Month: February 2010

Crisis of 2008: How It All Started

Posted by – February 26, 2010

The global financial crisis came to the forefront of the business world and world media in September 2008, with the failure and merging of a number of American financial companies. It was not a surprise — many business journals had been commenting on the stability of the leading American and European financial firms following the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis. Much of the American economy is built on credit with firms borrowing money from other firms and the general consumer borrowing money for homes and cars. Many people were taking advantage of the housing boom in the US when it ended, leaving both investors and mortgage companies in trouble. More

India and Global Crisis

Posted by – February 25, 2010

New Delhi, 30 Sep. It is often said that when the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. This three-part series looks at how India, China, and Russia have been affected by the US financial crisis.

Before we get into detail about how much this US problem is spreading globally, we should understand the severity of it and the possible consequences in the US. How sick is the US?

Australia: The New Growth Horizons

Posted by – February 23, 2010

The Asian region had been largely insulated from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and would aggressively outperform other global economies in the medium term, financial experts at the inaugural In The Zone conference at The University of Western Australia said today.
More

How the Financial Crisis Happened

Posted by – February 22, 2010

The U.S. financial meltdown has created a worldwide crisis. Ironically, worldwide scared money is still flowing into U.S. Treasury obligations as a safe haven. This permits more U.S. borrowing, but by drying up credit overseas creates financial crises in other countries.

I’ve been posting for several years on pieces of the origins of this financial crisis. Now Robert Weissman and others have attempted to put together an overall picture of what happened in Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America, produced by Essential Information and the Consumer Education Foundation. More

Is Brazil a Bystander of The Global Crisis?

Posted by – February 21, 2010

After the G20 finance ministers and the World Bank/IMF annual meetings in Washington last weekend, most Latin American ministers of finance returned to their countries with a somber outlook. As the global financial crisis continues to unfold, it was clear that developing countries may have to replace some market financing with lending from the multilaterals, and prepare for the recession in the U.S., which will inevitably occur as a result of the credit squeeze of the past months, and its impact on global markets. More

Global Economic Depression

Posted by – February 19, 2010

What is a an Economic Depression?

An economic depression is a severe downturn that lasts several years. Fortunately, the U.S. economy has not experienced an economic depression since The Great Depression of 1929, which lasted ten years. More

Is Crisis Over In 2010?

Posted by – February 17, 2010

Dutch manufacturers are climbing out of the deepest recession of the post-war period. This will lead to more industrial production in 2010. However, growth will remain sluggish for some time as consumers and companies remain cautious.

Economy and industry emerge from recession
As a cyclical and highly export-oriented sector the manufacturing industry has suffered badly from the international recession. Industry sustained the largest increase in the number of bankruptcies and the greatest decline in the volume of production of all business sectors in 2009. A record number of industrial concerns went out of business in the first half of 2009. The global downturn has bottomed out however. Producers and consumers are less pessimistic and world trade is picking up again. A number of industrialised countries emerged from recession in the second quarter. After five quarters of contraction, the Dutch economy expanded again in the third quarter, albeit slightly. More