Thursday, February 14, 2002

German let-off signals trouble for euro "THE credibility of the European single currency was severely undermined yesterday ... " "The European Commission had wanted to issue an 'early warning' to force Berlin to curb an unsustainable budget deficit ... " "[Germany's] deficit is forecast to rise to 2.7 per cent this year." ... [more] The forecast current fiscal deficit in Japan for the fiscal year 2000 was nearly 10%. Actual: General Government Operations Balance = -34,111.6 billion yen; Gross Domestic Production for Q301 = 121,963.9; FY00Deficit/Q3GDP*4 = 7% Data: Economic and Financial Data for Japan [jrr] 3:27:20 PM    comment  []

Crazier Than Thou By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN " ... America needs to launch a serious effort to end Israeli-Palestinian violence, because it's undermining any hope of U.S.-Arab cooperation." ... [more] 3:22:24 PM    comment  []

Tokyo ... hopes of recovery plan "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered his economic advisers to devise a deflation-fighting, economic recovery plan by the end of this month." "Japan, hit by falling prices, has slid into its third recession in a decade. Deflation is a serious problem for the world's second-largest economy, bringing down income and further dampening economic activity." ... [more] 8:38:12 AM    comment  []

Japan's current account surplus posts fourth straight increase "The current account balance is the difference between Japan's income from foreign sources and payments on foreign obligations. It is considered the broadest yardstick of trade, measuring exchanges of goods, services, tourism and investment before adjustment for seasonal factors." "Last year was the first that Japan's income surplus exceeded the trade surplus since the ministry began using the current method for calculating the current account in 1985 ... " ... [more] 8:33:21 AM    comment  []