World News Insights
1-3 Minute Gist
Search, personalize, or simply browse. Follow the world around you from gist and context to insights.
Who we are | Our Credo | Ways of using Lyrarc | FAQ | Send Feedback | First Letter From the Editor
Sign up. It's free and easy to use
Create an account
to personalize your feed of articles and topics.
Browse Articles or use Lyrarc's US patented "Groups" and "Links" for new insights. A Lyrarc Group of Articles on a topic gives insights into particular angles shown in the Group Title. A Lyrarc Link shows more specific insights for 2 articles.
All Topics Links
President Obama's second term- (3) failure to lead on the domestic front and how it relates to Syria-Iraq, the careful observations of Panetta and Woodward
09/07/2012
Leon Panetta, U.S. Defense Secretary under Obama, who was also U.S. president Clinton's chief of staff, and Bob Woodward, renown Washington Post journalist, say Obama failed to lead on domestic policy issues and his own agenda during the first term.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/07/2012
Former Defense Chief Panetta Criticizes Obama in New MemoirWall Street Journal 10/07/2014
Work and life in manufacturing communities across the U.S. midwest- Joliet, Illinois, and Janesville, Wisconsin
08/18/2012
The transition period in U.S. manufacturing and manufacturing based communities in the U.S. as the old manufacturing base is replaced by a new one that is more automated and competitive with Asian manufacturers with fewer jobs than the old manufacturing base. The wrenching change in communities like Janesville and Joliet as communities adjust to job losses and smaller incomes.
Linked Articles
Could Paul Ryan’s ideas help his struggling home town? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 08/19/2012
Caterpillar Union Bows to DemandsWall Street Journal 08/18/2012
Latino leader from Texas in the U.S. Senate
08/01/2012
Ted Cruz is likely to be the new Senator from Texas. Ted's parents immigrated from Cuba. He worked for Chief Justice Rehnquist as a young law school graduate and was Solicitor General of Texas.
Linked Articles
Republican Senate Candidate in Texas Is Known as an Intellectual Force
New York Times 08/01/2012
A Tea-Party Favorite Wins Texas RaceWall Street Journal 08/01/2012
Spain macroprudential supervision of its banking system once lauded now turns out to be "timid" and false, could the same be true for China?
07/18/2012
Spain's central bank had a reputation of providing good supervision for Spain's banking system. The problems at the Cajas Savings banks and the current assessment after the request for $125 billion in EU funds for Spain's banks shows how this turned out to be false. Does China face a similiar problem with its housing bubble. The U.S., UK and Spain, failed to control and manage the effects of a housing bubble, can China be a lone exception? Rapid growth enabled China to cope with bad loans in the banking system, with slower growth, a weak European market for exports, and a stimulus that is about one eighth the size in annual investment- one trillion yuan over 4 years in the current stimulus compared to 4 trillion over 2009-2010 in the last stimulus plan. Can China manage this bubble, does it have the experience managing this type of problem or has it papered over the problems as Spain did? This has repercussions for industries and countries from the export sector in Germany, Australia and Brazil to industries such as the German automobile industry, and companies such as Caterpillar.
Linked Articles
As China’s economy slows, real estate bubble looms - The Washington Post
Washington Post 10/03/2012
Spanish Official: Slow Reaction to CrisisWall Street Journal 07/18/2012
Election of a moderate cleric Rohani as Iran's president in 2013 after years of economic discontent from international sanctions.
07/13/2012
Rohani has attended theological seminary. He also attended law school in Tehran University and in Scotland where he completed master's and doctoral degrees in law. This gives him a unique understanding of the concept of the rule of law for an Iranian cleric. He cited his achievement of avoiding international sanctions as chief nuclear negotiator fo president Khatami, contrasting this with the Ahmadinejad years during pre-election televised debates.
