News Round-Up: 2 May 2008

U.S. Loses 20,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Rate Falls to 5% (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Dollar Reserve Status Is Tale of Fading Glory (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Bank of America May Not Guarantee Countrywide’s Debt (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Homeowners Convert to Costlier Fixed-Rate Mortgages Amid ARM-Twisted Fears (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Bernanke-Geithner `Rogue Operation’ Spurs Further Bailout Calls (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
The Federal Reserve is making inflation worse (MoneyWeek, 5/2/2008)
Fed to Pursue Aggressive Checks on Credit Cards (Washington Post, 5/2/2008)
Clinton Gas-Tax Proposal Criticized (Washington Post, 5/2/2008)
As Candidates Focus on Economy, Clinton Defends Gas Tax Plan (Washington Post, 5/2/2008)
Clinton, McCain Push Gas Tax Break That May Help Oil Companies (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Clinton Caught in Time Warp With Windfall Oil Tax (Amity Shlaes: Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
`Dumbest Idea Ever’ Embraced by State Pensions to Plug Nationwide Deficit (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Fitch Cuts GMAC Ratings (WSJ, 5/2/2008)

UK
Barclays May Raise 3 Billion Pounds, Dresdner Says (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
House Prices in U.K. Post First Annual Drop Since 1996, HBOS Survey Shows (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
House prices fall as UK suffers income squeeze (Telegraph, 5/2/2008)
U.K April House Prices Fall 0.9% in Year, 1.3% in Month: Table of the Day (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Credit crunch: Are we really through the worst of it? (Telegraph, 5/2/2008)
Office rents tumble as city firms cut job (Telegraph, 5/2/2008)

Europe
Do the Rich Pay Taxes? Italy Tells All (New York Times, 5/2/2008)
Global storm clouds gather over Europe (MarketWeek, 5/2/2008)

Emerging Markets
Soaring Food Prices Mean Less Education for Poor (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Food Crisis Erases Ethiopians’ Gains, Diverting Funds From Health, Schools (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Argentine Farmers Consider New Protests Over Export-Tax Gain, Prices Caps (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Bolivia Autonomy Referendum May Undercut Morales, Spark Protests, Violence (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
India’s Inflation Accelerates to 7.57%, Fastest in More Than Three Years (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)

Commodities
Iran Doubles Crude Stored in Persian Gulf Tankers, Deepening Ship Shortage (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)
Chilean Activist Cuevas Takes On Codelco, Brings Copper Mines to a Halt (Bloomberg, 5/2/2008)