NTUC Blog

In a new encyclical released yesterday by Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of the Catholic Church discusses the challenges of a global economy. He notes that workers’ ability to form a union and bargain is at risk and makes it clear it’s a matter of moral imperative to preserve that freedom.

MANILA, Philippines – The Financial Stability Board (FSB) held its inaugural meeting in Basel last month, noting signs of improvement in the global macroeconomic outlook and in some financial markets, especially funding markets.

TOKYO: Japan’s business executives have become more confident for the first time since 2006, the country’s central bank has said, supporting hopes the worst recession since World War II is easing.

ManilaAsia’s recession appears to have touched bottom and the region is likely to be the first to climb out of the global economic slowdown, the Asian Development Bank’s chief economist said Thursday.

IT is a good thing indeed that the A(H1N1) virus that hit the Philippines is not deadly. As of last Sunday, the Department of Health (DOH) has reported 428 A(H1N1) cases in the country. Not one of those so far infected has died, thankfully, because the A(H1N1) cases that were transported and readily transmitted here…

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank (WB) expects the Philippines to hit “outright recession” this year with domestic production declining by half a percent before recovering to a 2.4-percent growth in 2010 and 4.5 percent in 2011.

NEDA official disputes World Bank warning   The World Bank predicted on Monday that the Philippines was likely to slip into “outright recession” this year because scenarios for recovery of the global economy remained uncertain, but a top Filipino economic manager belittled the warning.

BODRUM, Turkey (Reuters) –The International Monetary Fund is likely to revise up its 2010 growth forecast for the world economy with signs that the rate of decline in global output has moderated, a senior IMF official said on Friday.

The economy will not go into recession and is expected to grow 2.5 to 4 percent this year, according to economist Bernardo Villegas.

Upbeat economy to happen at end year MEXICO CITY: Economic recovery in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) group of rich countries will begin at around the end of the year, the organization’s head said Tuesday, adding that the worst of Mexico’s recession was over.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected Monday the United States would make a “solid” recovery from recession in mid-2010, but warned of major risks including the real-estate crisis and rising interest rates.

TODAY is the first hearing of Senate committees on Trade and Industry and Public Services on the issue of pre-paid loads of cellular phones that always seem to vanish.

LECCE, Italy (AFP) – – G8 finance chiefs on Saturday warned the global economic outlook remained uncertain and risky despite “signs of stabilisation” after talks in southern Italy.

Q. My mom is 91 years old. She is taking nine prescription medicines and three vitamins every day. Lately, she is often confused, dazed, and slow in moving. Could this be due to her medicines? Can you help us? — Marivic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounded a cautiously upbeat note on the U.S. economy on Wednesday but warned that corralling government debt was vital to ensuring the nation’s long-term health.

Many past actions and events in our legislative chamber aptly called the “Lower House” have jolted and shocked the public because of lack of any sane explanation. But its passage of Resolution 1109 constituting itself as a Constituent Assembly (Con Ass) to amend the Charter is the real shocker. It is by far the most…

WASHINGTON (AP) – Fresh signs emerged Monday that the recession is letting up in the United States. Manufacturing’s slide is slowing. Builders are boosting spending on construction projects – including homes. And consumers aren’t cutting back as much as some had feared.

BY ALL INDICATIONS, the Philippine economy is already in recession. With last week’s announcement of an insignificant 0.4-percent first quarter growth in the economy, government statisticians forthrightly described the economy as “teetering into recession.”

MADRID/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – World economic grouping OECD said on Monday the global economy had come out of “free fall,” offering hope of incipient recovery late this year to investors and markets unnerved by rising U.S. government debt.

Japan’s central bank has upgraded its economic outlook, saying the worst of the recession might be over.

We’re at an all-time low. Today’s voyeur scene is alive and well and overrun by sex videos.There is the Katherine Luna and ex-boyfriend sex video. There are the Hayden Kho and Brazilian, plus celebs, sex videos. And there is the threat of even more sex videos exploding, one of them reportedly involving a young star…

SEOUL (AFP)–The worst of the global economic crisis is probably over but any early recovery is unlikely due to massive debts worldwide, Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said Tuesday.

Economies worldwide may only start to recover after two to five years, especially with the global economic crisis taking its toll on major industries, Japan’s former top currency official said Thursday.

FLORIANOPOLIS (AFP) –A few recent glimmers of economic hope emerging in the United States do not mean the global crisis is over, a top economist who advises US President Barack Obama said Saturday.

A high official of the National Economic and Development Authority certainly thinks a case can be made for saying so. Key indicators suggest that “the worst seems over … for the Philippine economy,” said NEDA Deputy Director General Rolando Tungpalan the other day.

NEDA: Global recovery will take time   The global crisis is not over, but the worst is over for the Philippine economy,” a senior economic official said on Wednesday.

The uninterrupted receipt of the monthly pension of old-age and survivorship pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) rests on their dutiful compliance with the annual renewal of active status (ARAS) requirement of the pension fund.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – A Saudi judge told a conference on domestic violence that a man has the right to slap his wife if she spends lavishly on such things as clothing, a Saudi newspaper reported, drawing criticism from rights activists in the conservative kingdom.

BERLIN–The global economy has already passed the worst of the economic crisis and should soon pull out of its slump, led by Asia and China in particular, Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros said on Monday.

What you don’t know won’t hurt you” is an adage that we’ve all grown up and old with. Not many have challenged this counsel. Is one truly better off in idyllic ignorance, whether on purpose or unintentionally? Conversely, is peace of mind a lost cause for those who are aware, awake and well- informed?