Home for the holidaysThink global, act local. Rather than cancelling the beach holiday this year, why not dump two tonnes of sand in your backyard to sink the deckchair into? Or at least, learn to rediscover your home town.
Global Financial Crisis
Obama, like valium for the economy
The effect of Obama’s first 100 days: 48% of Americans now think the country is headed in the right direction. That’s way up. And consumer confidence seems to have bottomed and is rebounding.
Britain’s rich get far less so
Britain’s richest people have lost $319.03 billion in just 12 months. And there are now 32 fewer billionaires than before.
Bottoms up! Cocktail recipes for the recession
Drown your sorrows with a Nasdaiquiri.
Why monetary zealots are wrong
Milton Friedman is wrong again. There is such a thing as a free lunch — it’s monetary policy and here’s why.
Bludgeoned Britain slides further down the plughole
The British budget is the grisliest in history with Alistair Darling putting his name to what is fast becoming an economic basket case.
China’s green priorities overshadowed by GFC
Less than a year ago, officials were pressing the mines and factories of northern China to shut down or move away to clear the air of dust and smog for the Beijing Olympics. But environmental concerns in China have flagged.
Google gets froogle
Even Google gets the blues. The behemoth’s revenues in the first quarter of this year fell below the preceding quarter for the first time in the company’s history.
Why things are stilll baaaaad
Don’t count your recoveries before they’re hatched, writes Paul Krugman.
Markets charge ahead, fundamentals falter
With green shoots everywhere, the markets are charging on, ignoring any number of worrying warning signs.
Bear market trap will snare investors
Much of the good news which has spurred the latest market rally is not really good news at all.
Corporate carnage continues across Australia
The wheels are fast falling off some of Australia’s industrial success stories of the past decade.
Jobless threat makes mockery of US “rebound”
The latest so-called “Beige Book” from the US Federal Reserve is the most ‘cheery’ in months, despite the imminent threat provided by unemployment.
Chinese GDP slows again, panic to ensue
There’s news that the Sino economy slowed again in the March quarter, with China’s GDP showing the slowest rise in a decade.
US sees surge in recession-themed sitcoms
Recession-themed comedies are all the rage this pilot season.
Recycling industry down in the dumps
The drop in consumer spending has hit the recycling industry hard as commodity prices slump.
GM bankruptcy will tell the tale
The surge in markets and the increasingly optimistic tone in official comments won’t be worth much if the US economy fails to absorb the looming bankruptcy at General Motors.
Goldman Sachs’ profit con job
The rebound in Goldman Sachs shares was the result of some tricky fiddling of the numbers rather than the fundamentals.
US banks back from the brink
US banks are making money as easily as they have ever earned it.
Ten Network parent off the air
The Ten Network’s owner, Canwest, is increasingly close to the brink.
Tabcorp masquerades unsecured debt as “bonds”
Oh, what a credit crunch will do, writes Andrew W Scott.
US Fed: we’re years away from a turnaround
The US central bank has sharply downgraded its economic outlook for 2009 and 2010, confounding analysts who had been predicting an uptick.
34,700 Australians lost their jobs in March
The jobless rate has lagged the slide in the economy. Now, it’s catching up.
Ask the commentators: Jobs? We picked this
Contrary to the shock headlines, the hotly-anticipated ABS labour force data released this morning revealed what more pessimistic analysts had been predicting for weeks.
