Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The European Commission today announced new funding for Azerbaijan to help reform the institutions responsible for bilateral relations with the EU; in particular those in the areas of justice and migration.

From left: Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier, Prime Minister of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich, CEO Thibaud Le Séguillon, and CTO Dr. Martin Pfeiffer with an organic solar film during their tour through Heliatek's production facility.

Demand for motor cars collapsed abruptly in the second half of 2008, especially in Western Europe, which is the largest market for PSA Peugeot Citroën, with a decline in registrations of passenger cars and light trucks in Europe (18 countries in Western Europe) by 10.7% in the third quarter of 2008 and 17% in the fourth quarter compared with the same period of previous year. The fall in vehicle sales due to the financial and economic crisis directly affected the economic performance of PSA Peugeot Citroën, which reported a loss of EUR 344 million for the year 2008 even though at the end of the first half of 2008 the company had still reported a profit of EUR 731 million.

These 187 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth almost €45 billion, constituting around 40% of the total R&D investment by the 1,000 EU Scoreboard companies, which is a significant share of European business investment in R&D. The 4% average growth level is slightly down on the 5% growth expected in the previous survey, reflecting the worsening of the economic context.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced a set of modifications to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs) between the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Government Sponsored Enterprises or GSEs) that will help expedite the wind down of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, make sure that every dollar of earnings each firm generates is used to benefit taxpayers, and support the continued flow of mortgage credit during a responsible transition to a reformed housing finance market.

Roy Oppenheim, Foreclosure Defense Attorney and Legal Commentator

Staff teams from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission (EC), and World Bank visited Bucharest during July 31 to August 14 for the sixth review of Romania’s economic program. Policy implementation remains broadly on track, despite challenging conditions.

Gold is undervalued. Why? The main reason is inflation. Rising prices eat away at your income and purchasing power whether you know it or not. Gold that sold for $850 per ounce in 1980 would be worth approximately $4,000 to $5,000 today when you adjust for inflation. So Gold today is a steal by historical standards.

"While prominent voices in the British and American establishments have publicly admitted that the policy adopted so far has been a giant mistake, those who insist in bailing out the euro and the banks are fanatically sticking to their failed idea, and making use of tools from European history in the 1930s: brutal cuts in the Brüning[1] tradition, mass unemployment, and geopolitically motivated wars of aggression."

· Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing and MARKET-MATS, with the support of The Get It Group LLC, have signed an agreement to locate their advanced manufacturing campuses in the Hereford Enterprise Zone and Model Farm Ross-on-Wye, creating over 1,000 new jobs, over 10 per cent of whom will be apprentices, and increasing local spending power by £20 million per annum.