THE NEWS WRAP: Gates richest American for 19th consecutive year

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been named by Forbes as the richest American for the 19^th year in a row, accumulating a fortune of $66 billion, up $7 billion on last year.

The top five in Forbes’ rich list was unchanged from last year, with investment guru Warren Buffett coming in second place with a $46 billion fortune and Oracle chief Larry Ellison third with $41 billion.

The biggest fall was the fortune of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who slipped from 14^th to 36^th place after losing half his fortune on the social media giant’s disappointing IPO.

Living standards warning over mining slowdown

A leading economist has warned Australians to expect lower living standards due to a slowdown in the mining boom and a decline in export prices.

Ross Garnaut, a previous Federal Government advisor, said that he was concerned that Australia would suffer because the country had not saved enough of the proceeds of the mining boom in order to stay prosperous in harder times.

Dollar set to remain strong: Westpac chief economist

The Australian dollar is set to remain strong “for years to come”, presenting the economy with problems in the medium term, according to Westpac’s chief economist.

Bill Evans said that as central banks diversified away from euros and US dollars, the Australian dollar will remain buoyant, with the currency set to hover around US106 cents by December next year.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.32 points, or 0.1%, to 13,577.96. The Australian dollar was up to US104.79 cents.