France's rating downgrade a warning for banks

French banks were reminded of risks to their own growth and credit ratings when Moody's stripped France of its triple-A badge because of an uncertain fiscal and economic outlook.

"It is likely that Moody's will cut its outlook on SocGen and Credit Agricole in coming weeks," said Yannick Naud, fund manager at Glendevon King Asset Management.

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The time-bomb at the heart of Europe

THE threat of the euro’s collapse has abated for the moment, but putting the single currency right will involve years of pain. The pressure for reform and budget cuts is fiercest in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy, which all saw mass strikes and clashes with police this week. But ahead looms a bigger problem that could dwarf any of these: France.

The country has always been at the heart of the euro, as of the European Union. President François Mitterrand argued for the single currency because he hoped to bolster French influence in an EU that would otherwise fall under the sway of a unified Germany. France has gained from the euro: it is borrowing at record low rates and has avoided the troubles of the Mediterranean. Yet even before May, when François Hollande became the country’s first Socialist president since Mitterrand, France had ceded leadership in the euro crisis to Germany. And now its economy looks increasingly vulnerable as well.

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European workers stage austerity protests

Workers across the European Union are staging a series of protests and strikes against rising unemployment and austerity measures.

General strikes in Spain and Portugal have halted transport, businesses and schools. Police and protesters have clashed in Madrid.

Smaller strikes were reported in Greece, Italy and Belgium, and rallies were planned in other countries.

Hundreds of flights to and from striking nations have been cancelled.

Airlines are recommending that passengers check schedules before setting out to airports.

British Airways and Easyjet were among the UK carriers forced to cancel some of their services.

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Is China Getting Desperate to Prop Up Their Economy?

China looks like it wants to get ahead of any possible economic slowdown, catapulting off of strong export numbers and granting a record foreign investment quota of $2.75 billion in October.

China’s Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor system curates all foreign investment in the country. Prior to 2002, the country’s control on capital prevented investors to trade on China’s exchanges. The introduction of the QFII system allowed qualified investors to trade on Chinese exchanges within a certain quota. The quotas granted for the last few years have been modest, usually coming in at under a billion dollars in any given quarter

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G20 economic growth slows in 2012

The G20 group of leading world economies has reported slower growth in the three months ending in June.

National output as measured by GDP grew at an annual rate of 3% in the second quarter compared with 3.2% in the first quarter, official data showed.

But, economic health varied with China's output growing 7.6% and Italy's shrinking 2.6% due to recession.

Taking global population growth into account, G20 output is effectively stagnating.

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Soros calls for Germany to 'lead or leave euro'

International financier George Soros has called for Germany to "lead or leave the euro" days before a crucial ruling on the eurozone's bailout fund by Germany's constitutional court.

Mr Soros argued that the eurozone should target 5% economic growth.

That would require the bloc to abandon German-backed austerity measures and accept higher inflation, he says.

He also backed a new European Fiscal Authority financed by VAT receipts to oversee eurozone government finances.

In an article published in Monday's New York Review of Books, Mr Soros said that Germany should become a more "benevolent" leading country or exit the single currency: "Either alternative would be better than to persist on the current course."

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Europe’s tired engine

After a promising May and June, Steffen Knoop has seen his sales dip by 30%. His small Hamburg-based company, Wascut, sells cooling and cleaning oils for big machines, including those that make cars. “I have a pretty good window on the economy,” he says. Mr Knoop wonders whether the dip is caused by people taking extra long summer holidays or something more serious. Others with a broader and more long-term view of the economic landscape are asking the same question.

Hopes are pinned on Germany as the locomotive that will keep chugging even as large parts of the euro zone go into recession (see chart). As long as Europe’s biggest economy keeps growing, the argument goes, it can gradually pull others out of the mire. Figures released on August 14th duly showed that German GDP grew in the second quarter on the previous one, but only by 0.3%. That was better than in France (no growth at all), Spain (minus 0.4%) and Italy (minus 0.7%). Given its current weakness, can Germany continue to pull its neighbours along?

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