15 December 2011 Last updated at 22:37 GMT Fitch cut the “issuer default ratings” at the banks Fitch has downgraded six of the world’s largest banks, citing the challenging financial markets. The banks include Bank of America and Goldman Sachs in the US, the UK’s Barclays and France’s BNP Paribas. Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Switzerland’s [...]
Tag: Debt
December 16, 2011
December 16, 2011
IMF warns that world risks sliding into a 1930s-style slump
The world risks sliding into a 1930s-style slump unless countries settle their differences and work together to tackle Europe‘s deepening debt crisis, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned. On a day that saw an escalation in the tit-for-tat trade battle between China and the United States and a deepening of the diplomatic [...]
December 14, 2011
December 14, 2011
Fed continues stimulus measures
13 December 2011 Last updated at 19:37 GMT The FOMC said there were “significant downside risks” to the US economic outlook The US Federal Reserve has left interest rates unchanged and said that it will continue with its bond-buying stimulus programme. However, one member of the Fed’s rate-setting dissented and wanted more stimulus to the [...]
December 11, 2011
Dread of euro meltdown stalks US economy
8 December 2011 Last updated at 03:36 GMT By Michelle Fleury BBC business correspondent, New York Just when things were starting to look up, the euro crisis is back in the headlines. The American economy has been riding high on a wave of moderately good news. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level in [...]
December 10, 2011
Most EU Countries Accept New Fiscal Deal
Most members of the European Union agreed to a new deal Friday that is intended to address debt problems that have threatened the common euro currency and driven Europe into an economic crisis. The agreement increases EU supervision of government budgets of member nations. France and Germany pushed hard for the deal. After tough negotiations [...]
December 9, 2011
EU Divided on New Deal to Save Eurozone
Stock markets and the value the euro currency rose after most members of the European Union agreed to a new deal Friday, increasing their economic ties to save the struggling eurozone. But reaction is mixed about the agreement, cobbled together after marathon talks among European leaders in Brussels. European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi reacted [...]
December 8, 2011
MF Global boss sorry for failure
8 December 2011 Last updated at 16:44 GMT MF Global, headed by Mr Corzine, made multi-billion dollar bets on eurozone debt The head of bankrupt US brokerage firm MF Global, Jon Corzine, will tell a congressional committee that he has no idea where its clients’ money has gone. An estimated $1.2bn (£760m) in customer cash [...]
December 8, 2011
December 7, 2011
S&P Threatens Downgrade for Europe Bailout Fund
The credit agency Standard Poor’s is now threatening to downgrade the top rating of the bailout fund for Europe’s debt-ridden countries. SP issued the warning Tuesday, a day after it placed 15 of the 17 nations that use the euro, including economic powerhouses Germany and France, on a negative credit watch. The credit agency said [...]
December 4, 2011
Slovenia Looks to Center-Right in Snap Polls
Slovenians are voting in early elections expected to bring conservatives back to power on a pledge to deal with the nation’s mounting debt, high unemployment and the threat of renewed recession. The parliamentary vote was called in September, after the Alpine state’s minority center-left government was ousted in a no-confidence vote. That vote came amid [...]
December 3, 2011
December 3, 2011
Why does college cost so much?
Editor’s note: Richard Vedder is distinguished professor of economics at Ohio University, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much.” Matthew Denhart is administrative director of the Center for College Affordability [...]
December 2, 2011
German Chancellor Sees European ‘Fiscal Union’
Stock markets rallied after German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Friday for stricter fiscal rules for the 17-nation eurozone. In a speech before the German parliament, Merkel warned it will take years before the struggling currency union gets back on its feet — echoing similar remarks aired the day before by her French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy. [...]