Linked Articles
New Iran Leader Seen as Moderating Force
Wall Street Journal 06/16/2013
Iranâs Airliners Falter Under SanctionsNew York Times 07/13/2012
Spain gets an extra year till 2014 to bring budget deficits down to below 3%
07/10/2012
A decline in GDP is leading to lower tax revenues leading to a relaxation of deficit targets. Spain faces an unemployment rate of 27% in 2012
Linked Articles
Euro Zone Eases Budget Demand on Spain
Wall Street Journal 07/10/2012
Spain Braces for Renewed Austerity as Tax Take HemorrhagesUnknown 07/10/2012
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Daniel Webster, and the Roberts vote in the Supreme Courts ruling on the Obama health care law
06/30/2012
Linked Articles
Chief Justice John Roberts’s health-care ruling gets plenty of second-guessing - The Washington Post
Washington Post 06/30/2012
Charles Lane: John Roberts’s Compromise of 2012 - The Washington PostWashington Post 06/30/2012
Chief Justice Roberts and the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Obama healthcare law
06/28/2012
Linked Articles
Roberts Straddles Ideological Divide
Wall Street Journal 06/29/2012
Supreme Court upholds health-care law, individual mandate - The Washington PostWashington Post 06/28/2012
The basics of the Eurozone architecture with deposit insurance and eurozone bank regulatory authority in a June 2012 report by the EU, EC and ECB
06/11/2012
Linked Articles
Report Suggests ECB Bank Supervision
Wall Street Journal 06/26/2012
The Next Step for Europe Is Financial UnionWall Street Journal 06/11/2012
Boeing and lessons learned from the $50 billion Dreamliner project- (1) a shift to incremental improvement for the path ahead
06/08/2012
No more moonshot projects, say CEO McInerney, and Ray Conner, head of the airplanes division. The cost of the Dreamliner exceeds $50 billion by 2015, according to Barclays Capital, including R&D and related costs. The focus is now on incremental change, on striving for simplicity, reducing complexity, and increasing reliability, after the experience of over 3 years of repeated delays, cost overruns, and reliability failures, high complexity, and overloaded manufacturing processes on the Dreamliner project.
Linked Articles
At Boeing, Innovation Means Small Steps, Not Giant Leaps
Wall Street Journal 04/03/2015
Boeing Hits a MilestoneWall Street Journal 06/08/2012
The July 2012 Report by an independent parliamentary panel on the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and prime minister Naoto Kan's testimony
05/28/2012
The report calls the disaster "a profoundly man-made event," and "a disaster 'Made in Japan,' " citing cultural factors that contributed to the accident. It is sharply critical of TEPCO and the Japanese government's response. Both the report and the testimony of the prime minister at the time of the accident, Naoto Kan, refer to the 'nuclear bloc' or 'nuclear village' in Japan that promotes nuclear energy. Some of its actions are dangerous to safety, such as locating the nuclear safety agency NISA inside the same ministry that promotes nuclear power, a critical flaw. Ironically Germany made the decision to make a gradual shift out of nuclear power after looking at the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and near collapse in Japan, while Japan is reactivating its nuclear plants to meet energy needs without having obtained public confidence in the system of nuclear energy including the essential safety actions. The result is a profound credibility gap about the nuclear plant industry, and public opposition in Japan.
Linked Articles
Report blasts Japan’s preparation for, response to Fukushima disaster - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/06/2012
Japan's Ex-Premier, Naoto Kan, Condemns Nuclear PowerNew York Times 05/28/2012
How JP Morgan Chase let its London trading desk operate without risk management controls leading to large losses
05/18/2012
CEO Dimon is described as distracted by other issues. Ina Drew, the seasoned head of the Chief Investment that manages a $300 billionplus portfolio after the merger of other failed banks into JP Morgan Chase in 2008-2009, contracts Lyme disease in 2010 and is no longer the hands on person when she returns in 2011. Ms. Duersten, in charge of the North American trading desk at the New York office leaves in 2011 after 16 years at Chase. The controls over the London trading desk from New York are slipping away and Mr. Iksil and Mr. Macris of the London trading desk take massive trading positions to expose Chase to large losses. CEO Dimon learns about the Chase trading positions and the London Whale (Mr Iksil) from the Wall Street Journal on April 6, 2012, for the first time, astounding the business community and the financial world.
