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As children across America costume themselves as ghouls, ghosts, goblins and former North African dictators Monday night, they may have missed the most spine-chilling scare of the day. According to calculations based on the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook, on All Hallows’ Eve the United States’ total debt will surpass its Gross Domestic Product for the first time since World War II. That means the average American’s share of government debt is more than an average American makes in a year. Spooky! On October 19 Bloomberg released a chart showing that per capita gross government debt would to exceed...

Europe, the G20, and the global authorities have one last chance to contain the EMU debt crisis with a nuclear solution or abdicate responsibility and watch as the world slides into depression, endangering the benign but fragile order that has taken shape over the last three decades. The threat of cascading default, bank runs, and catastrophic risk must be taken off the table," said US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner over the weekend. "Sovereign and banking stresses in Europe are the most serious risk now confronting the world economy. Decisions cannot wait until the crisis gets more severe." Euroland's dysfunctional arrangements...

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos sought to reassure nervous markets and EU partners on Saturday by pledging his debt-ridden country would do whatever it takes to avoid default and stay in the euro zone. During an IMF meeting in Washington that was dominated by fears that Greek debt woes could trigger a wider European crisis, threatening banks and hurting the world economy, Venizelos dismissed any talk of bankruptcy.

Very rarely in political history has any faction or movement enjoyed such a complete and crushing victory as the Conservative Eurosceptics. The field is theirs. They were not merely right about the single currency, the greatest economic issue of our age – they were right for the right reasons. They foresaw with lucid, prophetic accuracy exactly how and why the euro would bring with it financial devastation and social collapse. Meanwhile, the pro-Europeans find themselves in the same situation as appeasers in 1940, or communists after the fall of the Berlin Wall. They are utterly busted. Let's examine the case...

We were pretty much speechless when we read this - it sure puts guarantees by Noyer, Trichet and all the other bureaumonkeys that the ECB does not accept just any collateral in perspective. From Presseurop.eu: "The most expensive footballer in history may now be used to guarantee the solvency of a Spanish bank. “Ronaldo in the bailout fund,” headlines Süddeutsche Zeitung. The daily reports that the Bankia group of savings banks,...

Champions of the European Project can claim a dubious vindication. They never wavered in their faith that EU states would yield sovereignty to save the euro if push came to shove, that monetary union would force the pace towards joint EU government. So it proves to be, for now. But let us not forget that Europe's ideologues have achieved this only by pushing the world to the brink of catastrophe and holding parliaments to ransom with their great gamble, just as the West's financial elites held parliaments to ransom in the banking crash of October 2008. Once yields on 10-year...

The European Central Bank has surprised markets by signalling a rate rise as soon as next month, brushing aside warnings that this may compound damage from the oil shock and push EMU debtor states deeper into crisis. "We are in a posture of strong vigilance: an increase in interest rates at the next meeting is possible," said ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet, following a meeting of the governing council. The code word "vigilance" sent the euro rocketing to almost $1.40 against the dollar. The ECB is the first of the big central banks to signal a rate rise to curb inflation,...

George Soros tells Germany to step up to its responsibilities, or leave EMU Photo: Bloomberg News "German policy is becoming a danger that could destroy the European Project. A collapse of the euro cannot be excluded," he told the German weekly Die Zeit. "Unless Germany changes policy, its withdrawal from the currency union would be helpful for the rest of Europe. At the moment Germany is pushing its neighbours into deflation: this threatens a long phase of stagnation, leading to nationalism, social unrest, and zenophobia. It endangers democracy," he said.

At least three people have died in a burning bank office in central Athens set on fire by demonstrators protesting against proposed austerity measures. According to official souces scores of people are still trapped in the burning building. Developing.

The long-drawn saga in Athens can perhaps be deemed a case apart. Greece lied. Its budget deficit was egregious at 16pc of GDP last year on a cash basis. It wasted its EMU windfall, the final chance to bring public debt back from the brink of a compound spiral. You cannot blame the euro for this, although EMU undoubtedly created a risk-free illusion that lured both Athens and creditors deeper into the trap – and now prevents a solution. Nor would an orderly default under IMF guidance along Uruguayan lines necessarily imperil Europe's banks. The Bundesbank hints that letting Greece...

Portugal, not Greece, poses the greater existential threat to Europe's monetary union. The long-drawn saga in Athens can perhaps be deemed a case apart. Greece lied. Its budget deficit was egregious at 16pc of GDP last year on a cash basis. It wasted its EMU windfall, the final chance to bring public debt back from the brink of a compound spiral. You cannot blame the euro for this, although EMU undoubtedly created a risk-free illusion that lured both Athens and creditors deeper into the trap – and now prevents a solution. Nor would an orderly default under IMF guidance along...

