Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts

Thursday, June 16, 2016

US, Europe combined infra spending less than China's

Despite a crying need for better infrastructure, investment in it has actually fallen in 10 major economies since the financial crisis, including the US, according to a new study by the McKinsey Global Institute. Meanwhile, China is still going gangbusters on roads, bridges, sewers, and everything else that makes a country run.
"China spends more on economic infrastructure annually than North America and Western Europe combined," according to the report published Wednesday.
Economists around the world have been arguing that now is a great time to invest in infrastructure because interest rates are super-low and the global economycould use the spending jolt. "Is anyone proud of Kennedy airport?" Harvard University economist Lawrence Summers likes to ask.
The MGI report cites 10 countries where infrastructure spending fell as a share of gross domestic product from 2008 to 2013: the US, UK, Italy, Australia, South Korea, Brazil, India, Russia, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. The study counts 11 economies, but that's because it lists the European Union as a separate entity.Read more.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Brussels Attacks: From Beirut to Ankara, a tale of differing social media outrage


Nearly 34 people were killed in a terrorist attack on a national capital. Explosions rocked the city, leaving several people injured too.
Brussels Attacks:This may immediately make you think about the deadly attacks on Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, which saw explosions at the airport and a busy metro station on Tuesday.
However, the same piece of information can also be linked to another terror attack — explosions at Ankara — the Turkish capital — on March 13, 2016. As per media reports, the toll has risen to 36 now. In fact, this was a second such incident in Turkey in a span of one month, killing many people. In another attack on February 18, 2016, 28 people were killed and 61 injured in a car bomb explosion in Ankara. A vehicle, laden with explosives, targeted a convoy of buses carrying military personnel that were stopped at traffic lights, this ABC news report states.
Read more from our specialcoverage on "BRUSSELS"
  • Blast at Brussels Metro station
Hours after the Brussels attacks took place, the world and social media reached out to the nation. Leaders across the world, ranging from US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande to British PM David Cameron expressed their condolences. Read More.