It would be wrong to say that all Colombians have rejected their government’s peace deal with the Marxist guerrillas FARC when the turnout for the referendum was only 37percent. The accord was turned down by a razor-thin margin of 50.2percent to 49.8percent. Had the two-thirds who abstained voted, the result would have been very different. The referendum shows only ...
Read More »India’s next rate decision shouldn’t cause anxiety
Roiled by fears of a possible conflict with Pakistan, markets in India haven’t been terribly stable in recent days. But at least one source of anxiety has happily been alleviated. Investors are confident that Tuesday’s monetary policy statement from the Reserve Bank of India — the first since the departure of former governor Raghuram Rajan — will signal continuity, ...
Read More »New immigration’s face changes the housing market
The twin shortages plaguing the U.S. in 2016 — a shortage of cheap service labor, and a shortage of affordable housing — are products of the same little-noticed trend: For decades, the education level of immigrants has been rising. A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration” ...
Read More »Economics can teach you how to dine as a couple
Marriage counsellors tell us that couples frequently tie the knot without discussing the core matters that can cement or sunder their marriage: finances, children, religion. Well, let me add one under-discussed biggie to the list: restaurant dining. I am eternally astonished to find not only that many couples I know failed to discuss this key area before they marched ...
Read More »Sliding pound lifts London stocks
London / AFP The British pound slumped to a three-year low against the euro on Monday in reaction to news that Britain would begin Brexit negotiations by March. However better-than-expected British manufacturing data, ironically thanks to recent strong falls for the pound, helped London’s benchmark FTSE 100 stocks index to jump by 1.2 percent in morning trade. Sterling dropped ...
Read More »Egypt surges on hope for good news on IMF loan
Dubai / Reuters Egypt’s stock market rose sharply in early trade on Monday on hopes that an international financing package for the country would be finalised soon after this week’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group. The Egyptian stock index climbed 2.8 percent in a broad rally, with investment bank EFG Hermes rising 4.2 ...
Read More »Tokyo shares up as Deutsche Bank woes ease
Tokyo / AFP Tokyo shares rebounded on Monday after overseas markets rallied on easing fears over Deutsche Bank’s future, with investors shrugging off a weak Japanese business confidence report. Deutsche Bank bounced back on Friday after a source familiar with the matter said that a US fine over toxic debt it sold would be only $5.4 billion, not the ...
Read More »Heathrow to make room for 25,000 more flights
Bloomberg London Heathrow airport said it could make room for 25,000 more flights a year in the run up to construction of a new runway, improving global links at a time when Britain is likely to be exiting the European Union. The extra services would be added from 2021 until the opening of a third landing strip in 2025, ...
Read More »India’s Vistara chief wants airline rule scrapped
AFP The boss of India’s newest airline Vistara has urged the government to scrap a rule that restricts carriers in the country’s cut-throat aviation sector from expanding their operations abroad. Phee Teik Yeoh, the Singaporean CEO of Vistara, which was launched last year, said in a recent interview that recent reforms were welcome but more needed to be done ...
Read More »Lufthansa’s Eurowings gets reboot with Air Berlin, Brussels jets
Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG said its Eurowings discount arm will enter a new phase of growth as the wholesale transfer of dozens of jets from Air Berlin Plc and Brussels Airlines NV doubles the size of its fleet and sidesteps union opposition to expansion. Lufthansa’s twin moves to buy Brussels Air, which has 49 jets, and take over ...
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