Just last month, the US was booted down to fourth place in global competitiveness after many years of reliably holding the number one position (though it had also slipped to second in 2009). Part of the reason for its marked drop was “the government’s ability to avoid meddling in the private sector” and the fact that is has become “a wasteful spender.”

As it turns out, Transparency International is equally aware of the US’ tarnished record. Last year, it ranked 19th on the Corruption Perceptions Index with a score of 7.5. Already, it was a showing hardly worth writing home about, and this year the nation couldn’t even fair that well.

From The Wall Street Journal:

“The U.S. scored a 7.1 on the new Transparency International index, its worst showing in the index’s history. The score is down

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A massive police presence and bomb experts sealed off a large area in Copenhagen Friday afternoon, after a man tried to detonate a suicide bomb in a hotel toilet. However, the man, with one artificial leg, failed to blow him self up and was seen running from the place with minor injuries and blood in his face. "The major barriers suggest that the police are worried that there are may be more explosions in the area."

We are through another week of good real-economy data releases and (grudgingly) improving markets. The UK will see the government’s emergency budget on Tuesday; big budget cuts on their way. The ECB has now bought €47bn worth of sovereign debt - still peanuts in any reasonable comparison, but I think they may be looking to wind down the purchases once the EFSF is up and running in July

We are through another week of good real-economy data releases and (grudgingly) improving markets. The UK will see the government’s emergency budget on Tuesday; big budget cuts on their way. The ECB has now bought €47bn worth of sovereign debt - still peanuts in any reasonable comparison, but I think they may be looking to wind down the purchases once the EFSF is up and running in July

The latest news out of the European Commission is that Cyprus, Denmark, and Finland have been added to a watch list of nations with “government deficits deemed high enough to pose a threat to the wider European economy.” It actually brings the tally up to 26 out of 27 EU countries that pose that threat. That’s right, almost every single one.

According to Bloomberg:

“The watch list now includes 26 of the 27 member countries, leaving only Luxembourg as being within the EU limit of a 3 percent budget deficit. Luxembourg finished 2009 at 2 percent. Cyprus recorded a deficit of 6.1 percent of GDP last year. Deficits are expected to reach 5.4 percent this year in Denmark and 4.1 percent in Finland. All three countries have been given deadlines to correct the situation.

“The EC, however, also announced that 12 countries have taken effective action to fight their

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Cyprus, Denmark and Finland have joined the ranks of EU member countries with government deficits deemed high enough to pose a threat to the wider European economy. The commission is now recommending they be placed on its list of countries warranting further scrutiny of public finances. Until recently, these countries seemed to be doing well. "The sudden turnabout shows the severity of the economic crisis, which has wreaked havoc with public spending," says Olli Rehn

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s the world economy is on the road to recovery, but the outlook for 2010 is still highly uncertain. EIU maintain that the crisis has already inflicted its deepest wounds, but its impact will continue to be felt throughout 2010. Moreover, downside risks to economic stability still abound. “An increase in [...]

The Oslo based technical analysts at Investtech.com has put together a list of the 10 best bets in the Nordic stock market at the moment. The selection has been made among companies with a revenue of at least one million euro a day. The reccomendations is based on a one to six months perspective. Here’s the list: 1) SeaBird [...]

All banks must be allowed to fail, vice president Jan F. Qvigstad at Central Bank of Norway in a speach today. According to Mr.Qvigstad banks who do not fear for their existence, is a treath to the whole financial system. “The world ecomomy is growing again. The good news is; people are eating. The bad news [...]

In the Baltic region the banks are currently using more money than they  earn. According to Fitch Ratings the 12 banking systems that operates in Eastern Europe will need a capital injection of USD 304 billions in 2009 and 2010. About 20% of the banks risky loans have been restructured and masked in their off-balance [...]