Economic Review

The UK has become only the seventh country in the world to have more then two gigawatts of operational wind power. This land mark was passed on yesterday when the Braes O’Doune wind farm was opened, producing 72 megawatts of power, enough electricity for 45,000 homes in the area. The government has set a target of having 10 percent of the countries electricity generated by renewable sources. This should show the world that the UK is serious on environmental issues and should encourage other countries to follow.

In contrast with the record trade surplus achieved by Germany, France had a record high trade deficit of 29.2bn euros in 2006. Analysts blamed the trade deficit on the difficultly that exporters were having in the German market, usually a main market for French goods. But the government blamed rising energy prices on the trade deficit. 2006 also saw a 1.9 percent decline in the French car industries exports. Airbus provided strong exports for France which helped to keep the trade deficit relatively stable.