Bernanke to address QE timeline
Ben Bernanke goes to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a big day of Fed communication that will clarify how long the central bank expects to keep buying assets at a…
US farmland faces asset bubble test
©AFP A century ago, US farmland real estate enjoyed a huge boom. Interest rates were low. Grain prices were high. The world’s appetite for agricultural exports seemed endless. Now, as…
Shine is coming off Brazil for investors
The exit of a senior bureaucrat little known outside his country would not normally worry international investors. But Nelson Barbosa’s resignation as Brazilian finance secretary for “personal reasons” last week…
Moody’s warns of new Caribbean debt crisis
A growing number of Caribbean countries are likely to renege on their debts as the region runs out of options to tackle its limp economic growth and dismal state finances,…
US business seeks fast track trade deals
©Getty A political clash looms as US lawmakers debate whether to give Barack Obama authority to pass planned trade deals with the EU and 11 Pacific nations swiftly through Congress.…
US wins breathing space on debt ceiling
The US will not have to raise the federal debt ceiling until September, said Treasury secretary Jack Lew on Friday, in another sign of how the resurgence of tax revenues…
Global economy lacking demand growth
©Getty Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, captured a sense of fragmentation last month when she spoke of a “three-speed” global economy. On this week’s evidence, however, there are even…
US prepares red carpet for Myanmar leader
©AP When Thein Sein arrives in Washington on Monday as the first Myanmar president for almost half a century to visit the US capital, he may discover that the warm…
US consumer sentiment nears six-year high
US consumer sentiment rebounded at the start of May to the highest level in almost six years as more Americans, led by those on the highest incomes, felt better about…
US farmland prices draw bubble talk
©Bloomberg Farmland prices in the US corn belt have risen at double-digit clip this year despite weaker grain markets in a move that will intensify debate over whether loose monetary…