By ABC-7 Reporter Abe Lubetkin EL PASO, Texas - An emu on the loose ruffled the feathers of some morning commuters Tuesday morning on I-10 and Horizon. At 6:45 a.m., drivers originally reported an ostrich on the roadway. Emus look similar to ostriches but they're smaller. El Paso County Sheriff's Deputies on the scene tried to contain the emu but they say the bird attacked a deputy, ripping off a part of his pants. Deputies then worked with people passing by to subdue the bird. The emu died as deputies were transporting it to an animal control center. This incident...

A mad emu gave deputies a Texas-sized hard time. El Paso authorities say the big bird was running loose Tuesday, snarling rush-hour traffic near Interstate 10 and attacking deputies trying to restrain it. Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office tried to prevent the tall, flightless bird from running into traffic. But when deputies neared the emu, it became aggressive and slashed one deputy's pant leg.

Greece Defies Europe As EMU Crisis Turns Deadly Serious Euroland's revolt has begun. Greece has become the first country on the distressed fringes of Europe's monetary union to defy Brussels and reject the Dark Age leech-cure of wage deflation.By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Published: 5:56PM GMT 13 Dec 2009 While premier George Papandreou offered pro forma assurances at Friday's EU summit that Greece would not default on its €298bn (£268bn) debt, his words to reporters afterwards had a different flavour. "Salaried workers will not pay for this situation: we will not proceed with wage freezes or cuts. We did not come to...

FOREST, Miss. — Officers had to use a stun gun and handcuffs to capture an emu running loose on Interstate 20 in central Mississippi on Sunday. Police Officer Kiley Culpepper told WLBT-TV in Jackson that motorists had been calling 911 since Friday to report sightings of two emus on I-20 and nearby U.S. Highway 80.

With her huge furrry ears and long, quivering nose, baby kangaroo Tijana is utterly adorable. But her unarguable cuteness hides a rather unfortunate start to her short life. At just a few weeks old, the tiny creature tumbled from the pouch of her mother, who had been terrified by an emu. Tijana, who lives at Belgrade Zoo, in Serbia, had to be retrieved by staff and is now being handreared. She is still so young she cannot survive outside of a pouch and must stay in a special incubator, where the temperature remains a constant 35C. Biologists have also made...

A RUNAWAY emu was corralled with shopping trolleys by employees of a Wisconsin Wal-Mart today. Myron, the three-year-old Australian native, was thought to have fled his farmyard home after being scared by a coyote, the Associated Press reported. Employees of Wal-Mart in the town of West Bend found the big bird in their carpark and used shopping trolleys to round him up, police said. A manager then fed Myron grapes and apples to calm him down. His owner, Richard Takacs, said he was not surprised when police called him from the store about 3km from his pumpkin farm. "They can...

The body of the slain student, Laura Dickinson, 22, was discovered Dec. 15 in her dorm room. At the time, university officials told her parents and the media that she died of asphyxiation but that there was no sign of foul play, despite evidence to the contrary. It wasn't until another Eastern student was arrested in late February and charged with murder that her family and fellow students learned she had been raped and killed. The accused student, Orange Taylor III, of Southfield, has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal sexual conduct charges in Dickinson's death. He is scheduled...

CHAPEL HILL - Bill Clinton, a 6-foot emu on the run nearly a week, died Thursday after Carrboro police captured him outside a nursing home.The cause of the flightless bird's death was in dispute: The manager of the Orange County Animal Shelter said police Tasered him. But a police spokesman said officers didn't use a Taser stun gun or tranquilizers. He said the bird injured himself as police tried to load him into a truck to take him to the shelter."My guess is it did something to its neck," Capt. J.G. Booker said.Bill Clinton's flight was the latest and most...

The European Central Bank has raised interest rates a quarter point to 3.75pc despite an unprecedented attack on the "reliablity" of its strategy by the Bank of France and a barrage of attacks by French leaders. Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB acted in part to curb the 9.8pc rise in the M3 money supply, the highest since the creation of the euro. Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's president, said monetary policy for the 13 countries of the euro-zone was still "accommodative", a coded warning that further tightening is on the way after seven rate rises since December 2005. "Liquidity is ample...

Borg: No euro membership for Sweden Sweden's new finance minister Anders Borg has said that Sweden will not join the euro in the foreseeable future. Borg made set out his position on the single European currency as he attended his first meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg. "I will say that we are prioritizing employment and making it profitable to work," Borg told journalists on his way into the meeting. Borg said he would also tell his European counterparts that the new Swedish government will concentrate on keeping the state finances in good order. Sweden rejected adopting the euro...

