The Economist – Page 6

  • Have the economic experts hit a brick wall with no further ideas of how to re-vitalise the economies?
    News

    Economic recovery lacks traction

    2014-02-12T21:01:00Z

    Four years after the official end of the Great Recession and we are still struggling to find sustained recovery. Have we become accustomed to high levels of unemployment, and low levels of consumer confidence combined with low levels of sales? Have the economic experts hit a brick wall with no ...

  • Growth is expected as consumers finally open their purse strings
    News

    Is the patient getting better?

    2013-12-19T01:00:00Z

    Now that the US Government is back at work, the new German Government well installed and China setting off with new economic reforms, it seems that all and sundry are trying to work out if we are solidly back on the road to recovery or still stumbling along a rocky ...

  • Coal - a staple diet of bulk handling
    News

    Bringing problems in bulk

    2013-10-23T01:00:00Z

    According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal consumption will decline in Europe and the US, but will continue to rise in India and China, nearly doubling in consumption primarily intended for electricity generation by 2035.

  • It could be last orders for very large crude carriers. Credit: Seong-Woo Seo
    News

    Dramatic changes on horizon

    2013-09-26T01:00:00Z

    The press in Europe, Asia and North America is full of reports that economic recovery has returned and that the recessionary path has been left behind.

  • Could money flow problems lead to piracy?
    News

    Sharp end of the financial stick

    2013-08-29T16:34:00Z

    Decisions related to money transfers may have an impact on shipping: diaspora remittances are the biggest foreign currency earner for many of the poorest nations in the world as well as for some others, such as Egypt.

  • News

    A conference by any other name

    2013-07-18T09:00:00Z

    The shipping industry is a strange thing: it struggles to compete with itself. This is true of both the liner and the bulk sectors where, generally, pricing is an open field for jousting and often leads to bloodshed when prices drop below sustainable levels as we have witnessed on a ...

  • The IMF has downgraded the global economy growth forecasts for the second time
    News

    Economic realities continue to bite

    2013-05-30T21:41:00Z

    The concept of active government support during economic downturns (Keynesian economics) versus Milton Friedman’s Chicago School favouring monetarism - whereby government did not expand money supply nor support easy credit and tax and spend policies - remain at loggerheads.

  • The sceptical American consumer is still not spending. Credit: Chris Brown
    News

    A three speed world

    2013-05-23T11:36:00Z

    The global economy has entered an interesting phase of development where there are no locomotives pulling the rest of the world into prosperity and where we have a mixed bag of economic development not supporting common expansion.

  • The European strategy of austerity needs a rethink
    News

    Pain of austerity gets personal

    2013-04-24T10:22:00Z

    The global economy is trying to recover from the Great Recession with varying medicines being applied. The United States, sequestration aside, continues with an expansionary policy supported by the Federal Reserve. Japan’s new Prime Minister, Abe is going all out for government-led expansion and many of the Asian countries are ...

  • Will investment funds move to Asia and Africa at the expense of Europe?
    News

    Tariff war stirs up European tension

    2013-03-14T13:15:00Z

    The economics of austerity are impacting the ports and terminals of Europe. Cargo volumes are declining, both in the container and bulk trades. As with the rest of the shipping industry, we are seeing increased price competition as capacity goes up.

  • The world didn't end, it just entered a recession
    News

    End of the world is nigh

    2013-01-10T14:14:00Z

    The world did not end on December 21st as the believers in the Mayan calendar believed that it would. So, now the focus should be on economic development and the expectation that growth is inevitable. Consumption is always on an upward path barring a few hiccups aptly named recessions.

  • Rotterdam shipping discounts - panic or market strategy?
    News

    Austerity's long reach

    2012-12-05T10:00:00Z

    Travelling through Asia makes one realise how small the world really is. The economic crisis in Europe and the slow recovery in the US are impacting the Asian economies to an extent that the Great Recession did not manage to do.

  • Is there ever a right time to invest?
    News

    The right time to invest

    2012-11-08T10:00:00Z

    The market is full of news reports of investments and potential investments being made by terminal operators, ship owners and operators. Can this be true when we are in an environment of declining growth in Europe, slowing economic activity in Asia and flat lining in the US?

  • The economic cornerstones have crumbled. Credit: European Parliament
    News

    Europe is not alone in its economic despair

    2012-10-04T10:00:00Z

    Reading the economic press brings no joy; it makes for depressing reading. I am struggling to find signs of growth or optimism as they are both few and far between. It used to be so much simpler.

  • Leaving work behind... Photo K Kapoutsis
    News

    Falling well short of disaster

    2012-08-23T11:57:00Z

    The height of the summer vacations are taking their toll across European production and consumption as factories shut down and workers headed for the beaches or mountains.

  • Batten down the hatches - it's going to be a tough 12 months
    News

    Time to batten down the hatches

    2012-06-28T11:14:00Z

    The good news is that Greece is not dropping out of the Eurozone immediately as the conservatives have managed to create a government, the first in over 200 days.

  • The global focus of wealth is moving east
    News

    Shifting the centre of gravity

    2012-06-21T20:05:00Z

    It can be said that the centre of gravity for shipping has been in Europe for at least the last two centuries. All the great fleets came out of Europe to conquer the world. This extended to the commercial world as well with the liner and bulk carrier fleets primarily ...

  • Defining capacity for ports and carriers
    News

    How long is a piece of string?

    2012-05-03T16:06:00Z

    One of the challenges of ports and carriers is how to define their capacity. For container ships we have been introduced to the terms ''nominal'' and ''effective'' capacity as well as ''weighting out'', and on the landside we have all sorts of measures.

  • The industry seems to be more than a little forgetful
    News

    Memory loss the bane of the industry

    2012-03-22T10:42:00Z

    If someone suffers from memory loss or senility, then the shipping industry is where to be. The industry bounces from crisis to euphoria and then appears to forget how it got there, but as the events will be repeated every two to four years we do not need much of ...

  • How do Eilat authorities imagine handling in excess of 8,000 teu and more per ship?
    News

    Red-Med railway pipe dream

    2012-03-07T10:00:00Z

    The Israeli government has approved the construction of a railway line from the Port of Eilat to the national railway grid, linking it to the Mediterranean ports of Ashdod and Haifa.