World Financial Crisis and Africa.

[X-PASTER]

Brazil's President, while meeting Gordon Brown, has said the global financial crisis was caused by "white people with blue eyes".

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made the comments after talks with the Prime Minister to try to forge a global consensus on how to save the worldwide economy.

Sky's Joey Jones said it was a "rather awkward"moment for Mr Brown.

"The President does not mind using fairly flamboyant language. He likes to give extensive answers to journalists.

"But some of it was rather awkward for the Prime Minister, who was standing there listening to the President.

"A few eyebrows will have gone up at what he said.

"It was an uncomfortable moment for the Prime Minister and not one he will want repeated at the G20."

Downing Street says the remarks were meant for "domestic consumption".

Joey said: "People in Brazil are very frustrated and angry at what they feel is the injustice of the situation: a crisis that has essentially come from the banking sectors in places like the United States and the UK, but is affecting their country."

Following the meeting, Mr Brown told reporters he will urge G20 leaders to back a multi-billion pound fund to reverse a slide in world trade.

"I'm going to ask the G20 summit next week to support a global expansion of trade finance of at least $100bn (£69bn) to help revive trade in all parts of the world," he said.

A shortage of trade credit, which allows exporters and importers to settle accounts, has been a factor in a sharp drop in global trade which is exacerbating the economic downturn.

Along with the trade stimulus plan, the Prime Minister said he wanted to see global standards on salaries in the finance sector.

He went on to say he believes South America is key to achieving an agreement at next week's G20 summit in London.

The Prime Minister's previous stop on the tour in the New York was marred by fears about the state of Britain's finances.

He played down talk of a split with the Bank of England, after Governor Mervyn King suggested the country may not be able to afford a further fiscal stimulus.

At an event organised by the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Mr Brown insisted they were both committed to doing "whatever was necessary" to revive the economy.

But he also sparked speculation that he was backing away from more tax cuts and spending by emphasising the importance of "quantitative easing" to his plans.

Doubts over the state of the public finances were further heightened when an auction of Government-guaranteed bonds failed for the first time in seven years.

The Debt Management Office - which sells the gilts to raise money on behalf of the state - said it had failed to attract enough bidders for its latest issue.

Meanwhile, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek lashed out at President Barack Obama's fiscal stimulus package and financial bail-out, branding them the "way to hell".

Mr Topolanek, who currently holds the presidency of the EU and will represent the group at the G20, told the European parliament in Strasbourg that the measures would "undermine the stability of the global financial market".

Mr Topolanek's comments came soon after his coalition government lost a vote of confidence in the Czech Parliament. He has indicated he may resign his position when he returns from Brussels.

Source: SKY

 

[Kiranga]

I don't see why they are trying to act surprised, you hardly have anybody but the blueblood MBAs and their kin on Wall St, so why the surprise? Just because Lula is a bit undiplomatic and won't sing niceties to white people?

 

[The Truth]

He must be referring to White Democrats. They are the ones who forced Banks to lend to minorities with poor credit. This problem is an example of social engineering gone bad.

 

[Matata]

We still have a long way to go in Africa particulary Tanzania. If you have time watch this video(More than 90 minutes). The venue of the meeting was in Tanzania. The organizer of the meeting was Tanzania Government and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Utaweza kuona rais wetu anavyojikanyaga. Should we call it TALK SHOW or it will help Africans.
http://www.changes- challenges. org/concluding- plenary

 

[Zungu Pule]

If I can recall, this issue was extensively (& intensively) discussed here and that thread should be somewhere. Please, go through it to find out what members got to say.

 

[Matata]

Thanks Zungu Pule for your comments. My main idea was to give members of this forum opportunity to see the video of that meeting and how it was conducted. I know it was conducted by CNN International, personally I saw it 2 days ago. when I watched it was of great interest to me, then I dicided to post it to this forum(for those who are interested to watch the video). I know you (members)discussed this issue but this should not the end of this discussion. Today this issue is being discussed by G20 leaders in London. I urgue members to continue discussing this global crissis till we find the solution to this problem.
Thanks.

