23/11/2012 World Business Report


23/11/2012

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 23/11/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

bombing in Tel Aviv. Those are the latest headlines. Time now for the

:00:05.:00:15.
:00:15.:00:19.

Hello everybody. Welcome to the programme. Your chance to catch up

:00:19.:00:23.

on the latest in the world of business and money. The headlines:

:00:23.:00:28.

Deadlock in Brussels. Talks on the but s,

:00:28.:00:32.

but Angela Merkel warns they will need another summit next year to do

:00:32.:00:37.

suspends suspends its chief financial

:00:37.:00:43.

officer amid allegations of bribery. Plus Ready, steady, shock! US

:00:43.:00:48.

retailers gear up for their biggest day of the year. Will Black Friday

:00:48.:00:58.
:00:58.:01:01.

be much cause for Thanksgiving? -- We will catch up with other stories

:01:01.:01:07.

shortly, but first to putt is how Angela Merkel describes the

:01:07.:01:16.

positions Europe's leaders last night. -- too far apart. They will

:01:16.:01:20.

reconvene at lunchtime today, but Mrs Merkel is now warning that a

:01:20.:01:25.

second summit will more than likely be needed early next year. The

:01:25.:01:28.

splits are on predictable lines with France defending its farm

:01:28.:01:33.

subsidies and poorer countries in resisting cuts to infrastructure

:01:33.:01:38.

spending. Britain is leading the calls from rich nations to rain in

:01:38.:01:43.

the EU spending at a time of much austerity at home. Lots to talk

:01:43.:01:49.

about. I am joined by a Bill, thank you for joining us. In a nutshell,

:01:49.:01:55.

what we are seeing is the very reason we have still got the

:01:55.:02:02.

eurozone crisis. Last night's no agreement news is another example

:02:02.:02:07.

of how it has all become about politics. The good news is we don't

:02:07.:02:11.

have open warfare between the UK and the rest of Europe, which would

:02:11.:02:16.

have caused an enormous market credibility problem for the euro.

:02:16.:02:19.

But what we do have is more interminable discussion about

:02:19.:02:24.

what's going to happen next in Europe. We need to step back and

:02:24.:02:28.

say, what does this mean for Europe that there is lack of agreement,

:02:28.:02:33.

that the French are pushing to keep the inefficiencies of the Common

:02:33.:02:36.

Agricultural Policy going, and the weaker nations are pushing for more

:02:36.:02:43.

infrastructure. That is a valid point, you look at the numbers...

:02:43.:02:49.

The agricultural spend out of the budget is 30 %? This is the whole

:02:49.:02:52.

point, this common agricultural spending is basically keeping

:02:52.:02:59.

inefficient farmers in Business, building thousands of airports for

:02:59.:03:05.

nobody to use in Spain, or the best littleme

:03:05.:03:09.

little cocky Peninsular in some benighted island, it does not add

:03:09.:03:15.

to growth. What we have got here is in Europe they are contemplating

:03:15.:03:20.

its navel while ther at all. It is now going to be next

:03:20.:03:23.

year, growth prospects in Asia is going to dominate and especially

:03:23.:03:29.

the US, Europe is making itself irrelevant with these kinds of

:03:29.:03:33.

squabbles. Okay, one trillion Euro- budget is in question, they have

:03:33.:03:37.

got to do it and it's important, but in the grand scheme of things

:03:37.:03:41.

we have still got a massive crisis. We have got regional elections in

:03:41.:03:45.

Spain which some say could be a problem for the country and the

:03:45.:03:51.

economy as a whole. Cyprus may be getting a bail-out today. And we

:03:51.:03:56.

have Greece on the sidelines still! This is the fascinating thing about

:03:56.:04:02.

Europe. We have got Greece getting sold guaranteed from Europe, that

:04:02.:04:08.

will delay the next bail-out. I guarantee I will be sitting here

:04:08.:04:12.

next year talking about the next stage of the Greek crisis. You're

:04:12.:04:16.

right about Cyprus. Europe is showing resilience to keep the

:04:16.:04:21.

whole thing going. We call it kicking the can down the long and

:04:21.:04:25.

winding road. But the problem is the rest of the world is now moving

:04:26.:04:32.

on. The great recession of 2012 will be replaced by growth

:04:32.:04:37.

everywhere else except for Europe. Bill, I could talk to you for much

:04:37.:04:41.

longer but I have got to move on. The focus next year, Asia and the

:04:41.:04:46.

