 | | Dollar is Here to Stay | | THE dollar is here to stay, at least as far as pricing in oil markets is concerned. Certain countries _ including Iran, France and Russia _ have periodically floated the idea of transforming the markets by settling crude oil transactions in currencies other than the dollar.
But each time the notion is raised, it has been quickly dismissed on technical and economic grounds. And that remains the case today, more than ever.
''It's a red herring,'' said Leo Drollas, chief economist at the Center for Global Energy Studies in London. "The idea should be put back in its box for a while, especially with all the turmoil surrounding the euro.'' Various reasons have been cited for the calls to shift away from the dollar, which remains the world's reserve unit.
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|  |  | | 'THINK DIFFERENT' WAS JOBS' CREDO | | WHEN Steve Jobs died on October 5, many commentators wondered whether Apple _ the company he cofounded and led through many years of profit and innovation _ could continue to thrive without him.
After struggling with cancer, Jobs stepped down from his post as Apple's CEO in August, yet his impact on the company remained profound. After all, Apple's innovations _ from the personal computer to the iPod to the iPhone _ changed the way the world communicates and plays. Following Jobs' death at the age of 56, many argued that Apple's future was now in doubt.
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Arab Spring cost Middle East countries over $55 billion
REUTERS LONDON THE uprisings that swept the Middle East this year have cost the most affected countries more than $55 billion, a new report says, but the resulting high oil prices have strengthened other producing countries.
A statistical analysis of International Monetary Fund (IMF) data by political risk consultancy Geopolicity showed that countries that had seen the bloodiest confrontations — Libya and Syria — were bearing the economic brunt, followed by Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Yemen.
Between them, those states saw $20.6 billion wiped off their gross domestic product and public finances eroded by another $35.3 billion as revenues slumped and costs rose.
“The overall impact of the ‘Arab Spring’ across the Arab realm has been mixed but positive in aggregate terms,” the report estimated, saying overall the year to September saw some $38.9 billion added to regional productivity.
Libya looks to have been the worst affected, with economic activity across the country — including oil exports — halted at an estimated cost to GDP of $7.7 billion, or more than 28 percent.
Total costs to the fiscal balance were estimated at $6.5 billion, roughly 29 percent of gross domestic product.
In Egypt, nine months of turmoil eroded some 4.2 percent of gross domestic product with public expenditure rising to $5.5 billion just as public revenues fell by $75 million.
In Syria, where protests have continued throughout the year in the face of a bloody crackdown, the impact is hard to model but early indications suggested a total cost to the Syrian economy of some $6 billion or 4.5 percent of GDP.
The report said the number of Yemenis below the poverty line was expected to be pushed above 15 percent as a result of currency falls and protracted unrest.
Total cost to the economy was estimated at 6.3 percent of GDP, with the fiscal balance deteriorating by $858 million, 44.9 percent of GDP.
Tunisia, where the protests began in late 2010, lost some $2.0 billion from its GDP, roughly 5.2 percent, with negative impacts across almost all sectors of the economy.
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