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Aron Joshua Tolentino

Euro Crisis Is Past It's Peak, EU Commissioner says - 6 views

1.) Greece should go back to their own currency. The euro has not been the best engineered currency out there. It has been affiliated with multiple economic break downs in the past as well as in th...

greece euro crisis

ShiyuandCristina SC

Rich-poor gap could spark financial crisis in Canada: Report | Money | Toronto Sun - 1 views

  • The gap between the rich and the poor in Canada is getting wider and could eventually lead to an economic collapse, according to a new report by a left-wing think-tank.
  • Income for middle-class Canadians has remained stagnate since the 1980s, while the income of the richest 1% has increased dramatically
  • When the rising savings of the rich are parked in the financial markets, but everyone else falls deeper into debt, a house of cards is created, producing the kind of economic instability that led to the 1929 financial sector crash and the market meltdown of 2008."
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  • As a result, Canada's income inequality has reached a level not seen since the 1920s, says Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
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    The problems created by income inequality in Canada could possibly lead to a financial crisis. 
anonymous

Light Seen at End of Euro-Crisis Tunnel - 0 views

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    This is the article Netan and Suyang are presenting regarding the Euro Crisis.
Cristina Raileanu

Raising Interest Rates? Canada's Impending Household Debt Crisis | Global Research - 0 views

  • If the bank feels you can pay $2,000 a month on a mortgage, then you generally qualify for the loan, if you have the right credit record and collateral.
  • It is worth noting here that the money your bank loans for a mortgage is created out of thin air at the push of a button. They do not lend the money of their depositors for this.
  • interest charges are built into just about every product and service available. Higher interest rates means businesses would have to charge more to recover their loan costs.
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  • For an extreme example of what can happen one only has to turn back the clock to the 1980s, when 20% interest rates destroyed many businesses and individual lives;
  • it is the average consumer that is blamed for the problems created by the so-called experts.
  • one could take each aforementioned quote by the experts, reword it to mean the exact opposite, and thereby have a better understanding of the situation.
lebiez piranaj

Euro crisis opens old wounds for Greece, Germany - 0 views

  • A country's economy devastated, unemployment endemic and suicides rising -- this is the reality in Greece
  • Greece -- the birthplace of democracy -- is now reliant on eurozone bailouts and subject to political decision-making in Brussels and Berlin.
  • Merkel met with Greek Prime Minister
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  • a Greek pensioner took his own life outside parliament citing austerity measures for his desperation.
    • lebiez piranaj
       
      austerity measures- when a government reduces it's spending and/or increases its user fees and taxes so that the country can pay back creditors
  • she pledged German support for Greece but made it clear that Greece cannot -- and therefore will not -- yield on its austerity reforms.
  • Greek police were deployed to keep the protests under control.
  • Some demonstrators evoked bitter memories of the brutal Nazi occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1944
  • Spyros Economides, a senior lecturer in international relations and European politics at the London School of Economics, said Greeks are "not very positive at all" in their views toward Germany.
  • it's also younger people who are unemployed and suffering economic dislocation
  • To stay, the Greeks are coming under intense pressure from eurozone peers --- led by Germany -- to implement further austerity measures of 13.5 billion euros [$17.7 billion].
  • the projected cuts could break down into 11.5 billion euros worth of cuts
  • from pensions and wages as well as the sale of state property
  • and the remaining 2 billion euros from additional taxes.
  • Frank Schaeffler, a German member of parliament in the Free Democratic Party, has previously advocated the sale of uninhabited Greek islands to fund creditor repayments.
  • Schaeffler said: "I am afraid Germany has softened its stance on Greece lately ... Samaras himself has said that Greece is willing to sell off its uninhabited islands."
  • Germany is concerned that a Greek exit from the eurozone could lead to a domino effect
  • could lead to a full break-up of the monetary union.
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    Q1: Do you think putting up their uninhabited islands is a good recompensation method in case Greece doesn't pay off their loans and are the Germans indebted to Greece for their misactions during World War 2? Q2: Do you think Greece should be toughening it's austerity measures even though it might mean increasing Greece's current unemployment rate?
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    1. If Greece's economic situation worsens I believe putting up their uninhabited islands would be a great way to compensate because they are likely to be worth a lot and currently are not being used. 2. In my opinion, I feel Greece's unemployment rate is at a very risky point and doing anything to further detriment that would be unwise.
Brijesh Patel

