China's economy grew at the slowest pace since 2005, handing more ammunition to Chinese officials calling for reduced gains by the yuan as the export outlook dims. Gross domestic product rose 10.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, down from 10.6 percent in the first, the statistics bureau said today in Beijing. Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in June, slowing from 7.7 percent in May. The yuan had the biggest drop in seven weeks on speculation China's leaders will slow its advance to protect jobs at exporters after a 7 percent increase against the dollar this year. The Ministry of Commerce has urged China's cabinet to rein in currency gains and raise some export rebates, a ministry official said July 14, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The performance of the export sector could influence the government's ...

By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor The Boeing Co. (BA), one of Money Morning’s “Global Titans,” yesterday (Wednesday) released a report that predicted $3.2 trillion in aircraft sales over the next 20 years, as air travel picks up despite current price pressures. “During 40 years of producing the Current Market Outlook, we have learned that the resilience of air transport growth comes from its intrinsic importance to the livelihood of people around the world,” the report from Boeing reads. Boeing’s annual Current Market Outlook estimates that passenger travel will grow at a 5% rate, and cargo will grow at a 5.8% over the next several years. Despite record fuel costs, air travel and shipping has become an integral part of daily life for many consumers and businesses. Boeing says that demand will only grow. A lot of that growth is expected to come from ...

CHINA’S economy will overtake that of the United States by 2035 and be twice its size by midcentury, a study released today by a US research organisation concluded.

The report by economist Albert Keidel of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said China’s rapid growth is driven by domestic demand more than exports, and will sustain high single-digit growth rates well into the 21st century.

“China’s economic performance clearly is no flash in the pan,” Mr Keidel said.

“Its growth this decade has averaged more than 10 per cent a year and is still going strong in the first half of 2008. Because its success in recent decades has not been export-led but driven by domestic demand, its rapid growth can continue well into the 21st century, unfettered by world market limitation.”

Mr Keidel said the rise of China to the world’s biggest economy will happen regardless of the method of calculation.

Under current market-based

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Brazil’s time has come. For decades investment professionals have joked that Brazil was “the next big thing… always has been and always will be.” The country is phenomenally rich in commodities and natural resources—it’s the world’s largest exporter of sugar, coffee, beef, poultry, soybeans, and other items. However, until recently Brazil had yet to come anywhere near realizing its potential. From the 1980s until the early ‘90s the country trailed other emerging market economies due to its high inflation, international debts, and political corruption. Brazil tamed the inflation problem with its re-introduction of the Brazilian real in 1994— inflation subsequently plunged from 2,300% to a more reasonable 4% today. The country began denominating its debt in the real soon after, thus avoiding the exchange fluctuations that typically cripple emerging market economies, e.g. if you owe $4 billion in a foreign currency and that ...