US Economy: Dollar tumbles after Treasury chief welcomes weaker value

The U.S. treasury chief has welcomed a weaker dollar, breaking with a past commitment by the U.S. government to back a strong dollar. The comments led to a sharp drop the currency Wednesday.

During his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Steven Mnuchin said that: "Obviously a weaker dollar is good for us as it relates to trade and opportunities."

For most of the past two decades, U.S. Treasury chiefs regularly stated that a "strong dollar is in the best interests of the United States."

Mnuchin's words could be a signal that the Trump administration is prepared to try to talk down the dollar's value to boost exports. A weaker dollar makes U.S. products more competitive internationally.

The dollar hit a three-year low of $1.2405 on Wednesday.

Read more: Dollar tumbles after Treasury chief welcomes weaker value

EU: Give the regions more EU power to save the euro and defeat populism – Giles Merritt

Elections across Europe show Europe’s political parties to be increasingly defined by how nationalistic they are. Confronting this and reinstating progressive politics is essential, and can best be done by giving more power to Europe’s regions, urges Giles Merritt.

Giles Merritt is Founder and Chairman of Friends of Europe. 

He notes: "If EU integration is to be blocked by nationalist pressures, then Europeans must resign themselves to losing clout and competitiveness in the global economy. An awareness of this is producing fresh ideas for streamlining the EU’s structures and countering its unpopularity, notably from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Emmanuel Macron. So far, none of these ideas address the most obvious reason for people’s disaffection – their sense of being governed by distant powers ". 

Read more: Give the regions more EU power to save the euro and defeat populism – EURACTIV.com

EU: Energy Visions – Plugging the Carbon Leak: Emissions and Competitiveness

The EU has some of the most ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reductions in the developed world. But cutting emissions poses challenges for energy-intensive industries. The cost of pollution rights can affect a company’s global competitiveness and drive it to shift production to regions with less strict emissions limits – a trend known as carbon leakage.

Following an intense debate between legislators, regulators, industry and environmental campaigners about the risk of carbon leakage, the Commission unveiled plans in July to reduce the amount of free emissions allowances so that industry will have to pay more for the right to emit greenhouse gases. The Commission wants to increase the financial incentive for companies to lower carbon emissions as part of the move to a low-carbon economy. Part of the proceeds from selling emissions rights will be available to finance innovation to reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes.

At this event, senior policymakers and industry representatives will debate how much of a threat carbon leakage presents to the competitiveness of EU-based industries and the role innovation can play in cutting emissions.

Read more: Energy Visions – Plugging the Carbon Leak: Emissions and Competitiveness – POLITICO

Germans Ponder If Europe Behaves Like Them Would That Backfire - by Rainer Buergin and Simone Meier

Germany’s drive to mold the rest of Europe into its economic image may come at a cost for the country’s export machine.

As governments from Italy to Spain and Ireland seek to convince Chancellor Angela Merkel and bondholders that they can fix their balance sheets, officials are pushing through policies designed to restore their competitiveness.

The risk to Germany, whose exports account for almost half of gross domestic product, is that transforming the region’s struggling nations into blueprints of itself may work too well. Efforts by euro-region governments to cut labor costs may help exporters across southern Europe challenge the dominance of German competitors, ranging from Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, to carmaker Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.

For more: Germans Ponder If Europe Behaves Like Them Would That Backfire - Bloomberg

The real Truth: The Future of Newspaper, Magazine Industry Grows Dim

For the complete report from the Real Truth click on this link

The Future of Newspaper, Magazine Industry Grows Dim

growing number of people reading news on the Internet has caused a downward spiral in the circulation of daily newspapers and magazines, and generated concern among industry professionals anxious about how to make a profit. “The numbers reflect a continuation of a trend that began in the 1980s, as younger people turn to cable TV and the Internet to learn about current events. ‘It used to be a truism that the only thing a newspaper had to do to improve circulation is produce a better newspaper,’ says industry analyst John Morton. ‘Now, young people aren’t any more inclined to pick up a good newspaper than a bad one. That isn’t likely to change’” (USAToday).Lay-offs, buyouts and downsizing have been reported at many large papers, including the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Time Magazine and the Boston Globe. Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore’s independent television network, Current Media, was the most recent to report lay-offs (CNET News). However, the effects have not only been experienced through downsizing, but also in the quality of the product itself. Newspapers evidence fewer pages, less content, a higher newsstand subscription price and losses in advertising revenue. This has created challenges for the industry, and caused several newspapers to abandon print production to focus solely on their online content.

Click on this link to find out how to cut your advertising costs by 95% in comparison to placing your ad in the written press, and reach a huge Global audience through EU-Digest

Swissinfo:: Switzerland is the second most competitive economy, behind the US, says the World Economic Forum

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Switzerland is the second most competitive economy, behind the US, says the World Economic Forum

The competitiveness of Switzerland's economy has again been ranked second only to that of the United States in a World Economic Forum (WEF) annual survey. WEF awarded Switzerland top marks for innovation and the quality of infrastructure in its 2007/8 Global Competitiveness Report. But the country was held back by the relatively small size of its economy. It is the second year in a row that the Swiss have come runners-up in the poll of 12,000 business leaders, conducted by the Geneva-based organisation.

WEF asked respondents to rank 134 countries based on factors that promoted economic growth, such as the availability of talent, transparency of governance, infrastructure and openness to innovation.

Hungary trashed in global competitiveness report : Realdeal.hu

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Hungary trashed in global competitiveness report

The Swiss IMD business school has published its annual World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2008, slamming Hungary for its permanently poor economic performance, Napi Gazdaság reports. The survey compared 55 economies and bumped Hungary down three spots to 38th this year. While Hungary's competitiveness suffered a setback in the past year, most of its regional rivals climbed higher up the chart. Slovakia, for instance, which was only one notch above Hungary last year, widened its lead to eight spots in 2008 and is now ranked 30th. Meanwhile, the Czechs also moved up four places to 28th, while Slovenia accelerated past Hungary from 40th to 32th. Even Poland, which lags behind Hungary, managed to climb eight spots to 44th.