Dear Netters: It is a sad day for the United Kingdom. I give below the details: bhuban
Britain no longer the money capital of Europe, says UN Till last night the Square Mile of the City of London was known as the financial capital of the world It houses 255 foreign banks; the headquarters of the Bank of London is situated here as other institutions like the London Stock Exchange and Lloyds Insurance. Our own State Bank of India too has found a place within it. The Square Mile ranked above the New York City as the hub of global finance. It was a major meeting point for businesses from all over the world. In January, 2011 Becky Barrow of the Daily Mail ( http//www.dailymail.co.uk/news). reported that they were earning bigger bonuses than their counterparts in other major financial centres. A typical banker or other top executive of the investment banks earned a bonus of £85,000 or more which was more than what was paid to their colleagues in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. They were begun to be described as fat cats and there were much hue and cry in the parliament and the press to cut them to size. Now the bombshell has dropped. “Britain no longer the money capital of Europe, says UN”. You will find the analysis of this crisis below from the pen of Larry Elliott, the Economics Editor of the Guardian (27 07 2011). The heading below has changed; do not worry abou it, the contents remain intact. www. Guardian.co.uk/business/financial-crisis. · International trade Foreign direct investment into Britain halved to £46bn in 2010From the third ranked country in the world, for investment from overseas, the UK slipped to seventh place overall The report from the United Nations Committee on Trade and Investment show the UK falling from second to 27th in the league table of outward investment. Photograph Hannibal Hanschke/EPA Britain has lost its status as the investment capital of Europe with flows of capital into and out of the country plunging since the crash of 2007, it was revealed on Tuesday. Data published by the United Nations showed that foreign direct investment into the UK has fallen by more than three quarters since thefinancial crisis began. From Europe's preferred destination for investment from overseas and the third ranked country in the world, the UK slipped behind Belgium and Germany in Europe and to seventh place overall. At its peak in 2007, the boom in the City meant foreign direct investment into Britain stood at just over £196bn, but this halved in 2008 when the global banking teetered on the brink of collapse and has since halved again to stand at £46bn in 2010. The annual World Investment report from the United Nations Committee on Trade and Investment (UNCTAD) said there had been an even sharper decline in the export of capital from the UK to other countries. In 2002, the UK's overseas investment stood at £272bn and accounted for one-fifth of all outward capital flows from the EU. But by last year, British investment abroad had dropped to just £11bn, less than not just smaller EU countries such as Ireland and Luxembourg, but also Mexico and South Korea. UNCTAD's figures show the UK falling from second to 27th in the league table of outward investment between 2007 and 2010. The UN body noted that the fall of FDI into Britain of 38% during 2010 had been double the decline of 19% for the European Union as a whole. The drop in outward investment from £44bn to £11bn came at a time when outflows of capital from Europe recovered slightly from their post-recession trough. Launching the report in London, UNCTAD's secretary general, Supachai Panitchpakdi, said foreign investment was still 37% below its pre-crisis peak of £2.1tn and warned that protectionist measures against capital flows were on the increase. "Trade has recovered to its pre-recession levels but there is still a recession in investment", Supachai said as he revealed that FDI reported a much smaller increase than UNCTAD had expected in 2010 of just 5%. The growing importance of China, India and Brazil was reflected in figures showing that for the first time in 2010 the emerging world absorbed more than half the total FDI flows. China was increasingly switching the focus of its inward investment from low-cost manufacturing to high-tech goods and services, Supachai said. The head of UNCTAD warned that a double dip in the global economywas "quite possible", predicting that a fresh period of crisis would have a profound impact on European banks and lead to a radical reshaping of the single currency. "While it wouldn't lead to the demise of the eurozone, it would mean a rethink of how the eurozone is put together". Supachai also expressed concerns about the United States, pointing out that house prices were still falling and unemployment rising again. "The unwinding of household debt in the US is taking a long time", he said. Noting that there was the threat of inflation in Asia, Supachai said investment was a way of building capacity and safeguarding against economies overheating. "But as we come out of the crisis and as stimulus measures are withdrawn we are seeing countries introducing more measures that are trade and investment restricting", he added. Singling out Latin America as particularly prone to protectionism, Supachai added: "I am afraid this will get worse before it gets better _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
