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The mismatch in skills that will make it harder to bring down the unemployment rate in the U.S. in 2012-2013
03/15/2011
Labor Department and other information points to a serious skills crisis in the U.S. that will make it harder to tackle unemployment.The lack of emphasis on jobs training by the Obama administration is also making the situation harder to tackle.
Linked Articles
On Jobs, No Time for a Celebratory Beveridge
Wall Street Journal 04/11/2012
Many Workers Seen Lacking Skills for New JobsWall Street Journal 03/15/2011
Hope and reality in Nigeria (3)- President Jonathan Goodluck 2011-2015, and President Muhammadu Buhari 2015-2019
02/24/2011
Too many young people in Africa are seeing their hopes dashed, and their dreams vanish. After 4 years of the Jonathan administration, young people in Kano and other cities place their hopes on Muhammadu Buhari. The demographic dividend is in danger of being wasted in Africa's most populous country.
Linked Articles
Nigerian Central Bank Governor Ousted
Wall Street Journal 02/21/2014
Nigeria Details Oil Windfall SpendingWall Street Journal 02/24/2011
The Elop memo in 2011 and the sale of Nokia's mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2013- the startling change of fortunes for Nokia
02/09/2011
Nokia was a pioneer in the development of mobile phones in an earlier era when fixed lines were the norm. It dominated the mobile phone business in the period before 2009 for 2 decades before the coming of smartphones. The change in Nokia's market came quickly and suddenly with the advent of the iPhone and Nokia was unprepared for this development. This is a classic case of obsolesence and disruptions caused by innovation and new technologies. Other companies from the previous era before cloud computing and the internet, H-P, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft, face the continuing challenge to adapt or lose to new competitors.
Linked Articles
Microsoft in $7 Billion Deal for Nokia Cellphone Business
Wall Street Journal 09/03/2013
Full Text: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop’s ‘Burning Platform’ MemoWall Street Journal 02/09/2011
Angela Merkel's experience with the reunification of East and West Germany and her views of the eurozone crisis
01/30/2011
The perceptions of the eurozone crisis of ordinary Germans and of former East German Angela Merkel are colored by the period of reunification of the two Germany's. This was paid for with a"solidarity surcharge" tax paid by Germans amounting to $1.7 trillion and led in its early stages to 4 million unemployed in the eastern part and 20% unemployment. It took over a decade for East Germany to build new modernized industries in the larger cities of the east, but still leaves the rural parts of former East Germany in a neglected state as young peoplemoved out. During this period industry in the west also regained lost global competitiveness, especially in industries such as automobiles and advanced machinery, using wage restraint agreements with unions and increases in productivity. Germans see the need for eurozone countries in the southern part of Europe needing to make similiar sacrifices and see the tax evasion in Italy and Greece as unacceptable. The real estate bubble, the lack of transparency for banks bad loans, and out of control regional spending in Spain is also seen in a similiar light. Greece is seen as the most egregious offendor because of the bad financial accounting that grossly understated the extent of the bad loans. Less publicized in Germany is the role played in the bad loans through poor lending practices of German and French banks and that as experts have pointed out Germany was to some extent bailing out German banks when it was bailing out Greece- till German banks reduced their exposure to Greece in 2011.
Linked Articles
In former East Germany, anxious residents resent paying for Europe’s problems - The Washington Post
Washington Post 06/21/2012
Merkel's Defense of Euro Forged in East GermanyNew York Times 01/30/2011
China's efforts to build its Strategic Oil Reserves in 2011-2012 and pressure on oil prices in 2012 (2)
12/30/2010
Linked Articles
China Seen Bolstering Oil Reserves
Wall Street Journal 04/11/2012
China May Throw Wrench Into Oil MarketWall Street Journal 12/30/2010
Adidas's surging sales and strategies for emerging markets
11/16/2010
Linked Articles
Adidas Takes on Rivals in Chinese Market
Wall Street Journal 11/16/2010
Adidas Lifts Outlook as Its Pace QuickensWall Street Journal 05/01/2012
Selling in smaller towns and rural areas of emerging markets
08/30/2010
Suzuki in India, Adidas and Philips NV in China maintain sales momentum by moving to smaller towns and rual areas in emerging markets.
