1 Eurozone growth grinds to a halt (Larry Elliott in
The Guardian) France piled pressure on the European Central Bank to do more to
boost growth on Thursday after news that economic activity across the 18-nation
single currency area came to a halt in the second quarter. With France
registering zero growth for a second successive quarter, Michel Sapin, the
country's finance minister, halved his growth forecast for this year, abandoned
the deficit reduction target and said it was up to the Frankfurt-based ECB to
respond to an "exceptional situation of weak growth and weak inflation
across the eurozone".
Sapin's demand came as the latest figures from
Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, showed that problems in the
single currency's Big Three economies – Germany, France and Italy – resulted in
no increase in eurozone gross domestic product in the three months to June.
That compares with an increase of 0.2% in the first quarter.
France made it clear it blamed foot-dragging on the
part of the ECB for the failure of the eurozone's second-biggest economy as it
reduced its growth forecast for 2014 from 1% to 0.5% and ditched the 1.7%
forecast for 2015, saying it would not expand by much more than 1%.
Some of the smaller economies on the periphery of
the eurozone – including Spain and Portugal – recorded solid growth in the
second quarter, and the Netherlands bounced back from a weak first quarter to
expand by 0.5%. But Germany, France and Italy between them account for
two-thirds of eurozone GDP and dragged down the overall growth figure. The annual
rate of growth fell from 0.9% in the first quarter to 0.7% in the second
quarter.
2 Berkshire Hathaway shares hit record (BBC) Shares
in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway have surpassed $200,000 for the first
time. That values the firm - which has added over 70 companies since Mr Buffett
took it over in the 1960s - at an estimated $326bn. The company's shares have
long been the most expensive stock in the US. Mr Buffett has never split the
company's class A shares, although there are cheaper class B shares that are
priced at $134 per share.
On Thursday, shares in Mr Buffett's company rose
$3,241, or 2%, to end at $202,850. The price of Berkshire Hathaway's class A
shares are more than 60 times the next most expensive stock listed on US
exchanges - that of Seabord Corporation, a transportation and agriculture firm.
Berkshire has a large number of majority and
minority investments in dozens of companies, ranging from small jewellery and
furniture retailers to insurance giants Geico and General Re, chemicals group
Lubrizol, Coca-Cola, IBM, American Express, Wells Fargo Bank and dozens of
others. Berkshire's long-term gains have made Mr Buffett the world's third
wealthiest man, with a fortune of $65.9bn, according to Forbes magazine.
3 India, Pakistan and independence days (Rahul Singh
in Khaleej Times) Today, India completes 67 years as an independent nation
(Pakistan did so yesterday). On August 15, 1947, as the British formally
relinquished their two centuries-hold over the Indian subcontinent, the Indian
tri-colour flag was proudly unfurled on the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort, built
by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, while the British Union Jack was lowered.
India and Pakistan achieved their freedom almost
entirely by peaceful means (the violent group was a fringe element), unlike
most other colonies ruled by the imperial powers. The British had left behind
an extensive industrial and social infrastructure, which provided the two
countries a springboard for development. Many other colonies, like Indonesia
and much of Africa, were not so fortunate and had to start virtually from scratch.
Though a Hindu fanatic assassinated Gandhi soon
after India got its independence, Nehru was there to carry the torch of
democracy and representative government. Pakistan was not so fortunate. It lost
two of its most charismatic leaders very early, Jinnah from tuberculosis, and
Liaquat Ali Khan, from an assassin’s bullet. As a result, democracy stuttered
in Pakistan and the army took over, each successive military dictator being
worse than his predecessor.
If Islamabad blundered in East Pakistan, New Delhi
badly mishandled the Sikhs and the Kashmiris. The tragedy is that while India
and Pakistan have been trying their best to destablise each other, they have
neglected their own development and progress. Meanwhile, there has been a sea-change
in the Indian political scene, with the recent stunning election victory of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi.
The great pity is that over a third of Indians and
Pakistanis live below the poverty line and a quarter of them cannot read or
write. Instead of tackling these challenges, in the 67 years of their
independence, both countries have been fighting and destabilising each other.
Isn’t it time some sense was dinned into the heads of their leaders, to put
their differences aside and cooperate for the betterment of their people? Other
neighbouring countries have done exactly that. Why not India and Pakistan?
No comments:
Post a Comment