Most Popular
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Actor Jung Woo-sung admits to being father of model Moon Ga-bi’s child
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Wealthy parents ditch Korean passports to get kids into international school
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First snow to fall in Seoul on Wednesday
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Man convicted after binge eating to avoid military service
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Final push to forge UN treaty on plastic pollution set to begin in Busan
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Korea to hold own memorial for forced labor victims, boycotting Japan’s
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S. Korea not to attend Sado mine memorial: foreign ministry
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Nvidia CEO signals Samsung’s imminent shipment of AI chips
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Toxins at 622 times legal limit found in kids' clothes from Chinese platforms
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Job creation lowest on record among under-30s
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Greece faces uncontrolled default: P.M.
ATHENS (AFP) ― Prime Minister Lucas Papademos on Wednesday said Greece faced an “uncontrolled default” in March unless unions and employers can quickly agree on labor cost cuts to boost competitiveness.At a round of meetings with social partners, Papademos said the labor issue would be key to an EU-IMF evaluation of Greece’s economy later this month and determine the conclusion of a debt-saving agreement for the country.“Without the agreement and the funding linked to it, Greece faces an immedia
Jan. 5, 2012
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Wen foresees ‘relatively difficult’ Q1
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said business conditions may be “relatively difficult” this quarter and monetary policy will be fine-tuned as needed. “We see downside pressure on our economy and elevated inflation at the same time,” Wen said during a two-day trip to Hunan province, according to a statement on the government’s website yesterday. “We also face problems of weakening external demand and rising costs for companies.” Economists at Barclays Capital and Bank of America Corp. say the central
Jan. 4, 2012
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BRICS nations stronger, but not always in unison
SAO PAULO (AFP) -- A slow but steady shift in the global balance of power toward the China-led BRICS club of emerging nations was confirmed in 2011, but it will take some time before its members can speak with one voice, experts say.The BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- now account for roughly 18 percent of the world‘s GDP, 40 percent of its population, 15 percent of global trade and hold 40 percent of global currency reserves.With a combined GDP totaling nearly $14 trill
Jan. 4, 2012
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High salaries for Italian lawmakers stir anger
ROME (AP) ― A government-mandated report has confirmed what many Italians long suspected: The 11,000 euro ($14,300) that Italian lawmakers earn each month far outpaces what their peers in some of Europe’s largest economies get.Italy’s bloated public sector and the privileges of its political elite have come under fire as the country battles its debt crisis with tax hikes, labor market and pension reforms that are hurting ordinary Italians.Premier Mario Monti has vowed to trim the cost of governi
Jan. 4, 2012
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Tiffany most exposed to luxury slowdown
With Europeans and Asians buying fewer $65,000 diamond necklaces and $10,000 amethyst earrings, Tiffany & Co. may be in for a less-than-glittering 2012. No U.S. luxury merchant is more exposed internationally. The world’s second largest jeweler generates almost half its sales outside of the Americas, up from 38 percent in 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tiffany’s foreign sales are concentrated in Europe, which is facing a sovereign debt crisis, and Asia, where China’s growth is sl
Jan. 4, 2012
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Spain deficit may top 8%: minister
MADRID (AP) ― Spain’s government will approve further deficit-reduction measures this week, on top of the bombshell 15 billion euro ($19 billion) package of tax hikes and spending cuts they announced only days ago, ministers said Monday.They also said the 2011 budget deficit could be even higher than the 8 percent of GDP announced last week. That figure was already a major increase on the 6 percent forecast by the previous government.Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro said the new measures woul
Jan. 4, 2012
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Jim O’Neill sees aging labor in BRICs
Global growth slows to 3.9 percent as BRIC nations diminished by populationA year ago, Catherine Liu employed more than 2,000 people at her five Shanghai luggage-making factories. Now, as the dwindling supply of low-paid young workers forces wages and costs higher, she has 1,200 left. “Local workers are getting much older,” said Liu, owner of Shanghai Worldwide Trading Co. “If you want to train them, they must be young. It’s very difficult to survive.” Aging and shrinking labor pools are also po
Jan. 4, 2012
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Long-awaited Facebook IPO looms in 2012
NEW YORK (AFP) ― Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has deflected talk of going public for years but it looks like it is finally going to happen in 2012.“The Facebook IPO will be the biggest financial event in the tech industry for 2012,” Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff said, and one of the biggest initial public offerings ever in the United States.Nick Einhorn, an analyst at Renaissance Capital, said he expects Facebook to file its IPO paperwork with the U.S. Securi
Jan. 2, 2012
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H.K. set to retain global IPO crown
HONG KONG (AFP) ― Hong Kong looks set to retain its crown as the world’s biggest IPO market for the third year in a row, piping New York, but analysts warn of a tough 2012 as market volatility continues.The southern Chinese city overtook New York in 2009 to become the top venue for new listings, as a slew of companies turned to the Asian financial hub in a bid to tap mainland China’s explosive growth and cash-rich investors.Despite a choppy year, exacerbated by the eurozone debt crisis that saw
Jan. 2, 2012
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India opens stock market to foreign investors
NEW DELHI (AFP) ― India announced on Sunday that it would open up its stock market to individual foreign investors for the first time, in a major economic reform designed to boost overseas investment.The Indian economy has grown strongly over the last 15 years and many foreign investors have been keen to enter the market in a fast-developing country of 1.2 billion people.However recent financial data has been disappointing, with the main Sensex index for the Mumbai market recording a 25 percent
Jan. 2, 2012
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EU aim to buy time to save currency
European leaders return to work from Christmas holidays seeking to buy time for the Spanish and Italian governments to wrest control over their debt and rescue the single currency from fragmentation as the region’s crisis enters a new year. Some 157 billion euros ($203 billion) in debt will mature in the 17-member euro area in the first three months of 2012, according to UBS AG. By the end of that period, leaders have pledged to draft a stricter rulebook for controlling government spending. Germ
Jan. 2, 2012
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Gas and other fuels are top U.S. export
NEW YORK (AP) ― For the first time, the top export of the United States, the world’s biggest gas guzzler, is ― wait for it ― fuel. Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990. It will also be the first year in more than 60 that America has been a net exporter of these fuels.Just how big of a shift is this? A decade ago, fuel wasn’t even among the top 25 exports. And
Jan. 1, 2012
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Obama hopeful for progress of economy
President Barack Obama, saying he’s “hopeful” for 2012 after a year that brought the beginnings of an economic recovery, called on Congress to extend a payroll tax cut for a full year to help Americans struggling to improve their lives. “I’m hopeful because of what we saw right before Christmas, when members of Congress came together to prevent a tax hike for 160 million Americans ― saving a typical family about $40 in every paycheck,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address from Hon
Jan. 1, 2012
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Mobile makers to feel Japan supply squeeze
Jan. 1, 2012
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Corporate America’s economic outlook
Jan. 1, 2012
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Iceland: New debt deal must go to public vote
Jan. 1, 2012
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China raises bank reserves to record in inflation fight
Jan. 1, 2012
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G20 keeps China onboard but tough talks lie ahead
Jan. 1, 2012
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Wen: China set for 5 more fat years of growth
Jan. 1, 2012
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Oil prices over $100 pressure Asia to cut fuel subsidies
Jan. 1, 2012
