8 March 2019
Question: According to MSN: Money, what is the age when most people claim social security – and when does one receive the most/year from social security?
ECB performs stimulus U-Turn to head off economic headwinds – Pg. 1
– The decision to make a fresh offer of cheap loans to eurozone banks, which was coupled with a signal it would keep interest rates at historic lows until next year, put the ECB in the camp of central banks that have made U-turns in recent weeks in the face of mounting risks to the global economy
– …severely downgraded projections for Eurozone GDP growth this year to 1.1% from a forecast of 1.7% just three months ago
– Rather than buoy markets, however, the promise of more cheap funding appeared to spook investors, who pointed particularly to ECB President Mario Drahi’s warning that the Eurozone was “in a period of continued weakness and pervasive uncertainty”
– The Cheap loans to banks, dubbed Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations, would see the ECB hold a series of auctions of multiyear loans at low rates to stave off a collapse in lending – the first time it has reopened the programme in nearly three years
Watchdog turns up heat on leveraged loan industry as high risk debt soars – Pg. 1
– Scrutiny of the $1.4tn leveraged loan market has intensified after an international watchdog launched an examination into potential problems caused by growing levels of higher risk corporate debt
China economy 12% smaller than claimed, report alleges – Pg. 4
– Even on official data, China’s economy last year grew at its slowest since 1990, at 6.6%
– For years, the sum of China’s provincial GDP has exceeded the national figure, a clear sign of inflation at the local level
– The research concluded that official data overstated growth of nominal GDP by an average of 1.7% per year between 2008 and 2016, which made the economy 12% smaller in 2016 than official figures indicated
– In real terms, GDP growth was overstated by 2% in the same period
Answer: 62 is the most popular age for claiming social security (Prof Note: Read the Marshmallow Test!). 70 (While full retirement age is 66/67, birth age dependent, waiting until 70 provides a “delayed retirement credit” bringing the amount to 124% of what would have been received at full retirement.)