POLITICAL ECONOMY - POLICY DAILY

China's Wen urges end to banks' lending 'monopoly'

Apr 04, 2012 (AFP)

China's Premier Wen Jiabao has called for the break-up of a banking "monopoly" on lending that has squeezed private businesses as the global economy slows, stat...

Japan business confidence remains weak

Apr 02, 2012 (AFP)

Confidence among major Japanese manufacturers remains weak despite the yen's fall from historic highs and an ongoing tentative recovery following last year's qu...

Walker's World: Euro crisis not over

Apr 02, 2012 (UPI)

Once again, the countries of the eurozone have met, agreed to new funding and declared that with their new trillion-dollar firewall the euro crisis is resolved....

China manufacturing at year high but worries persist

Apr 01, 2012 (AFP)

China's manufacturing activity rose to the highest level in a year in March, official data showed Sunday, but analysts tempered enthusiasm, saying the world's s...

Japan pension scandal shakes trust in cherished system

Apr 01, 2012 (AFP)

Trucking company president Masazumi Ando said he was furious when he saw the head of an investment firm that lost $1.3 billion in pension money bow in apology a...

Japan auto production, exports rise in February

Mar 30, 2012 (AFP)

Japanese automakers boosted production and vehicle exports in February, largely thanks to government subsidies for the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles, an i...

Japan factory output falls, dents recovery hopes

Mar 30, 2012 (AFP)

Japan's factory output fell unexpectedly in February, data showed Friday, suggesting the recovery in the world's number three economy remained anaemic. The fall...

Bank of China profit climbs 18.93%

Mar 29, 2012 (AFP)

Bank of China, one of China's "Big Four" lenders, said Thursday its 2011 net profit rose 18.93 percent despite a "complex and severe business environment". The ...

OECD raises G7 growth prospects, sees Europe lagging US

Mar 29, 2012 (AFP)

Rich nations will turn in unexpectedly strong growth in the first half of 2012 but leading European economies will lag behind the United States, the OECD said o...

Argentina courts trouble over unpaid debts

Mar 28, 2012 (UPI)

Argentina is courting trouble again in its dealings with the United States over unpaid debts dating to its infamous sovereign default a decade ago. U.S. Preside...

China manufacturing slows, spurring growth fears

Mar 22, 2012 (AFP)

China's manufacturing activity fell to a four-month low in March, HSBC said Thursday, adding fuel to concerns over slowing growth in the world's second largest ...

China slowdown chills Australian surplus hopes

Mar 22, 2012 (AFP)

Australia's mining exports to China saw it all but shrug off the financial crisis, but talk of the Asian giant slowing shook the market this week, casting a pal...

U.S. faces World Bank nomination deadline

Mar 22, 2012 (UPI)

U.S. President Barack Obama faces a Friday deadline to nominate a convincing candidate for the World Bank presidency amid signs emerging-market member countries...

China cuts reserve requirements for farm lender

Mar 21, 2012 (AFP)

China's central bank said Wednesday it would selectively cut reserve requirements for hundreds of branches of a leading farm lender in a bid to boost rural cred...

India cannot achieve China-like growth without reforms

Mar 20, 2012 (SPX)

Without new and sustained governmental reforms, India will not realize its economic growth goals or potential, according to a new policy report from Rice Univer...

Walker's World: Can banks survive?

Mar 19, 2012 (UPI)

The conventional wisdom says that debt and regulation are the big challenges for banks, most of them scrambling to recover from the financial crisis. But the re...

China will manage slowdown, says Australian bank chief

Mar 19, 2012 (AFP)

The Chinese government will be able to manage the slowdown of its economy to avoid a hard landing and maintain strong growth in the future, Australia's Reserve ...

Apple announces dividend as iPad sales rocket

Mar 19, 2012 (AFP)

Apple announced Monday it will spend part of its massive cash hoard to pay its first dividend since 1995, and trumpeted that it had sold three million new iPads...

China home prices largely down in February

Mar 18, 2012 (AFP)

Home prices in nearly two thirds of China's major cities fell in February from the previous month, the government said Sunday, as moves to cool the red-hot prop...

IMF chief cautiously upbeat on global economy

Mar 18, 2012 (AFP)

IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Sunday measures taken to fight financial woes in Europe and the US were starting to pay off, in a cautiously upbeat assessment ...