Business and Finance News
Switzerland global competitiveness star again; Ireland at 24th rank
For the seventh year in a row, Switzerland has been ranked as the top star of global competitiveness by the World Economic Forum (WEF) which said in its latest assessment published Tuesday, that Switzerland, Singapore and the US have been nurturing inn…
Swiss world’s wealthiest per capita; Irish at 19 for net financial assets
Swiss residents are still the wealthiest people in the world on a per capita basis but they also have the highest per capita personal debt in the world. Ireland gets a 19th rank for net financial assets just behind the German per capita level.
Oil and other commodity producers face years of pain
Oil exporters and other commodity producers face years of pain from falling prices, with the slowdown in growth expected to be bigger than in previous cycles, the International Monetary Fund has warned. An IMF study says countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Brazil were likely to experience a “much larger” fallout from the end of a China-fuelled commodity boom and oil glut that would go “beyond the decline already experienced.”
US$7.6tn hidden in tax havens – almost half annual US GDP
Gabriel Zucman, one of 3 French economists who in recent times have published extensive research on wealth and equality, in a book, ‘The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens,’ published this month, estimates that 8% of the world’s financial wealth — some US$7.6tn — is hidden in tax havens such as Switzerland, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Singapore, Luxembourg and Ireland. Oxfam in a report published last January said that in 2013 the number of billionaires holding the same amount of wealth as the bottom 50% of the global population of 7bn was at 92.
IMF says exchange rate movements still impact trade
Exchange rate movements still have sizable effects on exports and imports, according to new research from the International Monetary Fund. Recent currency movements have been unusually large. The US dollar is up more than 10% in real effective terms since mid-2014. The yen is down more than 30% since mid-2012 and the euro by more than 10% since early 2014. Brazil, China, and India have also seen unusually large changes in their currency values.
Singapore favourite location for expats; Ireland 31st
Singapore takes the top spot in the eighth Expat Explorer country league table, with expatriates praising the opportunities for career development, appealing salaries and an excellent quality of life.
Inequality in Ireland and elsewhere battle between rich and well-off
US data show that the ultra-rich have seen the biggest rises in wealth in recent decades and both in the US, Ireland and elsewhere, the battles on inequality are being waged between elites of the rich and the well-off.
Most global tech startup exits have no venture capital funding
Once a myth takes hold it’s difficult to debunk it and venture capital funding is commonly seen as synonymous with tech startups but in reality it isn’t.
Irish standard of living per inhabitant at 23rd of 34 richest nations
Irish standard of living per inhabitant is at 23rd of 34 rich nations according to the most comprehensive analysis of global material well-being covering 179 countries. Last June we published Eurostat data for 2014 which showed that Irish actual individual consumption per capita (AIC) — a proxy for standard of living – was below the Euro Area average in 2014 and close to the levels of Spain and Cyprus.
China and India will weigh on Asian growth in 2015 and 2016
Softer growth prospects for the China and India, and a slow recovery in the major industrial economies, will combine to push growth in developing Asia for 2015 and 2016 below previous projections, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.