Great Recession

China on Sept. 14 posted its slowest growth in fixed-asset investment in nearly 18 years along with weaker-than-expected industrial output and retail sales, suggesting the economy may be starting to lose steam as lending costs rise.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced on Sept. 11 that Turkey's economy grew over 5 five percent in the second quarter of this year, just as it did in the first quarter.

Greek banks remained within the target range for reducing their bad loans in the second quarter of the year, according to a Bank of Greece report, but in order to do so they proceeded to extensive loan write-offs, while there is some concern regarding mortgage loans.

Greek cooperative bank Pancretan said on Monday that a rise in deposits had allowed it to stop borrowing from the central bank's emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) facility.

Some countries have much larger shadow or unofficial economies than others. Greece’s shadow economy is worth over a fifth of its total output, and Italy’s isn’t far behind, says a research by German IAW. However, the chart refers only to selected industrialized countries. And Germany is not doing much better…

Turkey's unemployment rate dropped to 10.2 percent in May, which covered the April-June period, falling further from a seven-year high at the start of the year but up from 9.4 percent in the same month last year, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed on Aug. 15.

'The Retreat of Western Liberalism' by Edward Luce (Little Brown, 234 pages, £16)

Another financial crisis is still possible, according to International Monetary Chief Christine Lagarde. She was commenting on a statement by US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who predicted she would not see another financial crisis in her lifetime.

China's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter as industrial output and consumption picked up and investment remained strong, though analysts expect slower growth over the rest of the year as policymakers seek to reduce financial risk.

Turkey's unemployment rate declined to 10.5 percent in the April period, which covered data from March to May, falling further from a seven-year high at the start of the year but up from 9.5 percent a year earlier, official data showed on July 17.