BRUSSELS, May 16, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Slovenia today became the first new EU member state to get the green light to join the EU's common currency, the euro. Meeting in Strasbourg, the European Commission ruled the country meets all the necessary criteria and can adopt the euro as of January 1, 2007. The Commission turned down the application of a second candidate for early entry, Lithuania, saying the country's inflation is too high.

TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) - The dollar struck a seven-month low against the yen and a one-year low against the euro on Monday, extending a slide as the Federal Reserve appears set to soon end a two-year run of credit tightening. A renewed focus on U.S. deficits after last month's meeting of Group of Seven industrialised powers, worries about Iran's nuclear ambitions and deteriorating technical signals have pummeled the dollar across the board. The yen gained across the board on solid buying by foreign hedge funds and investment banks, while some Japanese players squared positions heading into the country's Golden...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar hit a 27-month high against the yen on Monday and edged closer to recent two-year lows versus the euro and sterling as greenback buying on yield advantage gathered momentum after a long U.S. weekend. In the absense of major data on Monday, investors, coming back from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, pushed the dollar higher in anticipation of further rises in U.S. interest rates. The euro kept a low profile as investors awaited European Central Bank speakers including chief Jean-Claude Trichet ahead of a widely-expected 25 basis point rate hike this week. But the outlook beyond...

Technical Overview · British Pound Heads To 1.7000· Swiss Franc Sees 1.3500 In Its Future· New Zealand Dollar Fails To Capture .6900 Traders Corner:Reality or wishful thinking, it’s a very delicate balance when it comes to trading. As a trader I always learned not to let the wishful thinking cloud my judgment. I never let such notions as hopes and dreams distort the reality of the market. At one point when I found myself grasping at straws in a sinking trade I realized that no matter what I think, wish or hope, the market will do what its need to...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar clung close to a two-year high against the euro and a 27-month peak versus the yen on Tuesday as more investors flock to the U.S. currency for its widening yield advantage. The yen came under pressure after Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a rare comment on central bank policy, saying it was too early for the Bank of Japan to end its ultra-loose "quantitative easing" until deflation is defeated. Koizumi's remarks on Monday added to a chorus of government officials calling for the BOJ, which gained political independence just in 1998, to work with...

Tough talk on inflation, first by US Federal Reserve officials, then by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has got the markets rattled. Last week all the leading equity indices retreated, with the S&P 500 down 2.7 per cent, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 1.8 per cent, the Nikkei off 2.6 per cent and the FTSE 100 off 2.1 per cent. It looks as if investors are questioning the notion that the US, and to some extent the world economy, has entered a new "Goldilocks" phase with growth neither too hot (risking accelerating inflation) nor too cold (risking...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar remained firm on Tuesday near this week's three-month highs against the euro and 16-month peaks versus the yen as a Federal Reserve official joined the hawkish chorus on U.S. interest rates. The dollar also hit a two-month high against sterling and against an index of major currencies as investors priced in prospects for the Fed to press ahead with its 15-month credit-tightening campaign. Atlanta Fed President Jack Guynn told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the Fed's tightening campaign still has "a ways to go" before completion. Analysts said strong data, equity inflows and...

FOR those who are too young to remember, Divorce, Italian Style was a 1962 movie in which Marcello Mastroianni plays a Sicilian nobleman married to an ugly, bullying and financially ruinous harridan, from whom he wants desperately to disengage. Unfortunately, he has no legal way to do this since the Italian legal system made no provisions for divorce. His only recourse, therefore, is to kill his wife. This film is, of course, a perfect allegory for the Italian and European economies 40 years later. Italy today is under the thumb of an ugly, oppressive and financially ruinous harridan called the...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi called the euro a "disaster" and a "rip-off" that "screwed everybody" in a vitriolic attack on opposition leader and former European Commission president, Romano Prodi. "There are categories of Italians who face difficulties because of the incursion of Prodi's euro", he said, according to newswires, adding that Mr Prodi got a raw deal for Italy's adoption of the single currency, leading to the country's recession today. The colourful leader, who made headlines last month by claiming his "playboy" charms seduced the Finnish president into backing down on a European food agency...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro fell below $1.20 for the first time in 10 months on Friday as traders bet that euro zone interest rates will eventually be cut and make the dollar an even more attractive destination for investors. A combination of Sweden's central bank slashing interest rates this week and the Bank of England moving closer to lowering rates has thrown the spotlight on the European Central Bank. ECB officials have held firm that current rates at 2 percent are appropriate, but political pressure has mounted on the euro zone's central bank to do something about the region's...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar hit a nine-month high against the euro on Monday, extending recent gains made after upbeat U.S. data and comments from Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan fanned expectations of more U.S. interest rate hikes. Finance ministers from the world's rich nations (G8) during their weekend meeting in London kept up pressure on China to move toward more flexible exchange rates, but produced no clues as to the timing. Following last week's better-than-expected U.S. trade data and Greenspan's comments that the economy was on a "firm footing," the market is looking to see if this week's figures...

