| Indicator Index Points to a Slowdown
TOKYO -- An index of key economic indicators yesterday suggested Japan's economy might lose some steam in the coming months, but analysts doubt there will be any severe slowdown. The index of leading indicators stood at 35.0 in January, the third straight month for the figure to hold below the so-called boom-or-bust line of 50, Cabinet Office data showed. A reading below 50 for the index ... .
Wednesday Newspaper Review - Irish Business News and International ...
The Irish Independent reports that the economy appears to be headed for a soft landing, according to government revenues for the first three months. Revenues from the housing market have held up, and consumer spending is being buoyed by funds from maturing SSIAs in line with Department of Finance expectations, the first-quarter Exchequer returns show. There is also little sign of problems among companies, despite recent closures, lay-offs and complaints. Corporation tax continues to boom, implying strong growth in profits. Figures from the UK yesterday showed British firms' profits rose to a record high in the fourth quarter of 2006. Receipts Corporation tax receipts hit 924m in the quarter, which was a full 26pc more than had been forecast.
Japan's sex-slave brouhaha may exact economic toll
A case in point: In 2006, Japan had its first gain in nationwide property prices in 16 years. Last week, that announcement was the icing on the cake for an economy that until recently has had little to celebrate. Stocks also posted the biggest weekly advance in more than a year. And yet something is crashing Japan's party: the past. Absorbing much of the focus that would otherwise be on improvements in Asia's biggest economy is the brouhaha over its role in forcing women into sexual slavery during World War II. It's a curious issue for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to home in on, considering the huge economic to-do list he faces. Sure, Japan is growing again and it's shaking deflation. Yet to keep things moving Abe needs to reduce a massive public debt, increase productivity, boost entrepreneurship, attract more foreign capital, shore up the pension system, raise the national birthrate and better utilize the female work force.
6:34 am: Fed officials expected to keep rates unchanged at ...
WASHINGTON (AP) - As the Federal Reserve tries to guide the economy in for a soft landing, it is being battered by turbulent financial markets, a slumping housing industry and stubborn inflation pressures.None of that is expected to alter the course Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have established of keeping interest rates steady at current levels until there is firm evidence that inflation pressures have begun to recede.Wrapping up a two-day meeting on Wednesday, Fed officials were widely expected to hold interest rates unchanged while still expressing greater concerns about inflation than the threat of weaker economic growth.The federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, has been at 5.25 percent since last June when the central bank capped a two-year, credit-tightening campaign with its 17th consecutive quarter-point rate hike.
PREVENTING ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
The U.S. economy is showing signs of a potentially rapid deceleration. In particular, there is accumulating evidence that the housing sector slowdown may be becoming a meltdown. In many areas house prices are falling. House sales are down nationally, and mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are risingespecially in the sub-prime market. -TomPaine
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