Four legs good, six legs better? EU offers 3 million Euros for research into using insects in foods such as burgers. By Rob Waugh Updated: 12:42 GMT, 30 January 2012 A Thai guide eats a grub: Around 2.5 billion people worldwide eat insects The EU will spend three million Euros to research 'the potential of insects as an alternative source of protein.' Research projects will be selected this year. Food experts agree that insects would probably have to be disguised for European audiences, so the insect 'food' could be used as an additive in burgers and other fast food.
The UN's Food Standards Authority says of the research: 'While insects have not traditionally been used for food in the UK or elsewhere in the European Union, it is estimated that about 2.5 billion people across the world have diets that routinely include insects. 'While many insects are regarded as pests, the UN's Food and Agriculture authority is interested in promoting edible insects as a highly sustainable source of nutrition.' 'Food producers will probably get away with describing it as animal based proteins.
20 Signs That Europe Is Plunging Into A Full-Blown Economic Depression. An economic nightmare is descending on Europe. With each passing month, the economic numbers across Europe get even worse. At this point it is becoming extremely difficult for anyone to deny that Europe is plunging into a full-blown economic depression. In fact, some parts of Europe are already there. In Spain the overall unemployment rate is over 22 percent, and in Greece one out of every five retail establishments has already been closed down. All over Europe, economic activity is rapidly slowing down, unemployment is skyrocketing and bad debts are unraveling. It isn’t even going to take a default by a nation such as Greece or a collapse of the euro to push Europe into an economic depression. The frightening thing is that we are just at the beginning of the process for most European nations.
The tax increases and budget cuts that are being implemented right now in Europe will be felt for years to come. . #5 The Greek “recession” is now entering a fifth year. Hungary far right demands exit from EU, burns flag at rally. Euro Zone: S&P Downgrade of France, Others, 'Imminent': Reports - Business News. "The consequence (if France is downgraded) is that the EFSF cannot keep its triple-A rating," said Commerzbank chief economist Joerg Kraemer. "That may irritate markets in the short term but wouldn't be a big problem in a world where the U.S. and Japan also don't have a triple-A rating anymore. Triple-A is a dying species," he said. A spokesperson for S&P in Paris declined to comment on the reports.
John Wraith, Fixed Income Strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch told CNBC the confirmation of a mass downgrade would be another serious step in the crisis and would lead to a serious worsening of sentiment. "To a large degree it’s widely anticipated," Wraith said. “It clearly deteriorates still further the credit worthiness of a lot of the European banks and just keeps that negative feedback loop between struggling banks and the sovereigns that may have to support them if things go from bad to worse in full force,” Wraith added.
—Reuters contributed to this report. S&P downgrades France, spares Germany and 3 others: Source - The Economic Times. Agencies Jan 13, 2012, 09.09PM IST BRUSSELS: Standard & Poor's has decided to downgrade France's top-notch credit rating but will spare Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, an EU government source said on Friday. "France loses its triple-A rating," the source said on condition of anonymity. France was along with Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands among the six eurozone nations with a AAA rating. The source was unable to say what S&P decided to do with the two others, Austria and Finland. Belgium has an AA rating, which is two notches below the top score. In December, S&P placed the ratings of 15 euro zone countries on credit watch negative, including those of top-rated Germany and France, the region's two biggest economies, and said "systemic stresses" were building up as credit conditions tighten in the 17-nation bloc.
Since then, the European Central Bank has flooded the banking system with cheap three-year money to avert a credit crunch. S&P Cuts Credit Ratings for Nine Euro Zone Nations - Business News. Euro zone finance ministers responded jointly by saying in a statement they had taken "far-reaching measures" in response to the sovereign debt crisis and were accelerating reforms towards stronger economic union.
Greek negotiators who have repeatedly voiced confidence in a deal in which private creditors would accept writedowns of 50 percent of the face value of their bond holdings said they were now less hopeful, warning of "catastrophic consequences" for Greece and Europe if they failed. "Yesterday we were cautious and confident. Today we are less optimistic," a source close to the Greek task force in charge of the negotiations said. The Institute for International Finance, negotiating on behalf of banks, said: "Under the circumstances, discussions with Greece and the official sector are paused for reflection on the benefits of a voluntary approach.
" The two sides are divided principally over the interest rate Greece will end up paying, which determines how much of a hit banks take. S&P downgrades euro zone rescue fund, Greece pressured. German Euro-Deputy: S&P Downgrade Part of American ‘War Against the Euro’ One of the European parliament’s most influential members, the German Christian Democrat Elmar Brok, has declared that Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the credit ratings of nine eurozone member states is part of a “currency war” being waged by the United States against the euro and Europe itself.
Elmar Brok with Angela Merkel. In an interview with the Germany daily Die Welt, Brok said that “the downgrade is a targeted attack on Europe by the American rating agency.” Insisting that there were no “plausible grounds” for the downgrades, Brok continued, “Consequently, the S&P downgrade is a matter of interests. They have declared a currency war on us.” Asked whether he meant that the United States is “waging financial war“ on Europe, Brok specified, “Certain forces in the USA, in particular in the world of finance.
