Free Republic

Happy days are here again in world stock markets. Yesterday's profit-taking notwithstanding, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is flirting with 10000 and the S&P 500 is up 60% from its March low. Still, if risk-seeking behavior has returned to financial markets, much of it is funded by borrowing increasingly cheap U.S. dollars. There is also very little evidence, if any, that consumption and employment are really recovering in America. With the U.S. government stepping in to keep markets from clearing, today's U.S. economy in many ways resembles the post-bubble Japanese economy of the 1990s. Ultra-loose monetary policy and low demand...

Mr Howard said the deal would bring the two countries closer Australian Prime Minister John Howard has dismissed suggestions that a security declaration with Japan could strain ties with China. Mr Howard is set to sign the ground-breaking deal during a four-day visit to Japan which begins on Sunday. The agreement is thought to include co-operation on terrorism, peacekeeping and disaster relief. Australia has been looking to exert more influence in Asia, in terms of business as well as regional security. Full details of the pact have not been revealed but it is expected to include plans for greater...