Briefcase

Disasters may be blip on broader economy

WASHINGTON – The tornadoes and floods that have devastated parts of the South and Midwest have also hammered the local economies – flooding farmlands, suspending factory work and disrupting energy production.

Yet for the U.S. economy overall, the damage will likely be scant. At most, the disasters might knock one-tenth of 1 percentage point off national economic growth in the April-June quarter, Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner estimates.

“It’s so small, you aren’t going to notice it,” said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

Others caution, though, that the tornado season hasn’t ended yet, and the hurricane season has yet to arrive. Further major disasters could begin to weigh on the U.S. economy.

Associated Press

Greek deal’s failure results in EU warning

ATHENS, Greece – The European Union’s top finance official urged political leaders in debt-ridden Greece to quickly agree on further austerity measures, but a new government bid to reach a consensus on that issue failed Friday.

EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said cross-party talks in Athens must continue, despite the main opposition conservatives’ refusal to endorse more cutbacks.

The commissioner’s warning came after Greek conservative leader Antonis Samaras refused to bend to EU pressure after a three-hour crisis meeting involving the heads of all Greece’s major political parties.

Associated Press

PayPal claims Google stole ‘Wallet’ ideas

SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc.’s ambitious plan to supplant credit cards with smartphones has thrust the Internet search leader into a legal tussle with online payment pioneer PayPal, which contends Google stole its ideas by hiring away two key executives.

PayPal painted a picture of betrayal and corporate espionage in a lawsuit filed late Thursday in a California state court, just hours after the unveiling of the “Google Wallet” payment service in New York.

The 28-page complaint alleges the service evolved from research that eBay Inc.’s PayPal had been working on for the past decade.

PayPal fingers two central culprits in the intellectual heist – one of its former executives, Osama Bedier, and former eBay executive Stephanie Tilenius.

In its response Friday, Google contends it merely identified talented candidates to run its mobile payments service and then made them offers that proved too tempting to refuse.

Associated Press