BIZ BRIEFS

US, S Korea FTA talks :

SEATTLE: The US and South Korea will begin a third round of free-trade talks, hoping to make progress toward an accord that could be the biggest of its kind for the US since the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1993. Critics from both countries planned demonstrations throu-ghout the week, protesting what they characterise as an unfair in favour of multinational corporations. — AP

Goldilocks’ economy :

PARIS: The British economy should take over the mantle of a ‘Goldilocks’ economy from the US, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday as it sharply revised up its growth forecast for Britain this year. The OECD’s chief economist, Jean-Philippe Cotis, said the Goldilocks situation — where a country combines strong economic growth with low inflation and is neither too hot nor too cold — had traditionally been applied to the US in the late 1990s. “But in fact, without any fanfare, the UK has achieved this. It is a Goldilocks economy. — The Guardian