America’s transport watchdog vowed on Tuesday not to slow global trade by piling security measures onto the aviation industry in response to terror threats as air lobby group IATA warned against rash action. Get the full story »
Filed under: Politics
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BIO to return to Chicago in 2013 and 2016
Mayor Richard M. Daley and Governor Pat Quinn open the Bio International Convention at McCormick Place on May 4, 2010. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
The Biotechnology Industry Organization said its international convention will return to Chicago’s McCormick Place in 2013 and 2016.
“Chicago has hosted two successful and exciting BIO International Conventions, in 2006 and 2010, and we are thrilled to bring the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry back to the windy city and the Midwest,” said Jim Greenwood, chief executive officer of the BIO International Convention.
The convention attracts more than 15,000 people from the agricultural, pharmaceutical and medical device industries as well as government leaders from around the world. Get the full story »
Still-sluggish economy grew at 2% in third quarter
By Don Lee | The U.S. economy continued to plod along at sluggish pace in the third quarter, not enough to generate momentum or bring down the nation’s high jobless rate. The nation’s gross domestic product, or the value of all goods and services produced inside U.S. borders, grew at an annualized rate of 2 percent in the July-to-September quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Roubini: U.S. on track for ‘fiscal train wreck’
NYU economics professor Nouriel Roubini. (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
The U.S. economy is a “fiscal train wreck” waiting to happen that risks ushering in a period of stagnation featuring minimal growth, high unemployment and deflationary pressure, U.S. economist Nouriel Roubini wrote on Friday.
In a commentary for the Financial Times, Roubini — one of the first economists to predict the housing crash in the United States and known as ‘Dr Doom’ for his pessimistic forecasts — said fiscal and monetary stimulus had prevented another depression.
But he said that further quantitative easing likely to be announced by the Federal Reserve next Wednesday will have little effect on U.S. growth in 2011, “so fiscal policy should be doing some of the lifting to prevent a double dip recession,” he said. Get the full story »
Consumer czar: Financial industry still aims to block
The financial industry continues trying to thwart the Obama administration’s effort to set up an effective consumer protection agency, though one is needed now more than ever, new consumer czar Elizabeth Warren charged on Thursday.
“We fought hard to get here, and those who tried to block the agency’s creation have already said that they will be back,” Warren said in remarks prepared for delivery at the University of California in Berkeley,
“Every day, they spend money to find a way to cut back the agency’s power — even before its work has begun,” she added. A text of her remarks was issued in advance in Washington. Get the full story »
Tea Party could challenge Federal Reserve
A sign at a Tea Party rally in September. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
The popularity of Tea Party candidates in U.S. elections could spell renewed efforts to curtail the power and independence of the Federal Reserve, which has been cast as an emblem of big government overreach.
Outsider candidates thriving on the right flank of the Republican Party have tapped anger at bank bailouts, soaring budget deficits and President Barack Obama’s health care and regulatory initiatives to topple establishment GOP politicians in elections around the country.
Tea Party members have lambasted the Fed for its unprecedented and aggressive steps to bolster the economy in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis, saying the moves have exposed a lack of accountability at the Fed and raise the risk of damaging inflation down the road. Get the full story »
Soros gives $1 million to marijuana campaign
George Soros, the multibillionaire investor, will donate $1 million to help pass Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure, which he endorsed Monday as “a major step forward.”
Oct. 22, 2010 at 10:32 a.m.
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Filed under: China, Economy, International, Policy, Politics, Trade U.S. plan hits G20 headwinds
The United States struggled on Friday to win backing for its proposal of setting numerical targets for external imbalances as a way of pressing surplus countries such as China to let their exchange rates rise.
In a letter to fellow finance ministers of the Group of 20 leading economies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said countries should implement policies to reduce their current account imbalances below a specified share of national output. Get the full story »
Oct. 21, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.
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Filed under: Agriculture/Farming, International, M&A, Policy, Politics, Updated Canada province formally rejects BHP’s Potash bid
The Canadian province that is home to Potash Corp. said on Thursday it was opposed to a $39 billion bid by BHP Billiton to buy the world’s largest fertilizer supplier.
Saskatchewan will urge the federal government to block the Anglo-Australian miner’s hostile bid for Potash Corp, which is based in the province. Get the full story »
Officials hint Fed on the verge of more easing
A string of Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday indicated the central bank will soon offer further monetary stimulus to the economy, with one saying $100 billion a month in bond buys may be appropriate. Get the full story »
Evans: ‘Appropriate’ to boost inflation temporarily
The U.S. Federal Reserve should pump more cash into the economy and temporarily stoke inflation to counter the stifling effects of high unemployment and undesirably low inflation, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.
“For many, my proposal will be a hard pill to swallow,” Chicago Fed President Charles Evans told a group of business leaders in Evanston. Get the full story »
Murdoch: Political donations made in ‘best interest’ of his company
Rupert Murdoch, seen here with his wife Wendy Deng in 2007, was quizzed Friday over News Corp.'s political donations. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
News Corp. shareholders on Friday quizzed Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch and his fellow directors over the process by which the company makes donations to political organizations.
The directors faced several questions at the company’s annual general meeting from individual shareholders and shareholder activists about a recent decision to donate $1 million each to the Republican Governors Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The gifts are being made in the run-up to U.S. congressional mid-term elections on Nov 2.
Murdoch said he and the board believed the donation was made in the “best interest of the company.” Get the full story »
Oct. 15, 2010 at 11:10 a.m.
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Filed under: China, Economy, International, Policy, Politics, Trade U.S. to judge China yuan policy as election nears
The Obama administration faces a tough call Friday whether to label China a currency manipulator, a move long demanded by many U.S. lawmakers but also a potentially big wrench in an important relationship. Get the full story »
Business Council finds CEO sentiment souring
America’s corporate leaders are profoundly more pessimistic this fall about prospects for the U.S. economy and their own profitability than they were this spring, according to a survey of CEO sentiment released on Thursday. Get the full story »
