Scottish economy 'thriving' - report

Scotland's economy is thriving despite global economic unrest, according to a business survey.

Markets More in Agreement than Fed on Interest Rate Path

Financial-market participants are in closer agreement about where the Federal Reserve will steer interest rates than the central bank’s own policy makers, according to a study by the New York Fed.

Clinton: Turn female economic issues into movement

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that voters need to turn pay inequity and women's economic security into a political movement in the November elections and beyond, pointing to an issue that could animate a future presidential campaign.

ECB ready to adjust monetary policy, Coeure says in Greek paper

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank is ready to adjust its monetary policy further if needed and boost bank liquidity, ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said in an essay published in Greek newspaper Ta Nea on Saturday.

A Theory on Long-Term Economic Trends and a Sudden Crash

Employment losses during the Great Recession may have had more to do with factors like the rise of Walmart than with the recession itself, two economists say in a new academic paper.

EU's Juncker wins approval with 'grand coalition' program

(Reuters) - Jean-Claude Juncker won a wide endorsement from the European Parliament on Tuesday to be the next head of the executive European Commission after setting out a "grand coalition" investment programme to help revive Europe's economy.

UK unemployment total falls to 2.16m

The UK jobs market continued to improve in the three months to April, although the rate of wage increases slowed sharply, official figures show.

Fast-Food Workers Stage Worldwide Protests Over Minimum Wage

Fast-food workers seeking higher pay protested around the globe at chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s amid a broader debate about raising the minimum wage.

Weak U.S. prices, not inflation, the threat now: Fed's Yellen

(Reuters) - Persistently low inflation poses a more immediate threat to the U.S. economy than rising prices, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday, stressing that the U.S. central bank would be delivering policy stimulus for some time to come.

Australia job vacancies rise 2.6 percent in February quarter

(Reuters) - Job vacancies in Australia rebounded last quarter as expanded openings in the private sector offset continued weakness in government employment and added to signs that hiring is stabilizing.

Fed banks split in December on what to do with discount rate

(Reuters) - One regional Federal Reserve bank continued to push for a cut in the U.S. central bank's emergency lending rate in December, while three others renewed a request to hike it, minutes of Fed deliberations released on Tuesday showed.

Detroit judge rules bankruptcy process can proceed

A federal judge has ruled Detroit should be granted protection from its creditors, marking the largest public bankruptcy in US history.

Fed Not in the ‘Danger Zone’ as Exit Approaches, Lockhart Says

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said he thinks the central bank can handle its exit from quantitative easing when the time comes, despite uncertainty caused by a balance sheet close to $4 trillion.

UK inflation dips as rise in cost of fuel and clothing eases

Inflation eased down to 2.7% in August thanks to smaller price rises for petrol and new autumn fashion ranges but the cost of living continued to outstrip pay rises.

Will Financial Regulation Trash Global Economic Securi

Alexander Mirtchev, Contributor

Under the auspices of the Financial Stability Board, more than 30 recommendations have been set out as part of a massive and far-reaching G-20 financial regulatory reform package to ostensibly minimize risk in the financial system and maximize consumer protection.

How the Alternative Energy Megatrend will impact global geopolitical relations

The Greening of Geopolitics

By Dr Alexander Mirtchev

 

The advent of renewable energies is generally regarded from a fairly narrow perspective: whether – and to what extent – they are able to replace fossil fuels and what this would mean for the energy system and the economy. Such a perspective profoundly underestimates the potential consequences of what is in fact a revolutionary global development: a socio-political and techno-economic megatrend that has the ability to become a global societal game-changer, writes Alexander Mirtchev, Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI). According to Mirtchev, the ‘Alternative Energy Megatrend’ will have far-reaching effects on global geopolitical relations and security concerns – effects that have yet to be fully grasped by most observers. This article is adapted from his upcoming book: “The Alternative Energy Megatrend: A Global Security Discourse in the Universally-Securitized World”.

The global jobs challenge

Over the past three decades, hundreds of millions of new workers have entered the global economy. They arrived with various levels of education and skill, and over time have generally gained in terms of “human capital” – and in terms of value added and income. This has brought a tremendous, and ongoing, growth in income levels, opportunities, and the size of the global economy. But these new workers have also brought more employment competition and significant shifts in relative wages and prices, which is having profound distributional effects.