European economic policies at work: the costs of price stability and budget consolidation.
Abstract The paper investigates whether the policy framework adopted by the EMU participating countries might create recessive tendencies. First we check the existence of a deflationary bias by separately analysing monetary and fiscal policy. The analysis of monetary policy focuses on a backward- and a forward-looking monetary...

GCC debt markets poised for take-off: for the Middle Eastern economies domestic bond markets have traditionally played a fairly minor role in financial intermediation. However, as in other emerging market regions, the pace of innovation in financial products is now gaining momentum in the Arab World.
Top-tier companies in the Middle East's financial services, telecoms, real estate and transport sectors are increasingly turning to rights issues on regional stock markets, debt securities and sophisticated Islamic financial instruments for their medium and long-term funding programmes, although conventional bank lending remains the dominant source of finance. ...

Laying the foundations for Africa's future: the African Capacity Building Foundation is enhancing African development by training some of its people. Stuart Price travelled around Africa visiting some of the Foundation's projects.
Over the years, African thinkers have tried to find a panacea for African development, but their efforts have often been over-shadowed by outside meddling. Today, while donors continue to provide advice--sometimes perhaps out of self-interest--one organisation which is trying to buck the trend is the African Capacity Building Foundation...

The effects of economic news on Norwegian market interest rates.
Interest rates and other financial asset prices are based on expectations about economic developments. Asset prices react to new information. In this article, we explore the effects of news about key macroeconomic variables, external impulses, Norges Bank's interest rate decisions and the communication of monetary policy on Norwegian interest...

The case for recession: Federal meddling is no way to right a struggling market.
BANK OF AMERICA economist Mickey Levy recently made one of the most astonishing comments heard in a long time, says Chicago financial commentator Bill King in his "King Report": "The Fed knows its credibility would be damaged if the economy slipped into recession." King's response: "When did recession become...

Save the coral triangle.
May 5, 2008 The Global Environment Facility (GEF), an independent grantmaking institution focused on helping developing countries undertake sustainability projects, last week announced that it is committing some $63 million toward preserving biodiversity in Asia's so-called Coral Triangle. The area straddles the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua...

ARAB EUROPEAN RELATIONS - June 16 - Britain And Europe To Tighten Economic Sanctions On Iran.
PM Gordon Brown announces that Britain and Europe would freeze the overseas assets of Iran's largest commercial bank, joining the US in intensifying financial pressure against Iran over its refusal to address international concern over its nuclear activities. Brown, appearing with President George W. Bush after discussions here, also...

GCC currencies & the euro.
While the currencies of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have depreciated alongside the dollar, the depreciation is even worse in the case of the euro, making many of the Gulf's imports more expensive. Some feel that this "imported inflation" is a major cause of the huge price rises...

500,000 schools: smaller schools score higher across the board.
LAST YEAR SOUTH DAKOTA'S Department of Education notified nine districts that under a new state law they would have to consolidate, in part at least, because they had schools with fewer than 100 students. This caught my attention because I've been telling my friends how great it was that...

Sliding U.S. dollar packs a wallop to wallets worldwide.
This article, class activity, and student worksheet are provided by PBS NewsHour Extra, which offers features, lesson plans and teacher resources on a wide variety of contemporary topics at www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/ The dollar, once one of the world's strongest currencies, has fallen dramatically in recent years--a development impacting...