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View original post here: Spanish Debt Grows by €146 Billion, Largest Ever Recorded; Debt-to-GDP Highest Since 1910
View post: Wealthy French Eye Belgian Tax Breaks (Everyone in France Should Do the Same)
The original source of the data is a study Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States by Emmanuel Saez. From 2009 to 2011, average real income per family grew modestly by 1.7% but the gains were very uneven. Top 1% incomes grew by 11.2% while bottom 99% incomes shrunk by 0.4%
Read More: Reader Reflections on "Watson" the Medical Computer
Moreover, Inflation is a cause for optimism says Bank of England governor Mervyn King.
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Today the Financial Times posted news of a Radical rescue proposal for Cyprus A radical new option for the financial rescue of Cyprus would force losses on uninsured depositors in Cypriot banks, as well as investors in the country’s sovereign bonds, according to a confidential memorandum prepared ahead of Monday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers. The proposal for a “bail-in†of investors and depositors, and drastic shrinking of the Cypriot banking sector, is one of three options put forward as alternatives to a full-scale bailout. The ministers are trying to agree a rescue plan by March, to follow the presidential elections in Cyprus later this month
Read the original: McDonald’s Global Sales Slump 1.9 Percent; Price, Competition, Jobs to Blame
Looking for evidence of rebalancing in Europe? Don’t look here: German 2012 trade surplus soars despite weak December reports Germany’s trade surplus was the second highest in more than 60 years in 2012, pointing to an underlying resilience in Europe’s largest economy, although both imports and exports disappointed in the last month of the year
Reuters reports Record low current account surplus shows Japan’s challenges Japan posted its smallest annual current account surplus on record in 2012 as exports weakened and energy imports grew, a signal to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that economic revival needs more than just a weaker yen and extra spending. The current account surplus is likely to continue shrinking as energy imports rise due to the closure of nuclear power plants and as Japanese exporters lose out to more competitive Asian rivals, economists say. Japan’s current account surplus was 4.7 trillion yen ($50.4 billion) in 2012, Ministry of Finance data showed, a figure that seems impressive.