1 Upturn in Eurozone business activity (BBC) Business
output in the eurozone grew at its fastest rate in nearly four years in March,
a closely watched survey suggests. The CIPS/Markit composite purchasing
managers' index (PMI) rose to 54.1, compared with 53.3 a month earlier - it's
highest level in 46 months. Any reading above 50 indicates growth while a
reading below 50 points to a fall in activity.
Markit said the survey pointed to first-quarter
economic growth of 0.3%. That would match the eurozone growth figure for the
final three months of 2014. It said the improvement in business output was the
result of growth in new orders that had increased at their fastest rate since
2011. Employment also grew at its fastest rate since August 2011.
Crucially, the survey showed that deflationary
pressures eased in March with prices falling at the slowest rate since July.
Markit added there was some anecdotal evidence that the European Central Bank's
(ECB) stimulus measures were beginning to be felt.
Manufacturing prices rose for the first time in
seven months, albeit only modestly. Meanwhile, in the service sector, prices
fell, but the rate of decline was the weakest for nine months. Business
activity in Germany rose to to its highest level in eight months as new orders
hit a nine-month record. The French economy also saw business activity increase
for a second month.
2 What zero inflation means for UK (Larry Elliott in
The Guardian) Britain is within a month of a period of deflation. When the
figures for March come out next month cheaper energy bills will mean that the
cost of living is lower than it was a year earlier.
These are uncharted waters for the UK, at least in
the modern era. The general assumption is that this is good news all round,
even though some people do better out of zero inflation than others. Pensioners
benefit because the triple lock means that the state pension is uprated by
whichever is highest of the annual inflation rate, average earnings or 2.5%. At
present it is 2.5%.
Deflation is also a boon for those with cash in the
bank, since their money will buy more in the future than it does now. Losers
include those with debts, which rise in value if prices are falling.
There are two reasons economists think zero
inflation is a good thing. The first is the boost to living standards from
wages rising faster than prices. Wages have risen extremely slowly since the
recession of 2008-09 and even against a backdrop of falling unemployment are
currently only going up by 1.6% a year.
The second boost to consumers comes from the outlook
for interest rates. It will come as no surprise to the Bank of England that
inflation now stands at zero. All nine members of the Bank’s monetary policy
committee are in favour of official interest rates remaining at 0.5%, which is
where they have been since early 2009.
3 India court gives boost to online free speech
(Niharika Mandhana in The Wall Street Journal) India’s Supreme Court has struck
down legislation barring “offensive messages” online, saying it violated
constitutional guarantees of free expression. A two-judge panel voided a part
of India’s Information Technology Act that made it a crime to share information
through computers or other communications devices that could cause “annoyance,
inconvenience” and “enmity, hatred or ill will.”
“This provision was hugely problematic for anyone
using the Internet in India and that is gone,” said Sunil Abraham, head of the
Bangalore-based Center for Internet and Society. “The court has removed the
additional, unconstitutional limits to free speech.”
Enforcement of the law has sparked controversy for
years. In 2012, a 21-year-old was detained after complaining on Facebook about
the effective shutdown of Mumbai for the funeral of a right-wing Hindu leader.
Another person was also detained for “liking” her comment.
J. Sai Deepak, a New Delhi-based lawyer involved in
the case, said the court decision was a significant victory for Internet
companies in India. He said the law’s implementation—which earlier was “subject
to the vagaries of the political winds of the state,” he said—would now be
guided only by the free-speech rules laid down in the Indian constitution.
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