Economy

By Rémy Raisner Five years after the beginning of the global financial crisis, the French and U.S. economies present drastically different pictures. While America seems on the path to full recovery, France still faces challenges, and its economy is in recession for the second time in four years. The national mood is one of the most pessimistic in Europe, and Francois Hollande, one year after his election as president, is seeing record-low popularity. Why? Part of the explanation lies in a combination of weak growth, competitiveness issues, high joblessness, and high public spending, totaling 57 percent of gross domestic product - vs. about 40 percent for the United States.

I have a close friend, who along with many Democratic dreamers, predicts the economy will sink President Bush's reelection. I disagree, so I offered to make up the difference if his stock account doesn't rise 3 percent in the next six months (triple what banks and bonds are paying), but I would get any return over that amount. He declined. He may be misguided, but he's no idiot. He understands that the economy may not be great, but it is OK and surely getting better - which bodes well for Bush's political future.

What surplus?

WE OWE more on our homes than we have equity. We're paying ridiculously high gas prices, along with other higher prices because of these gas prices, yet we are not bringing in any more money. Five states have suspended educational loans, because the money simply isn't there. Health programs are being cut, along with programs in the arts, and others. Forty-three cents of every tax dollar is being spent on the military, with only 20 cents to health care and 12 in response to poverty.

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Tuesday that the nation's economy "is close to faltering" and that the central bank was prepared to take further steps to support the recovery. In a day of volatile swings, stocks came off their morning lows after Bernanke implied that the Fed could adopt additional stimulus measures in the coming months. In the early afternoon, share prices trended down again on continuing fears about the economy and Europe's debt problems - but they surged into positive territory in the last 45 minutes of trading on reports that European officials were working on a joint effort to prop up the region's struggling banks.

President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on Tuesday each offered hope for the nation's economy even as they acknowledged its struggles. While Bernanke called the recovery from the recession - especially for the job market - "frustratingly slow," he predicted that the economy would expand later this year. He blamed the recent weakness on high gasoline prices and the effect of the March 11 earthquake in Japan, which has slowed production of cars and other products using parts made in Japan.

While the national economy is slowing down, it still seems to be growing, not shrinking. And growth is likely to pick up in the second half of 2001, according to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. "Clearly, the economy has slowed down," Dr. Anthony M. Santomero told reporters yesterday. But, he added, "the data I have seen does not suggest we are in a slowdown with a zero growth rate. . .We're seeing softening the first half of the year. I think we'll see growth in the second half.

The Philadelphia economy picked up steam in the fourth quarter last year, according to a study by Grant Thornton, an accounting and management consulting firm. The quarterly Grant Thornton Index of economic indicators rose 1.40 points to 109.5 in the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, from 108.1 in the third quarter, ended Sept. 30. The firm said it is the first time in two years that the index for Philadelphia has increased. Growth in non-farm payrolls, construction permits, and factory hours all contributed to the increase, the firm said.

Rep. William H. Gray III, D-Pa., chairman of the House Budget Committee, said yesterday that Democrats have a chance to win the White House in November, particularly if the economy goes sour before then. "If the economy is doing very well and foreign policy is doing well, the Republicans will have a leg up," said Gray, who plans to announce his endorsement of a candidate next month. He warned that the economy's "fundamentals," such as the trade deficit, the sagging value of the dollar and a downward trend in consumer spending," are so out of sync" that the chances of a recession are "50-50.

The hoopla of national political conventions has subsided, and Congress returns to work tomorrow with a weak economy demanding lawmakers' attention. With unemployment and inflation rising, the danger is that Congress instead will get sidetracked by election-year political stunts. Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led a counterproductive government shutdown in the mid-1990s, is at it again. Backed by a well-funded advocacy group that he founded, Gingrich is agitating for another shutdown of the federal government, this time over oil drilling - the subject of his new book.

SLIGO, Ireland - President Obama this week will visit a European continent deeply worried about its economy, the worsening conflict in Syria, and the uncertain direction of American leadership abroad in the fifth year of his administration. As he arrives Monday in Northern Ireland for his first trip to Europe in two years, Obama will be confronting the diplomatic fallout from his actions and inaction on some of the most urgent concerns of his European counterparts. His long delay in more aggressively supporting Syria's beleaguered opposition forces - a move his administration announced in the form of expanded military aid on the eve of his visit here - has frustrated the leaders of France and Germany.

