Oil money is coming - and there is little the west can do about it
A study by one of the biggest banks, HSBC, noted: "The owners of emerging SWFs look unlikely just to roll over. They are enjoying the boot being on the other foot after an awfully long time. The train wreck that was the 1990s, when they had to go cap-in-hand to the developed world, was bad enough.
"Going back further, western jibes about state capitalism would, perhaps, have more power had they themselves not ruled many of these countries for years via state-licensed companies."
Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered, said: "Sovereign wealth funds have existed since 1953 and are here to stay. Their size and influence is set to grow. Already valued at $2.2tn, on current trends they could reach $13.4tn in a decade.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/mar/01/oil.globaleconomy1
Soaring cost of gold causes jewellery market pandemonium
By Ellen Kelleher
Published: March 1 2008 02:00 | Last updated: March 1 2008 02:00
The soaring cost of gold and platinum is causing pandemonium in the UK's jewellery market as retailers and private owners rush to reappraise the value of necklaces, brooches and rings.
Jewellers in London's Hatton Garden - the capital's jewellery quarter - are raising the price of wedding bands on a weekly basis, with less-expensive palladium rings now coming into vogue. And insurers are urging clients to get another assessment of the value of their jewellery collections in response to the rapid rise in the price of precious metals, sparked by investors seeking refuge from volatile stocks.
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