Business report on NW set for Oct. 2
A local economist is to present the Quarterly Business Analysis and the State of Northwest Arkansas Report on Oct. 2 at the Holiday Inn in Springdale.
Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, will discuss the previous quarter, economic trends and projections as well as issues facing the state and regional economy. The luncheon event begins at 11:30 a.m. and is to last about 90 minutes and include time for questions and answers.
The event is conducted in partnership with the Center for Business and Economic Research and the Northwest Arkansas Council.
The cost of the program is $30. Preregistration is required and must be completed by Sept. 29. Reservations can be made at cber.uark.edu or by calling (479) 575-4151.
-- John Magsam
Liquefied gas high on Poles' trade list
WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's deputy economy minister said a mission she will lead to New York will seek deals in the food, natural-gas and investment sectors.
Ilona Antoniszyn-Klik said Tuesday that the visit Sept. 23-25 is to develop wide economic ties that also could be abetted by the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, currently being negotiated between the United States and Europe.
At a time when Russian gas deliveries might be disturbed by a conflict in transit nation Ukraine, Poland is also seeking to diversify its energy sources by purchasing liquefied natural gas from the U.S.
The mission will include regional governors, businessmen and investors, mainly from agricultural eastern Poland.
Poland is seeking deals to sell fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, farming and mining machinery and information technology products.
-- The Associated Press
N.J.'s Trump casinos file bankruptcy
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for bankruptcy Tuesday and threatened to shut down the Taj Mahal Casino Resort, which would make it the fifth Atlantic City casino to close this year.
The company owns Trump Plaza, which is closing in a week, and the Taj Mahal, which has been experiencing cash-flow problems and had been trying to stave off a default with its lenders. The company said the Taj Mahal could close Nov. 13 if it doesn't win salary concessions from union workers.
It's the fourth such filing for the struggling casino company or its corporate predecessors.
The company filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., saying it has liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million, and assets of no more than $50,000. It missed its quarterly tax payment due last month, and says it doesn't have the cash to make an interest payment to lenders at the end of the month.
It also says both its Internet gambling partners have taken steps to end their contracts with Trump Entertainment.
-- The Associated Press
Construction slump vexes ex-Fed chief
NEW YORK -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday that the U.S. economic rebound has been hindered by a slump in the construction industry.
"What we see is that construction is dead in the water," Greenspan said at an insurance conference hosted by KPMG in New York. That contrasts with other recoveries since World War II, as "every single one of them was led by construction or longer-lived assets," he said.
The industry's recovery from the 2008 slump has been challenged by slow wage growth and tight credit, which have put homeownership out of reach for some Americans. Housing starts were at a 1.09 million annualized rate in July, Commerce Department data show, compared with a 20-year average of about 1.35 million.
Greenspan, 88, led the Fed from 1987 to early 2006. He said Tuesday that doubts about the future, including where tax rates will be, have discouraged some businesses from deploying capital.
"What they are saying is 'we are so uncertain about the distant future that we are not going to invest,'" Greenspan said.
The Fed has kept its benchmark rate near zero since 2008 to stoke economic growth. Greenspan said that interest rates and inflation will eventually rise and that he didn't know when that would occur.
-- The Associated Press
McDonald's says global sales off 3.7%
OAK BROOK, Ill. -- McDonald's says a key global sales figure fell 3.7 percent in August, driven lower as the world's biggest hamburger chain's unit that includes the Asia-Pacific region dropped 14.5 percent because of a food-safety scandal in China.
That unit also includes the Middle East and Africa.
In the U.S., the sales metric fell 2.8 percent. It dipped 0.7 percent in Europe.
McDonald's Corp. said earlier this month that it will monitor its suppliers in China more closely after a food-safety scandal in the country hurt its sales and reputation. The announcement came after a TV report in July showed workers at McDonald's supplier Shanghai Husi Food Co. repacking expired meat.
McDonald's share fell slightly in Tuesday premarket trading.
-- The Associated Press
EU group: China auto rules a hindrance
The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China urged the nation's government to remove limitations on foreign investment in the auto industry and allow more competition for vehicle after-market service.
Foreign automakers should be allowed to hold more than the current 50 percent of automaking joint ventures in China, the EU chamber's working group on the auto industry said in the body's annual publication released Monday.
"Mandatory 50/50 partnerships are counterproductive from a management point of view," the group said in the report. "Moreover, in a market economy, they are an anomaly."
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in February that Chinese auto brands will be "killed in the cradle" if the government allows foreign automakers to become more independent from domestic partners in the world's biggest car market.
A Chinese Ministry of Commerce official had said last October that automakers should prepare for the day when the foreign stake limit is relaxed.
The EU chamber's working group on auto components also urged the government to revise current regulation to ensure "free and balanced" competition in the after-market service. Original-parts makers should be allowed to sell parts to independent repair shops at lower prices, it said.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 09/10/2014