InfoAnda - Europe faces malaise and must reform, World Bank says |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Bollywood star to receive Malaysian honorary title | 24 November 2008
Aging bikers taking to the streets on beefy trikes | 25 January 2010
Samsung says working on joint TV, phone platform | | 20 October 2010

Slain Jakarta florist said to have plotted blasts | 13 August 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Europe faces malaise and must reform, World Bank says |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Davos 2012 Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Geraldine Fabrikant Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article Images of December Best photos of the year Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth 23 Jan 2012 Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town 23 Jan 2012 Wife of Italian ship captain furious: report 9:03am EST Abortion safer than giving birth: study 23 Jan 2012 Iran says sanctions to fail, repeats Hormuz threat | 9:58am EST Discussed 310 Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse 119 Supreme Court rejects judge-drawn Texas election maps 116 Obama set to reject Keystone oil pipeline: sources Watched Angelina Jolie fascinated by "bizarre" Republican presidential race Sun, Jan 22 2012 "Smart E-book" turns the page on reading technology Sun, Jan 22 2012 A dangerous walk to school Fri, Jan 20 2012 Europe faces malaise and must reform, World Bank says Tweet Share this Email Print Related News HIGHLIGHTS 3-BOJ chief: timing of Japan recovery delayed 4:30am EST Momentum to drain from world economy in 2012: poll Thu, Jan 19 2012 World Bank slashes global GDP forecasts, outlook grim Wed, Jan 18 2012 Euro zone inflation dips, opens door to ECB cut Tue, Jan 17 2012 Analysis & Opinion EM growth is passport out of West’s mess but has a price, says “Mr BRIC” Europe’s self-help Related Topics World » A man walks past a pizza shop using a sign of a euro coin to advertise its prices in central Madrid December 9, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Susana Vera By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS | Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:59am EST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe has little chance of making a strong economic recovery even if an impending recession proves mild and faces weak growth for the foreseeable future, burdened by debt that may not reach manageable levels until 2030, the World Bank said on Tuesday. Only major reforms in governments and working habits will save Europe from a spiral where an ageing, shrinking workforce, high debt and unaffordable public spending strangles its future, the bank said. "Strong growth could make debt problems fade, yet the prospects for a strong rebound are feeble," the bank said in a report, predicting weak economic output until 2016 as households and governments cut debt and investors remain wary. The euro zone sovereign debt crisis has left Europe dealing with a crisis of confidence that looks likely to push the continent into recession in early 2012, just as it was recovering from the 2008/2009 financial slump. The European Union is focusing on cutting fiscal deficits to regain investor confidence and avoid another crisis, but the World Bank said that task remains huge, forecasting that Western Europe is unlikely to reach pre-crisis public debt levels of 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) until 2030. For the 17 nations in the euro, only Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Slovenia will be below that level -- the EU's limit -- in 2012, according to EU data. With the European economy slipping into a recession again, the EU faces a difficult dilemma in promoting growth and cutting debt, while confronting a growing productivity gap between the wealthy north and the poorer south and east. "The crisis won't be solved without growth," Philippe Le Houerou, the World Bank's vice president for Europe and Central Asia, said in presenting the report in Brussels. Europe's governments will have to become smaller or more efficient, the report said, noting that a 10 percentage point increase in government size cuts the long-term growth rate of advanced European economies by about a third. But ahead of an EU leaders summit on growth next week in Brussels, the World Bank also said that the region - long the envy of the world for its high living standards - needs a new "social consensus" to address even bigger issues. Over the next 50 years, Europe's labor force is set to decline by 50 million people, which could threaten its ability to grow its economy at sustainable rates, and immigration, a difficult issue for Europeans at a time of high unemployment, must help to swell the workforce. "Ageing not only undermines growth but also makes it hard to improve public finances," the report said. "Ageing is a direct cost ... especially for pensions and health." Western Europe's pensions are more generous than the rest of the world, but pension benefits cannot keep up with workers' incomes and Europe needs to encourage people to work longer and find ways to penalize early retirement, the bank said. By 2007, French men drew pensions for 15 years longer than in 1965 and Polish men more than a dozen, the report said. