China: 2,000 Years of Income and Population Growth This graph shows the dramatic change in China's population and GDP per capita (especially in the last 200 years). Compare this to the graph of the World that I created earlier. {Click on the image to take a closer look} Data estimates for population and GDP per capita are from Angus Maddison Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen. 1990 international Geary-Khamis dollars are purchasing power parities (PPPs) used to evaluate output which are calculated based on international prices. [tags]income distribution, population, GDP per Capita, economic history, income, history, China[/tags] European markets recover, UK paper apologises for Société Générale rumours European markets picked up on Thursday morning after Wednesday’s fall, which was largely prompted by rumours that France was set to follow the US in losing its AAA credit rating. France’s Cac 40 bounced back after plunging 5.45 per cent Wednesday. The French government indignantly denied the credit-rating rumour yesterday, apparently reassuring the markets although economic indicators are still poor with unemployment rising again in May and June to 9.7 per cent. Société Générale’s shares were briefly suspended after losing 22.5 per cent at one point Wednesday and finishing the day 14.74 down. France’s second-largest bank, after BNP, was almost driven out of business thanks to rumours that it was on the brink of collapse. On Thursday evening, after Société Générale boss Frédéric Oudéa toured French media denouncing the report as “pure fantasy”, the paper printed an apology stating that it was untrue. French banks, including Société Générale, are heavily exposed to Greek and Italian debt.
Paris property prices rocket A study of Paris and its suburbs compiled by notaries, who are responsible for property conveyancing in France, shows the biggest increase in prices for 20 years. The average price per square metre in the capital is now 8150 euros. The cheapest district is the racially and socially mixed 19th arrondissement on the northeastern edge of Paris at 6 350 euros per square metre. The 6th arrondissement, site of the Jardin de Luxembourg, and the shops of St. Germain des Prés, still associated with France's left-wing intellectuals, is now ironically the capital's most expensive area. It costs over 10 000 euros per square metre in nearly all of central Paris (Ist, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th arrondissements.) Experts say that prices will now stabilise after a springtime peak in sales.
Hundreds of protestors held in anti-Wall Street New York demo Some of those arrested at the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday were released after a few hours, while others could be held for a day or could receive a court summons, police said. Activists belonging to the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement, many of whom have been camped out in Manhattan for two weeks, were detained during their latest and biggest demonstration so far. The movement said it had staked its ground in downtown Manhattan "as a symbolic gesture of our discontent with the current economic and political climate." The anti-Wall Street activists began their campaign by occupying Zuccotti Park, in the heart of Manhattan's financial district, on 17 September and have since held protests outside the New York Stock Exchange and NYPD headquarters. Saturday's protest forced authorities to shut down the Brooklyn Bridge for several hours as police placed protestors in handcuffs while others chanted slogans. According to organizers, around 3,000 people marched outside the bank.
Anti-capitalist Occupy protests continue Sunday Over 950 rallies in at least 80 countries took place on Saturday, the largest being in Lisbon, Madrid and Rome with thousands also turning out in New York and Washington. Violence broke out in the Italian capital, with 70 people injured, three of them seriously, and 12 arrests. In New York 88 people were arrested. Unexpected support came from Italian central bank governor Mario Draghi, a former Goldman Sachs executive who takes over as European Central Bank president next month. "They're angry against the world of finance. I understand them," he said at a meeting of G20 financial powers in Paris on Saturday, although he expressed regret at the violence. Hundreds of protesters have stayed on to camp out in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London, where they have pledged to stay outside St Paul’s Cathedral, near the City of London financial district, to express their anger at the banks’s role in the current economic crisis.
Police clash with Athens protesters as record turnout on Greek demonstrations Clouds of teargas hung over the centre of the Greek capital after groups of youths had thrown Molotov cocktails at the police and attacked a steel barricade in front of the parliament building and other targets. There were also clashes in Thessalonoki and protests in other cities, including Patras and Herklion. Police, who claimed that 125,000 people turned out on the protests at the start of a two-day general strike, said that participation was the highest in a decade, while unions put the turnout at 200,000 in Athens alone. The government says the legislation is vital to convince the European Union crisis summit on Sunday to release further loans. It expects to pass it on Thursday, although some MPs from the ruling Pasok have threatened to oppose an amendment to collective wage agreements. Former labour minister Louka Katseli is among them and could be expelled from the party’s parliamentary group, which would reduce it to 153 MPs out of 300.
