US President Barack Obama has insisted the “best is yet to come” for America after winning a second four-year term yesterday, defeating Republican Mitt Romney.
In his victory speech, Obama pointed to America’s struggling economy and its tax code as key priorities.
However, he will have to deal again with a Republican Congress and a looming ‘fiscal cliff’, where tax cuts will expire and spending will be slashed in the New Year.
Business confidence has hit a four-year low, with bosses concerned over the state of the economy and rising costs, according to new research.
Newport Consulting’s survey of 259 business leaders in the Asia Pacific region found that three quarters were worried about the economy, 54% thought that rising costs were hurting them and 48% were unhappy with how governments are treating them.
Consumer confidence is not set to strongly rebound, with several retail sectors “in the toilet”, according to Gerry Harvey.
The Harvey Norman supremo, who was speaking after a 20% slump in first quarter profit, said that conditions were tough for the electronics sector.
“It’s not that retail is completely in the toilet – it’s not,” he said. “It’s in the toilet for certain categories.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 263.64 points, or 1.99%, to 12,982.04. The Australian dollar was up to US104.63 cents.
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