Several Countries Record Rapid Economic Growth while Others Need to Do More

A recent study showed that Japan's economic growth is right on track thus supporting the decision of the Central Bank to increase interest rates. According to the report, the unprecedented increase of machinery demands last June indicated the improving confidence of companies to purchase new equipments. The Japanese government said that the demand for machineries rose by 8.5% last June, exceeding the rate predicted by economic experts. Deutsche Securities analyst Seiji Adachi said that the result of the study showed that Japanese companies were still confident to make more investments despite the concerns regarding the decline of the US economy. Amidst such optimism, some analysts still fear that Japan's economic recovery might be impeded by the current problems faced by the global economy. It must be noted that the rising oil prices have been the primary factors behind the global inflation.

Aside from Japan, Germany also recorded its highest economic growth rate in 5 years during the 2nd quarter of 2006. According to a recent report, the nation's economy improved by 0.9% from April to June despite the slow down in the export business. The significant development has been attributed to the increase of domestic demand for products. The 2006 World Cup held recently in the country was also seen as a major factor in boosting the nation's economy during the 2nd quarter. According to a research, the one month tournament had renewed and increased the confidence of German buyers. Although trade with other nations weakened during the past months, the German Federal Statistics Office said that the investments in equipment and construction materials have increased thus pushing the economy upwards during the 2nd quarter of 2006. The positive news, then, has indicated that the biggest economy in Europe is finally recovering from a long period of stagnation.

While the economies of Japan and Germany recorded rapid growth, US inflation grew last month due the rising prices of oil, as well as other energy supplies. The Consumer Price Index, then, jumped from 0.2% to 0.4% last July. According to analysts, the increase of the inflation was largely triggered by the 2.9% rise in prices of energy supplies particularly petrol. The core inflation, with the exemption of energy and food supplies, increased by 0.2%, which is lower than what was initially predicted by economic experts.

Zimbabwe's economy is also at a critical situation with its swelling inflation and currency crisis. A few weeks ago, the Central Bank of Zimbabwe decided to slash three zeros from the nation's currency in an effort to address its 1,200% inflation. But what was intended to be a major economic reform ended in a nationwide chaos as Zimbabweans rushed into the streets to spend or deposit their old notes before they would lose their value on August 21. The government has allotted a three week transition period from the old to the new monetary unit. But the fact that it does not permit the people to carry more than $400 in cash has only made the situation more complicated. Now, the citizens are racing against time as they attempt to spend or deposit all their cash to the banks.

Meanwhile, UN officials in Liberia reported that the government and the United nations were reclaiming one of the major rubber plantations in the country. It must be noted that even after the war ended, the Guthrie plantation, which is found in the north-western region of the nation, has remained under the governance of former rebels. Rubber was among the major and the most important export product of the Liberia before the first civil war started in 1989. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who won the elections last January, has vowed to establish and implement the rule of law in the entire country. With the election of the Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf, the nation hopes that new changes and improvements would be made. She is Liberia's first elected leader after the 14 years of civil war ended. A huge task though lies before the leader who must look for measures in order to revive her country, whose rich resources have been damaged and exploited during the 2 civil wars.

In Thailand, the government announced its plans to enlist with the Madrid Protocol and the Patent Cooperation Treaty next year. According to IPD Director General Kanissorn Navanugraha, his country intends to build an integrated protection of its trademarks, patents, and copyrights. Joining the two organizations would be an important step into making sure that Thai products and inventions would attain global intellectual property fortification. Thailand is currently an affiliate of Berne Convention, an organization that deals with the protection of artwork and literary pieces.

Recently, the Center for Global Development (CGD) reported that among the 21 richest countries in the world, Netherlands gave the biggest amount of economic aid to the developing nations. While the United Kingdom ranked no. 12, Japan got the last place. CGD Chief Nancy Birdsall praised the continuous in flow of donations during the recent years for the reduction of poverty. The CGD said that nations could still do more in order to improve the international economic aid. The United States gave the highest amount of donation. But its aid was the smallest when it was measured against the size of its economy. Though the UK did not rank high in the aid category, it earned the first place in the investment section of the Index due to its efforts to improve technology and to open more employment opportunities to its people. Moreover, the nation got the top score for its efforts to protect and preserve the environment. According to David Roodman, the head architect of the CDI and a researcher of the CGD, if wealthy countries did more in reforming their migration, trade, and investment standards, they would contribute to the improvement of the lives of billions of people over the next years. He added that rich countries could still do more in boosting the economy of developing nations if they were truly devoted to development.

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