Linked Articles
Discord at JPMorgan Investment Office Blamed in Huge Loss
New York Times 05/19/2012
Inside J.P. Morgan's BlunderWall Street Journal 05/18/2012
The $436 million payment by Greece to holdout bondholder Dart Management and the $1.5 billion demanded by holdout bondholder Elliott Management leading to Argentine default in 2014
05/15/2012
Greece made the payment to Dart Management at a time of 20% unemployment and daily protests on Athens streets, a month before elections in June 2012. Greece only did this as a last resort for release of EU funds that were being held up to make pament of interest on debt. This exacerabated discontent inside Greece as pensions were being cut and layoffs taking place, including increase in electricity bills. The Syriza party made gains in that election and the two main parties lost ground to other parties, including a violent anti-immigrant party. Argentina's Christina Kirchner faces a difficult time with the unions and centrist parties in Buenos Aires province, with a shortage of cash and sovereign wealth fund down to $29 billion in May 2014. Stevenson points out the payment to Elliott Management could lead to a situation where Argentina owed $15-$27 billion to all holdout and exchange investors in its bonds.
Linked Articles
Argentina Finds Relentless Foe in Paul Singer's Hedge Fund
New York Times 07/30/2014
Bet on Greek Bonds Paid Off for a Vulture FundNew York Times 05/15/2012
The Obama admnistration and the conflict in Syria
08/28/2012
A brief history shows the Alawite community constitutes about 13% of the population in Syria and live mainly in the coastal region near the Mediterranean. Under the French Alawites generally supported the colonial regime and the community was used by the French colonial regime to act as a buffer as they ruled a predominantly Sunni population. The Alawites joined the military and Hafez Assad, an Alawite general, seized control in 1971. His son now rules Syria. The Obama administration has largely missed the struggle of the people for freedom from dictatorships in Syria and Egypt under Mubarak.. With Turkey and Egypt supporting the young people in Syria, the U.S. investment is minor in military and other support compared to the cost of letting the war continue with unintended consequences for the entire region.
Linked Articles
New York Times 11/13/2012
Assad Draws Shock Troops From Elite Sect in SyriaWall Street Journal 08/28/2012
The changes at Barclays Bank in 2012-2013
08/09/2012
Linked Articles
A Five Point Plan for Barclays
Wall Street Journal 08/10/2012
Barclays New Chairman’s on What a Chairman Should BeWall Street Journal 08/09/2012
The risks to Chrysler in 2013-2015 with delayed new and redesigned models, and higher incentive costs reducing margins
07/31/2012
Lower cash flow from the demands for new and redesigned models in a very competitive market, the higher incentives costs reducing margins, combined with losses in the Fiat European operations, will pose challenges for Marchionne in 2013-2014.
Linked Articles
Chrysler Profit Up, Cautions on Spending
Wall Street Journal 01/31/2013
In Turnabout, Chrysler Profit Offsets Fiat LossWall Street Journal 07/31/2012
The challenges facing Citigroup CEO Pandit in 2012-2014
07/16/2012
Linked Articles
Citi Looks Toward Developing World
Wall Street Journal 07/17/2012
Citi's Not-So-Simple TaskWall Street Journal 07/16/2012
Production problems, outsourcing issues, delivery delays, and its impact on the Boeing Dreamliner and Airbus A-350 programs
07/11/2012
Changes in orders and cancellations by Quantas, China Eastern and other airlines as a result of long delays in the Dreamliner 787 program.