Bank of Canada flags lenders' role in consumer debt - 1 views

  • Canadian families owe nearly $1.65 on average for every dollar of after-tax income, the highest level in 22 years of tracking those figures.
  • the government would no longer insure mortgages that are amortized over a period longer than 25 years.
  • fierce competition for customers caused some major banks to begin offering five-year mortgages at 2.99 per cent, triggering a price war in the sector.
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  • You should be cautious about your lending practices, because this is the type of practice that led to a mortgage crisis in the United States several years ago,
  • Statistics Canada saying in December that the most recent data suggest Canadian families owe nearly $1.65 on average for every dollar of after-tax income.
  • physically present also have a greater proportion of consumers with too much de
  • The Bank of Canada has been scrutinizing whether competition among
  • The governing council was told about the role that discounting plays in how much individuals pay for their mortgage and notes that there is “substantial dispersion in rates across people, institutions, and markets.”
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    Funding costs rose dramatically during the financial crisis when liquidity dried up, pushing up the costs of consumer and business loans Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tightened the rules on mortgages for a fourth time in four years, saying the government would no longer insure mortgages that are amortized over a period longer than 25 years "Neighbourhoods with more bank branches and payday lenders per capita (i.e. more competition) have looser lending standards (higher leveraged households) and experience greater bankruptcies"
Ms Cuttle

Are Canada's financial institutions in perfect shape? Don't bank on it - Business - Mac... - 1 views

  • Less than 24 hours after Lagarde put down her dessert fork, debt rating agency Moody’s put six of Canada’s biggest banks under review for a possible ratings downgrade, citing high consumer debt levels and a frothy housing market.
  • Household debt-to-income ratios now stand at 163 per cent, higher than in the United States before its housing crash and up from 147 per cent two years ago.
  • RBC last week revealed plans to spend $1.4 billion to buy auto lender Ally Financial while TD said it was buying retailer Target’s credit card business. The Bank of Nova Scotia also recently purchased the online bank ING Direct for $3.1 billion.
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    Should Canadians be worried about the financial stability of our banks?
Brijesh Patel

Canadian consumer debt soars 53 per cent - 1 views

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    - In the past 5 years, consumer debt has increased by 53% - The most borrowing occurring in the two years right after the global financial crisis. - Canada's household debt to income ration jumped to 163.4% - Canada's debt-to-income ratio has now reached a record high, topping levels seen in the U.S - Currently, the Canadian housing market is in a state of decline, with home sales dropping 15 per cent in September.
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    #2 what is causing the debt ratio to increase drastically ?
Samson Luong

Brazil economy surprisingly weak, adds to global fears - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

  • Brazil has been stuck in a pattern of slow growth since Ms. Rousseff took office last year, as companies struggle with high costs and severe infrastructure and labour bottlenecks. Ms. Rousseff has tried to revive activity with numerous tax cuts and other stimulus, but Friday’s data showed that companies are not responding, as investment fell for a fifth straight quarter.
  • Friday’s data renews concerns that its slow growth is not a cyclical issue, but the result of deeply rooted structural problems after strong growth of the previous decade.
  • The measures that the government imagined would be capable of bringing Brazil out of the global crisis weren’t enough
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  • Data indicates that many consumers have reached their debt limit, despite a massive year-long cycle of interest rate cuts, leaving few other strong motors to power Brazil’s $2.5-trillion economy.
  • far deeper changes to Brazil’s restrictive labour laws as well as its complex and onerous tax code, which many companies say makes investment prohibitively expensive.
  • Ms. Rousseff has won some plaudits from foreign investors for efforts to address Brazil’s supply-side bottlenecks
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    Questions 1. What effects will interest rate cuts and expanding consumer credit have on Brazil's economy? 2. Would allowing the private sector to build and operate airports, highways and cutting electricity costs be good for Brazil's economy? Why?
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    1- It might cause an economic recession. 2- It will be beneficial as long as there isn't one company operating all these areas(monopoly power) which leads to a market failure. It will bring money to the private sector. Netan
faseehthemoonman

High unemployment to persist in Canada: analysts | CTV News - 1 views

  • unemployment rate bobbing within a narrow band 0.1 percentage points above or below eight per cent.
  • unemployment rate will average 7.7 per cent next year and will still be above seven per cent in 2013, long after the economy has returned to normal.
  • rate of joblessness approaches 17 per cent
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  • Although Canada has recouped the more than 400,000 jobs that vanished during the downturn, there are still more than 300,000 officially
  • He notes that the biggest hit on jobs since the 2008 crisis has been to manufacturing, warehousing and transportation -- three related industries
  • The new full employment level is likely a rate of about seven per cent, agrees Douglas Porter of BMO Capital Markets, as opposed to six to 6.5 per cent before the recession.
  • According to his forecast, Canada's unemployment rate will reach that level by the end of 2012, when the Bank of Canada estimates the economy will be back at full capacity.
S C

