Gain shall take the place of loss (part 7)

Random thoughts on the economy picked up from the papers

'Layaway' a purchasing arrangement dating back to the 1940's is making a comeback with US shoppers.

Who really flies with Low Cost Carriers? The richest 18% of the UK population buy 54% of airline tickets, the poorest 18% buy 5%.

China overtook Germany to become the world's 3rd largest economy after the US and Japan. By gross domestic product per head China ranks 122nd in the world.

Eurozone industrial production in November fell 7.7% from the same period last year.

Mumbai ranks 7th on the list of world cities with the largest number of billionaires (20 with an average worth of $7.6
bn).

Gain shall take the place of loss (part 6)

Isolated measures of the global economy gleaned from today's papers:

• Taiwan's exports in December fell 41% relative to December 2007
• The number of part time workers in the US rose 3.4m over the last year to 8.0m
• Manufacturing employment in the US fell below 13m for the first time since 1942
• NATO's top commander has said the financial crisis could force US allies to pull out of Afghanistan. Canada and the Netherlands have said they'll go by 2011.
• 13% of EU exports go to the UK - 8% go to China