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Canada's DBRS, a little known credit ratings firm that made a large difference for the credit ratings of Italy and Spain
08/09/2012
Canada's DBRS put less weight on the political shifts in Italy and more on the low growth rate. It rated Italy A (low) in November 2013, much higher than the ratings given by Moody's and S&P. This was important in the eurozone crisis because the European Central Bank uses the highest rating on a sovereign country's bonds to decide discounts on collateral pledged by banks to the ECB. DBRS has more faith in the lasting value of the euro and sees through the ups and downs of the crisis. It takes a similiar upbeat long term view of Spain. DBRS has credibility because it did not move ratings up as much before the 2008 financial crisis, and did not move the ratings down as much during the crisis, as the large credit ratings firms.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 08/09/2012
The Key to Italy's Rating Is Kept in CanadaWall Street Journal 11/02/2013
Kazuo Inamori's turnaround of Japan Airlines (JAL)
07/30/2012
Kazuo Inamori founded Kyocera and is considered one of Japan's leading corporate leaders along with such names as Sony's Akio Morita, and Honda's Soichiro Honda. At age 77, Inamori took up the task of revitalizing Japan Airlines and turning around the airline after huge losses. The story of how he managed to accomplish this using his unique management philosophy, cost management, JAL's strategies, and employee efforts.
Linked Articles
Japan Airlines Roars Back With an Eye on U.S. Market
Wall Street Journal 07/30/2012
‘Mikoshi’ Management: How Kazuo Inamori Lifted Japan AirlinesWall Street Journal 07/30/2012
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
EADS Airbus efforts to improve manufacturing efficiency and company culture to double operating margins by 2015
07/13/2012
Linked Articles
Airbus on Track to Double Profit Margin by 2015
Wall Street Journal 06/16/2013
Airbus Wants A380 Cost CutsWall Street Journal 07/13/2012
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
Tackling food insecurity in India and Pakistan- use of metal storage containers instead of jute bags or mud silos (2)
06/23/2012
Linked Articles
Hungering for a Solution to Food Losses
Wall Street Journal 12/25/2012
Indian Fiber Weaves a CrisisWall Street Journal 06/23/2012
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
A recovery in auto sales in the U.S. market to the annual 14 million vehicle level in 2012
06/01/2012
The aging of vehicles to about 10.8 years on average for vehicles on the road in the U.S. is supporting a reovery in the automobile market in 2012. The strong recovery for Japanese automakers in the U.S. is reducing the advantage of American automakers who benefitted from the shortages of Japanese cars after the tsunami in Japan in 2011. The recovery for Japanese automakers is uneven with Toyota doing better than Honda in the U.S.
Linked Articles
May Car Sales Keep Up Healthy Pace
New York Times 06/01/2012
U.S. Auto Sales Keep RisingWall Street Journal 06/02/2012
The focus on reviving the economy of Mohammed Morsi, new president of Egypt
05/25/2012
Egypt faces an economic crisis as it runs out of foreign reserves to finance basic imports. Morsi's election comes at a time when the dominant issues for years in Egypt will shift from the political to the economic as it tries to catch up with other countries in the developing world in Asia and Latin America that have made significant progress.
Linked Articles
Egypt’s president is U.S. critic, but could be an ally - The Washington Post
Washington Post 06/26/2012
Muslim Brotherhood claims lead for its candidate in Egypt’s presidential election - The Washington PostWashington Post 05/25/2012
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 remarkable achievement of Governor Jerry Brown of California- a budget surplus of $851 million for fiscal 2013
05/14/2012
The impossible becomes possible in California as political hurdles are overcome and the state's economy improves. The budget preserves spending priorities for education and healthcare by cutting back in other areas, another remarkable feat- a lasting legacy for Brown's second act as governor. His father was governor in the Kennedy years, he was governor in the 1980's.
