BRUSSELS — Europe's leaders are grasping for ideas to halt their government debt crisis ahead of a series of top-level meetings over the next 10 days. The latest: Using their emergency bailout funds to buy up government bonds on the open market.
The last two and a half years of Europe's government debt crisis have seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal seek multibillion-euro bailouts after high borrowing costs made it impossible for them to finance their debts on the international bond markets. Now markets-watchers fear Spain and Italy may soon be joining the bailout club as their borrowing costs spiral ever higher.
The leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro have been under global pressure to find a substantial solution to the debt crisis rather than piecemeal measures that provide only temporary relief.
One more solution emerged late Tuesday night on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti urged looking at using Europe's ¬500 billion ($635 billion) emergency bailout funds — the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Stability Mechanism — to buy government bonds on the open market.
The emergency bond purchases are the latest idea leaders appear to be clutching at after a bailout of Spanish banks and the hoped-for victory of pro-bailout politicians in Greece did not halt market turmoil.
Business
Europe gropes for fix
Leaders under pressure to find substantial solution
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Ag Forum: Chestnuts a growing market
Various species of chestnut are found in Michigan — naturally in the landscape, in green spaces as ornamentals and also planted in orchards for nut production.
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Futures File: Even with large crop, soybeans shoot higher
Although U.S. farmers are expecting to harvest a large soybean crop this fall, the current supply of soybeans in storage is running low, lifting prices higher. This week, July soybeans shot up 45 cents (+3.2 percent), reaching $14.47 per bushel on Friday morning.
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Farm Focus in Brief: 05/18/2013
Beverage classes; Weed management; Compost Day. (Plus more)
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Festival spotlights science, math
Newton’s Road, a regional nonprofit organization committed to increasing access to and appreciation of learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, continues its Northern Michigan STEaM Film Festival on Saturday.
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Only 2 of 13 small SUVs do well in crash tests
Only two of 13 small SUVs performed well in front-end crash tests done by an insurance industry group, with several popular models faring poorly in the evaluations.
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Technology, labor spar on immigration
To the U.S. technology industry, there’s a dramatic shortfall in the number of Americans skilled in computer programming and engineering that is hampering business.
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Compuware cancels events to honor company co-founder
The wife of a Compuware Corp. co-founder is upset that events to honor her husband’s legacy and the software development company’s history have been canceled.
Continued ... - Thursday, May 16, 2013
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Eurozone recession is now longest in currency bloc
The eurozone is now in its longest ever recession — a stubborn slump that has surpassed even the calamity that hit the region in the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
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State economy still on upswing
Economists say Michigan’s economy is turning around for the fourth straight year in part because the housing sector is on the mend.
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State’s jobless rate decreases
Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down in April by one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.4 percent.
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Compuware plans IPO for Covisint subsidiary
Software development company Compuware Corp. says it’s planning an initial public offering for its Covisint Corp. subsidiary.
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House panel set to OK cut in food stamp program
A House committee rebuffed Democratic efforts Wednesday to keep the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program whole, as debate on the farm bill turned into a theological discourse on helping the poor.
Continued ... - Wednesday, May 15, 2013
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Wind farms get pass on eagle deaths
It happens about once a month here, on the barren foothills of one of America’s green-energy boomtowns: A soaring golden eagle slams into a wind farm’s spinning turbine and falls, mangled and lifeless, to the ground.
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Business in Brief: 05/15/2013
TEDx speaker match; Evaluation planning; Employment forecast. (Plus more)
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Feds probe V-8 trouble
U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating complaints that the engines can stall without warning in three Chrysler and Dodge brand cars.
Continued ... - Tuesday, May 14, 2013
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App brings perks to merchants
Joe Walker has been a techie for more than 20 years, but it was a weekend of “X-Boxing” and a love of northern Michigan that sparked the start of Ozmott.
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Fred Goldenberg: Wednesday's expo a don't miss for seniors
Many people ascribe to the belief that as the ball dropped in Times Square on Jan. 1, 1946, the first baby boomer was born and that 76 million births later, our lifestyle and ideas for the future have the country turned upside down.
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GM: Supercomputers to keep recalls in check
A new supercomputing data center and a fledgling shift to bring software development in-house should help General Motors limit the size of future safety recalls, a top company official said.
Continued ... - Sunday, May 12, 2013
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Book documents history of local electric cooperative
It's hard to envision the darkness of night that blanketed the region's rural areas 75 years ago.
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Jason Tank: Pay off mortgage — or not?
Q: My husband and I are 60 years old and we have a $100,000 mortgage with about six years left on it. Should we just use some of our investments to pay it off now?
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Business in Brief: 05/12/2013
Business briefs for 05/12/13:
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Business Memoranda: 05/12/2013
McDonald’s owner/operator Jason Richards has taken ownership of McDonald’s restaurants in Manistee and Benzonia.
Continued ... - Saturday, May 11, 2013
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Cicada mania not coming to Michigan this year
The grand emergence of 17-year cicadas this year in the eastern United States is already causing quite a buzz.
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Ag Forum: Farm work helps mom live long life
My mother was born in 1917, and she has a pretty good chance of seeing 2017. She’s still living in her own home, taking care of herself and even mowing the grass.
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Futures File: Coffee prices buzz higher
Coffee prices have climbed for seven consecutive days, rising nearly sixteen cents per pound (+12 percent).
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