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For full multimedia coverage: r.reuters.com/xyt94s ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ INNOVATE, SAVE THE SOUTH As Europeans work less, retire earlier and earn higher wages, productivity in Europe compared to the United States and Japan has also fallen sharply since the mid-1990s, with outdated infrastructure and machinery also playing a role. "To be competitive, productivity should have grown by about 3 to 4 percent each year during the 2000s," the bank said. "Instead, it fell by about 1 percent each year." In a sign that EU-mandated austerity will not on its own save Europe, governments and companies need to address a "productivity divide" between more advanced economies like Germany and Belgium and southern economies with declining productivity. Too much focus on the construction industry and a lack of global companies that can attract foreign direct investment, combined with bureaucracy that stifles innovation, are much to blame for southern Europe's laggard status, the report said. Between 2002 and 2008, productivity in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece fell markedly, while it rose across the rest of northern and eastern Europe. In an all-too-common story in Italy and Greece, businesses that have been operating for more than 40 years prefer to remain small and family-run, rather than try to deal with costly government red tape and grow into successful global firms. "Do you know what I would have to deal with if my business were to employ 40 people?" asked an Italian businessmen with half a dozen employees interviewed in the report. "I would have to spend days running after inspectors," the businessman said. (Reporting By Robin Emmott; editing by Stephen Nisbet) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Egypt's Islamist-led parliament meets, rivalries on display |
Putin warns ethnic tensions risk tearing Russia apart |
U.N. probes new charges of peacekeeper sex abuse in Haiti |
Yemen sends more troops to militant-held town |
U.S. and Afghan officials flexible on peace, outlawed group says |
Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town |
Lone voice reveals fear, division in Syria's Homs |
Apple 2012: Smooth sailing, for the most part |
EU's Reding says data fines not in focus |
Korean research, a first step toward Dr. Smartphone? |
Police need warrant for GPS tracking: court |
Occupy movement gets help from its musical friends |
Aretha Franklin calls off wedding plans |
Altitude sickness causes Tracy Morgan Sundance collapse |
Epic clash: Silicon Valley blindsides Hollywood on piracy |
Syria denounces Arab League for telling Assad to quit |
Chinese forces break up Tibetan protest with tear |
Two car bombs kill 10, wound 38 in Iraq capital |
Japan task force kept no records of nuclear crisis response |
France to decide on Afghan pullout after Karzai visit |
France urges Turkey not to overreact to genocide law |
East Afghan frontline emerges as major hurdle |
Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town |
Insight: As Africa's consumers rise, so does inequality |
Flamboyant online tycoon kept low profile in rural NZ |
Sony and Panasonic brace for grim earnings season |
TI says chip demand is improving; to close 2 factories |
Playtech gears up for global expansion |
Analysis: Megaupload shutdown unlikely to deter piracy |
Ex-U.S. spy chief says may take crisis for new cyber law |
Sage mindful of European woes on customers |
Supreme Court rules police need warrant for GPS tracking |
Elpida in talks to merge with Micron, Nanya: report |
Rebecca Hall rolls dice with movie Lay The Favorite |
Newcomer Gina Rodriguez wows Sundance as Filly Brown |
Shahs of Sunset puts young Iranians on U.S. TV map |
Iran says sanctions to fail, repeats Hormuz threat |
Egypt partially lifts state of emergency law |
U.S. warns over Bahrain travel before anniversary |
Hungary EU deal hopes dim, PM in Brussels |
New body found on wrecked Italian ship |
Nigeria's Boko Haram killed 935 people since 2009 |
EU wants bold peace bids by Palestinians, Israel |
Europe faces malaise and must reform, World Bank says |
Netflix glad 2011 over but 2012 may mean more pain |
Apple again loses Dutch bid for Samsung tablet ban |
Verizon Wireless margins hurt by iPhone |
About one in five workers worldwide telecommute: poll |
Chipmakers' forecasts prompt fears of Nokia slump |
RIM's new leader raises doubts among investors |
Nokia fined for spam texts in Australia |
Russian handset sales back to pre-crisis level: MTS |
The Artist, Hugo lead the way in Oscar nods |
Potter star looks to life without wands or wizards |
Abu Dhabi resumes Louvre, Guggenheim projects |
Rushdie India speech cancelled amid death threats |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01