Swiss central bank President Thomas Jordan said policy makers are ready to take further measures if needed to weaken the franc as its strength poses
Iraq says oil exports jumped by 15 percent in March compared to the previous month, putting them at the highest level the nation has seen since 1989.
Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said Sunday that last month’s oil exports averaged 2.31 million barrels a day, up from an average of 2.01 million barrels a day in February.
He added that the sales grossed $8.472 billion, an increase of nearly 28.5 percent from February’s revenues of $6 guaranteed high risk personal loans.595 billion.
The oil was sold to a 28 international oil companies.
Iraq relies on oil exports for 95 percent of its revenues. The increase is attributed to the inauguration of a new export terminal in the Persian Gulf last month.
Selling soybeans, iron and copper ore and other commodities to Asian countries has transformed Latin America over the past decade, stabilizing economies despite worldwide crises and lifting tens of millions of people into the middle class. Now, say officials from both Asia and Latin America, a second gold rush is under way.
Asian investors flush with hundreds of billions of dollars in cash now see Latin America as a top business opportunity, and they’re flooding into manufacturing, construction and other industries, particularly in up-and-coming countries such as Brazil, Peru and Mexico. That’s transforming the lucrative relationship that was based primarily on exporting raw materials to Asia, an arrangement that frustrated governments eager to stimulate their own manufacturing.
Government and business officials meeting this week at the World Economic Forum in Mexico said the investment surge means Asia is poised to overtake the United States and the European Union as Latin America’s top trading partner over the next decade. Asian representatives have been an unmistakable presence at the forum, with South Korean, Chinese and Japanese investors making the rounds at this seaside city’s gleaming white convention hall.
“We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars in just Korean banks looking for a destination,” said Kevin Lu, Asia Pacific regional director of a World Bank Group agency that insures foreign investments against political risk. “When I meet with investors, Latin America is in every conversation about this.”
Already, Chinese investment in Latin America has jumped from a few million dollars just a few years ago to about $15 billion in 2010, with most of the money going into mining and other extractive industries in Brazil, Peru and other nations, said Alicia Barcena, executive secretary for the Chile-based United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Chinese investment in the region jumped again last year, to about $23 billion, Barcena said.
Japan, meanwhile, surpassed even that figure last year and displaced China as the region’s top Asian investment and trade partner, Barcena said. She didn’t provide a precise number for Japan’s total.
China already ranks among the top three trading partners with Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, and Asian investment in auto and other manufacturing in Mexican industrial cities has greatly expanded the middle class.
“I don’t have any doubt that Asia will soon become the region’s top trading partner,” said Mexican Economy Secretary Bruno Ferrari Garcia de Alba. “In Mexico, we believe we need to get closer and closer to Asia.”
According to the U.N. economic commission, 17 percent of Latin America’s exports went to Asian-Pacific countries in 2010, more than tripling from 5 percent in 2000 business card design. Over the same span, the share of the region’s total exports that went to the United States dropped from 60 percent to 40 percent.
Ferrari said Asian-Pacific countries buy 31 percent of Mexico’s total exports, amounting to $110 billion, with that number growing by an average of 20 percent annually over the past five years.
Lu, of the World Bank Group agency, said raw material industries in Latin America are now getting only 40 percent to 50 percent of total Asian investment in the region, while the rest goes to manufacturing, construction and other businesses.
He said foreign money flowing into a new region often first goes into buying natural resources because it’s a simpler business than making things, which requires dealing with labor, setting up supply chains and complying with various government rules.
“The Chinese look at natural resources as easier to manage, while manufacturing and construction is a lot more complicated,” Lu said. “It’s a very natural progression for any bilateral trade relationship to start to become broader, and to move into other areas.”
Hanwha, a South Korean petrochemicals company, is considering manufacturing in Latin America rather than continue to concentrate its production in China, said Sang M. Lee, CEO of the company’s U.S. operations.
At the same time, the company is eyeing the Latin American market, especially as it moves into solar energy, Lee said after a Wednesday morning at the World Economic Forum dedicated to the future of Asian-Latin American relations.
“We need that new production because there are a lot of resources in Latin America, and we need more markets,” Lee said. “We’re just at a beginning stage with this.”
To be seen is whether the rising Asian investment will quiet concerns around Latin America that exporting commodities while importing manufactured Asian goods will ruin domestic companies and leave the region vulnerable. Brazil, in particular, has raised import tariffs on manufactured goods to protect its own industries.
