Business notebook: AP ranks China's slowdown as top 2015 business story

China's economy lost some luster in 2015 and its leaders their aura of invincibility. A commodities boom went bust, spreading pain from Texas oil fields to Indonesian coal mines, the Associated Press reported.

Seven years of near-zero interest rates ended in the United States, while easy money kept flowing elsewhere. Volkswagen cheated on emissions tests. And the rise of Uber intensified a debate about the definition of an employee.

China's slowdown was chosen as the top business story of 2015 by business editors at The Associated Press, followed by the plunge in energy prices.

Here are the top 10 business stories of the year:

It took five years for people to become really worried over China's slow-motion economic deceleration. The freak-out finally hit global markets in August. Between Aug. 10 and Aug. 25, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 11 percent on fears everyone had underestimated China's troubles and their effect on the rest of the world.

A motorist in Leonia, New Jersey, fills up his car as the price of unleaded regular fell below $2 a gallon Jan. 9. Motorists around the world have benefited from low oil prices all year. (Seth Wenig ~ Associated Press)

China's deceleration is part of an official plan to shift from unsustainable growth from exports and wasteful investment to slower but steadier expansion based on consumer spending. Yet its leaders tarnished their reputation for economic stewardship by clumsily intervening to prop up plunging stock prices. Then they shocked and confused markets by devaluing the Chinese currency.

Economists began to conclude China's official story -- its economy was growing around a brisk 7 percent a year -- was far too rosy, and growth might be closer to 5 percent or 6 percent and likely to weaken further.

China's slowdown and a global oil glut crushed commodities and energy prices. The Standard & Poor's GSCI commodities index has plunged 34 percent this year to its lowest level since 1999, down 80 percent from its peak. The main culprit was China's slowdown. When they were booming, Chinese factories devoured about half the world's copper, aluminum, nickel and steel.

Oil prices, too, tumbled from $98 a barrel two years ago to under $35. The biggest factor was unrestrained production across the world, which led to a huge supply glut. In response, energy companies slashed investment in America's oil patch. And workers lost jobs in Zambian mines, Indonesian coal pits and Australian ports. But consumers enjoyed a windfall: Near year's end, U.S. motorists were paying just $2 a gallon for gasoline, down from $2.47 a year ago.

When the Fed cut short-term interest rates to near zero in December 2008, the American economy was losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month. The financial system had nearly toppled. The rate cut was an emergency response. No one expected it to last.

But it did -- for seven years. On Dec. 16, the Fed declared the economy finally was healthy enough to withstand a modest rate increase: It raised the short-term rate it controls from a range of zero to 0.25 percent to one of 0.25 percent to 0.50 percent. But with Europe and Japan still struggling and China decelerating, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the People's Bank of China had gone in the reverse direction: They acted to continue or expand their easy-money policies.

Ragsdale's to reopen in March

Ragsdale's, at the corner of Water Street and Broadway in Cape Girardeau, is projected to be open by St. Patrick's Day, according to Buckner's Brewing Co. brewmaster Mike Mills.

Mills said the bar, which occupies the downstairs portion of the Buckner's, plans to open for the holiday as a throwback to its last reopening, which was on a St. Patrick's Day in the late 1990s.

Mills said they plan to serve green beer and Irish stout: "All the good stuff that comes along with St. Patrick's Day."

More details on the business' opening will be available in the coming weeks.

Ritter announces party at new location

Laura Ritter of Ritter Real Estate announced a New Year's party will be at 5 p.m. today in the new office space at the Codefi building, 339 Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

The new space includes access to large conference rooms and seminar facilities, so Ritter will be able to offer home-buying seminars and "seller educational coffees," according to a news release from Ritter Real Estate.

The office also has updated computer, Wi-Fi and advnaced wiring systems.

The Ritter Real Estate team will be introduced at the party, including Jared and Shannon Ritter. Shannon Ritter recently received her real-estate license and joined the firm.

kwebster@semissourian.com

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