Linked Articles
Philips's CEO Urges Local Strategies for Emerging Markets
Wall Street Journal 08/30/2010
Maruti Suzuki Bets Big on BackwatersWall Street Journal 12/24/2013
The recovery of Japan Airlines after bankruptcy with the initial public offering of $8 billion planned for Serptember 2012
06/21/2010
Linked Articles
JAL, a Bailout Beneficiary, Heads for a Public Offering
New York Times 07/02/2012
JAL May Need $1.1 Billion More in AidWall Street Journal 06/21/2010
The Volcker Rule and the report of the Squam Lake group of 15 prominent American economists
06/15/2010
Linked Articles
15 Economists Issue Crisis-Prevention Manual
New York Times 06/15/2010
Volcker to Push Back on Banks' TradingWall Street Journal 02/13/2012
Italy's borrowing in capital markets - 2011-2012
06/03/2010
Linked Articles
Italy Seeks to Spur Growth, Narrowing Gap With Peers
Wall Street Journal 07/18/2011
Italy's Shot of Southern DiscomfortWall Street Journal 06/03/2010
Experts Roach, Grantham, Roubini and Shiller see serious risks of a double dip recession.
05/13/2010
Dangers of another bubble from zero interest rates which reward excessive risktaking, a blow to confidence levels from some sudden event, the eurozone crisis, and a fragile world economy that has not made the normal recovery, are cited
Linked Articles
Charlie Rose Talks to Nouriel Roubini
BusinessWeek 05/13/2010
Beware a Bernanke-Fueled Market BubbleBusinessWeek 05/13/2010
Campbell Soup's acquisition of Bolthouse Farms as it diversifies away from canned soup
02/22/2010
The high end juice maker provides Campbell with products in a growing market. Store brands have eroded sales of Campbell brand canned soups. Campbell also hopes to tackle a younger demographic.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 07/10/2012
Headwinds Threaten Campbell's ChargeWall Street Journal 02/22/2010
Shrinking news coverage and fewer journalists in the newspaper shift to digital online
11/25/2009
It says a lot about the changes underway in the newspaper industry when a paper like the Washington Post closes its bureaus in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and covers the news there with travelling reporters. As local newspapers such as the New Orleans Times- Picayune move to three editions a week and an online edition, the number of journalists overing the area around New Orleans will shrink by a third in 2012. Advance Publications which runs the New Orleans paper will do the same for its papers in Huntsville and Birmingham i in Alabama.
Linked Articles
New Orleans Times-Picayune to limit printing to three days per week - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/25/2012
Washington Post shutters last U.S. bureausWashington Post 11/25/2009
Lower economic growth in the U.S. and Europe from oil price increases in 2012
03/01/2011
Linked Articles
Fears of a 2008 Repeat for Oil
Wall Street Journal 03/18/2012
Oil's Rise Threatens Economic GrowthWall Street Journal 03/01/2011
The Fall of an American Icon- HP, Lee Apotheker and the Autonomy Acquisition Inc.
02/18/2011
The Autonomy acquisition charge of $8.8 billion announced by CEO Meg Whitman on Nov. 20, 2012, come at a time of declining sales and margins in its printer and PC businesses. The costly charges on bad acquisitions by H-P is likely to hurt investment in R&D for years.
Linked Articles
Hewlett's Loss: A Folly Unfolds By the Numbers
New York Times 11/20/2012
Chief Reboots H-P After ScandalWall Street Journal 02/18/2011
Sobhi Saleh of Egypt- from parliament to protests and the panel rewriting the constitution
02/04/2011
Nicholas Kulish's account in the NYT Feb 4, 2011, must rank as an exceptional piece of international coverage and journalism. It provides a heart rending account of the member of parliament from Alexandria. Arrested in the protests for democracy, Saleh makes his way out from a prison set on fire. Saleh is a member of an eight member panel rewriting the constitution in Feb. 2012.