Peruvian Trade and Tourism Minister Jose Luis Silva Martinot made clear Wednesday that despite the economic benefits from Asian trade and investment, Peru still sees China and other Asian countries as competitors.
“We can see they’re up scaling the quality of their products,” Silva said. “Three-quarters of our exports are raw materials. It’s something we want to change.”
The Citizens Utility Board is pushing for a cut in Ameren Illiniois’ rates to exclude $42.8 million in spending, including hundreds of thousands of dollars for branding, corporate sponsorships, lobbying and athletic events.
Ameren Illinois in March filed a proposal with the Illinois Commerce Commission that would initially reduce electric rates across its service territory by $19.5 million.
But in testimony filed with the ICC, the Chicago-based consumer group said the reduction in electric delivery rate should go further.
“Ameren’s proposal doesn’t even come close to giving its customers the upfront decrease they deserve,” CUB Executive Director David Kolata said.
The rate proposal filed earlier this year is part of Ameren’s 10-year plan to spend $625 million to improve the power grid and install so-called smart meters.
The grid modernization plan was authorized in a bill approved by the legislature last year. The sweeping measure also established a formula for setting future electric rates in Illinois.
The ICC is expected to adjust Ameren’s rates in October.
Sean Chua expected the hunt for his first job after college to be tough. After all, he watched his brother struggle to find a position when he graduated back in 2008. But his fears were unwarranted. The 21-year-old justice major at American University sent out only seven resumes before getting an offer earlier this month from IBM for an IT consulting job, making him a beneficiary of a turnaround in the labor market for U.S. graduates. “My mom’s first position was with IBM so she is particularly proud,” says Chua. Hiring is back in a big way on many college campuses, one of several signs a recovery in the U.S. jobs market is gaining traction. After four years during which many students graduated to find no job and had only their loans to show for their studies, most college campuses are teeming with companies eager to hire. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found 2012 hiring is expected to climb 10.2 percent, above a previous estimate of 9.5 percent.
Companies such as General Electric, Amazon, Apple and Barclays Global are looking for new staff, even if some firms remain below the pre-recession levels of new hiring. In another sign of the recovery, some first-time job seekers are receiving multiple offers.
At University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the career service office has seen up to now a 7.4 percent increase in the number of interviews of students by potential employers from last year and the number of companies seeking to recruit for full-time jobs is up 9.2 percent. Undergraduate business majors reporting full-time job offers is up about 10 percent.
Career experts at a dozen of U.S. schools said they have seen an increase of 15 to 30 percent in the number of companies attending campus career fairs. At University of Florida, the fall career fair garnered 15 percent more companies in attendance than in 2010. And 150 companies asked to conduct interviews versus about 100 in recent years, said Ja’Net Glover, associate director of employer relations at the school. The increase in demand was so significant that it was the first time in years the school had to use both the first and second floors of the school’s basketball facility for interviews.
“It’s kind of like a no-brainer,” says Kathy Sims. Director of Career Services at UCLA. “The economy is better and the college recruitment market is improving.”
While the U.S. jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in February, unemployment among college graduates over the age of 25 stood at 4.2 percent. Historically, their jobless rate is half that of Americans with only a high school education. Over the recession, unemployment among graduates climbed as high as 5 percent, sparking protests over the rising tuition cost of some U.S. colleges. U.S. unemployment data for March, due for release on April 6, is expected to show a total of just over 200,000 jobs were created in the month, keeping the overall unemployment rate at 8.3 percent.
BACKLOG FROM PAST YEARS, INTERNS SOAR
College graduates’ earnings are also on the rebound payday loan lenders. NACE says the median wage for first-time job seekers after college for 2012 is up 4.5 percent higher than a year ago to $42,569.
That initial pay level can resonate over the span of a career. Several studies show that the life-time earnings for workers who enter the labor force at time of economic recession are lower than lifetime earnings of those who are hired amid an economic recovery. Given the tepid recovery of the economy, some caution is required. In 2008, many college graduates who had already accepted job offers were later away. After the run of lean years, many graduates are stuck in low-paying jobs and professions that never intended to follow, meaning there could be a backlog of well-educated workers who need to get their careers on track as well as new graduates. However, with a wide range of employers — from automakers to investment banks — back on campus offering internships and full-time jobs, and not just to engineering, computer science and math majors, the outlook for the Class of 2012 looks rosy.
