Investing and Global Finance News

Monthly Archives: August 2014

NABE Survey Feels Good About Economy

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Business Economists, most economists believe that the Federal Reserve is “on the right track” with its programs to repair the US economy.

The NABE survey, which was released on Monday, also showed that a majority of economists believe that there is only a small risk of inflation in the near future.

The semiannual questionnaire polled 257 economists from July 22 to August 4 and found that 53 percent of them say that the Fed’s stimulus programs are on target, while 39 percent thought the Fed was interfering too much with the economy.

The Federal Reserve has been slowing down on its bond-buying economic stimulus program since the end of last year. Also on the horizon, according to economists, is the increase of interest rates in the coming year. Interest rates have not gone up since the economic crisis of 2008. The survey showed that about 75 percent of those asked expect that the Fed’s first interest rate increase will come in 2015.

The survey also showed that 42 percent of the NABE economists agree with US fiscal policy, saying it is “about right.” Others, about 34 percent, believe the policy is “too restrictive.” One year ago the survey showed that only 31 percent thought the US fiscal policy was “about right.”

 

 

 

 

Survey Shows Businessmen Lax on On-line Security

According to a poll conducted by Swivel Secure, 74.2 percent of business owners either write down or otherwise record off-line their collection of passwords. That means that a vast majority of heads of companies have their passwords saved on post-it notes or Excel documents, perhaps not the best way to maintain security of websites. The… Continue Reading

Regulators Warn Consumers of Risks of Bitcoins

Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are coming under increased scrutiny by federal regulators as their popularity continues to advance, triggering a cautious reaction from officials. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency announced that they will begin to take grievances by people who utilize currency-like products such as Bitcoin and internet exchanges where these forms of money… Continue Reading

Ethiopian Business Leaders Visit Houston

In a friendly prelude to the upcoming US Africa Summit, the Fourth Ethiopian-US Business Form took place in the Texas city of Houston. Leading the delegation of Ethiopian businessmen was President Mulatu Teshome. President Teshome stated that he believes an excellent business climate has been created not just for Americans, but for investors from other… Continue Reading