17/12/2013 World Business Report

time and date of calls was brought to light by Edward Snowden. Those

are the latest headlines. Now, for the latest financial news. Christmas

postponed? Amazon staff strike in Germany in a row over pay. An

ambitious plan to avert the next banking crisis in the eurozone.

Welcome to World Business Report. Also in the programme, we will have

a report from China on the rise of the virtual currency bitcoin.

Workers at Amazon's warehouse in Germany have entered a second day of

strike action. The country's biggest trade union is calling for higher

wages for its workers. Yesterday, supporters rallied outside the

company's headquarters in the US. Germany is Amazon's second-largest

market. Their banners read, today, strike. And, for more money. This is

the busiest time of year for Amazon. The run up to Christmas in

the land where Christmas giving is big. This worker says that he just

about makes it but it's impossible to save anything or pay back any

loans. It's really very difficult. This man says that he thinks his

boss Jeff Bezos has such large private wealth that he might as well

share it a little with the employees. Germany is the company's

second-biggest market after the US and its German workers know that

this is when they have the most industrial power. The union has

called them out in two major centres. The dispute is over money.

Amazon classifies them as low-paid warehouse workers. They say they are

high paid staff in retail. The union official says Amazon should sign a

new deal based on what these people do. They are in the retail business,

he says, and recognising that would mean an extra 7000 euros each. He

says they should be treated better. Amazon said in a statement that it

was not impacted by the strike and that most employees have not walked

out. The company has had some negative publicity in Europe

recently, with a focus on conditions in some of its British distribution

centres as well as these ones in Germany. The unions say that the

workers are poorly paid and that the work is monotonous and relentless.

The contracts are short-term as well. The problem is that once

Christmas is over, their industrial power will fade. Amazon is planning

new distribution centres in the lower paid Czech Republic. The union

plans a demonstration at the headquarters in Seattle in the US.

It may be that their strongest card is publicity rather than industrial

muscle. Every day, we trust our life savings to them, and when everything

goes wrong, they have the potential to bring the world's biggest

economies to their knees. We are talking about banks. Today, euro

finance ministers are aiming to thrash out an agreement to unify

banking rules. They hope to give the European Central Bank new powers to

oversee and wind up banks when they get into trouble, in order to avoid

the next crisis. The eurozone finance ministers meet today. The EU

finance ministers get-together tomorrow. Heads of State at the end

of the week. They have got to get everything sorted out today. Yes.

They had a meeting last week. We sort of know what they will talk

about. What happens when the bag falls or fails? What will they do?

We have had the eurozone crisis and the financial crisis and we do not

want to repeat it. This lays out the procedure of who will pay and what

will happen should things go wrong again. What we have been told is

that when a bank fails, it will initially be the home country for

the first year at least that must cough up the money. In the eurozone

countries, every year, the banks will put money into a fund, which

will be the part that will be used to help those banks out. As that pot

grows, eventually after ten years, it will become more unified and

eventually within the eurozone, that money won't just be domestic money,

it will come from the unified pot. The devil is in the detail. Lots of

bureaucracy to overcome. That is exactly right. The Financial Times

says that if a bank with branches in different countries fails, it could

take up to 146 votes to decide what to do. It could be bureaucracy that

poses the problem in this plan. Thank you. For a short time, it was

more valuable than gold. 2013 has certainly been a rollercoaster ride

for the virtual currency bitcoin. In January, one single bitcoin would

set you back about $14, but it has increased in value in recent months

and is currently worth $850. China has moved to regulate the market.

Just to be absolutely clear, this is not a bitcoin. Bitcoins do not exist

in the physical world. That means you cannot put them in your pocket.

What are they? Just as the US has the dollar and China has its own

currency, think of bitcoins as an online currency but not tied to any

country. It's like having money but for the online world. This Beijing

cafe has been at the centre of the bitcoin revolution in China. Part of

the attraction for investors like this woman is the gobsmacking

returns in recent months. She owns an astonishing $100,000 worth of

bitcoin and she says her investment is just a bit of fun. TRANSLATION: I

thought this was a new thing and I had to invest. I would rather make a

mistake than miss an opportunity. No matter what happens, I can at least

say I was a player in the process. Investors in China have limited

options where to put their money and many analysts believe that

short-term speculation is fuelling the bitcoin markets. It could yet

all end in tears. TRANSLATION: I think that bitcoin is a real risk. I

have not bought any. I'm inclined to think it's a bubble. As a computer

programme, I believe in the power and idea of bitcoins. I'm optimistic

about their long-term development. Are bitcoins a load of financial

frosts? Believers believe what they represent is a new way of doing

business. Chinese authorities are not entirely certain. They have not

banned bitcoins outright but say that banks can no longer carry out

such transactions. As for critics, they say what we are seeing is an

online bubble. Decision time again for the Federal Reserve committee,

deciding whether to cut back on the billions of extra dollars they have

been pumping into the US economy. It may be time for the Central bank to

take the world's biggest economy off life support. Some will feel that

the extra money will push up prices and stoke inflation. 59 bootleg

recordings and demo takes from the Beatles have been released today. --

demo tapes. The release is not just a treat for fans. The record company

has to make them an official release in order to keep making money. This

is the information coming out of the Asian markets at the moment.

Yesterday, it was completely the opposite story. The market has

already priced in the negative side of drawing back on stimulus and is

looking forward to what happens next. Thank you for joining us. A

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