Linked Articles
Boeing 787 Profit Plan Strained by Order Cut
Wall Street Journal 08/24/2012
Hit by Delays, Airbus Tries New Way of Building PlanesWall Street Journal 07/11/2012
The Mass at Reims Cathedral in France then and now 50 years later for a lasting reconciliation between France and Germany
07/06/2012
German chancellor Adenauer and French president De Gaulle met at Reims Cathedral in May 1962 The service commemorating the 50th anniversary of that historic meeting and service was held recently. It was an occasion to bring together two leaders with diverging opinions on the eurozone financial crisis, Merkel and Hollande. Their mentors Jacques Delors of France and Helmut Kohl of Germany played an important role in setting up the EU and its institutions.
Linked Articles
Fifty Years Later, a New Chance for Reconciliation
Wall Street Journal 07/06/2012
Germany and France Celebrate Their BondNew York Times 07/08/2012
Ireland sees hope in the June 28, 2012 EU deal for direct aid from the European rescue fund to banks
06/29/2012
Ireland is the only country that took on all the debt of its banks during the eurozone financial crisis. This makes the June 28 deal a particularly helpful sign for Ireland to reduce its debt load.
Linked Articles
In Ireland, Hope of Retroactive Relief
Wall Street Journal 06/29/2012
European leaders agree to use bailout fund to help banks - The Washington PostWashington Post 06/29/2012
The failure of Barclays bank management under CEO Diamond in setting artificially low LIBOR rates
06/28/2012
Linked Articles
Barclays Executives Are Said To Know of Low Rates
New York Times 07/02/2012
Lie Bores Into Credibility of Barclays and the CityWall Street Journal 06/28/2012
The drop in commodity prices with slowing growth in China balanced by higher absolute levels of demand 2014-2015
06/11/2012
Linked Articles
China Slowdown Is Rocking Raw Materials
Wall Street Journal 03/12/2014
Commodity prices drop on economic woes in Europe, China, U.S. - The Washington PostWashington Post 06/11/2012
Lenovo and the PC market in China and India 2010-2014
05/29/2012
Lenovo now has the largest PC market share in the two fastest growing markets- China and India.
Linked Articles
PC Firm Lenovo Hunts For Brazil Acquisitions
Wall Street Journal 05/29/2012
As Rivals Outsource, Lenovo Keeps Production In-HouseWall Street Journal 07/09/2012
Span's Cajas Savings bank, problems with managment and culture, lack of financial controls, and the large losses from the real estate bubble
05/24/2012
Bankia was the new name for seven troubled cajas savings banks that were merged. The failure of the government's handling of the bad real estate debt, the collapse of the IPO price for bankia's IPO, and the insovency followed by takeover of Bankia by the government, is what led to the $125 recapitalization request by Spain to the EU. The cajas in Galicia give an insight into the operation of these savings banks, in many cases run by leaders who became influential in the political system and expanded healvily int real estate during the bubble years. Management remained in place for decades with authoritarian leaders and there were no financial controls.
Linked Articles
Clash of Cultures Upends Spain's Cajas
New York Times 08/20/2012
Spain to Recapitalize Bankia in Latest BailoutWall Street Journal 05/24/2012
The 2012 U.S. presidential election and demographic changes in America
05/17/2012
Linked Articles
Mitt Romney: A good man. The right fight. - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/29/2012
Whites Account for Under Half of Births in U.S.New York Times 05/17/2012
We took a different way to help millions around the world build educated informed mindsets that affects and shapes their lives. For a future that is open, global and digital, with everyone having access to high quality information. We believe in the renewal of America, renewal of Europe, the renewal of India, the rest of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The renewal of our supply chains, health, education, infrastructure, as we rebuild our countries after the pandemic. Literacy and knowledge we believe cannot thrive and grow in a world of web bots, web crawlers, or AI. This requires human curiosity, human learning, and human imagination. We take as inspiration the saying- “One has to be free, and as broad as sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear, only then can truth shine in it.” Every contribution whether big or small is precious- in this crisis and ahead.
Support Lyrarc from as small as $1
Terms and Conditions | Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Contact Us