12
BUSINESS
Fed expected to maintain pace of economic stimulus Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Renewed questions about the economy’s health and uncertainty surrounding the government’s budget fight will likely lead the Federal Reserve on Wednesday to maintain the pace of the stimulus it’s supplying to the economy. That expectation marks a reversal from just six weeks ago, when almost everyone expected the Fed to start trimming its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. The bond buying is intended to keep longterm interest rates low to help the economy rebound from the Great Recession. The Fed is to announce its decision in a statement after a two-day policy meeting.
The central bank surprised investors and economists at its last meeting in September when it chose not to reduce its bond buying. Since then, a 16-day partial government shutdown shaved an estimated $25 billion from economic growth this quarter. And a batch of tepid economic data pointed to a still-subpar economy. Now, few think the Fed will reduce its stimulus any time soon.
Many analysts now predict the Fed will maintain the pace of its bond purchases into next year. “I think March is now the earliest that any reduction in bond purchases will happen,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. By then, Fed members expect to have seen several months of stronger job growth. They also expect Congress to have resolved its budget
impasse. If the Fed does start slowing its stimulus in March, it will have left its policy unchanged not just this week but also at its next meeting in December and at its subsequent meeting in late January. The January meeting will be the last for Chairman Ben Bernanke, who is stepping down after eight years. President Barack Obama has chosen Vice Chair Janet Yellen to succeed Bernanke. Assuming that Yellen is confirmed by the Senate, her first meeting as chairman will be in March. Many economists think no major policy changes will occur before a
Bali News
International
International
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Garuda to serve regular flights to Labuan Bajo
Antara DENPASAR - PT Garuda Indonesia said it would serve regular flights to the airports of Komodo, Labuhan Bajo, Ende and Tambolaka in East Nusatenggara (NTT).
new chairman takes over. This week’s meeting is the first since Obama announced Oct. 9 his choice of Yellen to be chairman. David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors and the author of several books on the Fed, said her status could change the dynamics. “Bernanke is essentially a lame duck, and Yellen has not yet taken over,” Jones said. “It will make the Fed more cautious.” Yellen is still expected to win Senate confirmation, but a vote by the full Senate may not come until January. The Senate Banking Committee is considering holding a hearing on the nomination Nov. 14.
‘World’s first’ bitcoin ATM opens in Canada Agence France-Presse
VANCOUVER - Three young entrepreneurs have opened what they call the world’s first ATM able to exchange bitcoins for any official currency. The machine inaugurated Tuesday, delivered to Vancouver in Western Canada by Robocoin, an American manufacturer, stands against a wall of a popular coffee shop, and resembles an ordinary cash ATM. However, instead of cash transactions it swaps Canadian dollars for bitcoins, the virtual currency of the Internet invented in 2008 by an anonymous computer scientist known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Customers lined up Tuesday to use the ATM, then used their smart phones to buy coffee and muffins at the Waves coffee shop. The ATM is the world’s first, said coowner Mitchel Demeter, a local entrepreneur who started trading in bitcoins several years ago, then earlier this year with two partners set up Bitcoiniacs, a Vancouver storefront money exchange. He and his friends, who were high school students together, said they saw ATMs as a business opportunity. “Nobody had an ATM, everyone was buying and selling on websites,” said Demeter. Customers use a private key - like a bank PIN number - to access their online account of bitcoins on the ATM. They withdraw cash equivalents (the conversion rate is currently about one
bitcoin for $200) from their bitcoins, or deposit cash bills. The machine transfers the money on the Internet via the Canadian VirtEx exchange. Users can then spend their bitcoins with a smartphone, in a similar way to the way interact or credit cards are used, or by transferring the money to purchase goods online. “It’s the currency of the Internet, as real as any other,” said Demeter. The volatile currency is as yet unregulated by any government in the world, and it has had a share of notoriety by being used in the drug trade. Germany, however, became the first country in the world earlier this year to declare bitcoins a “private currency.” And earlier this month investors were startled when a senior investment officer with giant hedge fund Fortress Investment Group said bitcoins could be used as a cheaper way of transferring money in countries with weak banking systems, the Financial Times reported. In Vancouver, bitcoins are accepted by some 15 local businesses, from coffee shops to a landscaping business. Bitcoins are also increasingly common in several hotspots around the world, especially San Francisco, Berlin, and Argentina, and accepted by online companies such as Wordpress. David Lowy, a city businessman who used his smart phone to transfer .0101 bitcoins to the Waves barista, for a cup of dark coffee worth $2 (Canadian), said Vancouver was a likely candidate to claim the first
5
IBP/Net
The photo shows Labuan Bajo beautiful scenery. PT Garuda Indonesia said it would serve regular flights to the airports of Komodo, Labuhan Bajo, Ende and Tambolaka in East Nusatenggara (NTT).
