KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Thursday November 20 Housing and Economic stories

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Thursday November 20 Housing and Economic stories

California pension funds are running dry - (www.latimes.com) A decade ago, many of California's public pension plans had plenty of money to pay for workers' retirements. All that has changed, according to a far-reaching package of data from the state controller. Taxpayers are now on the hook for billions of dollars more to cover the future retirements of public workers, with the bill widely varying depending on where they live. The City of Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System, for instance, had more than enough funds in 2003 to cover its estimated future bill for workers' retirement checks. A decade later, it is short $3 billion. The state's pension goliath, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, had $281 billion to cover the benefits promised to 1.3 million workers and retirees in 2013. Yet it needed an additional $57 billion to meet future obligations.

Bundesbank chief warns on perils of state bond buys - (www.reuters.com) The ECB would encourage euro zone states to pile up debt if it were to buy state bonds, the president of Germany's central bank has warned again, underlining resistance to such a move in the bloc's most influential country. Speaking to an audience including local politicians and businessmen, Jens Weidmann conceded that the overall outlook for the euro zone remained weak, referring to low price inflation, and that the European Central Bank had therefore been right to take a generous stance. "The expansionary monetary policy is fundamentally appropriate," he said. "And it is understandable that the ECB's governing council has discussed additional measures and will continue to discuss this."

U.S. Shale Boom Masks Threats to World Oil Supply, IEA Says - (www.bloomberg.com) The U.S. shale boom masks threats to global oil supply including Middle East turmoil, conflict in Ukraine and the difficulty of unconventional oil production beyond North America, the International Energy Agency said. “The global energy system is in danger of falling short of the hopes and expectations placed upon it,” the IEA said today in its annual World Energy Outlook. “The short-term picture of a well-supplied oil market should not disguise the challenges that lie ahead as reliance grows on a relatively small number of producers.” Global oil consumption will rise to 104 million barrels a day in 2040 from 90 million barrels a day in 2013, driven by demand for transport fuel and petrochemicals indeveloping countries, the report said. To meet that growth and replace exhausted fields will require about $900 billion a year in investment by the 2030s as oil companies develop fields from Canada’s oil sands to the deep waters off Brazil, the IEA said.

Eastern European Recovery Falters as Euro Area Woes Sap Demand - (www.bloomberg.com) A recovery in the European Union’s eastern nations faltered in the third quarter, derailed by the euro region’s slowdown and deadly fighting in Ukraine. Poland’s $518 billion economy, the largest in the EU’s east, grew 2.7 percent from a year earlier, down from 3.3 percent in the previous three months, according to the median estimate of 29 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Hungary’s expansion slowed to 2.9 percent from 3.9 percent, a separate survey showed. The two countries, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria report growth figures today. The former communist nations are suffering from growth stalling in the euro area, their most important source of investment and largest export market. Russia, their main energy supplier and another trade destination, banned a range of food imports in retaliation for sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.

Banks to Pay $3.3 Billion in FX-Manipulation Probe - (www.bloomberg.com) Citigroup Inc. (C) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)were the hardest hit in the first settlements since authorities began a global probe into the rigging of key foreign-exchange benchmarks last year. Citigroup will pay $1.02 billion to three regulators in the U.S. and U.K., and JPMorgan $6 million less, according to statements from the firms today. They are among six firms that will pay $4.3 billion to four regulators ranging from the U.S. to Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

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