Hear! Hear! "Consumer debt, though, was still too high in Australia, Mr Mendelson said. "That is an underlying problem in the country," he said. "Higher interest rates help to keep the pressure on the consumers to reduce spending." Consumers should use the extra cash courtesy of the recent fall in rates and any future cuts to repay their debt, Mr Mendelson said." Join discussion...

Good explanation of deleveraging and other current economic issues. Join discussion...

Some unconventional views. Join discussion...

Is China’s pool of surplus labour drying up? This is a crucial question, as we are seeing rising urban wages in China, which is price inflationary to the rest of the world. Join discussion...

The US housing crisis arrived on July 14 at Stonebrook Court, the 26,000-square-foot Tudor-style home of California venture capitalist Kelly Porter. On that day, four months after putting the house on the market, he cut the price by $US7 million ($8.4 million). Join discussion...

ANZ will double the size of its planned capital raising to $1 billion as it looks to bolster its balance sheet in the face of a souring local banking market. Join discussion...

This may be useful for those entrepreneurs out there who are seeking bank loans for their business. Join discussion...

Yesterday, New York-based asset manager Van Eck Global launched the Market Vectors-RVE Hard Assets Producers exchange-traded fund (HAP) on the American Stock Exchange(R)–the first and only global hard assets ETF. Join discussion...

Dr. Mark Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management who is known for his emerging markets expertise, is all over the financial newsscape these days. The following are a battery of links to all things Mobius. Join discussion...

According to the Forbes website yesterday, legendary real estate investor Tom Barrack may be looking to buy Italian property company Aedes. Join discussion...