G-20 summit might push Bush on a collision course with president-elect
Friday, 24 October 2008
From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, October 23: Fears of imminent recession gripping the global economy triggered another crash in the major stock markets. Standard and Poor's ( SP ) stock index fell 6.1 per cent forcing the Wall Street experts to admit that "we are in recession" and prompting President Bush to convene a meeting of Group of Twenty (G20) on Nov 15 to wrangle with the global economic crisis that is showing no signs of remitting.
The gains made by the stock markets have evaporated. Beside Down Jones suffering a loss of 6.1 per cent, London's FTSE fell 4.5 per cent and Japanese stock plummeted 6.8 per cent. Conserving cash and being cautious is a national response on the company level. In the aggregate when every company takes defensive actions like that it creates a sharp slowing of the overall economy, an analyst wrote in the New York Times (NYT) today.
The emergency summit meeting of G20 countries convened by President Bush on Nov 15 could push Bush on a collision course with the president-elect. The White House can take comfort from the fact that both Barack Obama and John McCain have applauded the Bush effort. The White House is not sure about how the summit would go. The idea of the summit has won instant approval from British Prime Minister Gordon Browne and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The leaders will review progress being made to address the current financial crisis, forge a common platform to lay bare the causes, prevent such occurrences in future and set out principles for reforms of the regulatory and institutional regimes for the world's financial sectors.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama, barring a miracle, is set for a landslide victory over John McCain if the double digit leads prove accurate, both the Republican party and Democratic Party strategists forecast. Obama is leading by 51.6 per cent to 42 per cent for McCain. Obama's lead is between six and 14 points. Gloom has already descended on Republican camp but there is no last word in polls.
The White House said it would 'seek input' from the president-elect on G20 summit. It is not clear if the winner of Nov 4 presidential election would attend the summit but if they do 'it would be a remarkably early first appearance on the world stage'. The summit is likely to prepare the ground work for overhauling the rules governing the financial markets in the line of one that was found at Bretton Woods in 1944 to rebuild the global economy that lay in ruins after the Great Depression and the World War 11.
The economists say that such a meeting is necessary and important but from America's political perspective, the timing at the tail end of a lame-duck president is terrible.
In another development, the leaders of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) left a meeting with Russia receiving no assurance on its planned cut on oil production. The Russian president, however, said his country is interested in closer ties with the cartel but stopped short of promising any reduction in Russian oil output. Russia is interested to stabilise the oil price, being a large producer and exporter of oil. The Russian mind was revealed after a meeting between President Dmitri Medvedev and Opec secretary general Abdullah Salem in Moscow on Wednesday.
Abdullah said his visit to Moscow was not to seek a promise of oil production cut. The Opec will hold an emergency meeting on Friday in Vienna to announce its decision to cut oil production at least by one million barrel a day in bid to stop the steady decline in the price
In the USA, a senator is looking into the complaint whether officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) furnished confidential information to JP Morgan Chase during bank's talks to rescue Bears Stearn, an early victim of the meltdown. The US federal and treasury department were forced to engineer a fire sale of Bear to Morgan after the former suffered a rapid loss of its liquidity.
Wall Street where America's top executives with hefty pay packets work is facing the possibility of shedding upto 78,000 jobs due to the banking crisis and can witness a pay cut by more than a quarter.
Wachovia reported a $23.9 billion third quarter loss and it faced a run on its commercial deposits that preceded its take over by rival Wells Fargo. AIG which was rescued by the government has agreed to freeze about $600 million of deferred compensation and bonuses due to its executives. Six AIG officials have a combined share of $69 million out of a total of $600 million. AIG has agreed to retrieve any improper payments made to senior executives. The AIG move came after New York attorney-general Andrew Cuomo had threatened legal actions unless AIG stopped outrageous expenditures.
The expenses that were made for buying dress for the Republican Party vice-presidential candidate are revealing of the super expensive of the US election. How would the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh take the news that the Republican party spent $150,000 (repeat $150,000 ) to buy new clothes for Sarah Pallin, party's vice-president nominee, from Saks in the 5th Avenue, New York, the most expensive shopping district in the world before party's national convention, some Bangladeshi-born citizens here wondered. The expenditure was shown as 'campaign accessories'.