US? The US particularly. Thank you for joining us. Let's move on

:04:46.:04:50.

because today is the day after Thanksgiving and for many Americans

:04:50.:04:55.

it means one thing, what could that be? Shopping. Is traditionally

:04:55.:04:59.

known as Black Friday, a chance for retailers to haul back any losses

:05:00.:05:03.

and move back into the black. Many of the big shots open at midnight

:05:03.:05:08.

or even earlier with big discounts -- big shots. The holiday season

:05:08.:05:13.

can account for between one-third and one-half of total revenues for

:05:13.:05:21.

retailers. Our consumers willing to spend, though? -- are the consumers.

:05:21.:05:25.

Holiday in America, a make-or-break time for retailers, each offering

:05:25.:05:30.

bigger and better discounts to persuade customers to spend. For

:05:30.:05:34.

many retailers the holiday season is the most profitable time of year.

:05:34.:05:39.

A chance to make up for lost sales during what has been a difficult 12

:05:39.:05:45.

months. But convincing Americans to get out and spend won't easy with a

:05:45.:05:49.

weak economy, retailers are having to work much harder to get

:05:49.:05:54.

customers through their doors. And four big retailers that means

:05:54.:06:00.

cashing in while they can. Black Friday is equivalent to a full week

:06:00.:06:04.

for much of the year. It is a huge day. It's by far the biggest

:06:04.:06:11.

shopping day of the year here. The traffic builds enormously in the

:06:11.:06:16.

toy business between Black Friday and Christmas Day. So you start

:06:16.:06:23.

having days that are equal two weeks the rest of the year. In fact

:06:23.:06:27.

147 million Americans are expected to shock this holiday weekend. That

:06:27.:06:33.

is down from last year's 152 million. -- shop. None the less

:06:33.:06:37.

sales are expected to grow 4.1 %, the biggest rise since the

:06:37.:06:41.

recession. So have the consumers finally shaken off their worries

:06:41.:06:46.

about the economy? Times are a little better than last year.

:06:46.:06:52.

Definitely spending more. Not a lot but a little bit. We look for staff

:06:52.:06:58.

and if it seems like a good deal we go for it. -- stuff. I want to keep

:06:58.:07:02.

the kids happy and that sort of thing. I am going to spend more to

:07:02.:07:07.

make everybody happy. That will make the retailers happy. They have

:07:07.:07:11.

been forced to cut prices to keep hold of customers and that's hit

:07:11.:07:16.

profits. Retail has been tricky this year. It is not that the

:07:16.:07:20.

consumer isn't spending but they are doing it in fits and spurts and

:07:20.:07:23.

they have been distracted by economic issues, political issues,

:07:23.:07:28.

and even that will disasters. The consumer has found lots of reasons

:07:28.:07:34.

to spend but then stop. -- even natural disasters. Come the new

:07:34.:07:37.

year they may have even less to spend. The looming threats of tax

:07:37.:07:42.

rises and spending cuts combined with a post-holiday Hanover means

:07:42.:07:46.

that consumers will likely feel less well-off -- hangover. Even

:07:46.:07:52.

more reason for retailers to cash in now. Let's stay with big retail

:07:52.:07:57.

because Wal-Mart has suspended a number of its executives in India

:07:57.:08:04.

pending a bribery investigation. I know this news is really very fresh

:08:04.:08:11.

and it is just out, what's going on? We have only really got it from

:08:11.:08:16.

various reports at the moment but essentially the chief financial

:08:16.:08:26.
:08:26.:08:30.

officer and much of the legal team That is as the bribery law

:08:30.:08:35.

corruption investigation goes on. There were also accusations in

:08:35.:08:39.

Brazil and China and Mexico. According to Indian press quoting

:08:39.:08:43.

sources, investigations are looking into whether bribes were paid to

:08:43.:08:48.

government officials in India. A spokesperson has said everyone

:08:48.:08:53.

involved is innocent until proven guilty. Indian authorities also

:08:53.:08:57.

separately investigating possible foreign exchange rules violations

:08:57.:09:01.

that could have occurred when Wal- Mart invested $100 million in the

:09:01.:09:07.

domestic unit, which is owned by its wholesale joint venture partner.

:09:07.:09:11.

We have been talking a lot in recent weeks about India's attempts

:09:11.:09:16.

to reform its retail sector. But this development could scupper all

:09:16.:09:21.

of that. Indian opposition parties and many others are opposed to

:09:21.:09:24.

allowing international retail giants like Wal-Mart into the

:09:24.:09:29.

retail sector. They say allowing them in would make it tough for

:09:29.:09:33.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS