Het "Amerika-nieuwtjes" topic

Dat zullen ze in China en Japan leuk vinden.

Canada heeft geen Verdonk hoop ik?

Euro stijgt naar nieuw record 24-12-'04


De euro is vanmorgen naar een nieuw record gestegen. Ten opzichte van de Amerikaanse dollar noteerde de Europese eenheidsmunt 1,3520 dollar.

Gisteren brak de euro al door de 1,35 dollargrens naar aanleiding van tegenvallende cijfers over de Amerikaanse economie. De verkoop van nieuwe woningen in de VS nam de afgelopen maand met 12 procent af: een tempo dat de laatste tien jaar niet is voorgekomen.

Andere cijfers, als het consumentenvertrouwen en orders voor duurzame goederen, waren positiever, maar konden de dollar geen duwtje in de rug geven. "Er is nog steeds geen echte reden om enthousiast te zijn over de dollar", benadrukte een analist in Londen.

Kerstgevoel
De oorzaken voor de sterke euro zijn de torenhoge tekorten op de Amerikaanse begroting en handelsbalans en de onwil van de Amerikaanse regering om die te verlagen. Door de dunne handel in verband met de aankomende kerstdagen werd het effect uitvergroot.

In Amsterdam sluiten de beurzen vandaag om 14 uur. In Frankfurt is de beurs dicht gebleven en in Londen is er aandelenhandel tot 13.30 uur. Net als die van Amsterdam sluiten de andere Euronext-beurzen, waaronder de beurs van Parijs, ook om 14 uur.

"Het kerstgevoel zit er duidelijk in", schets een handelaar de sfeer op de Europese valutamarkten. "Veel banken hebben de boeken al gesloten. Iedereen zit gezellig aan de wijn." Op Wall Street wordt helemaal niet gehandeld. Gisteren luidde de kerstman de slotbel.

G7
Dit jaar is de dollar al meer dan 7 procent gedaald ten opzichte van de euro. Sinds het einde van 2000 is de is de Amerikaanse munt echter al meer dan 60 procent van zijn waarde kwijtgeraakt. Veel zakenbanken verwachten dat de daling in 2005 zal doorzetten vanwege de grote behoefte van Amerika het tekort op de Amerikaanse begroting te verhelpen. Een goedkope dollar helpt daarbij.

Volgens onze minister van Financiën Zalm is de stijging van de euro nog steeds binnen acceptabele grenzen. De Franse minister van Financiën Gaymard waarschuwde gisteren echter dat "als we in een situatie zonder coördinatie blijven, we ons een catastrofale situatie kunnen voorstellen".

Volgens hem moet Amerika de G7 oproepen een pakket maatregelen klaar te hebben liggen. De minister van Financiën van de zeven rijkste landen ter wereld komen op 4 en 5 februari bijeen in Londen.

NOS

Je zou bijna denken dat het een bewuste politiek van Bush is, om ten koste van Europa de economie van de VS te steunen. 1-0 Voor Bush op de korte termijn, maar op lange termijn verliest hij de wedstrijd.

Volgens economische experts in de VS is het land daardoor nu in feite eigendom van Japan en China

U.S SOCIAL SECURITY CRASH IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

By SCOTT BURNS | Universal Press Syndicate | July 25, 2004
An old adage of detective work is very direct: Follow the money. But when you examine government finances, you have to be more specific. You have to follow the cash — the actual money collected. In her annual letter to workers, for instance, Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart puts us to sleep and warns us at the same time. "Unless action is taken soon to strengthen Social Security, in just 14 years we will begin paying more in benefits than we collect in taxes. Without changes, by 2042 the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted. By then, the number of Americans 65 or older is expected to have doubled........ Answer: We may be in trouble as early as 2010.

AND

The $ 44 Trillion Abyss
By Anna Bernasek | FORTUNE | Nov. 24, 2003 Issue
The baby-boomers are about to retire, and it's going to cost us—big. Here's what the government doesn't want you to know. Just How Much Is $44 Trillion? It's more than four times the GDP of the U.S. It would buy three Hummer H2s for every person in the U.S.
Or it's about 1,500 times the personal fortune of Bill Gates. Last fall Paul O'Neill, then Secretary of the Treasury, wanted a simple answer to a thorny question: How prepared was the nation today to pay all its future bills? Two government experts worked for months to calculate the answer. Their findings, which shocked even them, were never published—the Bush administration made sure of that. The reason for the silence was that by the time the two researchers had completed their study, O'Neill had been thrown out of the Treasury and replaced by the more politically astute John Snow. No savvy administration power player would dare point out, right in the middle of tax-cut season, that there was a huge hole in the country's finances—a $44 trillion hole. That's the kind of Washington tactic that makes Larry Kotlikoff angry. So angry, in fact, that the normally composed and carefully spoken academic starts ranting about a government conspiracy to keep us all in the dark. He even refers to this particular episode as "the great Treasury cover-up." And once you start Kotlikoff on the subject, it's hard to stop him. "I hate politicians," he says, without pausing for breath. "These people are so focused on the next election, they don't care about the next generation. The thing that really turns my stomach is that they have the opportunity to do good, and they know they're doing bad, and it's okay. It's immoral."........
(SEE LONGER VERSION: forourgrandchildren.org)

www.fortune.com/fortune/ subs/article/0,15114,538789,00.html

EU urges China to free up its exchange rate

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Wendel Broere and Marcel Michelson

THE HAGUE, Dec 9 (Reuters) - European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson urged China on Thursday to liberalise its exchange rate, something which the U.S. has long pressed for, arguing its fixed rate against the dollar makes Chinese goods unfairly cheap.

