Federal Reserve policymakers yesterday (Wednesday) reduced the benchmark Federal Funds rate to 1.0%, an aggressive half-percentage-point cut that central bank Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s latest attempt to keep the widening financial crisis from tipping the world into a global recession. “The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures,” the Fed said in a statement. “Business equipment spending and industrial production have weakened in recent months, and slowing economic activity in many foreign economies is damping the prospects for U.S. exports. “Moreover,” the statement added, “the intensification of financial market turmoil is likely to exert additional restraint on spending, partly by further reducing the ability of households and businesses to obtain credit.” The Fed also lowered its discount rate – the rate at which it lends directly to banks and Wall Street firms – ...

China’s red-hot economy is officially slowing. Latest data put annual GDP growth at 9.0% in Q3, down from 10.1% in the previous quarter. Most analysts expect further economic easing and accelerated capital flight in Q4. But Jason Simpkins says a correction will actually benefit the Chinese economy, which has been running the risk of overheating. And ’slower’ growth of around 8% next year will still be the envy of the developed world.

This from Money Morning:

On the surface, it appears as though the Chinese economy is suffering along with the rest of the world. The economic crisis that has ensnared Western economies is expected to dampen Chinese exports and there is already evidence of capital flight.

But the real story is that China’s foreign exchange reserves – at $1.9 trillion – remain at an all-time high, and the

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China’s economic growth rate slipped into single digits in the third quarter for the first time in at least four years under the impact of the global credit crisis and weakness in the domestic property sector. Annual gross domestic product growth slowed more sharply than expected to 9.0 per cent from 10.1 per cent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday. It was not immediately possible to pinpoint when growth was last weaker because China does not publish new quarterly data when it revises its annual GDP figures. nor was it possible to precisely calibrate the speed of the slowdown since we do not have seasonally adjusted quarter on quarter data. China's economic expansion was the weakest since at least the second quarter of 2003, when growth slumped because of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, ...

I was surprised by this item from the BBC:

Chinese trade surplus at new high

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

China's trade surplus hit a monthly record of $28.7bn (£16.28bn) in August as the gap with the US and Europe widened, despite weaker world demand.

China's global trade gap for the month was 14.9% wider than the same month in 2007, official state data showed.

Exports rose 21.1% to $134.9bn, while imports were up 23.1% to $106.18bn in August, the customs agency said.

Meanwhile other official figures showed consumer inflation hit a 14-month low of 4.9% in August, from 6.3% in July.

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Exchange rate issues

August's trade gap trumped the last record high of $27bn in October 2007.

China's trade surplus with the US rose 16.6% to $17.5bn during the month, and the gap with the 27-member European Union, China's biggest trading partner, increased by 25% to $16bn.

The data is likely to add fresh

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