In the World

chinaandoil

China on track to surpass US, EU as world’s biggest oil importer

By Ray Kwong | China is on course to surpass the United States and the EU as the world’s largest importer of oil as soon as October. According to a report issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the imminent emergence of China as the world’s largest net oil importer has been driven by steady growth in Chinese demand that outpaces energy consumption in the EU and increased oil production in the United States. It’s also a reminder that China’s largest oil fields are mature and production has peaked.


No Picture

Greek government spends less than the Netherlands’

Denmark has the highest projected government spending as a percentage of GDP, with 58.4 percent. France and Austria also have notably high expenditure percentages, even above Nordic countries Finland and Sweden. Greece doesn’t have that high government spending after all with 48.3 it is around the average, according to Economics in Pictures.


No Picture

Syria is too close to Israel to miss the target

MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | When you blow the war trumpets any back-pedalling proves hopeless. You are forced to step in. Mr Obama has crossed the Rubicon once the news on a planned attack against the Syrian regime has been leaked. Having warned chemical weapons to stand as a red line he was already under bitter criticism for failing to swiftly react to the massive killing of civilians, victims of that awesome and atrocious devices. Any faltering on his side was bound to be regarded as a blatant lack of leadership.

 


EU Iceland

Iceland-EU talks: How to say “no” without quite saying it

LONDON | By Sigrún Davíðsdóttir (Icelandic State Broadcaster Rúv correspondent)| How to break up a relationship? Do you say you need a break, yet making it clear it’s finite – or do you make a clean cut and say it as it is, that you really don’t want to stay in this relationship? The Icelandic government is having a major difficulty in breaking up with the European Union although the relationship was only that of negotiating a further relationship. Saying “no, it’s over” seems difficult – and that is exactly what foreigners often say about Icelanders: they find it difficult to commit themselves to final decisions.



emergingmarkets

Monetary policy: the dam might leak

MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | Christine Lagarde’s stern warning on potential problems ahead for emerging countries has been delivered in rather a blunt way: “even with the best of efforts the dam might leak”. At the annual Fed gathering in Wyoming she claimed “further lines of defence” were needed to address a financial crisis. The hike in interest rates following the prospect of a progressive tapering in asset purchases by the US, has induced a sharp reversal in fund flows between developed and emerging markets.