Fit for God
Fed Raises Interest Rates 11th Time in 16 Months
Voice of America News September 20, 2005
The quarter-point increase takes short-term rates to 3.75 percent, their highest level in four years. In its statement, the Fed said the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina appears not to be posing a threat to economic growth. Inflationary pressure, it says, has increased because of higher gasoline prices. Bill Gross, a respected bond investor in southern California, says he believes the central bank is likely to raise rates one more time until they reach the level of four-percent. Since it usually takes 12 to 15 months before interest rate changes work their way through the economy, some experts fear an economic slowdown in 2007. Higher short-term rates translate into higher monthly payments on credit card debt, automobile loans, and many home mortgages.
Americans Could Be Rich and not Know It
VOA News September 19, 2005
In a couple of weeks, every newspaper in the state of Arkansas will publish a special section. There will be no stories in it. No photographs. No advertisements. Nothing but page after boring page of names and addresses. You see, October 1 is the start of what Arkansas calls its "Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt," in which the state auditor's office tries to match people with millions of dollars in cash and personal property that is rightfully theirs."Unclaimed property," it's called. It can be an insurance check you received but never cashed and forgot about. Or money and jewels, stocks and bonds from a bank lock box that your parents died without telling you about. The bank and insurance company may not keep these valuables. By law, they must turn them over to the state, which must make a serious effort to find the owner. And so, like other states, Arkansas compiles a list of the last known owners of unclaimed property, and publishes it in the newspaper and online. State of Arkansas site has a section on unclaimed property (many U.S. states have similar arrangements):
http://www.state.ar.us/auditor/contact/contact_pl.html
Experts Urge US To Curb Its Trade And Budget Deficits
VOA News June 10, 2005
Two leading economists in Washington Friday offered compatible prescriptions for remedying the significant global imbalances that they believe threaten long-term economic growth.
The imbalance is a large trade surplus in Asia and large trade and budget deficits in the United States. Raghuran Rajan, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, says because Asian currencies are mostly held steady against the U.S. dollar, exchange rates have not been allowed to perform their usual adjustment function. Mr. Rajan worries that at some point Asian governments may choose to stop using their surplus dollars to buy U.S. securities. This eventuality, he says, could have adverse consequences for world economy. More...
Procter and Gamble Increases Investment in the Philippines
VOA News May 9, 2005
U.S. consumer giant Procter and Gamble says it wants to make the Philippines a major manufacturing hub for Asia, by investing $10 million there annually over the next three years.
The plan would make the Philippines a top exporter to Asia of the company's paper products, soaps, detergent and other items. Currently, Procter and Gamble has a big manufacturing plant outside Manila, employing some two thousand people. More...
