Monday Papers: Federal Reserve urged to act on economy - other news

Financial Times

* Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Fed, has warned that the US economy is in a “liquidity trap” and signalled support for more action to boost the recovery.

* The high level of US unemployment is the result of low demand and not structural deficiencies in America’s labour market, Peter Diamond, the Nobel laureate in economics, said.

* One in 10 S&P 500 companies have no female directors and women’s participation on boards has barely moved since 2005 when 12% of large companies had all-male boards, according to a study of securities filings by Spencer Stuart, the executive search firm.

* Hermes has sent Klaus Wucherer, Infineon’s chairman, a letter pressing him publicly to outline details of a departure timescale and investor involvement in the search for his successor.

* Global luxury sales will grow 10% this year to €168 billion, according to forecasts by Bain & Co; but the company expects growth to cool next year to 4%-5% due to weakening dollar.

* Bharat Diamond Bourse, the world’s largest diamond exchange, opened in Mumbai on Sunday  challenging the traditional dominance of countries such as Belgium and Israel.

* The Ernst & Young Item Club’s quarterly report has expressed optimism about the ability of businesses to pick up the slack from the scheduled £83 billion public sector consolidation.

* Recent signs of weakness in the labour market are likely to be temporary, a biannual survey by the CBI employers’ group and Harvey Nash, the recruitment business, has showed.

The Times

* International shopper sales in London were up by 62 per cent in September, compared with the same month last year, according to figures from Global Blue, the tax-free shopping company.

* The deep capital spending cuts planned by the coalition will cause social dislocation and hundreds of thousands of job losses, the construction industry has warned.