The IMF added the Chinese Yuan to its basket of international reserve currencies this week in an implicit recognition of China’s growing economic might and global importance. Other currencies in this grouping are the U.S. dollar, Europe’s euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.
U.S. payroll data released Friday was stronger than expected with the U.S. economy adding 90,000 more jobs than previously expected and the unemployment rate dropping to 5%. This new development lends further credence to Fed’s decision to tighten policy later this month.
ECB president Mario Draghi promised further quantitative easing for Europe and cut the deposit rate to a fresh low of -0.3%.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to give away 99% of his Facebook stock to charity and set up the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative to pursue charitable causes after the birth of his first child earlier this week.
Representatives from more than 200 countries met in Paris for the UN talks on climate change dubbed COP21. On the agenda is a draft accord to limit carbon emissions, as well as to figure out how developing countries can be provided with resources to limit their fossil fuel dependency and switch to green technologies.
Amidst a weak economic climate, issues of immigration and fears of terrorism the far right party National Front headed by Marine Le Pen won 28% of the vote in regional elections in France opening up the possibility of favourable results in the 2017 presidential election. This follows a disturbing trend of far right parties in Europe gaining prominence after the victory of the Law and Justice Party in Poland last month.
