Daily Digest 4/18 - IRS Sinks Under Workload, IMF Tells U.S. To Sort Out Debt Quickly, 21% Of NYer's Living In Poverty

• Spain threatens 'decisive' action as Argentina moves to nationalize oil firm
• BOE Can Loosen Policy Amid Weak U.K. Growth Outlook, IMF Says
• German public debt rises to record 2.09 trillion euros
• Russia and China boost arms spending, US cuts back
• One million jobs for young people lost since 2007 as Labour is accused of hiding scale of unemployment on its watch
• Budget-battered IRS sinks under workload
• Bank of Spain Questions Budget Forecasts, Calls for Prudence
• Harrisburg School District faces $15.8 million budget shortfall, could cut kindergarten, art and music programs next
• IMF says Italy to miss deficit targets in 2012, 2013
• Georgia college tuition to increase this fall
• IMF tells US to sort out debt, quickly
• Staggering rise of the British food bank: One opens every week after rise in families unable to afford to eat
• Rochelle Riley: Detroit's budget too tight to run November election?
• Study: 21 percent of New Yorkers are living in poverty
• ‘Explosion in Student Debt’ Drags Down Housing: Chart of the Day
• Shortage of gas may hit power producers
• IMF lowers India's growth projection to 6.9%

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Economy

Spain threatens 'decisive' action as Argentina moves to nationalize oil firm

"With this attitude, this hostility from the Argentine authorities, there will be consequences that we'll see over the next few days. They will be in the diplomatic field, the industrial field, and on energy," Spanish industry minister Jose Manuel Soria said, according to Reuters. He added that the government would take "clear and decisive" measures, according to Bloomberg.

BOE Can Loosen Policy Amid Weak U.K. Growth Outlook, IMF Says

British economic growth “will be weak in early 2012, before recovering,” the Washington-based IMF said in its World Economic Outlook today. “With inflation expected to fall below the 2 percent target amid weaker growth and commodity prices, the Bank of England can further ease its monetary policy stance.”

German public debt rises to record 2.09 trillion euros

The public debt of Germany, which has campaigned for more austerity in the eurozone, grew last year to a record 2.09 trillion euros, a rise of 32 billion euros, according to figures Tuesday from the Bundesbank.

But the ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the year declined to 81.2 per cent, the central bank said. The drop by 1.8 percentage points was because of a sharp rise in nominal GDP that outweighed the slight rise in debt. That debt ratio is still well above the permitted level of 60 per cent permitted by European Union stability rules.

Russia and China boost arms spending, US cuts back

The US remains by far the biggest military spender, with a defense budget of US$711 billion last year, followed by China, which spent an estimated US$143 billion on its armed forces last year. China has increased its military spending by 170 percent in real terms since 2002, the leading research body says.

One million jobs for young people lost since 2007 as Labour is accused of hiding scale of unemployment on its watch (UK)

Almost a million jobs have been lost since 2007 in sectors which traditionally appeal to young people, a new study has revealed. Jobs which account for over half of youth employment - including manufacturing, retail, hotels and restaurants - have suffered the biggest losses over the past five years.

Budget-battered IRS sinks under workload

In 1995, the IRS had a staff of 114,018 to process 205 million tax returns. In 2010, it had 90,907 people to process nearly 236 million tax returns. For this tax filing season, the IRS has 5,000 fewer employees than it did a year ago.

"This is the lowest staffing level I've ever seen, and I've been with the IRS 26 years," says David Carrone, president of the Louisiana chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). The New Orleans Taxpayer Assistance Center has six employees, down from 12 eight years ago, Carrone says. Sometimes, it doesn't even have that many

Bank of Spain Questions Budget Forecasts, Calls for Prudence

Spain's central bank chief said the country risks missing deficit estimates unveiled last month just hours after a successful bill sale dissipated some concerns that the government may have to seek a bailout.

"The projected course of total revenues in the budget is subject to downside risks," Bank of Spain Governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez told a parliamentary committee today in Madrid.

