Federal Reserve chairman downplays strength of US economy despite booming stock market Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, is expected to emphasise the risks faced by the US economy from persistently weak house prices and an ailing banking sector when he gives his first press conference on Wednesday. In contrast to resurgent corporate profits and the booming stock market, which on Tuesday saw the Standard & Poor’s 500 hit a three-year high, he will downplay the strength of the economy. He is also expected to defy critics of his low interest rate policy, who have called for rate rises and an end to quantitative easing, which they blame for the collapse of the dollar and rising inflation. The twice yearly press conferences are a nod to the Bank of England and European Central Bank, which regularly address journalists on monetary policy trends. Bernanke is not expected to adopt the same football analogies beloved of Bank of England governor Mervyn King, but he is known to want to explain his policies to a wider audience. Until now he has only addressed Congress and made scripted speeches. He has submitted himself to an interview on 60 Minutes, though many Tea Party activists on the right wing of the Republican party criticised the show for giving him an easy time. The Tea Party is a regular critic of Bernanke, with many members calling for the abolition of the Federal Reserve and a return to the gold standard. Ben Bernanke US economy Economics Phillip Inman guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Federal Reserve chairman downplays strength of US economy despite booming stock market Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, is expected to emphasise the risks faced by the US economy from persistently weak house prices and an ailing banking sector when he gives his first press conference on Wednesday. In contrast to resurgent corporate profits and the booming stock market, which on Tuesday saw the Standard & Poor’s 500 hit a three-year high, he will downplay the strength of the economy. He is also expected to defy critics of his low interest rate policy, who have called for rate rises and an end to quantitative easing, which they blame for the collapse of the dollar and rising inflation. The twice yearly press conferences are a nod to the Bank of England and European Central Bank, which regularly address journalists on monetary policy trends. Bernanke is not expected to adopt the same football analogies beloved of Bank of England governor Mervyn King, but he is known to want to explain his policies to a wider audience. Until now he has only addressed Congress and made scripted speeches. He has submitted himself to an interview on 60 Minutes, though many Tea Party activists on the right wing of the Republican party criticised the show for giving him an easy time. The Tea Party is a regular critic of Bernanke, with many members calling for the abolition of the Federal Reserve and a return to the gold standard. Ben Bernanke US economy Economics Phillip Inman guardian.co.uk
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Union says 57-year-old who set himself alight in Merignac had struggled with frequently having to change jobs A France Telecom-Orange worker has died after setting himself alight outside his office, the latest in a wave of suicides at the company. The 57-year-old married father of four, described as a sociable member of staff, set himself on fire in the car park of a site at Merignac, near Bordeaux, after arriving for a morning shift. He had worked for the company for 30 years, most recently at a call centre dealing with company accounts, and was a trade union member who monitored safety and work conditions. François Deschamps, of the CFE-CGC Unsa union, suggested the man had struggled with being made to frequently change jobs. “Those enforced changes meant he had to sell his house. He had written to the management on several occasions and in my understanding had no reply,” Deschamps told AFP. France Telecom is Europe’s third largest mobile phone operator and biggest provider of broadband internet services. At least 23 of its employees killed themselves last year, and there were more than 30 reported suicides in 2008 and 2009, as well as many more attempts, including a woman found unconscious at her desk and a technician who stabbed himself in the stomach during a management meeting. Among those found at their homes, some had left notes explicitly linking their suicide to their jobs. Unions complained of a climate of bullying, extreme pressure, poor management methods and restructuring cuts that forced people to repeatedly change jobs. Staff said the climate had worsened since privatisation. Some complained of divorce, family breakdown and being forced to sell homes due to random job changes. Last year Didier Lombard stood down as France Telecom chief executive. In recent months, the company has increased the presence of psychological support workers on its sites and pledged to reduce workplace stress and staff difficulties. France Orange Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
