PARIS (MNI) – The global monetary system needs repair and greater exchange rate flexibility would help, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said Thursday. Any monetary system would show strains and fragilities in the face of the massive structural changes now underway, Carney told a financial conference here. Systems dominated by fixed forex rates cannot [...]

By Michael S. Derby The startlingly quick pace with which the unemployment rate has fallen is raising questions whether the labor market could soon reach levels that may start to generate inflation and alter the monetary policy outlook. Over the last few months, the unemployment rate has plunged at a rate hard to reconcile with [...]

ST. CLOUD – Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota defended the central bank’s unprecedented monetary stimulus program Thursday as a necessary measure to stimulate demand and improve job growth. At the same time, Kocherlakota indicated that deep structural changes in labor markets could make it necessary for the Federal Reserve to eventually tighten [...]

Handout photo shows Nubia Doctor, a 10-year-old whose body was found wrapped in plastic in a pest control truck. The girls adoptive father, Jorge Barahona, is being held as a suspect in the girls death. article source

BY PAULO PRADA BRASÍLIA, Brazil&—China’s move to gradually allow its currency to appreciate should help in the “rebalancing” of the global economy as countries recover at different speeds from the global downturn, said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Still, he warned, the future impact of a stronger Chinese currency remains difficult [...]

The Bank of England will leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low in the coming week as policy makers hold off tackling inflation on concerns about the strength of the recovery. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mervyn King, will leave its key rate at a record low of 0.5 [...]

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, is a man torn by many opposing forces. Having to set interest rates for a monetary union whose constituent economies are running at widely different speeds, Mr Trichet and the governing council will displease everyone no matter what they do. Meanwhile, the nuts-and-bolts part of Europe’s economy, [...]

By Steven K. Beckner (MNI) – Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen Friday called for cooperation to strengthen the international monetary and financial system, warning that the asymmetry between surplus and deficit nations could threaten economic recovery. In particular, Yellen urged the adoption of more flexible exchange rate systems, along with more open capital accounts [...]