1 OECD cuts world growth outlook, warns on emerging
markets (Gulf News) The OECD has cut its world economic growth forecasts for
2015 and 2016, warning of a dramatic slowdown in Brazil and a global outlook
clouded by uncertainty over China. The policy analysis club of 34 advanced
economies had already slashed its forecasts just three months ago because of
weak US activity.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development cut its world growth forecast for this year to 3.0 per cent,
trimming 0.1 percentage points off its previous estimate made in June. “The
outlook has worsened further for many emerging market economies”, the OECD
said.
The group issued its new economic outlook on the eve
of a US Federal Reserve decision on whether to lift interest rates for the
first time in nine years. Analysts say such a tightening could chill global
activity. For China, whose slowing economy has prompted deep uncertainty in
global financial markets, the OECD cut its 2015 growth forecast by 0.1
percentage points to 6.7 per cent.
But Brazil’s forecasts took the biggest hit, by far,
in the latest OECD report. Suffering like other emerging economies from a
commodity price crash, engulfed in recession and with its debt downgraded by
Standard & Poor’s this month to junk bond status, Brazil had its economic
outlook for this year downgraded to a 2.8-per cent contraction instead of a 0.8-per
cent contraction.
Coincidentally, within an hour of the report’s
release, Standard & Poor’s cut Japan’s investment-grade credit rating by
one notch, saying the government’s strategy to revive growth and end deflation
was unlikely to reverse the deterioration in the next two to three years. Meanwhile,
the euro area’s recovery lacked some vigour and activity in China was “difficult
to assess”, the OECD said.
2 Ortega, second richest man, closes in on Gates (Robert
Lafranco in Sydney Morning Herald) Spain's fast-fashion king Amancio Ortega has
added $3.7 billion to his personal fortune after Inditex, the world's largest
clothing retailer and owner of the Zara chain, announced brisk sales, boosting
its shares.
Now Ortega, who passed US billionaire investor
Warren Buffett as the world's second-richest person in June, is $9.5 billion
away from leapfrogging Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the world's richest
person, as of mid-day trading in New York on Wednesday.
The 79-year old businessman began building the
Spanish fashion empire with his siblings and soon-to-be wife in 1963, making
women's bathrobes and other clothing in their home in northern Spain. He opened
the first Zara store in 1975 and created Inditex a decade later. Its initial
public offering was in 2001 and since then, Ortega has reaped in more than €4
billion ($6.3 billion) in dividends, investing much of it in commercial
properties in major US and European cities.
Those real estate holdings amount to about $8
billion of his net worth, with Inditex making up more than $63 billion. Ortega
has risen from the world's seventh-richest person since March 2012, when his
fortune was at $38 billion.
Gates had $62.5 billion in March 2012 and passed
Mexico's Carlos Slim to reclaim the world's richest person spot in May 2013
when Microsoft hit a five-year high. Microsoft's shares closed at $44.30
overnight in New York, giving Gates a fortune of around $80.6 billion. Ortega
has $71.1 billion.
3 Social media and mental health of teenagers (June
Eric Udorie in The Guardian) The digital landscape has put increased pressure
on teenagers today, and we feel it. A new study has found that teenagers who
engage with social media during the night could be damaging their sleep and
increasing their risk of anxiety and depression.
Teenagers spoke about the pressure they felt to make
themselves available 24/7, and the resulting anxiety if they did not respond
immediately to texts or posts. Teens are so emotionally invested in social
media that a fifth of secondary school pupils will wake up at night and log on,
just to make sure they don’t miss out.
Perhaps the worst thing about this is that teenagers
need more sleep than adults do, so night-time social media use could be
detrimental to their health. Research has shown that teenagers need 9.5 hours
of sleep each night but on average only get 7.5 hours. A lack of sleep can make
teenagers tired, irritable, depressed and more likely to catch colds, flu and
gastroenteritis.
During the summer holidays, I lost my phone. And for
the week that I was phoneless, it felt like a disaster. I love my phone. It
gives me quick access to information and allows me to be constantly looped in
with my friends, to know exactly what is going on in their lives. So when I didn’t
have my phone for a week, I felt a slight sense of Fomo, or if you’re not up to
speed with the lingo, fear of missing out.
A separate study by the National Citizen Service
found that, rather than talking to their parents, girls seek comfort on social
media when they are worried. The survey also suggests that girls are likely to
experience stress more often than boys – an average of twice a week.
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