China is beginning to poke around Southeastern Europe for business deals, taking advantage of a capital drought in the region to gain a manufacturing toehold inside the 27-member European Union. Chinese companies have already carved out niche stakes in Romania and Bulgaria, and China's government is offering a $1 billion credit line to Moldova -- enough to cover two years of current-account deficits in Europe's poorest country. Investment flows are still a trickle, totaling just €71 million ($106.3 million) last year, according to Eurostat. But they are poised to rise quickly, if a flurry of recent deals is anything to go by.
China is beginning to poke around Southeastern Europe for business deals, taking advantage of a capital drought in the region to gain a manufacturing toehold inside the 27-member European Union.
Chinese companies have already carved out niche stakes in Romania and Bulgaria, and China's government is offering a $1 billion credit line to Moldova -- enough to cover two years of current-account deficits in Europe's poorest country.
Investment flows are still a trickle, totaling just €71 million ($106.3 million) last year, according to Eurostat. But they are poised to rise quickly, if a flurry of recent deals is anything to go by.
(Is the WSJ preparing to attack the EU's newest members as China's fifth column?) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
FP - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won another victory for his strategy of energy diplomacy in France on Friday, signing a deal bringing French investment to a pipeline project. The accord hooks another Western power into Moscow's plan to build two huge undersea gas pipelines to European markets, bypassing former Soviet satellites in eastern Europe and increasing Western reliance on Russian fuel.
FP - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won another victory for his strategy of energy diplomacy in France on Friday, signing a deal bringing French investment to a pipeline project.
The accord hooks another Western power into Moscow's plan to build two huge undersea gas pipelines to European markets, bypassing former Soviet satellites in eastern Europe and increasing Western reliance on Russian fuel.
Global stock markets were left reeling yesterday after the city-state's spectacularly debt-ridden Dubai World holding company asked for an extra six months to pay the $4bn (£2.4bn) chunk due next month. In London, the stock market dropped by 3 per cent, its worst day since March. The French and German markets fared little better, and America's Dow Jones was only saved by being closed for Thanksgiving. Even sterling wavered, falling to its lowest rate against the euro for a month. But it was Britain's battered banks that were the worst affected. Fears over the extent of their exposure to Dubai's $80bn debt knocked nearly £14bn off their value by the end of the day.
How about wood soaked in gasoline for building new homes? In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Well, £14bn ($23bn) is a substantial fraction of $80bn. This assumes 72 cents on the dollar will be recovered from Dubai's debt. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
Chancellor Alistair Darling will say in his pre-Budget report that the economy performed worse in 2009 than he first predicted, Treasury sources have said.Mr Darling is expected to say that the UK economy shrank by 4.75% this year - more than the 3.5% originally forecast in the Budget in March. The adjustment follows the economy's unexpectedly poor performance in the first three months of the year.
Chancellor Alistair Darling will say in his pre-Budget report that the economy performed worse in 2009 than he first predicted, Treasury sources have said.
Mr Darling is expected to say that the UK economy shrank by 4.75% this year - more than the 3.5% originally forecast in the Budget in March.
The adjustment follows the economy's unexpectedly poor performance in the first three months of the year.
Should we use taxes to deter financial speculation? Yes, say top British officials, who oversee the City of London, one of the world's two great banking centers. Other European governments agree -- and they're right. .... Why is this a good idea? The Turner-Brown proposal is a modern version of an idea originally floated in 1972 by the late James Tobin, the Nobel-winning Yale economist. Tobin argued that currency speculation -- money moving internationally to bet on fluctuations in exchange rates -- was having a disruptive effect on the world economy. To reduce these disruptions, he called for a small tax on every exchange of currencies. Such a tax would be a trivial expense for people engaged in foreign trade or long-term investment; but it would be a major disincentive for people trying to make a fast buck (or euro, or yen) by outguessing the markets over the course of a few days or weeks. It would, as Tobin said, "throw some sand in the well-greased wheels" of speculation. Tobin's idea went nowhere at the time. Later, much to his dismay, it became a favorite hobbyhorse of the anti-globalization left. But the Turner-Brown proposal, which would apply a "Tobin tax" to all financial transactions -- not just those involving foreign currency -- is very much in Tobin's spirit. It would be a trivial expense for long-term investors, but it would deter much of the churning that now takes place in our hyperactive financial markets. This would be a bad thing if financial hyperactivity were productive. But after the debacle of the past two years, there's broad agreement -- I'm tempted to say, agreement on the part of almost everyone not on the financial industry's payroll -- with Mr. Turner's assertion that a lot of what Wall Street and the City do is "socially useless." And a transactions tax could generate substantial revenue, helping alleviate fears about government deficits. What's not to like?
....
Why is this a good idea? The Turner-Brown proposal is a modern version of an idea originally floated in 1972 by the late James Tobin, the Nobel-winning Yale economist. Tobin argued that currency speculation -- money moving internationally to bet on fluctuations in exchange rates -- was having a disruptive effect on the world economy. To reduce these disruptions, he called for a small tax on every exchange of currencies.
Such a tax would be a trivial expense for people engaged in foreign trade or long-term investment; but it would be a major disincentive for people trying to make a fast buck (or euro, or yen) by outguessing the markets over the course of a few days or weeks. It would, as Tobin said, "throw some sand in the well-greased wheels" of speculation.
Tobin's idea went nowhere at the time. Later, much to his dismay, it became a favorite hobbyhorse of the anti-globalization left. But the Turner-Brown proposal, which would apply a "Tobin tax" to all financial transactions -- not just those involving foreign currency -- is very much in Tobin's spirit. It would be a trivial expense for long-term investors, but it would deter much of the churning that now takes place in our hyperactive financial markets.
This would be a bad thing if financial hyperactivity were productive. But after the debacle of the past two years, there's broad agreement -- I'm tempted to say, agreement on the part of almost everyone not on the financial industry's payroll -- with Mr. Turner's assertion that a lot of what Wall Street and the City do is "socially useless." And a transactions tax could generate substantial revenue, helping alleviate fears about government deficits. What's not to like?
What's not to like?
And the agreement by "almost everyone not on the financial industry's payroll" excludes most of Congress and important parts of the Obama Administration.
Get 'em, Geez! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
