Free Republic

Summary New lending policies in China are triggering a fundamental rethinking of the stability of the Chinese economy. This time no amount of damage control can hide the fact that the myth of the Chinese economic miracle is finally -- and perhaps fatally -- breaking apart. Analysis Significant uncertainty erupted in Chinese banking circles this week as reports circulated globally that the China Banking Regulatory Commission had suspended all lending for three days. This would effectively create a lending moratorium for well over a week due to the upcoming May Day celebration. The story, which appeared in the Wall Street...

Few people think it is "good for the economy" to send U.S. jobs to low-wage countries like India and China even though pluralities agree that it would mean lower prices for consumers and would help U.S. companies to compete, according to a national poll released Wednesday by Harris Interactive, a market research and consulting firm based in Rochester, N.Y. Offshoring has been both criticized and praised within Silicon Valley, which has seen more than 200,000 jobs disappear in the past four years. There has been no study done to ascertain how many of those jobs were shipped overseas. Only 16...

Iranian banks open branches in north Sulaimaniya, Iraq Press, March 25, 2004 – Two Iranian banks have opened branches in this Kurdish city, the seat of the regional government administered by Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani. It is the first time Iranian banks open branches in Iraq, whose current interim authorities have scrapped the curbs the former regime had imposed on external trade. Under Saddam Hussein, the Kurds had their own currency, but they swamped it into a unified dinar currently in circulation across the country. Under a new temporary constitution, the Kurds are to preserve their autonomy but they are...

Large computer makers and Asia are growing in importance to Intel's business, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Intel also disclosed that the Internal Revenue Service is examining its 2001 and 2002 tax returns. The chipmaker is audited this way every two years, according to an Intel representative. It is already in dispute with the IRS over tax credits taken for 1999 and 2000 that could cost it $600 million. In the annual 10K filing, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company reported that approximately 42 percent of its total revenue of $30.1 billion last year came from...