Archive | August, 2010

Is Bankruptcy Ever Okay for a Christian?

1 August 2010 – 3:14 am PDT

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For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here’s why. With the economy in the toilet for a few years now, people are hurting financially like they never have. And many are trying to get out of financial trouble by declaring bankruptcy. As such, I thought [...]

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75% Say Free Markets Better Than Government Managed Economy, Politicians Disagree

1 August 2010 – 2:00 am PDT

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Rasmussen has an interesting poll that caught my eye last week regarding the free market economy. Please consider 75% Say Free Markets Better Than Government Management of Economy, Political Class Disagrees. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Likely Voters prefer free markets over a government managed economy. Just 14% think [...]

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Bill Gross: Slower-growing population will hamper economic growth

1 August 2010 – 1:06 am PDT

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Bill Gross: Slower-growing population will hamper economic growth

Bill Gross, co-founder and co-CIO of PIMCO, is to my mind one of the shrewdest money men around. His monthly newsletter, this month entitled “Privates Eyes”, therefore always makes for thought-provoking reading. Here are a few excerpts: “Our New Normal, to repeat ad nauseam, is predicated upon deleveraging, reregulation and deglobalization, all of which promote [...]

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US GDP growth on year-ago basis highest since 2005

1 August 2010 – 1:00 am PDT

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US GDP growth on year-ago basis highest since 2005

On a year-ago basis the US economy grew at it fastest pace in the second quarter this year since the first quarter of 2005. Year-on-year growth accelerated from an adjusted 2.39% in the first quarter to 3.17%. This was in line with the 3% to 3.5% implicated by the GDP-weighted PMI as I indicated a [...]

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Eurozone business and consumer confidence on the up

1 August 2010 – 12:48 am PDT

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Eurozone business and consumer confidence on the up

Flash data released by the European Commission for July are surprising on the upside. The Economic Sentiment Index came in at 101.3 compared to 99.0 in June – the highest level since May 2008. The increase in confidence was broad based, except in the case of the building sector where confidence is still extremely negative. [...]

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Japan’s economy slows

1 August 2010 – 12:18 am PDT

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Japan’s economy slows

While the Nomura/JMMA Purchasing Managers Index for July continues to signal expansion in Japan’s manufacturing sector, the Index fell for the second consecutive month to 52.8%. According to Markit, the rate of expansion in manufacturing production was the slowest in more than a year. The PMI number points to a probable slowdown in Japan’s economy [...]

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Policy stuck in the doldrums? Consumers think so

1 August 2010 – 12:12 am PDT

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Policy stuck in the doldrums? Consumers think so

This post is a guest contribution by Rebecca Wilder, author of the of the News N Economics blog. Consumer confidence: that extremely coincident, but often cited as leading consumer spending indicator of really just job growth during recovery, has struck again, down nearly four points to 50.4 in July. During the recovery phase of the [...]

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Overpriced rand hampers competitiveness of SA economy

1 August 2010 – 12:06 am PDT

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Overpriced rand hampers competitiveness of SA economy

The extreme valuation of the rand, especially against other commodity-related currencies, poses a serious threat to South Africa’s competitiveness in global markets. Where other commodity-export economies are receiving a boon through the revival of specifically metals prices in US dollars the South African economy lags significantly as a result of the rand’s strength. Where metal [...]

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