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...force was a Federal Reserve interest-rate policy that was appropriate for the previous "inventory cycle" recessions since World War II, but didn't fit at all the collapse of a speculative bubble in the stock market in 2001 and 2002. Consumers, and the housing market, weren't in a recession at all - and the Fed's super-low rates precipitated a bubble. "We inadvertently stimulated an industry that was already in boom conditions," Gramm said. "This changed everything. It changed consumption behavior, it changed lending behavior...
...Befitting the grim economic climate, Shanghai newspapers are predicting that celebrations of the lunar New Year will be more muted than the lavish outlays of previous years. Local department stores have been slashing prices, and malls are less crowded than usual, with few heeding the promises of Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng that 2009 will bring 9% GDP growth for the city. Another gloomy indicator: Year of the Ox stamps issued by the Shanghai post office haven't been selling as well as their Year of the Rat predecessors. Even worse, the meteorological bureau predicts that the days on which...
...Still, some politically savvy Shanghai astrologers are taking heart from history, even if the markets haven't performed well in previous cow cycles. One almanac available at a local bookstore lists the geopolitical glories associated with previous oxen years, chief among them 1949 - the last time the Ox that came stomping through town was an earth creature. That, of course, was the year China's Communist Party triumphed over its enemies and founded the People's Republic...
...fact most companies and workers don't want to change the 35-hour arrangement," says Eric Heyer, an economist and deputy director of the French Economic Observatory in Paris. "And by allowing companies to calculate employee time worked on a yearly rather than strict weekly basis as the previous law required, the 35-hour law provides businesses with badly needed flexibility to adapt to evolving activity at lower cost...
...Because virtually all employees are women, the previous owner of our company set a weekly scheme of 33 hours worked at 35 hours of pay so we could spend more time with children and families," says Estelle, a cosmetics sales woman in a Paris store who asks that her last name not be used. "The new owner is now seeking volunteers for 35 hours at no extra pay, as well as people for extra-time work for more pay. My fear is, before long none of that will be voluntary any more...