Vivre à Atlanta, GA

FACC member recently published the following article on "femmexpat.com". Please enjoy!
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Atlanta, une ville qui a la pêche

En découvrant Atlanta, GA, j’ai été de bonnes surprises en bonnes surprises. Je m’attendais à une ville inhumaine, immense, sans verdure et sans intérêt architectural du fait des destructions encourues pendant la Guerre Civile (le General Sherman a fait brûler la ville en 1864). Ma première prise de contact a complétement changé cette image. Certes la métropole d’Atlanta compte environ 5 millions d’habitants et continue à grandir. Mais il s’agit d’une métropole verte. Une fois quitté le centre-ville (Dowtown) quelque peu sinistre il faut l’avouer mis à part autour des attractions touristiques, il existe de nombreux quartiers (Midtown, Virginia Highland, Chastaing Park, Buckhead) et petites villes (comme Roswell, Marietta...) pleins de charmes et très verts, sans oublier Piedmont Park et Grant Park, les poumons verts de la ville.

Atlanta est la porte d’entrée du Sud des Etats-Unis et tout le rappelle. Ses habitants sont généralement très accueillants, dans la tradition du Sud. Ils font aussi preuve de beaucoup de courtoisie (attendez-vous à entendre du yes, Ma’am, no Ma’am et mieux vaut dire Good morning Sir). Ils ont aussi tendance à mieux s’habiller, de façon moins relaxe, que dans le Nord. Les femmes sont plutôt coquettes, à l’image des ladys des plantations. Il suffit d’assister à la sortie de la messe le dimanche ou d’aller au restaurant pour voir qu’à Atlanta on s’habille.

Atlanta est ensoleillée toute l’année, l’été est très chaud,

Did you already know that .... ?

Savannah's port now #2 in U.S. for exports - By Carla Caldwell – Published in The Atlanta Business Chronicle

The Port of Savannah is now the second-busiest in the U.S. for containerized exports, Georgia Ports Authority    Executive Director Curtis Foltz said Thursday during his annual “State of the Ports” address, reports the Savannah Morning News. In fiscal year 2011, which ended June 30, the Port of Savannah handled more than 6.8 million tons of containerized exports. The port is second only to the Port of Los Angeles. Georgia’s port beat out other major ports including Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Norfolk and Charleston. (La suite: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2011/09/savannahs-port-now-2-in-us-for.html).

September Currency Outlook provided by Western Union Business Solutions

For more information, please contact Chris Hopkins at chris.hopkins@business.westernunion.com

For financial markets, August was one of the most tumultuous months since the 2008 financial crisis. Depressed by signs of a slowing global economy and slammed by deterioration in European debt markets, traders fled into the relative safety of the Japanese yen, Swiss franc, and US dollar. As September begins, calm appears to be returning, but the potential for violent exchange rate movement remains.

Global Outlook

Two themes are likely to exert significant influence over the currency markets in the month ahead:

Monetary Safety Net Unravels

Financial markets are kicking off September after being kicked in the teeth throughout August.

Economic pessimism began to set in when a series of negative employment, manufacturing and purchasing reports landed on trading desks in the early part of the month. Sentiment was given a further knock when Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States in early August. Although the move was widely expected, and did little to dissuade investors from purchasing US dollar debt, it certainly served to damage faith in the real economy.

Buffeted by these crosswinds, investors spent much of the remainder of the month awaiting a magic show performed by Ben Bernanke and his Federal Reserve.

However, if developments over the last few years have established anything, it is that central banks are unable to resurrect economies on their own. The Federal Reserve may have the monetary rabbit, but it doesn't have the fiscal hat.

As a result, we expect central bankers to do their best to anchor policy expectations further into the future, while avoiding repeats of the massive asset-buying programmes seen over the past few years. The risks are too large, and the rewards too unclear.

Financial markets will be forced to ride on their own, without the support of government-provided training wheels. Asset prices are vulnerable, and traders will remain cautious around the growth-linked currencies for the foreseeable future.

The ride may be a little wobbly and prone to crashes in the coming months, but one hopes that an old skill is relearned by the turn of the calendar year.