Global overview

This report describes world economic growth, well being and interaction, specifically trends in GDP, poverty and world trade. In brief, this report shows that:

Economic Growth:

In the last several decades, total GDP and GDP per capita increased in OECD* countries, and in non OECD Eastern Europe and Asia. In contrast, there has been little overall growth in Africa and the Middle East.
(* OECD is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Basically OECD are the more advanced economies.)

Economic Structure

Service Sector:

Since 1970, the majority of economic activity has been in the service sector; 41% in developing countries and 58% in developed countries.
By 2001, 52% of economic activity among developing countries was in service, and 72% of economic activity among developed countries.

Industry:

The pattern for industry is complex:
Mainly decline since 1980 in the developed world.
Slight declines in the developing countries of Africa and America, and recent increases in Asia and Oceania.

Agriculture:

In 2001, Agriculture was only 11% of economic activity in developing countries, and only 2% in developed countries.
However, agriculture is a very large part of the labor force, particularly in the developing countries, where it accounted for two thirds of the labor force in 1980 and still over one half in 2001.
Agriculture, as an economic activity and in the labor force, is particularly significant in Sub Saharan Africa and Oceania.
Agricultural productivity was very low in less developed countries. This explains why a large part of the labor force was in agriculture but only a small part of the GDP was in agriculture.


Poverty:

According to World Bank estimates, there has been an increase in the number of people in poverty in Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and Africa. In contrast, East and South Asia has seen a decline in the number of people in poverty (using $1 a day).
The percent of people in poverty has also increased in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, while the percent in poverty declined in East and South Asia and Latin America.
However, poverty is one of the most difficult indicators to measure. Thus, there is no universal agreement on poverty definitions or trends.

Thus, this is the first part of the review. Later, in the continuation of the report, the detailed analysys with charts will be presented to reflect the trends and to have better presentation for Yourself.

NYSE plugs itself in and floats out to an archipelago

HE New York Stock Exchange ended 213 years of private ownership yesterday, clearing the way for chief executive John Thain to complete a push into automated trading with the acquisition of Archipelago Holdings Inc.

Mr Thain has been conducting the biggest overhaul of the NYSE in almost three decades. His efforts culminated yesterday morning when he rang the opening bell and shares of NYSE Group Inc began to trade. The stock closed at $US80, compared with Archipelago's $US64.25.

Although Mr Thain has transformed the exchange, he has been unable to prevent Nasdaq Stock Market Inc from taking more of the trading in NYSE-listed companies. The Big Board's share of trades in its own stocks fell to 71.7 per cent in January — the lowest since the exchange began collecting data three decades earlier — from 79.6 per cent a year earlier.

Mr Thain, a former Goldman Sachs Group president, now needs to please shareholders, who will demand profit growth; just as they do for the other 2800 companies listed on the NYSE, the world's biggest stock exchange. To start, he's pushing NYSE Group deeper into options, a market where trading is rising faster than for common stocks, and preparing to quadruple the number of corporate bonds traded on the exchange.

Mr Thain is relying on new computer systems to modernise a trading culture that dates back to the NYSE's founding under a buttonwood tree in 1792. He has another incentive in the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation NMS, which from June will require brokers to send orders to the exchange that can instantaneously execute the trade at the best price.

Nasdaq, founded in 1971, is already all electronic. In an effort to take an even greater share of trading in NYSE-listed stocks, it started offering discounts last month.

The NYSE's adherence to its not-for-profit status came at a cost. The exchange earned $US65.2 million ($A88.9 million) last year, excluding expenses it said were related to the Archipelago purchase, on revenue of $US1.12 billion, for a profit margin of about 6 per cent. Nasdaq's margin for 2005 was almost 10 per cent.

Still, shares of NYSE Group are about twice as expensive as those of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Boerse AG, Europe's biggest exchange by market value. The exchange's initial value of $US10.1 billion was third behind Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc and Deutsche Boerse.

The stock is benefiting from a global rally in shares of securities exchanges that's now in its fourth year. Exchanges have benefited from rising markets, increased share trading and the ability to charge higher prices.

Each of the NYSE's 1366 members received about $US5.45 million in cash and stock of the combined company. Each member will also receive a one-time dividend of about $US70,600. Archipelago shares were swapped one-for-one for those of NYSE Group.

NYSE memberships climbed to as high as $US4 million last year from $US1.05 million at the end of 2004, which was close to a 10-year low.

Mr Thain's first step to competing better is a project he endorsed soon after arriving at the NYSE in January 2004. The so-called hybrid market marries the floor traders' world of shouted orders with fully automated buying and selling.

Under the hybrid system, floor brokers have the option of completing trades through NYSE specialists, individuals who make markets in certain stocks, or routing them electronically. The result may be big reductions in the 3000 brokers and clerks who work on the floor. For now, the hybrid market will co-exist with Archipelago.

BLOOMBERG