Linked Articles
State’s Rare Sight: A Budget Surplus
Wall Street Journal 01/10/2013
Brown Proposes $8.3 Billion in Cuts for CaliforniaNew York Times 05/14/2012
Iran's young people under 35 who make up about 70% of the population of 74 million, and the future of Iran in 2015
05/07/2012
Linked Articles
Iran’s Legions of Weary Young People Push Against the Old Ways
Wall Street Journal 07/08/2015
Young Iranians Confront a Constricted FutureNew York Times 05/07/2012
How a law from the 1980's requiring use of jute bags for storage creates problems for food storage in India (1)
04/13/2012
Linked Articles
India's Grain Storage Comes Up Short
Wall Street Journal 04/13/2012
Indian Fiber Weaves a CrisisWall Street Journal 06/23/2012
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
Kazuo Inamori of Japan Air Lines and Akio Toyoda of Toyota Motor- Renewal of Japanese management style 2010-2015
07/30/2012
Linked Articles
‘Mikoshi’ Management: How Kazuo Inamori Lifted Japan Airlines
Wall Street Journal 07/30/2012
To Whom Do Japan’s Most Powerful Turn for Advice? The Sensei of SeaweedWall Street Journal 09/01/2015
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
Torrelodones, Castilla La Mancha and the effort to clean up accounts in local government in Spain
06/25/2012
Wasteful spending, cronyism, corruption and lack of transparency in local government marked the years of the construction and real estate boom in Spain. Now grassroots efforts are taking place across Spain to clean up accounts, ensure transparency, and divert wasted resources to meet vital needs. Similiar efforts are taking place from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Sicily, Italy, as Europ faced with high unemployment and austerity cuts comes up with its own efforts for renewal from the bottom up setting the political elites aside.
Linked Articles
Europe's Recession Sparks Grass-Roots Political Push
Wall Street Journal 05/21/2013
A Spanish Leader Emerges as a Crusader for AusterityWall Street Journal 06/25/2012
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
Germany's distorted national priorities- underinvestment in childcare centers and in wages for childcare and early education teachers
06/06/2012
Melissa Eddy of the NYT provides these two exceptional accounts of Germany's national priorities gone awry as the economic revival takes place in manufacturing, but leaves behind important areas such as early childhood education and child care centers. A lack of investment in the people who form the backbone of the educational system, is one of the forms of the distorted priorities. It may be recorded as the singular lapse of the Merkel administration in the last decade.
Linked Articles
German Child Care Workers’ Strike Brings Debate on Priorities
New York Times 06/05/2015
Germany Considers Subsidies for Non-State Child CareNew York Times 06/06/2012
The importance of vocational training in cities like Dayton, Ohio, with historically low college graduation rates
05/28/2012
These cities are being squeezed by high unemployment and declining incomes from lower paid manufacturing jobs. This makes college education more elusive than ever, and much worse so with the over $1 trillion in college debt in the U.S with spiralling cost of higher education. Vocational training in higher paid fields for families that cannot afford college and children who are not likely to go to college, is the only way not to leave behind a generation of growing children behind in these cities. It is an issue of the utmost importance for renewing America's smaller cities that do not have the advantages of San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Raleigh, S. Carolina, with their advanced university and technology hubs and access to finance.
Linked Articles
As College Graduates Cluster, Some Cities Are Left Behind
New York Times 05/30/2012
It’s time to drop the college-for-all crusade - The Washington PostWashington Post 05/28/2012
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
Hype, deep pocketed investors and soaring valuations in Silicon Valley- 2012-2015
05/17/2012
The makings of a new bubble in Silicon Valley.
Linked Articles
The $1 Billion Club Gets Crowded
Wall Street Journal 05/17/2012
Search for the 'Next Big Thing' leads to Soaring ValuationsNew York Times 01/21/2014
The behind--the-scenes account and timeline for the trading losses at the CIO London office of JP Morgan Chase bank
05/10/2012
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/18/2012
J.P. Morgan’s London Whale: A TimelineWall Street Journal 05/10/2012
De Anza College in Cupertino, California where a Apple co-founder got his start and the implications of tax avoidance strategies
04/28/2012
A U.S. Senate Report in May 2013 points to tax avoidance strategies by Apple, and Apple CEO Tim Cook appears before a Senate hearing. EU leaders meet in Brussels to address the problems of tax avoidance by digital companies which aggravate the budget deficits of EU countries, especially at a time of cutbacks in infrastructure spending and education that supports the digital companies access to to human resources. De Anza College in Cupertino is where on of the Apple cofounders went to school. The head of the college describes the effects of cutbacks in funding on the college. On the other side of the Atlantic Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden's prime minister makes a similiar case saying the digital companies need access to infrastructure and educational centres which makes the payment of taxes used to fund this necessary for the whole system not to fall into dysfunction.
Linked Articles
Apple's Tax Strategy Aims at Low-Tax States and Nations
New York Times 04/28/2012
Europe Tackles Tax EvasionWall Street Journal 05/22/2013
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