Time Is Running Out for the West
THE TELEGRAPH: The Great Recession has dramatically shrunk the time left for the big AAA states to prevent a full-blown sovereign debt crisis as their demographic time-bomb threatens, US rating agency Moody's has warned.

Moody's expects Britain's public debt to reach 90pc of GDP within three years. Photo: The Telegraph
"Genuinely adverse debt dynamics were only expected to materialise in 15 to 20 years. The crisis has 'fast-forwarded' history, eroding all the time available to adjust, " said the group's quarterly Sovereign Monitor.

Moody's fears that the US will crash through its safety buffer by 2013 if growth falters (adverse scenario), with interest payments topping 14pc of tax revenues. The debt-to-revenue ratio has already doubled in three years to 430pc.

The US, UK, Germany, France, and Spain are all at risk of an "interest rate shock", either because they must roll over a cluster of short-term debt (US, France, Spain) or because deficits are so large.

Countries that "fail to demonstrate the level of social cohesion required to stabilise debt" will lose their AAA rating. "Intra-generational" conflict between young and old requires careful handling. States that delay pension reform risk spiralling downwards.

Moody's said the world had changed since Europe's debt crisis. None of the large sovereign states can still assume it is credit-worthy. "The burden of proof now falls on governments," it added. Read on and comment >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Feeling Sorry for Yourself as the World Depression Begins to Bite? Don’t! Spare a Thought for the World’s Poor Billionaires!
THE TELEGRAPH: The number of billionaires across the globe slumped by almost a third in the last 12 months as many of the world's richest men and women fell victim to the economic recession.

Photo of Bill Gates courtesy of The Telegraph
Those worth over £1billion fell from 1,125 in 2008 to just 793, as a combined $2.4 trillion (£1.74 trillion) was wiped off the value of their collective 2008 $4.4 trillion fortune.

As a result, the average billionaire saw their net worth fall from $3.9bn to $3bn in the year, as the value of investments, property and other assets all plunged.

The annual survey of who's who and who's worth what in the upper echelons of the world's entrepreneurial classes, the just-released Forbes 2009 World Billionaires list reveals the damage that has been wreaked on the fortunes of many.

Warren Buffett, the richest man in the world last year with a fortune of $62bn, lost $25bn as a result of declines in the value of his investments, many of which are in the insurance and financial sectors which have been hardest hit by the global recession.

Taking his crown is Bill Gates, who, in spite of reclaiming the top spot in the annual Forbes survey after a year's absence, still saw his Microsoft fortune fall by almost a third, down $18bn to $40bn. Number of World Billionaires Slumps by a Third >>> By James Quinn in New York | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

leJDD.fr:
Galerie de photos: Les riches deviennent moins riches: Comme chaque année, le magazine Forbes publie son classement annuel des grandes fortunes mondiales. Le crû 2008 a un petit air de crise. >>> | Jeudi 12 Mars 2009

BBC:
Watch BBC video: Billionaires Drop Off Rich List: The financial crisis is taking its toll on the world's richest people, wiping 332 names off the Forbes Magazine's 'rich list' of world billionaires. >>> Caroline Hepker | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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From Berlin to Beijing, Chancellors and Presidents Feel the Strain
THE GUARDIAN: The deepening world recession has dented prospects for many of the world's leaders trying to contain the financial fallout

The financial crisis has already changed the face of the political world. It decisively tipped the US election in Barack Obama's favour, tarnishing John McCain with the brush of Republican economic mismanagement. It brought Gordon Brown back from the political dead, making him appear statesmanlike, assured. It helped Nicolas Sarkozy turn his approval ratings round, as he too sought to offer crisis leadership and this week produced a package heavily larded with populist measures. A handful of other leaders around the world are having a "good" crisis, most notably Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, another economic populist, who is basking in 70% approval ratings.

But across much of the world, it has been hard to avoid one of the intractable laws of politics - when the economy goes south, the people in charge get the blame. Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, is feeling the pain most acutely this week, but just about everyone running a substantial economy anywhere must now be worrying about their own job security. That goes too for those untroubled by the necessity of holding elections. Popular wrath has other ways of making itself felt. >>> Julian Borger | December 6, 2008

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