Quick economic turnaround not in sight yet

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From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, Jan 10: Economic indicators, China being a rare exception, worldwide remain feeble and fragile to predict that the global economic turnaround is round the corner. The US economy shed 85,000 more jobs in December dashing hope of a quick turnaround.
Eurozone job loss data revealed similar grim picture with unemployment rate hitting 10 percent matching the US scorecard.
President Obama, whose public rating sliding down a little, called upon his administration to explore every avenue to accelerate the 'return to hiring' as he announced $2.3 billion tax credit to companies investing in renewable energy manufacturing prospect. The US has so far shed 7.2 million jobs since the beginning of the recession and eurozone more than 4.0 million.
China continues to grow. The country sped past Germany to be crowned as "export champion of the world". German exports were worth $1020 billion in eleven months upto November compared to China's export tally rising to $1070 in the same period.
Japan's new Finance Minister Naoto Kan provoked angry reactions from his colleagues and policy planners by suggesting that yen should be equivalent to an US dollar. The yen plunged 1.1 percent after finance minister's comment. The finance minister conceded that he had spoken imprudently.
The US treasury secretary Tim Geithner has been summoned to appear before a Congressional committee to explain allegations that he approved payment of $27.1 billion to American Insurance Groups (AIG) counterparties. Treasury Department responded swiftly to say Tim Geithner had no role to play in the transaction.
Offshore banking is back in news again. Switzerland world's most famous operator of offshore banking was accused by the regulators that it has brazenly broken banking secrecy provision by ordering UBS to release the list 255 US offshore clients to Internal Revenue Services (IRS). The American tax regulators Berne bowed to international pressure and diluted bank secrecy rules.
China has approved the launch of, on a trial basis, stock index futures and short selling of stocks yesterday. The new move to be operative may need some more time. The government allowed trading under which investors borrow money from brokerage houses to buy shares. President Obama's public ratings have marginally improved since the attempt to blow up an airliner on Christmas day by Umar Faruk Abdul Motalleb, a 23 year old Nigerian was foiled. Mutaleb has arranged by a court in Michigan, Detroit.