General Electric wants to hire 5,000 interns this year, up from its usual 3,000 to 4,000. Since 70 percent of its full-time hires come from the interns pool, Steve Canale, head of global recruiting, said that uptick will also translate into more full-time jobs after graduation. “(Companies) are saying, ‘we have an aging workforce, and we have to replenish the pipeline.’ GE has always done it, but this year a lot of other companies are also reloading their talent pool,” Canale said.
Chrysler said it plans to hire 400 interns this year compared to 256 in 2011. The automaker has also hired almost 4,000 salaried employees since June 2009, about a quarter of which are new college graduates. The pick-up in hiring extends to industries that were among the hardest hit during the financial crisis. Schools report that banking and financial services companies have returned to campus for the Class of 2012.
It’s a stark contrast from just a few years ago when smaller firms appeared on campuses to replace the corporations no longer showing up.
“Even students with lower grades are finding opportunities,” says Notre Dame’s Svete, who believes job placement at the school is up about 7 percent. In 2009, only 75 percent of students had jobs or plans for graduate school at graduation. This year, the school expects that to climb to 85 to 88 percent, closer to the 90 percent level of 2007.
Nathan Pace, a senior at American University, hasn’t yet found a job, but is confident for his future job. He started the college four years ago and he has since seen each class of graduating seniors have better luck finding jobs.
Many of his friends recently secured job offers. “The vibe on campus is that people are excited,” says Pace.
People under 65 are applying for reverse mortgages at a much higher rate than previously, according a new survey, and they’re using the money largely to pay down debt.
The survey, by the Metlife Mature Market Institute and the National Council on Aging, found that 21 percent of people considering reverse mortgages in 2010 were under 65. That age group made up only 6 percent of applicants in 2006.
The authors didn’t speculate as to whether tough economic times might be behind the interest among people who are still of working age.
The biggest motive cited at all ages was to pay down debt. But those under 70 listed that as a priority in 73 percent of cases, compare to 62 percent for the over-70 group.
The survey was based on answers from 21,000 people who attended independent counseling required for people applying for reverse mortgages guaranteed cash advance.
Reverse mortgages are limited to people aged 62 and over. Homeowners can borrow a certain percent of the equity in their homes, and borrowers make no payments on the debt as long as they live in the house.
Because of that long delay in collection, the amount people can borrow rises with their age. The rising interest among working-age people comes despite the fact that they could borrow more if they waited.
For instance, the study notes that a 65-year-old with a $250,000 home
could borrow $103,000. An 85-year old could borrow more than $141,000 on the same house.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided to postpone the creation of a new rule that would have required rearview back-up cameras in all new cars, pickups and SUVs by 2014.
The agency had been expected to announce the rule Wednesday. Instead, NHTSA issued a statement saying that "further study and data analysis" were needed before a final regulation could be issued.
"The Department remains committed to improving rearview visibility for the nation’s fleet and we expect to complete our work and issue a final rule by December 31, 2012," NHTSA said
According to a proposal the auto safety agency announced in late 2010, drivers would be required to be able to see directly behind the vehicle whenever the vehicle is shifted into reverse. Since virtually all cars and trucks have significant "blind spots" — areas in which the driver cannot see either by turning around or using the mirrors — that would require video cameras.
Rear back-up cameras are especially helpful in trucks and SUVs because those vehicles can have very large blind spots due to their size and design.
Under that proposal, the rule would be phased in over the next few years, starting with 10% of new cars sold expected to comply with the mandate by September 2012; 40% by September 2013 and 100% by September 2014.
Cars also have increasingly large blind spots as the demands of style and improved aerodynamics — needed for better highway fuel economy — hinder rearward visibility in many newer models.
"Every vehicle has a blind zone immediately behind the rear bumper. It can be five feet or 50 feet, depending on the car’s styling. Lost in that space might be a fire hydrant, a pet, or even a child," said Ami Gadhia, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union, in a statement.
While Consumers Union is eager for the new rule to be created, Gadhia said the group understands the need for more research.
While the systems first became popular on luxury cars they have become available on all types of cars. Usually, an image of what’s behind the vehicle is displayed in a screen similar to a computer monitor. Some cars now display the video image in the rearview mirror itself, however.