No more tax havens, says Sarkozy as G20 wraps up Sarkozy said 11 tax haven countries had been identified and pointed out Switzerland and Liechtenstein as not doing enough to end banking secrecy. "We don't want any more tax havens. Our message is clear," he said. At a summit dominated by the financial crisis facing the eurozone, G20 members also agreed to work on a possible increase in funds for the International Monetary Fund and are set to discuss the introduction of a tax on financial transactions at a summit scheduled for the beginning of 2012. The French president also said conditions were favourable for an agreement in Greece over an IMF-EU billion-euro bailout to help the debt laden country. Just ahead of his speech, Athens announced that it would not hold a referendum on the bail-out fund. G20 members also agreed to work on a possible increase in funds for the International Monetary Fund and are set to discuss the introduction of a tax on financial transactions at a summit scheduled for the beginning of 2012.
Rise in sales tax as French PM Fillon warns bankruptcy no longer an abstract word - France He said the country’s financial, economic and social sovereignty meant “prolonged collective efforts and even some sacrifices” were necessary. France needs to save 100 billion euros a year to eliminate the budget deficit by the 2016 deadline, including 500 million euros in extra state budget savings next year. New measures include an increase in Value Added Tax, VAT, from 5.5 per cent to seven per cent, bringing forward by a year to 2017 the increase in the state retirement age from 60 to 62 and increasing corporate tax by five per cent for companies which have an annual turnover of more than 250 million euros. The government also hopes to reduce spending on public health by 700 million euros and will increase some social benefits by just one per cent next year in line with expected growth figures. The prime minister also said there would be wage freeze for the President of the Republic and government ministers.
Italian fury at Sarkozy 'meddling' as Berlusconi prepares to resign - Italy “Madame la présidente …,” Northern League MP Massimo Polledri began his intervention in Saturday’s debate on an austerity package being passed under pressure from the European Union and international finance bodies. After session chair Rosy Bindi asked him to speak Italian, Polledri continued in his native tongue, going on to denounce a “Franco-German directoire” which, he said, is trying to “take power” in Italy. The debate follows Friday’s approval of the package by the Senate and should be followed by a cabinet meeting at which Berlusconi has promised to resign, probably to be succeeded by former European Union commissioner Mario Monti. In a telephone conversation Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano that he drum up support for Monti and proposed that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel visit Rome as soon as a new government is formed, according to a blog on France’s Le Monde newspaper.
French leaders play down triple-A rating loss as Euro-crisis deepens - France - Eurozone French Prime Minister François Fillon on Saturday declared that the downgrade was expected and said it should not be “overdramatised”, following up on Finance Minister François Baroin's assertion that the decision was "not a catastrophe". Fillon hit back at Socialist François Hollande, saying that he was “particularly wrong” to say that it was the government’s economic policy that had failed. Earlier Hollande, his party’s candidate in the forthcoming presidential election, took a swipe at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s earlier attempts to pose as the chief defender of Europe’s economy, commenting, “It’s a policy that has been downgraded, not France.” And he told Le Monde newspaper, “We are no longer in the first division.” Austria was quick to point out that Standard & Poor’s is only one of three US rating agencies and declared the move “incomprehensible”. “This step is out of order,” said CDU vice-president Michael Fuchs, accusing Standard & Poor’s of playing politics.
Côte d'Ivoire President Ouattara to sign military accord on Paris visit - Côte d'Ivoire - France Ouattara can expect a warm reception from French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée Palace but the high point of the visit will be on Thursday when he will sign a new “defence and security agreement”. It will see France’s military force in Côte d’Ivoire, known as Licorne (Unicorn), reduced to 300 troops, whose official mission will be to train their Ivorian counterparts. The visit should mean “a return to normal relations between the two countries” after the Gbagbo era that was marked by “incomprehension and mistrust”, according to Ivorian presidential spokesperson Bruno Koné. Since Ouattara’s investiture in May 2011, France has unblocked 400 million euros of loans and is now planning a “contract to end debt and aid development” worth two billion euros. Gbagbo’s supporters accuse Ouattara of being a puppet of France.