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Union says 57-year-old who set himself alight in Merignac had struggled with frequently having to change jobs A France Telecom-Orange worker has died after setting himself alight outside his office, the latest in a wave of suicides at the company. The 57-year-old married father of four, described as a sociable member of staff, set himself on fire in the car park of a site at Merignac, near Bordeaux, after arriving for a morning shift. He had worked for the company for 30 years, most recently at a call centre dealing with company accounts, and was a trade union member who monitored safety and work conditions. François Deschamps, of the CFE-CGC Unsa union, suggested the man had struggled with being made to frequently change jobs. “Those enforced changes meant he had to sell his house. He had written to the management on several occasions and in my understanding had no reply,” Deschamps told AFP. France Telecom is Europe’s third largest mobile phone operator and biggest provider of broadband internet services. At least 23 of its employees killed themselves last year, and there were more than 30 reported suicides in 2008 and 2009, as well as many more attempts, including a woman found unconscious at her desk and a technician who stabbed himself in the stomach during a management meeting. Among those found at their homes, some had left notes explicitly linking their suicide to their jobs. Unions complained of a climate of bullying, extreme pressure, poor management methods and restructuring cuts that forced people to repeatedly change jobs. Staff said the climate had worsened since privatisation. Some complained of divorce, family breakdown and being forced to sell homes due to random job changes. Last year Didier Lombard stood down as France Telecom chief executive. In recent months, the company has increased the presence of psychological support workers on its sites and pledged to reduce workplace stress and staff difficulties. France Orange Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
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Katie Couric tells People magazine that she’s leaving her anchor job at CBS Evening News, three weeks after The Associated Press reported that Couric would be leaving her CBS post. (April 26)
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Katie Couric tells People magazine that she’s leaving her anchor job at CBS Evening News, three weeks after The Associated Press reported that Couric would be leaving her CBS post. (April 26)
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While a federal judge put a stop to the NFL lockout on Monday, antitrust attorney Matthew Cantor says the league has legal options remaining. Cantor thinks that a settlement will ultimately be reached. (April 26)
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Residents of Texas City were told they could go outside again, after officials determined that overnight power outages did not cause three Houston-area refineries and a chemical plant to release unhealthy amounts of harmful gases. (April 26)
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Click here to view this media The chief suspect in the would-be domestic-terrorism bombing of a Colorado shopping mall was arrested today outside another mall: Earl Albert Moore, 65, was taken into custody by the FBI, but it wasn’t immediately clear where he was being held. Police spokeswoman Kim Kobel told KMGH-TV that a shopper spotted Moore in a coffee shop inside the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The shopper called 911 after alerting a store manager. Moore left the store when police arrived, but when officers ordered him to lie on the ground, he complied, Kobel said. Authorities have been searching for him since the explosives were discovered April 20 at the Southwest Plaza Mall in the south Denver suburbs. The bomb and tanks were found after a fire, but they didn’t detonate. No injuries were reported. There is a high likelihood that Moore was associated with some kind of white-supremacist belief system, since he has tattoos indicating such a background, as well as a history of tax resistance and many years in prison. We’ll be monitoring the case closely as a result. One of the experts interviewed by 9News who (accurately) predicted the search would not last long had this to say about the would-be bomber’s motives: While the majority of his crimes seemed to benefit himself, this latest bombing attempt could have caused serious injuries or death, had the device worked properly. “This was more a vengeance, more of an attempt to deliver a message to someone or some company or institution,” Pence said. “By doing it, it is going to instill fear in a lot of people, particularly when you do it in a public place.”
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Click here to view this media The chief suspect in the would-be domestic-terrorism bombing of a Colorado shopping mall was arrested today outside another mall: Earl Albert Moore, 65, was taken into custody by the FBI, but it wasn’t immediately clear where he was being held. Police spokeswoman Kim Kobel told KMGH-TV that a shopper spotted Moore in a coffee shop inside the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The shopper called 911 after alerting a store manager. Moore left the store when police arrived, but when officers ordered him to lie on the ground, he complied, Kobel said. Authorities have been searching for him since the explosives were discovered April 20 at the Southwest Plaza Mall in the south Denver suburbs. The bomb and tanks were found after a fire, but they didn’t detonate. No injuries were reported. There is a high likelihood that Moore was associated with some kind of white-supremacist belief system, since he has tattoos indicating such a background, as well as a history of tax resistance and many years in prison. We’ll be monitoring the case closely as a result. One of the experts interviewed by 9News who (accurately) predicted the search would not last long had this to say about the would-be bomber’s motives: While the majority of his crimes seemed to benefit himself, this latest bombing attempt could have caused serious injuries or death, had the device worked properly. “This was more a vengeance, more of an attempt to deliver a message to someone or some company or institution,” Pence said. “By doing it, it is going to instill fear in a lot of people, particularly when you do it in a public place.”
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