The International

An Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report released last week found that the global economic and financial crisis deepened social inequality. The report found that after taxes, the richest 10 percent of the population of the OECD countries earned 9.5 times the income of the poorest 10 percent in 2010; a number that has increased 9 percent from 2007. The gap is the largest in Chile, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States; and it is the lowest in Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, and Denmark. OECD countries are high-income economies with a high rating in the Human Development Index (HDI). The report warns that further social spending cuts in OECD countries raises t…

The global banking world has drawn severe criticism in recent years for its conscious role in the proliferation of toxic loans – a practice widely considered one of the main causes of the Great Recession of 2008. Now, more than a dozen of the world’s largest banks are being investigated for two new scandals involving the rigging of key interest rate benchmarks known as Libor and ISDAfix. While potentially generating fortunes for brokers and dealers, these two cases of financial manipulation may have cost bank customers billions of dollars. Illegal banking or zero-sum game? The investigations come after a series of controversial hearings regarding Wall Street’s role in the 2008 …

On April 12, Cyprus was at the top of the agenda for European Union finance ministers meeting in Dublin to discuss aid for struggling EU members. The EU finance ministers confirmed that 10 billion euros will be provided to Cyprus by the EU and the International Monetary Fund. The ministers also rejected reports that the country would be granted more financial assistance. Cypriot presidential spokesman, Christos Stylianides said that the country was not seeking more aid under the bailout programme, but was instead seeking assistance through other European support mechanisms, as noted by the BBC. “What the president of the republic [of Cyprus] is discussing with European officials is the possi…

The virtual currency created in 2009 by a mysterious computer programer using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto has gained an unprecedented number of users, skyrocketing in value after the Cyprus bailout, as cash in banks became scarce. The Bitcoin generation The virtual currency has a current value of approximately 975 million US dollars, with about 11 million Bitcoins in circulation. The currency is generated with an algorithm by users who have the program running on their computers. Originally in 2009, 50 Bitcoins were generated approximately every 10 minutes. Every four years, that number is divided in half as a preventative measure against Bitcoin inflation; currently 25 Bitcoins are gener…

On Derby Road in the heart of Nottingham, England, two vacant, dusty-windowed shop fronts adorned with “To Let” signs sit side-by-side with a third site, a bustling furniture shop whose window contains an impressive display of hand-crafted, locally sourced furnishings. Inside, the furniture store’s owner is seemingly unperturbed by the dereliction next door. Business is growing healthily, he claims. The situation he finds himself in on Derby Road seems to encapsulate the state of small businesses across the UK: while some are thriving, a large number are continually failing.   The UK’s newest budget, announced by Britain’s under-pressure Chancellor George Osborne, wa…

Recent events have confirmed that problems with too-big-to-fail banks continue to plague the US financial system. But on Friday, March 22nd, the US Senate voted unanimously to address the issue with the passage of amendment 689 to the budget bill, prompting Senator Vitter to proclaim, “This is a really impressive sign that we mean business on ending too-big-to-fail.” Still, the amendment is a nonbinding resolution, and similar attempts to end too-big-to-fail were defeated by the Senate in 2010, prompting some analysts to view the unprecedented 99-0 vote as good political theater. James Pethokoukis of the National Review wrote Monday, “It may be nothing more than a feel-good vote by senators …