Harrisburg School District faces $15.8 million budget shortfall, could cut kindergarten, art and music programs next

Administrators have spoken with state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis about the district fiscal crisis, but the state has told the district it is broke and has no money to help, Jeff Bader, the district’s business manager, said during the Editorial Board meeting.

IMF says Italy to miss deficit targets in 2012, 2013

Italy will miss its budget deficit targets in 2012 and 2013 and its public debt will rise in both years despite the government's austerity measures, the International Monetary Fund forecast on Tuesday.

The IMF said in its Fiscal Monitor report that Italy's deficit would fall this year to 2.4 percent of output, well above Rome's 1.6 percent target, and would decline to 1.5 percent in 2013, when Italy is aiming to balance its budget. The forecasts are a blow to Prime Minister Mario Monti, whose popularity is sliding and whose reform efforts are meeting rising criticism and resistance as the country's borrowing costs rise.

Georgia college tuition to increase this fall

Undergraduate tuition rise 2.5 percent at all schools, except for those attending three research institutions who’ll see a bigger jump. At Georgia State University, the increase will be 3.5 percent, at the University of Georgia, 5 percent and at Georgia Tech 6 percent.

IMF tells US to sort out debt, quickly

The International Monetary Fund issued a clarion call to bickering US politicians Tuesday, urging them to solve the country's debt problems before a still-vulnerable economy is tipped over the brink.

In a hallmark semi-annual report, the Washington-based fund warned policymakers on the other side of the US capital that, while the world's largest economy is improving, they invite trouble by not addressing a looming debt crisis. "The first priority for US authorities is to agree on and commit to a credible fiscal policy agenda that places debt on a sustainable track over the medium term," the IMF said.

Staggering rise of the British food bank: One opens every week after rise in families unable to afford to eat

Shocking figures have revealed that every week a new food bank opens in Britain as more people find themselves struggling to make ends meet.

And the number of people needing emergency aid is expected to rise with many food banks operators worried that the full impact of the recent budget will not kick in until 2013. There are now over 190 food banks nationwide, 88 of which were launched in 2011 alone.

Rochelle Riley: Detroit's budget too tight to run November election?

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey says it is not possible to conduct a presidential election for city residents with the money Mayor Dave Bing has proposed in his new budget. Bing wants to cut overall spending by 25% in the city Department of Elections and slice the budget for the presidential election in half.

Study: 21 percent of New Yorkers are living in poverty

The number of New Yorkers classified as poor in 2010 increased by nearly 100,000 from the year before, raising the poverty rate by 1.3 percentage points to 21 percent — the highest level and the largest year-to-year increase since the city adopted a more detailed definition of poverty in 2005. The recession and the sluggish recovery have taken a particularly harsh toll on children, with more than one in four under 18 living in poverty, according to an analysis by the city’s Center for Economic Opportunity that will be released on Tuesday.

‘Explosion in Student Debt’ Drags Down Housing: Chart of the Day

The CHART OF THE DAY shows tuition expense has risen about three times as fast as wages since 2001 before accounting for inflation, according to data from the Labor Department. The chart uses average weekly earnings to gauge workers’ pay.

Tuition climbed 57 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis during the period, Lapointe and two colleagues wrote yesterday in a report. At the same time, the average wage for American workers between the ages of 25 and 34 dropped 7 percent.

Shortage of gas may hit power producers (Australia)

ELECTRICITY generators have revealed they are having trouble finding long-term gas supplies at any price, adding to doubts about the government's ambitions to use gas as a "transitional fuel" to a low-carbon economy.

IMF lowers India's growth projection to 6.9%

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has marginally lowered India's economic growth forecast to 6.9 per cent in 2012, from 7 per cent projected earlier, on weak global and domestic demand.

In its World Economic Outlook (WEO), released ahead of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings here, the IMF said that world economic growth rate would slump to 3.5 per cent from 3.9 per cent in 2011.

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