Undaunted by growing deficits, Britain is spending more, both globally and domestically, so that that it may allay the damages felt by economies and exchange traded funds (ETFs).
On Monday, Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to raise overseas development aid budget to 0.7% of national income, reports Ashley Seager for The Guardian.
Britain and other G8 countries previously promised to raise aid spending to 0.7% levels by 2013. Brown has fervently promoted the need for greater aid flows and debt forgiveness for the world’s poorest countries, but other G8 members have been loath to help.
The Bank of England also initiated a “nuclear option” that will generate more than $100 billion to purchase long-term government bonds from commercial banks so as to get them lending again, says Steven Beard for Marketplace. It is hoped that this will stop a deepening recession, but it is seen as risky since the extra money may create another housing bubble.
- iShares MSCI United Kingdom (EWU): down 12.7% in the last month; down 17% in the last three months
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