The new rule was demanded by legislation passed in 2007 called Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act. The act was named after a 2-year-old boy who was killed when his father accidentally backed over him in the family’s driveway.
Consumer’s Union, the non-profit group best known for publishing Consumer Reports magazine,
Benefits vs. costs: According to NHTSA’s 2010 proposal, this "blind spot" regulation could save 95 to 112 lives per year, and prevent 7,000 to 8,000 or more injuries.
The agency estimates that the addition of rear-view camera equipment would cost between $159 to $203 per car, or $88 to $158 on vehicles already equipped with some sort of display screen, such as one used for navigation.
NHTSA says the total approximate cost to equip its estimate of 16.6 million vehicles sold in 2014 would be between $1.9 billion and $2.7 billion.
Within their proposal, NHTSA said that the additional costs of this regulation would be worthwhile, because so many of those killed are children.
Backover accidents cause an average 229 deaths and 18,000 injuries per year, according to NHTSA. The agency said that small children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable. Of those killed each year, 44% are under the age of 5, and 33% are over the age of 70.
In the not-so-distant past, a crusading third-party presidential candidate ran a grass-roots, national campaign on a platform of fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets.
That candidate’s name was Ross Perot, and in 1992 he captured 19% of the popular vote, and at one point even found himself atop the national horse-race polls.
Is America ready for another Perot?
David Walker thinks so.
A former comptroller general of the United States, Walker released a statement Monday saying that 20 years after Perot became a candidate, there are "striking comparisons between the state of the country in 1992 and today."
"I know there is a hunger for it," he told CNNMoney on Monday.
Walker — who has toured the country for years harping on a message of fiscal responsibility — believes it will happen.
"It’s clear there will be a third option," Walker said, citing the influence of Americans Elect, a new group that is raising money to put a third-party challenger on the ballot in all 50 states.
"If you look at the conditions and compare them to 20 years ago, we are demonstrably worse off, and the degree of public discontent is greater," Walker said.
And is Walker, who has been floated by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as a potential candidate, the right person to jump in the race?
Walker told CNNMoney on Monday that "there are people who are trying to draft me to run" and "they can do what they want."
"But I’m not a candidate at the present time and don’t expect to be a candidate," he said.
If he were to run, Walker would bring budget wonk credentials that can be matched by few. That’s because he was warning about exploding deficits and long-term debt problems way before it was cool.
"We suffer from a fiscal cancer," Walker told 60 Minutes in 2007. "It is growing within us, and if we don’t treat it, it could have catastrophic consequences for our country."
Since then, the national debt has ballooned to $15 trillion, and little has been done to curb the rising costs of health care and federal entitlement spending.
Walker said he wasn’t very impressed with President Obama’s latest budget proposal, calling it "inadequate." But he does give the president credit for drawing a distinction between short-term deficits and the long-run structural problems the country faces.
Still the president’s plan doesn’t go far enough. "We are still running deficits of $700 billion 10 years from now," Walker said.
At the same time, Walker said "Republicans haven’t developed [a credible plan] either."
America’s Choice 2012
Specifically, Republicans need to acknowledge that adding revenue to federal coffers is essential to bringing down the deficit. Walker said the country needs roughly $1 dollar in additional revenue for ever $3 in spending cuts.
The additional revenue should come as part of a plan that reforms the overly complicated tax code.
Walker gave few details on what he would do specifically to help bring down runaway deficits, but he did say that the hyper-partisan atmosphere on Capitol Hill was acting as an impediment to good legislation.
"I don’t advocate a specific reform proposal because in the end you have to consider good ideas from multiple sources," Walker said.
Policy aside, Walker does appear to be right about a hunger existing for a third-party candidate.
According a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted last month, 46% of Americans said they would consider voting for an independent third-party candidate they agreed with on the issues.
An additional 22% said they would "definitely" vote for such a candidate.
That’s a lot of votes. And if Friedman has his way, some could be going to Walker — who already has something of a ready-made message:
"A lot of people are talking about the problems, but not a lot of people are talking about solutions," Walker said Monday. "I focus on three things: truth, leadership and solutions. And those are the three biggest deficits that we have."
The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered its forecasts for growth and inflation this year, enabling policy makers to reduce the benchmark interest rate should the economy weaken significantly.