NEW YORK, October 23: Fears of imminent recession gripping the global economy triggered another crash in the major stock markets. Standard and Poor's ( SP ) stock index fell 6.1 per cent forcing the Wall Street experts to admit that "we are in recession" and prompting President Bush to convene a meeting of Group of Twenty (G20) on Nov 15 to wrangle with the global economic crisis that is showing no signs of remitting.
The gains made by the stock markets have evaporated. Beside Down Jones suffering a loss of 6.1 per cent, London's FTSE fell 4.5 per cent and Japanese stock plummeted 6.8 per cent. Conserving cash and being cautious is a national response on the company level. In the aggregate when every company takes defensive actions like that it creates a sharp slowing of the overall economy, an analyst wrote in the New York Times (NYT) today.
The emergency summit meeting of G20 countries convened by President Bush on Nov 15 could push Bush on a collision course with the president-elect. The White House can take comfort from the fact that both Barack Obama and John McCain have applauded the Bush effort. The White House is not sure about how the summit would go. The idea of the summit has won instant approval from British Prime Minister Gordon Browne and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The leaders will review progress being made to address the current financial crisis, forge a common platform to lay bare the causes, prevent such occurrences in future and set out principles for reforms of the regulatory and institutional regimes for the world's financial sectors.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama, barring a miracle, is set for a landslide victory over John McCain if the double digit leads prove accurate, both the Republican party and Democratic Party strategists forecast. Obama is leading by 51.6 per cent to 42 per cent for McCain. Obama's lead is between six and 14 points. Gloom has already descended on Republican camp but there is no last word in polls.
The White House said it would 'seek input' from the president-elect on G20 summit. It is not clear if the winner of Nov 4 presidential election would attend the summit but if they do 'it would be a remarkably early first appearance on the world stage'. The summit is likely to prepare the ground work for overhauling the rules governing the financial markets in the line of one that was found at Bretton Woods in 1944 to rebuild the global economy that lay in ruins after the Great Depression and the World War 11.
The economists say that such a meeting is necessary and important but from America's political perspective, the timing at the tail end of a lame-duck president is terrible.
In another development, the leaders of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) left a meeting with Russia receiving no assurance on its planned cut on oil production. The Russian president, however, said his country is interested in closer ties with the cartel but stopped short of promising any reduction in Russian oil output. Russia is interested to stabilise the oil price, being a large producer and exporter of oil. The Russian mind was revealed after a meeting between President Dmitri Medvedev and Opec secretary general Abdullah Salem in Moscow on Wednesday.
Abdullah said his visit to Moscow was not to seek a promise of oil production cut. The Opec will hold an emergency meeting on Friday in Vienna to announce its decision to cut oil production at least by one million barrel a day in bid to stop the steady decline in the price
In the USA, a senator is looking into the complaint whether officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) furnished confidential information to JP Morgan Chase during bank's talks to rescue Bears Stearn, an early victim of the meltdown. The US federal and treasury department were forced to engineer a fire sale of Bear to Morgan after the former suffered a rapid loss of its liquidity.
Wall Street where America's top executives with hefty pay packets work is facing the possibility of shedding upto 78,000 jobs due to the banking crisis and can witness a pay cut by more than a quarter.
Wachovia reported a $23.9 billion third quarter loss and it faced a run on its commercial deposits that preceded its take over by rival Wells Fargo. AIG which was rescued by the government has agreed to freeze about $600 million of deferred compensation and bonuses due to its executives. Six AIG officials have a combined share of $69 million out of a total of $600 million. AIG has agreed to retrieve any improper payments made to senior executives. The AIG move came after New York attorney-general Andrew Cuomo had threatened legal actions unless AIG stopped outrageous expenditures.
The expenses that were made for buying dress for the Republican Party vice-presidential candidate are revealing of the super expensive of the US election. How would the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh take the news that the Republican party spent $150,000 (repeat $150,000 ) to buy new clothes for Sarah Pallin, party's vice-president nominee, from Saks in the 5th Avenue, New York, the most expensive shopping district in the world before party's national convention, some Bangladeshi-born citizens here wondered. The expenditure was shown as 'campaign accessories'.