“Starting December, we would make maiden flights from Bali’s Ngurah Rai International airport to the Komodo, Labuan Bajo and Ende airports,” a Vice President of the country’s flag carrier Ari Suryanta said in Labuan Bajo on Wednesday. The state airline would serve regular flights everyday between Ngurah Rai and the three airports, Ari, a vice president for domestic flights said. He said the routes are potential for tourist flights and growing number of people are traveling between East Nusatenggara and other regions especially Bali and Java. Tourist destinations in the regency of Manggarai Barat such as the Komodo National Park and Batu Cermin began to attract many tourists, he said. “Garuda would provide higher quality services than provided by other airlines which already serve the routes,” he said. He said Garuda will use its ATR-70/600 to serve the routes. The flights by Garuda to start
on December 3, are expected to draw more tourists to NTT especially to the regency of Manggarai Barat, he said. Deputy Regent of Manggarai Barat Maximus Gasa said the district administration welcomes the plan of Garuda to serve regular flights to that district as it would give the local people more alternatives in using means of transport. “The plan is expected to contribute to faster development of the economy of the district,” Maximus said. There have been other airlines serving flights between Manggarai Barat and Bali but more often departures and arrivals are not as given in the flight scheduled, he said. “The airlines could not guarantee a fixed hour of departure. The passengers often have to wait for hours or cancel flights,” he added. He said Garuda is expected to change the condition and give the passengers greater flight convenience.
Future of Gianyar art and culture worrying Bali Post
IBP/Net
Three young entrepreneurs have opened what they call the world’s first ATM able to exchange bitcoins for any official currency. bitcoin ATM because the wealthy city is popular with Internet entrepreneurs. One of the ATM’s first customers was Mike Yeung, a business student at the
city campus of Simon Fraser University, where he helped set up a university bitcoin club, one of a handful of such clubs in the world.
GIANYAR - The future of Gianyar art and culture is very worrying. This can be seen from the development of the current globalization era that also brings in the influence of global culture. Pressure of global cultural will be very easy to hit, even submerges the culture including local wisdom integrated in it. This condition is seen from various problems faced by the current culture of Gianyar. A variety of issues faced include the commercialization leading to the routine and indifference of quality, marginalization of the art and artists at their own home, lack of art maestros as they are growing old and rare regeneration, dying of the tourism art by local competition and unfair external pressure, dynamics of art leading to involution, lethargy and poor innovation, and moral crisis, minus the character and stagnation of societal welfare index. It was ex-
pressed by the drafting team of the Gianyar Cultural Blueprint consisting of I Wayan Geriya and Prof. Dr. I Wayan Dibia on Tuesday (Oct 29) amid the preparation of the Gianyar cultural revitalization seminar on Wednesday (Oct 30) in the Gianyar Cultural Center. Preparation of the Gianyar Cultural Blueprint also involved the Bali Cultural Studies from the Udayana University. According to Geriya, the problem was aggravated by the emergence of indifference to the distinctive values forming the art and cultural identity of Gianyar. It had led to indifference to the purity of creativity as well as the excessive exploitation of cultural forms existing in Gianyar region. “Such conditions cannot be allowed to continue because it will jeopardize the future of Gianyar art and culture,” said Geriya. Gianyar County so far had declared itself as the ‘land of the art,’ but until now it had not
owned a blueprint for the art and culture itself. The blueprint of the art and culture would become the revitalization effort that had been planned, directed, structured and measured for the preservation of the art and culture in Gianyar. Equity of the existing monopoly of the art and culture occurred all this time in Gianyar could also be made with the existence of the Gianyar art and cultural blueprint,” said Prof. Dr. I Wayan Dibia. Revitalization of the Gianyar art and culture was intended as a strategic effort to raise the arts and culture that so far tended to be considered an unimportant source of entertainment and decoration for human life whereas they posed a vital and great power to strengthen the dignity and human civilization as a whole. All this time, the art and culture had been exploited as a commodity in tourism industry. As a result, their existence was then determined by the market demand
IBP/File Photo
Balinese children performed a dance during Bali Art Festival. The future of Gianyar art and culture is very worrying. This can be seen from the development of the current globalization era that also brings in the influence of global culture. and this would be attempted to be revitalized in order to become a driving force in improving the
quality of humanity, civilization and social welfare in a broader sense for Gianyar. (kmb16)