Household debt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • Household debt soared in the years leading up to the Great Recession
  • Twenty years ago, the average American household’s debt was 83 percent of its income; by a decade ago, that had crept up to 92 percent; but by late 2007, debts were 130 percent of income
  • All this borrowing took place both because banks had abandoned any notion of sound lending and because everyone assumed that house prices would never fall. And then the bubble burst
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  • Household debt can be challenging to reduce. Major approaches include: 1) Paying down debt over time from income or accumulated savings, if available; 2) Debt write-down or refinancing via negotiation, bankruptcy or government bailout; and 3) Inflation.
  • Debt can be reduced via negotiation with creditors or a legal bankruptcy process
  • If wages increase due to inflation, but debts remain fixed, the debts can be more easily retired
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    Household debt contributes to recessions and depressions, one major cause is banks lowering their lending requirements to make more money. Household debt can be reduced through income and savings, debt negotiations and inflation.
Cristina Raileanu

Canadian consumer debt climbs to record levels in 2012 | CTV News - 0 views

  • That's about the level reached in the United States before the financial crisis.
  • the household debt to income ratio stood at 164.6 per cent,
  • navigated through the risks so far, but the time has come to pay off your bills before that happens.
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  • The Bank of Canada is expected to keep its key rate on hold for now, giving Canadians a window to start reducing their debts before costs start to rise.
burmangabriel

Fiscal cliff: Obama, Boehner trade proposals - 1 views

  • prevent economy-damaging tax increases on the middle class at year's end, conferring by phone after a secretive exchange of proposals.
  • to reduce his initial demand for $1.6 trillion in higher tax revenue over a decade to $1.4 trillion
  • The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff," he said, declaring that Obama had yet to identify specific cuts to government benefit programs that as part of an agreement that also would raise federal tax revenue
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  • attempts to avert a "fiscal cliff," across-the-board tax increases and cuts in defense and domestic programs that economists say could send the economy into recession
  • numerous proposals Obama has made to cut spending, including recommendations to cull $340 billion from Medicare over a decade and an additional $250 billion from other government benefit programs
  • Republicans "sent the White House a counteroffer that would achieve tax and entitlement reform to solve our looming debt crisis and create more American jobs
  • a deal to prevent damage to the economy,
  • Republicans struggle with Obama's demands to raise taxes, but Reid has privately told his rank and file they could soon be feeling the same distress if discussions grow serious on cuts to benefit programs
  • we need to strengthen Social Security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we've got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly
  • Republicans want to curtail annual cost-of-living benefits for Social Security and other government benefits, as well as raise the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67 beginning at some point in the future
  • president seems to think that if all he talks about are taxes, and that's all reporters write about, somehow the rest of us will magically forget that government spending is completely out of control and that he himself has been insisting on balance,
  • Obama's plan would raise $1.6 trillion in revenue over 10 years, in part by raising tax rates on incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. He has recommended $400 billion in spending cuts over a decade.
  • seeking extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut due to expire on Jan. 1, a continuation in long-term unemployment benefits and steps to help hard-pressed homeowners and doctors who treat Medicare patients
  • Obama last year signed legislation to cut more than $1 trillion from government programs over a decade, and was proposing $600 billion in additional savings from benefit programs.
  • health care law that Obama signed into law showed savings of $100 billion. Much or all of that funding came from Medicare, even though Obama's aides insisted during his successful campaign for re-election that he had not made any cuts in that program
  • Boehner's plan, in addition to calling for $800 billion in new revenue, envisions $600 billion in savings over a decade from Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs as well as $300 billion from other benefit programs and another $300 billion from other domestic programs.
  • It would trim annual increases in Social Security payments to beneficiaries, and it calls for gradually raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67, beginning in a decade
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    1) Which proposal do you think is better? More cuts or more taxes 2) Do you think that going off the "cliff" is less detrimental than picking the other parties proposal?
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    1.) More taxes because people in the lower bracket income won't get affected as much. Thus, not further hardening their way of life. 2.) No. they believe the measures negatively affect them. It would affect defense spending, domestic spending and taxes negatively. All the citizens of america will get affected. No exceptions.
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    1. I believe more taxes would benefit the economy more because it would be geared more towards the higher income earners that have the foundation to deal with the taxes opposed to the lower incomes earners that already struggle. 2. Not exactly because going off the "cliff" affects several important factors such as federal tax, boarder tax, domestic spending, etc. Thus, it would seem that going off the "cliff" serves the economy and citizens more negatively than siding with the other parties' proposal.
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