Speaking at a business summit of EU and Chinese leaders, Mandelson said, "You have built the world's second largest foreign exchange reserves, now over $500 billion, which are a solid guarantee of stability and confidence."

"This makes it possible for you to contemplate a step by step liberalisation of your financial and exchange rate policy so that they become more responsive to market forces," he said.

"Reforms are under way, but I urge you to build on these as rapidly as you can," Mandelson said.

The United States has been a vocal critic of China's currency exchange rate policy. It says the current level of the yuan, pegged at 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar, is too low, and gives Chinese exports an unfair trade advantage.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, who said on Wednesday Beijing was moving gradually to a more flexible exchange rate regime but needed to consider the stability of its economy and those of its neighbours, said his country should not be seen by others as a commercial threat.

"It is already not easy for us to take care of ourselves. We will not, and cannot pose a threat to others," Wen said, noting that the EU was his country's biggest trading partner while China was the second-biggest trading partner for the EU.

Mandelson said China's foreign trade had increased by an average of 15 percent a year in the past 25 years and would surpass the $1 trillion threshold in 2004.

"How can we anticipate the possible expansion of China by a further factor of four in the next 25 years," he asked.

BOOMING MARKET

Mandelson urged China to restrain the pace of increase of its textile exports after the EU removes quotas for Chinese textile imports into the bloc from January next year.

"Not for the sake of domestic protection in Europe, but in recognition that in countries, for example, like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mauritius, the fate of millions of workers hangs by some fraying textile threads," Mandelson said.

China made 17 percent of the world's textiles and clothes in 2003, but the World Trade Organisation (WTO) sees that market share rocketing above 50 percent within three years after a decades-old import quota systems ends on Jan. 1, 2005.

A spokeswoman for Mandelson denied reports on Wednesday that the 25-nation EU was putting pressure on China to limit its exports of clothes and textiles.

Addressing Chinese Trade Minister Bo Xilai, Mandelson urged China to work to help conclude world trade talks launched three years ago in Doha, Qatar.

"I am suggesting that we should make more room at the table for China. But as business people you know that there is no free lunch. With privilege comes responsibility," he said.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, whose government holds the rotating EU presidency, said that the booming Chinese economy could pose problems for fossil fuel resources and climate change.

"Economic growth that degrades the environment imposes major problems on future generations. We must not allow this to happen," Balkenende said.

Mandelson warned that European states were too small to deal with China on their own.

"The European Union should be the central vehicle for a new policy of higher level engagement. Member states, even our largest, are too small to address the challenges posed by China on their own," Mandelson said.

De meeste Amerikanen hebben geen idee wat er buiten hun landsgrenzen gebeurt, de meeste Amerikanen (volgens mij zo'n 80% ) komt nooit buiten de VS.

CALIFORNIA - The 5th Largest Economy on Earth

LOS ANGELES - California surpassed France in 2000 to become the 5th largest economy in the world, reports the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). The State enjoyed spectacular growth last year, and is still recording gains this year.

"Everyone gets confused as to where the economies of the State of California and the Southern California region stand, and what it means to the world", says Jack Kyser, Chief Economist for the LAEDC. Each year the LAEDC does an analysis of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, for all nations with gross product over US$250 billion and includes California, the Los Angeles 5-County Area, and just Los Angeles County to help put the local economies in better perspective.

The top 5 economies in the world in this year's 2000 comparison ranks the United States at #1 with $9,966 billion in annual GDP, Japan at #2 with $4,614billion, Germany is #3 with $1,867 billion, the UK at #4 with $1,415 billion and California a fairly close #5 with $1,330 billion.

The Los Angeles 5-County Area (including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties) ranks #10 moving past Spain from the previous year with $602 billion in 2000 annual GDP. "While this ranking is exciting, the Southern California region faces two challenges that will shape its future" adds Lee Harrington, President and CEO of the LAEDC, "This includes coping with still rapid population growth (nearly 321,000 in new residents in 2000) and making strategic addition's to its infrastructure. With an economy larger than the nations of Mexico, India, or Spain, it is imperative that we think and act regionally to improve our quality of life."

Los Angeles County by itself continues to rank as the world's 16th largest economy beating out the countries of Russia, Taiwan, Argentina, and Switzerland with $352 billion in GDP.

"While current headlines focus on the California energy crisis, it is necessary to look beyond this short term event, and focus on better utilizing the region's unique resources", urges Kyser.

Er gaat hier iets fout geloof ik.
Dit topic komt stil te liggen terwijl in actueel verschillende Amerika topics staan....

Houston telt meeste dikkerds

Voor de vierde keer in vijf jaar is Houston de 'dikste' stad van Amerika, zo blijkt uit een jaarlijks onderzoek van het Amerikaanse blad Men's Fitness. Vier andere steden in Texas waggelden ook de top 25 binnen.

Dit komt volgens hoofdredacteur Neal Boulton deels door het feit dat Houston twee keer zoveel fast food-restaurants als de gemiddelde stad in Amerika telt. "Amerikanen maken lange uren op hun werk, zijn lang onderweg en nemen geen vakantie op. Als je ook nog alleen geconfronteerd wordt met voedingsproducten die slecht zijn voor de gezondheid, geef je je daaraan over", aldus Boulton.

Ook de hoge luchtvochtigheid en de slechte kwaliteit van de lucht in Texas noemt Boulton debet aan de twijfelachtige eer.

Burgemeester Bill White, die gezond voedsel probeert te promoten, gelooft het allemaal niet zo: hij noemt het onderzoek frauduleus en zelfs 'voodoo'.

bron