| Keeping the yuan in pocket
Unless China allows significantly faster appreciation in the yuan, obviating the need for large accretion in foreign reserves, there's a good chance that people will save even more and the current-account surplus will bloat even further in 2008. .
G20 finance ministers to discuss World Bank, IMF reforms
JOHANNESBURG - FINANCE ministers from the world's largest 20 economies began talks on Saturday in South Africa focusing on reforming the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The two-day gathering in Kleinmond, near Cape Town, is the first time the G20 group of bank chiefs and finance ministers has met in an African country. It is also the first time the new head of the World Bank, the American Robert Zoellick, and the new head of the IMF, France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn, will hold round-table talks with the G20. The conference will hear calls for the modernisation of both institutions. 'The subject will be at the heart of our talks,' South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said at a preliminary press conference. 'The unequal power balance in the world economic system' will be brought up, South African Central Bank governor Tito Mboweni said.
Check not valid after death
Q:My father passed away Oct. 29. The October Social Security check was deposited into his checking account on Nov. 3. I am the administrator of the estate, and my name is also on the bank account. How does Social Security handle checks paid after someone dies? Do I have to return the check to Social Security and have it reissued to the estate, or can I just use the money to pay expenses? F.H., Ravenna A:A person must live the entire month to be entitled to that month's payment. It doesn't matter whether he or she dies on the first or the last day of the month. Because your father died on Oct. 29, the check for that month is not payable. This provision wasn't part of the original Social Security Act, but it was added in 1939. If you would like more information, go online at http://www.socialsecurity.gov or call 800-772-1213.
Don't let financial myths derail you
NEW YORK - Whether you're a young adult tackling money management for the first time, or a financial late bloomer struggling to get a grip on your spending, you would do well to heed the warnings of Steven B. Smith, president of Finicity, a company offering online money-management tools to consumers and businesses. Smith debunks four financial myths that frequently derail people's efforts to manage spending, reduce debt and increase savings: • Myth 1: It's always best to open a savings account at a brick-and-mortar bank. .
Community Calendar
Narcotics Anonymous Support Group meetings are held at Christian Living Fellowship Church on Section Line Road in Leesville. Meetings are held Mondays from 8-9 p.m.; Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m.; Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. Thursdays, 7:15-8 p.m. and 8-9 p.m.; Fridays, 8-9 p.m., Saturdays, 8-9 p.m. and Sundays 8-9 p.m. For more information please call Ricky C. at 718-6234 or Brian T. at 238-3570. .
Introducing the Nilex
At almost any economic conference or gathering of business professionals in the past five years, the subject of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was sure to arise. Just as inevitable as the subject itself would be the near-unanimous agreement that SMEs are the future of our economy. The rhetoric generally goes something like this: If we are to continue to enjoy the high GDP growth rates that we have witnessed in recent years, we must develop our SME sector. They are the ones who will be providing the growth, the jobs and the security of a healthy, diversified economy that is not dependant upon a small number of large private enterprises. Government officials, bankers and market regulators alike nod their heads in agreement to the above premise yet SMEs remain marginalized.
Book questions O’Malley murder convictions
A NEW book claims two people are still at large for the murder of holiday home-hunters Anthony and Linda O'Malley. The middle-aged Llangollen couple disappeared in 2002 after travelling to Spain in search of a retirement home. They were the subject of a missing persons' inquiry for six months before Spanish police found their bodies buried in the cellar of what they hoped would have been their dream house on the Costa Blanca. Venezuelan brothers-in-law Jorge Real Sierra, 57, and Jose Antonio Velazquez Gonzales, 42, were found guilty of their murder last year and were jailed for more than 100 years. The pair held car salesman Mr O'Malley, 42, and his wife, 55, captive for five days. They forced them at gunpoint to hand over £17,000 from their Benidorm bank account before killing them.
|
