Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Thursday November 1 Housing and Economic stories


TOP STORIES:

President of France Wants to Ban Homework Because It's "Not Fair" to Disadvantaged – (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com ) I wish I was making this up, and it certainly sounds like it's something straight out of The Onion, yet here it is, on a Washington Post headline: French president pushing homework ban as part of ed reforms.  Reason for the homework ban? Francois Hollande doesn’t think it is fair that some kids get homework help from their parents while children who come from disadvantaged families don’t. Instead, Hollande wants to hire more teachers without saying where the money will come from (but you know the answer is tax hikes). He also wants to increase the length of the school week from four days to four-and-a-half days. Note that school days in France start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m 

Postal Service barred from borrowing more - (money.cnn.com) The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service has reached its $15 billion debt limit as capped by Congress and is barred from borrowing more. The Postal Service hit the cap on Sept. 28, a spokesman confirmed, reinforcing the fact that its cash reserves are running dangerously low. To run its business, the Postal Service can only borrow money from the U.S. Treasury, as opposed to private banks. Congress has barred the Treasury from lending it more than $15 billion at one time. With people cutting back on snail mail, the post office has faced a survival crisis in recent years. If Congress doesn't act soon, the service could face insolvency this spring. "Our liquidity concerns are ongoing now, and especially as we get into the second half of the current fiscal year," said David Partenheimer, a spokesman for the Postal Service. The crunch time could kick in sometime between next April through the end of September 2013.

Greece, troika talks hit snag on labour reforms - (www.reuters.com) Greece's labour minister and international lenders briefly suspended talks on austerity cuts on Tuesday to confer with their leaders on the thorny issue of labour reforms, which have prompted objections from government coalition partners. After weeks of tense negotiations on 11.5 billion euros (9.3 billion pounds) of budget cuts in 2013-2014, the talks hit a fresh snag on the issues of scrapping automatic wage increases and reducing severance payments, part of labour marketmeasures the lenders say are needed to make Greece more competitive.

Spain must decide whether to seek aid: German official - (www.reuters.com) Spain must decide whether it will tap funds from the euro zone's new bailout facility and should not look to Germany for guidance, a senior German official said on Wednesday ahead of an EU summit where Spain's woes will be on the agenda. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Spain was on the right course with its reforms and reiterated Berlin's support for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's center-right government. "It is up to Spain to decide whether it wants to seek support," the official said. "It is not Germany's role to give Spain a red or green light."

American Airlines posts bankruptcy-related loss - (money.cnn.com) American Airlines' efforts to emerge from bankruptcy caused it to post another quarter of red ink Wednesday. AMR, the airline's holding company, reported a net loss of $238 million. During the same period last year, it lost $162 million, which was the last full quarter before filing for bankruptcy in November 2011. But the company said it would have been profitable if not for various charges related to the bankruptcy, including $211 million in severance payments. The airline is offering some of its unionized employees, such as ground workers and flight attendants, voluntary buyout packages as part of the labor deals reached with those unions. American disclosed Wednesday that because 2,200 flight attendants took a $40,000 buyout offer, it will need to begin hiring 1,500 replacement flight attendants starting next month.




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