Word: gdp
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...economic miracle has had its limits. Parts of the city are industrial and drab, and in recent years petty street crime has become so bad that some Hong Kong residents no longer shop there for cheap household goods and knock-off designer clothes. But with per capita GDP of almost $7,500, Shenzhen is among the richest cities in China. Today's downtown is a jumble of traffic-clogged streets, luxury hotels, Hugo Boss and Louis Vuitton stores, and foreign eateries like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. At the Portofino housing complex on the city's outskirts, golf carts carry...
Still, the slowdown seems certain to take a toll on the economy. Housing activity accounted for a full percentage point of last year's 3.5% GDP growth. Psychologically, rising home prices have made homeowners feel wealthier--just as stock prices did in the dotcom boom--boosting consumer confidence and spending on everything from cars to restaurant meals. Those rising prices, along with low borrowing costs, led homeowners to cash out a record $450 billion in home equity in 2005--money pumped into the economy. Rising interest rates have clogged that artery. And each month millions of homeowners have to write...
...short of savings and unable to sustain their spending by borrowing against their homes in a weakening housing market. This spells trouble for a global economy still overly dependent on the U.S. consumer. That's not to say the world lacks resilience against geopolitical shocks. Morgan Stanley estimates global gdp will grow 4.7% this year. That's 40% faster than the 3.4% average gains in the pre-oil-shock years of 1979 and 1990. Strong growth provides an important cushion to ward off unexpected blows. At the same time, the so-called stewards of globalization - namely...
Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker, who came out of retirement in 2003 to run the service, told a congressional committee last month that defense spending during World War II neared 40% of GDP; it is now 3.8% and shrinking. He is frustrated, says a retired general who is a friend of Schoomaker's. Frustrated enough to quit if funding isn't boosted? Says his friend: "Absolutely...
...GDP of the Middle East and North Africa continues to expand...