 

[bm21]

He must be referring to White Democrats. They are the ones who forced Banks to lend to minorities with poor credit. This problem is an example of social engineering gone bad.

I like this phrase

cheers

 

[Kiranga]

He must be referring to White Democrats. They are the ones who forced Banks to lend to minorities with poor credit. This problem is an example of social engineering gone bad.

You mean White democrats like Alan Greenspan and George Bush right?

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

You mean White democrats like Alan Greenspan and George Bush right?

Probably he meant Barney 'The Banking Queen' Franks and Chris Dodd, and etc.

 

[The Truth]

You mean White democrats like Alan Greenspan and George Bush right?

It was the democrats who did that mostly. See Ng'waninyami's post above.

 

[Jamco_Za]

During 2008, markets and currencies around the world plummeted and so did the net worth of some of the world's wealthiest people. The top ten biggest billionaire flops lost a combined sum of $150 billion. The following table lists the ten largest losses according to Forbes.com.

 

[Ng`wanakidiku]

Mfano chini ni America
"After five years of annual increases in employment, hiring of college graduates is expected to fall by 22% in 2009 compared to 2008, according to a survey of businesses by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. More than 20% of employers surveyed have stopped hiring this spring. The number of firms expecting to hire fewer new graduates doubled and the number who were uncertain of future hiring plans, jumped from one in four to nearly half.

But recruitment advertisers say the downturn is not universal across America. A few states such as Texas and Wyoming have a tax base in oil or minerals and are not part of the economic decline so academic hiring has remained steady if not robust. Most states with hard-hit industries or with tax shortfalls, however, have severely curtailed hiring in the business and academic sectors.

Graduates hoping to enter academia are likewise facing a much tighter market. Academics from the baby-boom generation, hired in the late 1960s, were expected to have begun retiring by now. This would have caused an unprecedented demand for assistant professors but, unwilling to lock-in much lower benefit levels, a substantial number of senior professors are holding off retirement.

Combined with widespread hiring freezes, graduates are seeing reduced numbers of university recruiting advertisements. And more recruiting ads have been using the hedge "pending funding" or equivalent wording.

With most state tax revenues declining at sporadic rates, there has been an increase in searches being called off, sometimes during the final interview. A comparison of general recruitment advertising in the Chronicle of Higher Education these last few months, compared with a year ago, shows a significant decline in ad number in most fields.

While recruitment ad numbers have not dropped in all specialty field publications, the overlap of ads has decreased, indicating many employers are narrowing their range. This trend from decentralised to centralised recruiting reflects a need to economise and a glut of applicants.

For public universities, there is growing concern that the longer the hiring freeze remains in place, the more likely administration will shift to employing part-time adjuncts as a permanent "solution" that provides "fiscal flexibility". In addition, some graduate students have indicated a likelihood of delaying their graduation since a research assistantship is more secure than no job at all.

At public universities, programmes and curricula that would normally be supported are being cut as legislators and administrators apply criteria for "efficiency" and eliminate the lower enrolment fields. This is accelerating as more students shift back to lower-tuition community colleges and ask "can I get a job with this degree?"

As a result, liberal arts programmes are more likely to be cut, contributing to a spiraling down in academic job opportunities.

About the only positive sector of employment for graduates nationwide is alternative route teaching. Although K-12 education is taking some funding cuts, public school teaching is considered a more secure job. Recent graduates with non-teaching degrees related to teaching in shortage areas such as mathematics and science are finding ready employment through alternate route programmes nationwide.

While employers and universities mostly retrench to ride out the economic decline, graduates may find the job market still good in Hong Kong, the Middle East and much of Asia. With India and China expanding university capacity, any sustained economic disparity may contribute to a US brain drain in the business and science fields

 

[Sikonge]

Breaking news????