yuan has risen by about 5 percent against the dollar since last summer. American manufacturers contend the yuan is still undervalued by as much as 40 percent.

The U.S. Treasury chief still urged China to allow its currency to appreciate at a faster rate and to allow Chinese consumer interest rates to rise. Both steps could help boost domestic demand and help lower America’s trade deficit, which hit an all-time high with China last year.

A Chinese official, however, blamed U.S. policies for the ballooning trade gap. Commerce Minister Chen Deming told a news conference that China’s currency appreciation was being carried out in a “very healthy manner.” He said the United States needed to change its own policies on high-tech sales and investment as a way to spur American manufacturing.

He took aim at the U.S. screening of Chinese foreign investment proposals, contending it was neither fair nor transparent. Most recently, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States rejected a takeover by private Chinese technology giant Huawei of a small U.S. computer company, 3Leaf, on national security grounds.

“We hope the United States can treat Chinese investment, including by state-owned enterprises, in a fair manner,” he said.

U.S. companies have their own long list of complaints: limited access to Chinese markets, theft of intellectual property, widespread use in China of counterfeit software and problems in seeking redress through China’s legal system.

At the ceremonial opening of the talks on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered blunt criticism of China’s human rights record, which Beijing regards as an internal matter. Clinton later had “very candid and honest” private discussions on the issue with Dai, U.S. officials said.

Since February, Chinese authorities have questioned or detained hundreds of lawyers, activists, journalists and bloggers after anonymous calls were made on the Internet for protests emulating those that have challenged and toppled authoritarian governments in the Middle East and North Africa. No such protests have taken place in China.

“We know over the long arc of history that societies that work toward respecting human rights are going to be more prosperous, stable and successful. That has certainly been proven time and time again, but most particularly in the last months,” Clinton said.

Dai said China had made progress in the area of human rights, but he did not mention the recent crackdown.

In Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, “No country is perfect in its human rights record and there is no one-size-fits-all human rights policy.”

In unusually mild comments on a subject that Beijing is highly sensitive about, Jiang said, “China and the U.S. have different opinions in the area of human rights and we believe we can use dialogue to increase mutual understanding and mutual trust.”

This year’s talks for the first time included high-level military leaders from both nations, a move seen as a way to increase understanding between military commanders and reduce the risk of conflict. China’s military has expanded rapidly in the past 15 years, deploying missiles and naval assets that could challenge American supremacy in the region.

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India raises key interest rates by a half point

India raises key interest rates by a half point
May 3, 2011, 4:51 a.m. EDT

Journalist Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr.,

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MUMBAI, India (AP) — India’s central bank raised its key interest rate by half a percentage point Tuesday, its ninth hike in just over a year, warning that persistent inflation has become a threat to growth in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The bank said the short term lending rate — or repo rate — will go from 6.75 percent to 7.25 percent, with immediate effect.

The bank said that from now on it will set only one policy rate, the repo rate, and fix the reverse repo rate — or short-term borrowing rate — at 1 percentage point below the repo rate. Tuesday’s rise automatically brings the reverse repo rate to 6.25 percent.

“High inflation is inimical to sustained growth as it harms investment by creating uncertainty,” Reserve Bank Gov. D. Subbarao said Tuesday. “Current elevated rates of inflation pose significant risks to future growth.”

“The Reserve Bank will continue to persevere with its anti-inflationary stance,” he added.

Sixty percent of forecasters had anticipated a quarter point hike, while 40 percent had projected a half point hike, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll Tuesday morning.

The bank said it expects economic growth to slow to around 8 percent this fiscal year, from 8.6 percent last fiscal year. It said growth would be between 7.4 and 8.5 percent, if monsoon rains are normal and crude oil prices average $110 a barrel for the year ending March 31, 2012.

That is lower than New Delhi’s projection of 9 percent growth and dents the ruling Congress party’s hopes of using the gains of double-digit growth to alleviate poverty and create jobs for millions of young Indians. Most Indians live on less than $2 a day.

Business leaders decried the Reserve Bank of India‘s move as too aggressive.

“This is certainly a very hawkish monetary stand and one which would make the investment environment even more difficult,” Rajiv Kumar, director general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said in a statement. “We are afraid that with growth slowing down, as now admitted by the RBI, employment targets will not be achieved and this could generate greater social pressure.”

India’s economic growth moderated from 8.9 percent in the first half of last fiscal year to 8.2 percent in the second half, and the bank said high oil prices, inflation, a possible slackening in global demand for India’s exports, and the impact of rising interest rates will further depress output.

The bank said it expects inflation for the fiscal year to average 6 percent, with the potential to rise. It said inflation would remain close to March’s 9 percent for the first half of the fiscal year, before softening in the second half, despite pressure from high oil prices — which would likely force New Delhi to raise regulated petrol and diesel prices — and a lagged passthrough of rising input costs to consumers.

“They’ve acknowledged they are willing to sacrifice some growth to control inflation,” said Samiran Chakraborty, head of India research at Standard Chartered in Mumbai. “This is a sea change in monetary policy. It will help bring down inflation.”

Wages in India have been rising faster than inflation, crimping corporate margins along with higher input costs.

“Inflation expectations arising from the demand side need to be contained,” Chakraborty said. “This rate hike was needed to make sure we’re not into a wage price spiral.”

India suffers from the worst inflation of any major Asian economy — economists describe India’s inflation as “virulent” and “unparalleled” — prompting the Reserve Bank of India to raise rates more than its regional peers.

It hiked the effective interest rate by 3.5 percentage points prior to Tuesday’s move. That has put pressure on growth, with capital goods production and investment both softening, but it hasn’t been enough to contain inflation.

High oil prices, loose fiscal policy and supply constraints have muted the impact of the Reserve Bank’s aggressive anti-inflation stance.

The Reserve Bank of India also increased the savings bank deposit rate Tuesday from 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent, as it considers deregulating bank deposit rates. The rise — and potential deregulation — will squeeze profit margins at Indian banks.

The benchmark Sensex index was down 1.7 percent in early afternoon trade in Mumbai, with autos and banks leading declines.