Economic News Articles – Archive for Week of 12-25-2011

The last week of the year ended flat. U.S. stocks, after months of near-record volatility, ended the year about where they began. Jobs, likewise, did not improve all year. A slight jobs uptick fed the market bulls, but it means little, as one should expect a temporary rise due to holiday hiring in the retail sector. The Eurocrisis, which developed last year, remained in limbo in the final week of 2011, and is expected to worsen in 2012 as Europe heads into deeper recession. A few cases of the crimes that created this Great Recession finally began to make the headlines. The one thing there is a certain lack of at the end of the year is any certainty about the future.

A summary of the significant economic headlines follows.

Economic indicators tracked in this week’s headlines:

  • Stocks end mixed year with a whimper U.S. stocks slid, with the S&P 500 relinquishing its 2011 gain, as investors closed the books on a volatile year driven by Europe’s uncertain efforts to stem its debt crisis. The Nasdaq finished 2011 down 1.8 percent – its first annual loss since ’08.
  • Weekly Jobless Claims See 10 Percent Drop Since Last January The unemployment rate, 8.6 percent in November, is at its lowest level in nearly three years. “We are ending the year on an up note,” says Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. Most analysts now say another recession is unlikely.

Euro crisis updates in the economic news this week

  • Euro sinks as Italian bond auction misses target The euro sank to a 15-month low against the dollar on Thursday as the European Central Bank (ECB) reportedly stepped in to prop up Italian bonds following an auction that revived fears Italy may be unable to refinance its huge €1.9 trillion debt.
  • buy adco zolpidem online season after central bankers injected nearly $640 billion into the banking system in December.” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/world/europe/euro-is-10-years-old-but-few-are-celebrating.html?_r=1″ target=”_blank”>Euro, Introduced With Flourish, Gets Little Celebration at Its 10-Year MarkInstead of celebrating the 10-year anniversary, policy makers are staying as quiet as possible, as if hoping not to upset the brief calm brought by the holiday season after central bankers injected nearly $640 billion into the banking system in December.
  • French just don’t get the euro The French don’t get that, because the UK is outside the eurozone and has its own currency, there is no risk Britain will default on its debt. When interest and principal on British debt come due, the British can create additional pounds. The French canno
  • How Bad Ideas Worsen Europe’s Debt Meltdown Europe is as full of bad ideas as it is of bad debts. By artful application of bad ideas, Europe has taken a plain-vanilla sovereign restructuring and turned it into a banking crisis, a currency crisis, a fiscal crisis.

Articles of Justice during this Great Recession:

US banking / financial crisis in this week’s economic news:

The year in review and the year ahead in the week’s economic headlines:

  • 2011 in nine charts IT STARTED off OK, but thanks largely to Europe, 2011 turned out to be a pretty dismal year. The Economist has sorted through the mess and selected nine charts that sum up 2011.
  • ECONOMIC VIEW: I Just Got Here, but I Know Trouble When I See It How to face the challenges ahead? NYT asked six economists to do a little blue-sky thinking on issues as varied as the Fed, Europe and housing. You won’t find stock tips. But if 2011 was any guide, the best advice for 2012 may be this: Hold tight.

(To view earlier summaries of the weekly news, click on Economic News Archive.)

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