NEW YORK - Disappointing reports about the U.S. economy helped push the stock market lower Friday. Concerns that the Federal Reserve could announce plans to cut back its stimulus program next week also weighed on the mood. Americans' confidence in the economy weakened in June and was lower than economists had estimated, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey out Friday. Another report said factories were not as busy as expected. The Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 9.63 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,626.73.

By Rémy Raisner Five years after the beginning of the global financial crisis, the French and U.S. economies present drastically different pictures. While America seems on the path to full recovery, France still faces challenges, and its economy is in recession for the second time in four years. The national mood is one of the most pessimistic in Europe, and Francois Hollande, one year after his election as president, is seeing record-low popularity. Why? Part of the explanation lies in a combination of weak growth, competitiveness issues, high joblessness, and high public spending, totaling 57 percent of gross domestic product - vs. about 40 percent for the United States.

The U.S. economy gained a better-than-expected 175,000 jobs in May, adding to a string of solid, if unspectacular, employment reports that promise continued slow growth. Economists found little to cheer about in Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which also said the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent in May from 7.5 percent in April as 420,000 more people looked for work. "They're decent but not great," John D. Worrall, an economics professor at Rutgers-Camden, said of the job numbers.

The economic impact on the Philadelphia region of this month's U.S. Open Golf Championship could approach $100 million, sports and hospitality-industry observers predict. Businesses within easy reach of Merion Golf Club - from limousine and catering services, to restaurants, to bed and breakfasts - are reporting significant spikes in bookings for tournament week June 10-16, as are some Center City hotels. "In terms of sheer volume and global reach, this is probably the biggest sporting event in the area in years," said Larry Needle, executive director of the Sports Congress, a division of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy grew at a modest 2.4 percent annual rate from January through March, slightly slower than initially estimated. Consumer spending was stronger than first thought, but businesses restocked more slowly, and state and local government spending cuts were deeper. The Commerce Department said Thursday that economic growth in the first quarter was only marginally below the 2.5 percent annual rate the government estimated last month. That's still much faster than the 0.4 percent growth during the October-December quarter.

WASHINGTON - Home prices are surging, job growth is strengthening, and stocks are setting record highs. All of which explains why Americans are more hopeful about the economy than at any point in five years. Investors on Tuesday celebrated the latest buoyant reports on consumer confidence and housing prices, which together suggest that growth could accelerate in the second half of 2013. Greater confidence could spur people to spend more and help offset tax increases and federal spending cuts.

Rob Wonderling is president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Steven Bradley is chairman of the African American Chamber of Commerce Philadelphia has the second-highest poverty rate in the nation, next to Detroit. One of the key reasons: decades of jobs lost to our suburbs and other states. Today, 42 percent of city residents leave the city to go to their jobs - outside Philadelphia. We're moving in the wrong direction. Why have jobs been leaving the city?

Owner Howard Taylor hopes Economy Terror can return to be a feared force among female pacers this season. The 4-year-old Economy Terror is among eight horses in Sunday's $250,000 Betsy Ross Mares Invitational at Harrah's Philadelphia. The field includes Anndrovette, who was voted harness racing's best older female pacer in 2012 and 2011, as well as defending champion Royal Cee Cee N. Sunday's 14-race card, which begins at 12:40 p.m., also includes the $250,000 Maxie Lee Memorial Invitational for older trotters.

PARIS - The man charged with reviving France's shrinking economy and attracting businesses to invest is gaining a reputation for doing the opposite. As the country's first minister for industrial renewal, Arnaud Montebourg has told the world's largest steelmaker it is not welcome in France, exchanged angry letters with the head of an American tire company he was supposedly wooing, and scuttled Yahoo's offer to buy the majority of a video-sharing website. Montebourg, 50, a lawyer from Burgundy, is the public face of President Francois Hollande's plan to revitalize Europe's second-largest economy, which is in recession and grappling with 11 percent unemployment.