The euro has its sceptics across Europe's heartlands It was an idea that could barely be whispered inside Europe's corridors of power - might the European Union lose its appetite for the euro?Launched amid much fanfare in 1999, the single currency was a symbol of European unity, a sign of the continent's re-emergence on the world stage and a challenge to the hegemony of the US dollar. Six years on, with slow growth and high unemployment bedevilling the economies of some of the euro's most powerful supporters, the whispers of doubt are beginning to grow louder. Leading politicians in...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro hit an 11-month low against the yen on Tuesday, hurt by a bleak economic outlook for the euro zone and remarks by the European Central Bank chief which the market saw as a hint of interest rate cuts. The ECB will do "all it can" to reinforce consumer and business confidence, and economic reforms are fundamental to boost euro zone growth, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a discussion among central bankers from China, Europe and Japan in Beijing. "Trichet suggested that maybe he has to do something about interest rates," said a trader at...

The under-fire euro fell further on Wednesday, slumping to an eight-month low against the US dollar amid rumblings over the long-term future of the eurozone. The fresh selling was prompted by a report claiming that Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, and Axel Weber, the president of the Bundesbank, were present at a meeting at which the possible break-up of European Monetary Union was discussed. The German Bundestag is also said to have commissioned a report on the legal repercussions of a country wishing to leave the EMU. Germany’s finance ministry labelled the talk “absurd”, while Mr Eichel and Mr...

FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) - The euro dipped sharply on Wednesday on reports that the possibility of a failure of European Monetary Union was discussed at a high-level meeting of German financial officials. A source who attended the meeting last week said Finance Minister Hans Eichel and Bundesbank President Axel Weber were present but that they did not take part in any discussion on the future of the system which gave birth to the euro. The Bundesbank said it would issue an official statement later on Wednesday in response to a report about the meeting in Germany's Stern magazine. Stern said the...

Break-up of family home makes the currency vulnerable to a double No vote, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard The prospect of a double "No" to Europe's constitution in France and Holland has already claimed its first victims, catching hedge funds off guard as the euro slumped to seven-month lows against the dollar, and battering Turkish, Balkan and East European bonds. This is just a foretaste of what could happen once investors start to think through the euro's long-term chances of survival in a "post-federal" Europe that is no longer moving ineluctably towards ever-closer union. Can a stateless currency hold together in a...

Brussels has warned Italy about potential reprisals for its rising deficit, suggesting Rome had previously under-reported its real accounts. Economic Affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia said the Commission would probably launch a formal procedure against Italy by the end of June. Speaking at an EU finance ministers' meeting in Luxembourg, Mr Almunia suggested the action would follow the newly revised stability and growth pact. The new rules underpinning euro membership are seen as less strict by some observers, but the deficit ceiling for euro zone countries remains at three per cent of GDP. Brussels has rejected official Italian reports about the...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – After months of complex and occasionally acrimonious debate, EU finance ministers have reached a deal on the reform of a key plank of the union’s economic policy. An agreement was reached on how to reform the EU's infamous Stability and Growth Pact - the set of rules underpinning the euro – after 12 hours of emergency talks beginning on Sunday (20 March) afternoon. Ministers will now draw up a report for EU leaders, who will rubber stamp the deal at a summit tomorrow (22 March). But Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, who doubles as his country’s...

The European Central Bank held interest rates steady at 2pc yesterday and slashed its eurozone growth forecast for 2005 to 1.6pc in the face of dismal figures from Germany and Italy. Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's president, swept aside concerns that a continued policy of negative or zero real interest rates could stoke future inflation, predicting that price rises would ease back below the bank's 2pc ceiling in coming months. "We continue to see no significant evidence of underlying domestic inflationary pressure building up in the euro area," he said. But he acknowledged that a recent spike in the money supply...

The European Commission sought yesterday to establish itself as the EU's chief auditing authority, demanding new powers to police the budget offices of member states. 'Under the proposed law, the Commission could carry out spot checks and "in-depth monitoring visits" anywhere in the EU, at any time, to ensure that Brussels was not being fed bogus data by member states. Eurostat inspectors would be able to demand access to debt figures and "underlying government accounts" to safeguard the "credibility" of monetary union. Findings would be made public if national data was found to be misleading. This follows revelations last year...

Activist focuses on half-tuition waiver for employees' same-sex domestic partners ------ Eastern Michigan University and a conservative activist are squabbling over the university's policy regarding same-sex domestic partner benefits. The disagreement began Wednesday when Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, denounced EMU's policy in a statement delivered to Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox. Glenn focused on the university's recent expansion of a half-tuition waiver for same-sex domestic partners of EMU employees, saying the policy violates the gay marriage ban passed by Michigan voters in November. EMU Board of Regents voted Nov. 30 to expand the benefit...

Democratic lawmakers say law keeps college students from voting 9/26/2004, 8:22 a.m. ET By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Kurtis Hussler, an 18-year-old Michigan State University sophomore welcoming any excuse for a study break, heard a knock on his dorm room door the other night. The visitor was a member of the MSU College Democrats who, after a brief introduction, asked: "Are you registered to vote?" Hussler signed up within minutes. Though he had wanted to vote in November, the Cass City electrical engineering major admitted he would not have gotten around to registering. "I...

EUOBSERVER/ LUXEMBOURG- The European Commission has scored a major victory over EU member states as the European Court of Justice annulled the decision of the Council to suspend a disciplinary procedure against France and Germany for repeatedly breaking the euro rules. In a short ruling, read out in Luxembourg, the Court said today (13 July) it "annulled the conclusions adopted by the Council in which the Council held the excessive deficit procedures in abeyance". This represents a landmark victory for the Brussels executive and affirms its role as the supervisor of EU economic policy. But there are few legal precedents...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg will on Tuesday (13 July) hand down what may be the most significant ruling in its 46 year history. The case may not sound like much (Judgement C-27/04 Commission v Council), but at stake is who is in control of the EU economy - Brussels or member states. The European Commission took the Council of member states to court over its decision in November to suspend disciplinary procedures against France and Germany for repeatedly breaking EU economic rules. Brussels had recommended that France and Germany take measures to bring...

Joaquin Almunia, the European Commissioner for Monetary Affairs, has expressed his interest in Franco-German plans to introduce an EU-wide minimum corporate tax. Commissioner Almunia told Belgian paper l'Echo over the weekend that he favours a minimum tax for companies accross the EU. When asked whether an EU-wide minimum rate would be a possibility, Mr Almunia replied, "from my point of view, that could be a solution". Mr Almunia's comment follows a heated debate over corporate tax levels in the EU. The 10 new member states which entered the Union on 1 May generally have very low levels of corporate tax...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Court of Justice on Monday (28 June) announced that it would reveal on 13 July its judgement regarding the row between the Commission and member states over the rules that underpin the euro. The case was brought to the Court by the Commission after member states voted last November to suspend disciplinary measures against France and Germany under the Stability and Growth Pact. In late April, legal teams from the Commission and from the Council of member states argued their cases in front of 14 judges at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg....

Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia yesterday (27 June) became the first EU newcomers to join the "exchange-rate mechanism" (ERM-2), paving the way for them to join the euro as early as 2007. The decision was taken at a highly secretive meeting in Brussels on Sunday, involving officials from the 12 eurozone countries, the European Central Bank, Denmark, and the three countries that had applied for ERM-2 entry, according to the Baltic News Service. ERM-2 is often referred to as the "holding bay" for the euro. Countries wishing to join the euro must participate in ERM-2 for a minimum of two years....

Christian college to discuss firings for homosexual acts By the Associated Press Published April 12, 2004 HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Eastern Mennonite University President Loren Swartzendruber has agreed to meet students to discuss the dismissal of two professors for homosexual acts and the resignation of another in protest. Swartzendruber agreed to attend the forum Tuesday at the request of a small group of students at the Christian school. "We will not tolerate bigotry, poor language, inappropriate comments about persons of any sexual orientation," he said. Eastern Mennonite is a private school founded in 1917. Most of its 1,400 students are...

A 6-foot-tall emu led a half-dozen pest control workers on a 90-minute chase through woods and brush land before the flightless bird was snared and then gang-tackled. Gene Ham has caught raccoons, opossums, coyotes, deer, squirrels, foxes and other critters in his job with Jones/Hill Pest Control, but Tuesday's chase was his first encounter with an emu, an ostrich-like bird native to Australia. "That was by far the toughest thing we've ever caught," Ham said. "It was quick, and it put up a tough fight once we caught it." The emu, wrapped in a blanket and with shredded duct tape...