Economy — GuardiansPress

Card Fraud Falls To Its Lowest Level For 11 Years

March 8, 2012 by admin ·

The amount of money lost due to fraud on credit and debit cards fell last year by 7% to £341m – its lowest level for 11 years.

The drop from 2010 was mainly due to a 41% fall in fraudsters impersonating people to obtain or use credit cards.

There was also a 24% fall in the amount of fraud from cards being faked.

The UK Cards Association said it was the third year in a row that card fraud had fallen, with a drop of 44% since losses peaked in 2008.

It brings card fraud to its lowest level since 2000 when £317m was lost through fraud. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy ·

Ignoring Tourism Is The Wrong Way To Go

March 7, 2012 by admin ·

Ignoring the state’s largest industry is not a fruitful way to bolster Pasco’s economy. But that was the recommendation from an economic development consultant who said Pasco should quit worrying about luring tourists and the low-wage service jobs that follow. Instead, the county should put more emphasis on industrial recruitment.

The suggestion is based on economics, not politics. It doesn’t even account for the commission’s frustrating and prolonged effort deciding how to spend Pasco’s tourism construction money that has accumulated for more than two decades. The high profile political problems tied to tourism development include commissioners approving a tourism plan then killing a bed tax increase to finance it; parochialism; and the soured romances with private-sector partners over proposed sports venues. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy, Tourism ·

Ericsson To Improve Mobile

March 6, 2012 by admin ·

GLOBAL telecommunications technology and infrastructure provider Ericsson last week announced products and initiatives meant to improve mobile broadband user experience and to meet data demands.

To deliver high-quality connectivity, the company says it will focus on improving the density of the network to get “cheap and effective” coverage where possible; and adding small cells or small base stations, to improve coverage in areas of high traffic density.

Mobile network operators are experiencing a mobile data explosion as consumers’ appetite for mobile broadband services such as video streaming, social media and mobile gaming provides potential growth. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Gadgets ·

Why Japan Is Looking Good

March 4, 2012 by admin ·

The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 13000 on Tuesday—but it is Japanese stocks that are really on fire this year.

The MSCI Japan Index rallied more than 11% in February, its largest monthly gain since 2008, beating the Dow by nearly nine percentage points and topping highflying markets such as China, Korea and Brazil.

There are many reasons the rally might continue. But one of its chief propellants—the falling yen—could make it difficult for U.S. investors to fully capitalize on the surge. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Stock Market ·

Silver Prices Jump, Playing Catch-up To Gold

March 1, 2012 by admin ·

Silver prices shot up 4.5 percent Tuesday, playing catch-up to gold.

Silver is both a precious and an industrial metal. Traders can buy it to hedge against a volatile stock market, as they do with gold. But it can also be used to make products like computer chips, meaning prices can rise when traders expect demand from manufacturers to go up.

In March contracts, silver rose $1.616 to $37.14 per ounce. It’s up roughly 10 percent from where it was a year ago.

Sterling Smith, senior market analyst at Country Hedging in St. Paul, Minn., said part of the reason silver is surging is that traders believe it’s undervalued compared to gold. Gold closed at $1,788.40 an ounce, up $13.50 for the day. It’s up about 26 percent compared to a year ago. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Precious Metals ·

World Bank: China Needs Reform To Support Growth

February 28, 2012 by admin ·

China needs a new economic strategy after three decades of rapid growth and must reduce the dominance of state companies and promote free markets to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income society, the World Bank and Chinese researchers said Monday.

The recommendations in a report on development of the world’s second-largest economy through 2030 come amid debate in the ruling Communist Party over the future course of reform as a new generation of leaders prepare to take office this year.

The report’s emphasis on curbing state industry clashes with Beijing’s strategy over the past decade of building government-owned champions in fields from banking to technology and is likely to provoke opposition. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Stock Market ·

Dialling Delivers Dollars

February 27, 2012 by admin ·

Are you looking for ideas to bring in more revenue? Well here’s a simple, easy, cheap idea for you. Call your old clients.

Several years ago I wrote about the very clever Iain and Andy that own the Me Salons.

Among other clever initiatives described in the article, they had a weekly system called Raising The Dead.

They brought back 40 per cent of their non-returning customers with doing nothing more than a telephone call and saying “Hi, Debbie. We haven’t seen you for six months. What can we do to bring you back to us”. Not only did this bump up their revenue (and don’t forget to think about the long term value of a customer) it also highlighted problem areas from the feedback. Issues they weren’t aware of. [Read more...]