It is evident that their one and only aim is in this way to promote Anglo-Saxon interests at Europe’s cost.” US Stocks: Stocks Tumble on EU Downgrade Reports - US Business News. Stocks bounced off their lows Friday, but still ended in negative territory amid expectations of an imminent S&P ratings downgrade of several euro zone countries. Despite the day's losses, stocks still posted a gain for the week. With stocks off their worst levels, some experts said the move implies that U.S. equities may have already priced in the negative news or are in the process of decoupling from Europe. “We’re seeing more stabilizing in the U.S. and [equities are] being a lot less reactive to Europe as a lot more has been focused domestically,” said Daniel Penrod, senior industry analyst at California Credit Union League.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower, led by BofA and JPMorgan . Meanwhile, Chevron led the blue-chip gainers. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also closed lower. All 10 S&P sectors ended in negative territory, led by financials and techs. France will be downgraded by one notchby the S&P, according to the French Prime Minister. Pundits fear 'perfect storm' despite official optimism. European Debt Crisis: Who Loaned PIIGS the Money? European Bailout Infographic: Presenting The Truckloads Of Cash Needed To Rescue The Insolvent PIIGS. Eurozone nations face S&P downgrade. German exports fall/Rumours of French downgrade/Huge gold imports into China/ ECB deposits of Euros at record levels again. Gold closed up by $8.20 to 1639.20. Silver rose by 8 cents to $29.86. Since the gold shares have languished all day today, it is almost a certainty and the bankers will raid tomorrow.
I urge you to please to do play with these crooks. There are many facilities available to buy the physical precious metals. The leverage business is now out so the only way you will win is to buy physical gold and silver and be thankful that you paid below the real price of these metals. Before heading over the comex, the rumours of the street was an imminent French downgrading of their coveted AAA rating: "Major banks advising clients that France has been put on 12hr notice regarding its AAA rating"09:49 French Treasury source says France has not been informed of any imminent decision regarding its credit rating -- Reuters * There have been rumors, again, that a sovereign rating downgrade for France is coming and today's version of the rumor indicated France had been given 12 hours notice * €/$ 1.2700 end.
Germany lowers growth forecast for 2012. 18 January 2012Last updated at 11:18 The export-driven German economy is the largest in Europe Germany has lowered its economic growth forecast for 2012, a sign of the impact of the continuing eurozone debt crisis. Europe's largest economy will grow by 0.7% this year, instead of the 1% the government predicted in October, Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said.
But he insisted: "There can be no talk of recession. " Germany, which has played a leading role in the eurozone bailouts, has so far escaped the worst of the crisis. In October, the German government cut its 2012 growth forecast from 1.8% to 1%. By comparison, its economy grew by 3% in 2011, official figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed. The World Bank is forecasting that the eurozone economy as a whole will contract by 0.3% this year. 'Temporary dip' "Germany is and remains an anchor for stability and growth in Europe," Mr Roesler said as he presented the twice-yearly government forecasts.
Creditors accept lower rate on Greek debt: report. The Other Reason Europe Is Going Broke. Europe’s $39 Trillion Pension Risk Grows as Economy Falters. Even before the euro crisis, people were worried about Europe’s pension bomb. State-funded pension obligations in 19 of the European Union nations were about five times higher than their combined gross debt, according to a study commissioned by the European Central Bank. The countries in the report compiled by the Research Center for Generational Contracts at Freiburg University in 2009 had almost 30 trillion euros ($39.3 trillion) of projected obligations to their existing populations. Germany accounted for 7.6 trillion euros and France 6.7 trillion euros of the liabilities, authors Christoph Mueller, Bernd Raffelhueschen and Olaf Weddige said in the report.
“This is a totally unsustainable situation that quite clearly has to be reversed,” Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said in a telephone interview. Ageing Populations Cutting Costs Benefits’ Squeeze Add to Risks Rates Benefit Funding Gap. Jobless Europe: Unemployment highest since birth of euro | Economy | News. By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS — Eurozone unemployment has risen to its highest level since the euro single currency was introduced, data showed on Tuesday, a day after EU leaders promised to focus on creating millions of new jobs to try to kickstart Europe’s floundering economy. Seasonally adjusted unemployment among the 17 countries sharing the euro rose to 10.4% in December, on a par with an upwardly revised November figure, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said. It was the highest rate since June 1998, before the introduction of the euro in 1999.
“We’re looking at a further increase over the coming months, so that is worrying,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING. After two years of a deep debt crisis and budget austerity, the number of Europeans out of work has risen to 16.5 million people, with another 20,000 people without a job in December from the month before. But unemployment in Spain reached a new high of 22.9% in November and December. . © Thomson Reuters 2012. Europe's lost generation: how it feels to be young and struggling in the EU | World news | The Observer. Maybe being young is never easy. But being a twentysomething young European has rarely been more stressful. More than a quarter (28%) of Italians between 16 and 24 are unemployed.
Others are struggling to get by on unpaid internships or poorly paid jobs with little security. Italy's new prime minister, Mario Monti, has vowed to help the younger generation, promising among other things to help them start businesses, but as austerity bites deep the future is uncertain, even terrifying, for many. It's not just Italy, of course. As the eurozone crisis worsened, I went back to my hometown of Civita Castellana, 65 kilometres north of Rome, to meet my classmates from the Giuseppe Colasanti high school. When Monti announced his €30bn austerity package, he said: "Sacrifice will be required. " The debt crisis that began in 2008 means redundancy hangs over many of those who have kept jobs. So meeting my schoolmates again was quite an experience. Martina Rossitto, 26, MA student, human biology. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: 2012 could be the year Germany lets the euro die.