World Economy

  • Countries are trying to stay competitive in a world of slowing productivity, dropping oil prices, and a commodity slump. Now the World Economic Forum has published its annual competitiveness…

  • Stocks rose around the world, rebounding after a quarter of volatile trading that’s wiped almost $11 trillion off the value of global shares, while treasuries, gold and the yen retreated…

  • US consumer confidence grew moderately in September, building on August’s strong rebound, as consumers turned more positive about current economic conditions, the Conference Board reported Tuesday…

  • The recent downgrade of Brazil’s credit rating to junk status was followed by a raft of articles heralding the crumbling of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). How…

  • Russia is restricting its airspace to Ukraine starting on October 25 in response to Kiev banning flights by Russian airlines to the country. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has instructed…

  • Financial markets stabilized after a rout Monday that wiped $800 billion off global equities, Bloomberg reported. US equity-index futures rose. Crude oil advanced with the currencies of…

  • Qatar’s sovereign-wealth fund lost $5.9 billion on paper in 10 days from its stakes in Volkswagen AG and Glencore Plc, Bloomberg reported. Qatar Investment Authority, the biggest holder of VW…

  • Exchange rate movements still have sizable effects on exports and imports, according to new research from the International Monetary Fund.

  • Almost all banks under the European Central Bank’s direct supervision have more capital than required under an ongoing review, a senior ECB bank supervisor said on Tuesday.

  • Apple said it had sold more than 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Pluses during their first weekend of availability in 12 markets, setting a record for its marquee product.

  • Saudi Arabia has allegedly withdrawn $70 billion from global asset managers as the country hopes to plug current budget deficit as crude slumped, World Bulletin reported.

  • New figures from the Ireland’s Central Statistics Office show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September was 9.4%, down from 9.5% in August. The seasonally adjusted employment…

  • Eurozone economic sentiment hit a new four-year high in September, European Commission data showed Tuesday, mainly thanks to more optimism in industry, and the retail and services sectors.

  • Speaking at the opening session of the high-level debate of the UN General Assembly Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a politically troubled world is suffering from a lack of empathy.

  • India’s central bank lowered interest rates more than expected to bolster the economy as China’s slowdown threatens global growth and a commodity rout contains inflation.

  • German annual inflation turned negative in September for the first time in eight months, preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Office showed, undershooting the consensus forecast for…

  • Turkey is interested in intensifying its cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union, Turkey’s economy minister said Tuesday.

  • Weak Chinese industrial data and slackening demand for commodities the world over weighed heavily on Asian markets on Tuesday. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney were all in negative territory…

  • The International Monetary Fund downgraded its economic forecast for Russia as it projects recession of 3.8% in GDP for 2015 and of 0.6% for 2016 in its new analytical research prepared to annual…

  • Qatar plans to invest $35 billion over the next five years in the United States, as the energy-rich country diversifies its global stakes, its sovereign wealth fund said Monday.

    The Qatar…

  • Consumer and business confidence have increased sharply this month, Istat said on Monday, ANSA reported. The national statistics agency said its consumer-confidence index for September was 112.7…

  • The Russian market of mobile phones and smartphones in January-August of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014 decreased by 14% in quantity terms (to 23 million units), but increased by 5% in…

  • The number of passengers flying between Sydney and Melbourne in Australia rose 7.5% in July from the previous year, at a time when airfares are also rising, in a potential sign of rising business…

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans on connecting 600,000 villages across India using fiber optic cable as part of his dream to expand the world’s largest democracy’s economy to $20 trillion.

  • China’s economic growth remains within a reasonable range as employment still holds up and household incomes rise, state television quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying.

    China’s favorable…