Browse content similar to 16/11/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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which appeared to suppress dissent. Those are the headlines. Now it is | :00:06. | :00:16. | |
:00:16. | :00:19. | ||
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the programme. Your chance to catch up | :00:19. | :00:24. | |
on all the latest in the world of business and money. The headlines: | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
Barack Obama and Republican leaders tried to break the deadlock over | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
tax and spending that could spell disaster for the US. | :00:33. | :00:40. | |
In Asia, Japan averts a fiscal cliff as it passes a crucial bill. | :00:40. | :00:47. | |
Plus IT and the Stasi prisons. The Swedish furniture giant addressees | :00:47. | :00:57. | |
:00:57. | :01:01. | ||
claims it used forced labour in Let's talk about the US a first. | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
Barack Obama meets with congressional leaders later for the | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
first time since the election. Topping the agenda, attempts to | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
break the deadlock over the budget. The fear is that without a deal, | :01:16. | :01:21. | |
the US economy will fall of a fiscal cliff. We are talking about | :01:21. | :01:27. | |
tax cuts and government spending. They will expire on 31st December. | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
The billions of dollars will be taking out of the economy if they | :01:31. | :01:38. | |
are not replaced. The US could lose more than 2 million jobs. GDP could | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
be cut by 0.5 %. The country could be pushed into recession. It is | :01:44. | :01:50. | |
taking its toll on businesses. This report from New York. | :01:50. | :01:55. | |
Upstate New York, they are assembling parts for planes here. | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
Both for commercial planes and military, it takes precision | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
unskilled work. Manufacturing has all but disappeared here. This firm | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
has created much-needed jobs. Despite the recession, business is | :02:09. | :02:16. | |
good. Around 90 people work here, from all the local area. It wants | :02:16. | :02:21. | |
to expand more. The firm is worried about the future. It has been | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
putting off big investment decisions over the concern as to | :02:24. | :02:32. | |
what the next few weeks could bring. By this man told me that the | :02:32. | :02:34. | |
uncertainty has taken its toll already. | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
The US Air Force is one of his biggest customers. The package of | :02:38. | :02:45. | |
tax rises and spending cuts include a big reduction in defence spending. | :02:45. | :02:54. | |
That would be hit business here. In terms of buying new equipment, we | :02:54. | :03:01. | |
have had discussions with key staff. Leigh have to wait and see. We must | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
wait until this situation is resolved. Then begin make a | :03:05. | :03:11. | |
decision about how much equipment we buy. -- we can make. Many firms | :03:11. | :03:17. | |
are sitting on cash reserves across America. They're waiting for | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
direction as to when and where to invest it. Will lawmakers reach a | :03:22. | :03:29. | |
deal? Will the economy fall over the edge? We will get a compromise. | :03:29. | :03:35. | |
We will get a temporary solution to the most important items. We will | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
not hit an extreme form of fiscal cliff. That will buy some time to | :03:40. | :03:45. | |
negotiate a more comprehensive agreement. That is little help for | :03:45. | :03:50. | |
this form. It may get past the deadline but it does not do much to | :03:50. | :03:58. | |
inspire confidence. We are at their mercy of Washington. Hopefully they | :03:58. | :04:08. | |
:04:08. | :04:08. | ||
will do the right thing. Those concerns about the fiscal clef have | :04:08. | :04:17. | |
been affecting investors' minds for days now. -- fiscal cliff. The | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
markets are calling this the wall of worry. Is there really a belief | :04:22. | :04:28. | |
that Kong this will not get to an agreement? -- Congress. The | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
expectation is that they will. We have seen many times that when | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
there is a deadline, whether it is extending the debt ceiling or | :04:37. | :04:42. | |
whatever, and they eventually reach an agreement. The market is jittery | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
at the moment. Until the election was out the way, markets when | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
thinking about it. Now that has happened we are focused on it. Is | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
it a valid point that something has to be done? The numbers are | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
staggering. The US deficit has topped one trillion dollars of the | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
year. The US government has been spending one trillion dollars more | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
than what it Aaron's. It is a dinner 16.2 trillion dollars of | :05:11. | :05:18. | |
