Word: banking
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...course, inflation is not just a problem in Asia. World Bank President Robert Zoellick recently warned that the world was "entering a danger zone." He called rising food and oil prices a "man-made catastrophe" that could quickly reverse the gains made in overcoming poverty over the past seven years. For now, though, there is more talk than action on the international front, so Asian governments are battling on their own. There are some early signs that anti-inflation measures could pay off. After peaking at a 12-year high in February, inflation in China will begin to taper...
...Indeed, even though inflation throughout the region is likely to continue to rise in coming months, no one is expecting an economic calamity. "We don't believe that Asia will run into another financial crisis," says Park Cyn Young, senior economist at the Asian Development Bank in Manila. Asian countries have large hard-currency reserves and relatively healthy banks, and so are far better prepared to absorb external shocks than they were during the region's last recession 10 years ago. "This time, [Asian policymakers] have learned their lessons and will be more alert...
...Asia's boom to continue as uneventfully as it has over the past several years. Amit Kumar, a 22-year-old New Delhi resident, started a small building-materials business two years ago when India's capital was enjoying an unprecedented construction boom. But with interest payments on his bank loans mounting and customers dwindling, he closed up shop six months ago and started driving a taxi. The job is "beneath my status," Kumar complains, "but at least it keeps a roof above my head." If Asian governments don't get the fight against inflation right, it might take...
...course, he got stucco. Now that South Florida has tied Las Vegas as the nation's fastest-tanking real estate market, Puig is bankrupt, with $80 million in debts. His mansion was liquidated for $11.4 million, and his yacht went back to the bank. At Puig's bankruptcy auction, bidders competed for a necklace studded with 226 diamonds, a Sopranos pinball machine, a 1965 Ferrari, nine designer bikes and other bubble baubles. The billiard table went for $25,000. "It's amazing how fast it all came crashing down," says Puig's criminal defense attorney, Joel Hirschhorn...
That's also true in Florida's exurban boomtowns, communities like Homestead, Port St. Lucie and Kissimmee, that subprime borrowers flocked to for cheaper land and better deals. Now their homes are going back to the bank, and their neighborhoods are dotted with unmowed lawns and mosquito-infested pools. "Those lower-priced options are the places that are going to hurt for a long time," says Wayne Archer, head of the University of Florida's real estate program...