1 Global economy still fragile (Khaleej Times) The
global economy ended 2014 in a fragile state as factories struggled to maintain
growth across Europe and Asia, business surveys showed, adding to pressure on
central banks to implement more stimulus.
Ebbing price pressures across the continents offers
room for the People’s Bank of China and the European Central Bank to do more to
drive up inflation and support growth. “Growth really does appear to be
stalling based on these indicators so certainly the pressure is on,” said James
Knightley, senior global economist at ING. Eurozone manufacturing concluded
last year on a subdued note as output, new orders and employment all recorded
sluggish growth.
Markit’s final December manufacturing Purchasing
Managers’ Index stood at 50.6, down from an earlier flash reading of 50.8 but
beating November’s 17-month low of 50.1. That is above the 50 mark that
separates growth from contraction, but there was little sign of any improvement
this month.
British manufacturing expanded at a much weaker pace
than expected in December, suggesting its contribution to the economic recovery
ebbed further in the final months of 2014. The Markit Economics final index of
US manufacturing decreased to an 11-month low of 53.9 in December from 54.8 a
month earlier, the London-based group.
China’s massive factory sector looked to have
sputtered in December. Indian manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest
pace in two years in December as new orders flooded in and factories kept price
increases to a minimum. In South Korea, consumer prices grew at the slowest
clip in more than 15 years in December, opening the door for further rate cuts
there.
2 UK new consumer loans at 7-year high (Hilary
Osborne in The Guardian) Consumer helplines have sounded a warning after
Britons ran up their highest level of new debt in November for nearly seven
years, with the month’s borrowing on credit cards, loans and overdrafts hitting
more than £1.25bn.
National Debtline and StepChange said the figures
from the Bank of England showed a worrying rise in consumers’ reliance on
credit, and warned they expected a rush of people seeking help when the first
credit card bills of the year started to arrive. Banks and credit card
companies have been jostling for business: loan rates have plummeted while
balance transfer deals on credit cards have become increasingly generous.
The £150bn UK credit card industry is to come under
investigation this month by the Financial Conduct Authority over accusations of
aggressive marketing after the watchdog suggested it had been pushing “payday
loans with plastic”.
The £1.25bn net increase in unsecured borrowing
during November was the biggest rise since February 2008, when Northern Rock was
nationalised as the credit crunch took hold. It was the third month out of five
that consumers had taken on more than £1bn of new debt. The Bank of England
said over the course of three months unsecured lending had grown at its most
rapid pace since October 2005, and in November was up 6.9% compared with
November 2013.
3 Breaking bad work habits (Belo Cipriani in San
Francisco Chronicle) Sometimes, recognizing bad behavior at work is very easy
while in other cases it is not. For example, if you want to become more
productive at work, and if stress is what is keeping you from performing at
your optimal best, no matter what new software you add to your routine, without
addressing the stress first, becoming more productive may become an
unattainable goal.
So, as you reflect on what’s truly triggering the
behavior you want to improve on, keep in mind that changing a behavior isn’t
always easy and often takes a lot more than just will power. While some say
that it takes a few weeks to alter a behavior, the reality is that a couple of
weeks to change something someone has been doing for a long time may not be an
accurate window for everyone.
One of the reasons why people drop their New Year’s
resolutions within the first two months of the year is because they set an
unrealistic time period for themselves to complete a major change.
Getting rid of a behavior isn’t easy and one of the
best tactics may be to replace the bad behavior with a good one. For instance,
if you want to cut back on your social media usage at the office, going for a
short walk or listening to a song when you get the urge to post an update can
help with shifting your focus away from the impulse.
And if the first behavior you replace the bad habit
with doesn’t work for you, try others out. Creating new behaviors takes a lot
of dedication, but with some coping tactics and a realistic time window,
reaching your goals may not be as hard as you had imagined.
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