debt. -- more than it earns. It is sitting and 16.2 trillion dollars. | :05:18. | :05:26. | |
The markets will think that they have to get a grip on this. The US | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
is not as bad as Europe. The economy is still struggling. The | :05:32. | :05:40. | |
problem is being pushed down the road. We are taking the old tin can. | :05:40. | :05:47. | |
Thank you. We will talk to you later of when we look at the | :05:47. | :05:54. | |
International newspapers. Japan has dealt with its own budget crisis. | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
There was a huge bond issue to help pay for government spending next | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
year. The opposition were demanding early elections as a condition of | :06:04. | :06:12. | |
their support. Great to see you. Just in the nick of time, right? | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
That is right. As with most political things, the lawmakers | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
here have approved the crucial build. That ensures the Government | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
does not run out of money at the end of this month. This Bill will | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
allow the Government to borrow additional money by selling bonds | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
to pay for a large chunk of its expenses. The approval is helping | :06:35. | :06:42. | |
to lift markets. The only one in the region making gains. The | :06:42. | :06:48. | |
opposition had previously stalled the bill, demanding elections first. | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
The Prime Minister has already done that. He indicated on Wednesday | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
that he was ready to dissolve parliament and hold snap elections. | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
He is expected to make a formal announcement any time soon, | :07:01. | :07:07. | |
possibly later today. This comes as fears mount that the economy may be | :07:07. | :07:14. | |
heading towards recession. There is a warning that the economy is | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
showing signs of weakness. There are concerns about the health of | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
the third largest economy in the world. Production has fallen. | :07:23. | :07:31. | |
Exports remain weak. This is due to slowing global demand. | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
One fiscal Cliff a verdict, all eyes on the US. | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
That you for joining us from Singapore. | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
Moving on, Swedish furniture chain IKEA will publish a report later | :07:44. | :07:50. | |
today into allegations that it used forced labour by East German | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
political prisoners due in the 1970s and 1980s. Members of the | :07:54. | :08:02. | |
Stasi police say they were made to force people to walk on furniture. | :08:02. | :08:11. | |
-- work. Let get more. This is a Stasi political prisoner. There are | :08:11. | :08:16. | |
102 cells here. Some of them had more than one occupant. They were | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
political prisoners. It is a pretty bleak place. In the floor below, an | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
isolation cell where light is kept out and sound is kept out. Complete | :08:27. | :08:33. | |
silence and darkness to break people's minds. The allegation is | :08:33. | :08:38. | |
that IKEA, by giving contracts to make furniture to the East German | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
government, benefited from the labour of these people. These | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
political prisoners would work in prison workshops. That work then | :08:47. | :08:54. | |
benefited IKEA. So runs the allegation. Act here had contacts | :08:54. | :09:01. | |
to produce the forager here. -- IKEA. They did not ask he was | :09:01. | :09:05. | |
producing the furniture. They did not ask about the conditions. That | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
means you are responsible for who you are dealing with. If you are | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
dealing with the dictatorship and you do not have a look at the | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
conditions that your furniture, for example, is produced in, you are | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
responsible. It must be said that IKEA a denies the allegation. | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
They'd take it so seriously that they have got an outside firm of | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
accountants to investigate the matter. If those outsiders say that | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
I t a had nothing to do with what the prisoners dead and no knowledge | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
of who was fulfilling the contracts, but maybe the end of the matter. -- | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
IKEA had nothing to do with what the prisoners did. If they say that | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
IKEA should have known the conditions of the workers | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
fulfilling a contract, the people in these cells may get their | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
lawyers into action. They will expect compensation. | :09:58. | :10:04. | |
We will keep a cross that story. The Nikkei is up to present. They | :10:04. | :10:11. |