Global economy jitters as US debt debacle lingers

For the first time in its history America faces prospect of bankruptcy and a potential crash of the global economy as US law makers continue to bicker over the raising the cap on the borrowing limits of the US Treasury.

With the Tuesday deadline of a possible default looming, Americans yesterday reacted angrily with phone calls to their representatives in Washington in response to President Barack Obama’s nudge to Americans to call their representatives to order.

China Scolds U.S. for Politicizing the 'Dangerous' Debt Talks

China's state-controlled media agency Xinhua published a scathing editorial on the U.S. debt talks, illuminating the nation's fear that American default will hurt the global economy.

The newspaper criticized lawmakers in the United States for stalling and letting politics stand before its economic future, calling the talks "dangerously irresponsible" and a "game of chicken."

Double-Dip Scare

The latest GDP numbers show the U.S. is in a cyclical downturn.

And now a double-dip scare is upon us, as first quarter results were revised down to stall speed of 0.4%. The second-quarter came in worse than expected at 1.3%.

Those numbers could get revised again into negative territory, meaning, we could now be in a double dip.

Once the Debt Ceiling Is Hiked, Markets Have to Confront Slower Growth

The woes besetting the global equity markets will remain after the contrived crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling is settled.

Global economic growth is slowing, as indicated by the slide in stock prices from Sydney and Shanghai to European bourses and back to New York. Industrial companies are corroborating the message of economic data that the much hoped-for second-half economic rebound will fall short of the hype.

Gold price seen rising further by African Barrick Gold

FTSE 100 miner African Barrick Gold expects the price of gold to continue rising because of global economic uncertainty.

The company, the largest producer of the metal in Tanzania, said gold's attraction as a safe haven for investors means prices will grow further despite already clearing record levels of $1,600 per ounce.

CN Rail shares slip on global economic worries

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Shares of Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO: Quote) slid more than 3 percent on Tuesday on concerns about a potential slowdown in global economic growth along with profit-taking after a rally by its stock this year.

The slide came a day after CN Rail, Canada's biggest railroad, reported better than expected second-quarter results, despite difficulties including floods in Western Canada, forest fires and mudslides.

Evan A Feigenbaum: Who will win as China's economy changes?

China has unsettled its neighbours with naval displays and diplomatic spats. But could erstwhile Asian strategic rivals end up as big winners from China’s economic success?

In one sense, at least, Asian economies are already winning from Chinese growth — slack global demand has meant that China increasingly powers the growth of nearly every major economy in Asia.

Cracks appear in China's economic model: analysts

by Boris Cambreleng

BEIJING, July 24, 2011 (AFP) - As the United States and Europe struggle with debt crises, China's economy appears in robust health, but analysts say its growth model is too dependent on investment and cannot be sustained.

Sitting on foreign exchange reserves worth nearly $3.2 trillion and with breakneck growth of 9.5 percent in the second quarter, the world's second largest economy appears to have breezed through the global financial crisis.

China-Based Spies Said to Be Behind Hacking of IMF Computers

Investigators probing the recent ransacking of International Monetary Fund computers have concluded the attack was carried out by cyber spies connected to China, according to two people close to the investigation.

Computer specialists have spent several weeks piecing together information about the attack, which the IMF disclosed on June 8. Internal IMF e-mails obtained by Bloomberg News suggest fund officials completed an inventory of stolen documents by the middle of July, and drafted an “operational impact assessment.” The results have not been made public.

Global oil stocks release seen on halt for now

(Reuters) - Developed nations are unlikely to release more oil on to the market in coming days, a month after the first release failed to curb oil prices to help protect the global economic recovery, officials and analysts said.

The energy watchdog for industrialized nations, the International Energy Agency, shocked oil markets last month by announcing a release of 60 million barrels of oil and products to offset the loss of Libyan production.

US debt impasse a global issue

The political deadlock in Washington on whether and how to increase the United States’ debt limit is causing anxiety over a possible default and the consequent global economic downturn.

THE deepening of the Eurozone debt crisis last week through contagion, spreading to Italy, was more than matched by the growing chance that the US government would not be able to pay its bills or service its debts starting Aug 2.

Enhancing Pakistan’s Energy Security

With an economy highly dependent on energy imports, Pakistan’s energy security challenges are a liability that is exacerbating the country’s already poor governance record. However, mounting domestic pressures and the global economic rebalancing led by China and India could provide the impetus for Pakistan to emerge as a more responsible energy stakeholder.

Trichet Urges More Regulation

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France—The global economy is still fragile and more work needs to be done in terms of strengthening economic governance in the European Union and coordinating policies among its 17 members to avoid future crises, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Sunday.

"The major revelation of the last four years was the fragility of the global economy," Mr. Trichet told the Rencontres Economiques d'Aix-en-Provence conference. "Strengthening resilience is absolutely essential given the fragility exhibited by the global economy."

White House, GOP Still Playing Chicken over Debt Ceiling; Pawlenty Slams Bachmann

Sessions: Lawmakers Will Need Time to Look at Any Deal
 
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions echoed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s comments that while August 2 may be the nation’s default date, the time to make a deal on raising the debt ceiling is much sooner.

“We’re not just going to ratify some secret deal even if our good leaders plop it down on the floor of the Senate; we need at last seven days to review something as historic as this,” the Alabama Republican said on CBS’s Face the Nation.

Top 5 Reasons for Angst Among the Wealthy

Pessimism about global economic climate and U.S. economy abounds

Wealthy Americans today are worried about the global political and economic climate and the long-term health of the U.S. economy, according to a survey by Insite Security and IBOPE Zogby International.

Insite released a white paper on Wednesday, detailing the results of a survey of some 300 U.S. high-net-worth adults on their post-recession attitudes toward the economy, politics and style of life.

Will America's budget deficit bring an end to world peace?

Did you know that the U.S. still stations nearly 50,000 troops in Japan? That's pretty amazing when you think about it. The war in the Pacific ended 66 years ago, and there hasn't been a conflict in Northeast Asia since the Korean War of the early 1950s, but America still maintains a hefty military presence in the area. Another bunch of soldiers are parked nearby in South Korea. Why in the world are all those soldiers still there?

Rs 42,000-cr foreign funds for NGOs in last 5 years

Indian Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have received Rs 42,200 crore from foreign donors in the last five years, more than what the central government had spent on the world's largest social security scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 2009-10.

The global economic recession does not seem to have had an impact on foreign contributions as funding increased from Rs 6,700 crore in 2004-05 to over Rs 10,900 crore in 2009-10.

Global entrepreneurship: Crisis? What crisis?

While we in the West continue to be anxious about the pace of the economic recovery, from China, India and Indonesia all the way to Sub-Saharan Africa, the excitement of a new generation — no longer hamstrung by the economic, technological and personal limitations of their parents’ generation — is palpable.

Masked underneath all the talk about the global financial crisis, an even bigger phenomenon is at play, one that in due course will overpower the memory of the current crisis. That phenomenon is the true unleashing of the global entrepreneurial capabilities of the bottom half — or, rather, two-thirds — of humanity. It is boom time in “Global Entrepreneurland.”

OECD warns of future unrest in the global economy

Pandemics, cyber attacks, financial crises, civil unrest and geomagnetic storms - these are the five “global shocks” that could destabilise the global economy, according to a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In its latest revelation, the Paris-based international economic organisation of 34 advanced nations warns that those disruptive shocks are likely to occur with increasing frequency and cause greater “economic and societal hardship” to the international community.

Global economic recovery slips into lower gear as industrial activity dips

The manufacturing boom that has spurred the global recovery of the last 18 months dropped into a lower gear last month as the UK, the eurozone and China registered a significant drop in growth.

Britain's manufacturing sector expanded at the slowest pace in nearly two years while the eurozone, dragged down by Italy and slowing Germany activity, fell from 54.6 points in May to an 18-month low of 52 in June.