| Asia's economic sleuths hunt for clues in odd places
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The truth is out there -- but economists in Asia have to look in some strange places to find it. Faced with irregular, sometimes dodgy economic data, analysts turn to cement sales, fast food, newspaper sizes or just about anything that helps them understand the fast-growing and often volatile region. While those who track economies such as France and Britain receive a regular diet of numbers which officials have gone through with fine-toothed combs, analysts in Asia find statistics are patchy or even open to manipulation. "No single piece of data tells the whole story," said Rajeev Malik, an economist at J.P. Morgan Chase, who looks at India's gold purchases, air traffic and restaurant queues to get a feel for sentiment in an economy that is surging.
Will the Sub-Prime Mortgages Implosion Meltdown the Stock Market
Most of the focus among investors and non-investors alike recently has been the sub-prime mortgage “implosion" and its possible impact on the stock markets and the economy. Therefore I'm dedicating most of tonight's report to an analysis of this special situation. Since I'm not an expert in this particular area, the best analysis I can offer other than anecdotal evidence based on personal observation is to share with you my own collection of opinions from those whose expertise and analysis of similar situations in the past has proven correct in a vast majority of cases. In other words, we're going to see what some of the best in the business have to say on this subject. Then we'll take the analysis once step further and turn to the ultimate barometer of business/economic conditions, namely the stock market, and see what Mr.
First-home buyers pack on the debt
Family welfare and financial support groups say first-home buyers are loading themselves up with debt and are needing outside help to pay bills. Studies indicate home affordability has sharply deteriorated since 2003, with 75 per cent of the average income now needed to finance the cost of the national average home. In 2003, the average cost to finance a home was 43.5 per cent of the average Kiwi's take-home pay. Citizens Advice Bureau social policy manager Louise May said utility bills and food budgets would be the first to feel the pinch when loan repayments became too much. There had been a surge in those seeking help to pay bills in recent years, but she was unable say how much was related to mortgage debt. Banking ombudsman Liz Brown said banks had a legal obligation to lend responsibly, and most home-loan-related complaints her office received were from people who had been refused loans.
MAYORAL DEBATE: Toel, Tebben define stances
PEKIN - The Pekin Public Library community room was packed Tuesday evening with voters who wanted to know who would do the best job as mayor of Pekin for the next four years: William Toel or David Tebben.The mayoral debate, followed by the council candidate forum, was presented by the Pekin Daily Times and the Friends of the Pekin Public Library. .
Regional co-op meet for transport connectivity
As the seventh meeting of the Forum for Regional Cooperation among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) began in Dhaka yesterday, speakers at its inaugural session emphasised that transport connectivity among the member countries is crucial for economic exchanges. They also said when improved transport connectivity will be in place, Chittagong Port will become a commercial hub for the region, as the Bay of Bengal will become more accessible to the BCIM member countries for transporting their exports through the port. The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) is organising the two-day meeting of BCIM Forum focusing on further strengthening the regional economic cooperation especially in three major areas -- trade, transport and tourism. CPD Chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan said Bangladesh is a transit point between two major economies of Asia -- China and India, which will become the first and third largest economies in the world by 2020.
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