Linked Articles
Egypt's Military Names Constitutional Panel
Wall Street Journal 02/15/2011
Why a Member of the Muslim Brotherhood Was Late to the RevolutionNew York Times 02/04/2011
Closer Japan-U.S. ties in 2012-2015
01/10/2011
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/23/2012
Fred Hiatt - Patching up our alliance with JapanWashington Post 01/10/2011
Problems facing Brazil's economy in 2012-2013 and the approach of finance minster Mantega and president Roussef
12/30/2010
Linked Articles
Brazil Flexes Strong Arm to Reverse Slowdown
Wall Street Journal 05/31/2012
Brazil's President Exits With a Protracted Victory LapWall Street Journal 12/30/2010
Complacency at RIM Blackberry and Nokia as the Apple iPhone upends the market 2007-2012- the sudden collapse of Nokia and RIM Blackberry
09/26/2010
Linked Articles
The Inside Story of How the iPhone Crippled BlackBerry
Wall Street Journal 05/24/2015
Nokiaâs New Chief Faces a Culture of ComplacencyNew York Times 09/26/2010
Increasing auto emisssions, coal fired plants and the extreme air pollution in Beijing and other cities in China
07/28/2010
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 01/16/2013
In China, Pollution Worsens Despite New EffortsNew York Times 07/28/2010
Paul Volcker and Economists in the Squam Lake Group share concerns about the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council
06/15/2010
Volcker voiced his concern that a lot depends on how tough and vigilant a new council is with banks in the US on a day to day basis. The 10 member Financial Oversight Council was set up in the US financial reform bill of 2010. Some of the economists in the Squam Lake Group, 15 highly reputed economists in the U.S., also share this concern.
Linked Articles
Paul Volcker Pushes for Reform, and Regrets His Past Silence
New York Times 07/09/2010
15 Economists Issue Crisis-Prevention ManualNew York Times 06/15/2010
BP's failure in the Gulf Oil Spill and the Justice Department settlement in Nov. 2012
06/15/2010
The Justice Department filed criminal charges against engineers and managers at BP citing wanton and negligent conduct.
Linked Articles
In BP Indictments, U.S. Shifts to Hold Individuals Accountable
New York Times 11/15/2012
Oil Executives Try to Explain Differences From BPNew York Times 06/15/2010
Apple products at manufacturing plants in China and at retail stores in the U.S.- low worker pay and lack of future prospects
05/29/2010
The high margins for Apple achieved through a combination of keeping costs low- even at the risk of providing poor wage and working conditions for the majority of employees employed in the retail stores in the U.S. and in supplier Foxconn plants in China- and by a grasp for innovation and technology. The paradox of a well deserved image for pioneering in technological innovation and the indifference to working conditions and prospects for employees who add value in manufacturing and customer interface. This model of growth is a recent development, put in place after 1997. In 1995-1997 Apple was nearing collapse under Michael Spindler and Gil Amelio, as documented by WSJ technology reporter Jim Carlton in his book- "Apple- The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders." Steve Jobs returned as CEO in 1997 and set the future course and this model in place emphasizing design, his ability to grasp technologies that would appeal to customers, and hired Tim Cook to set up the manufacturing which had high rate of defects and higher costs. The model was as full of paradoxes, of genius combined with mediocre behavioursas the man Steve Jobs. Tim Cook has responded to criticism in 2012 by having the Fair Labor association audit Foxconn plants in China. Foxconn increased wages in 2012, shifted plants to the interior of China, and increased use of robotics.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/29/2010
Apple Stores Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on PayNew York Times 06/23/2012
Cost cutting and cost reduction strategies at Toyota and BP that misfired.
02/22/2010
It costs about $6 millon a day for BP to fix the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in May 2010. It cost Toyota much more to make the larger recall and in lost sales and the damage to its image than the $100 million estimated saving by efforts to limit the recall.
Linked Articles
Drilling Down: A Troubled Legacy in Oil
Wall Street Journal 05/01/2010
Toyota Cited $100 Million Savings After Limiting RecallNew York Times 02/22/2010
Danone and P&G's (Procter & Gamble) innovative strategies for reaching low income customers in emerging markets.
12/12/2009
In 2004 Indonesian managers showed Franck Riboud, CEO of Danone, a pyramid of customers in Indonesia's population of 240 million people. It showed only 20 million customers at the top of the pyramid as the only ones who could afford Danone products. At that point Ribaud made up his mind to go after the large number of people at the lower end of the pyramid and come with strategies to do this profitably. By 2010 46% of Danone's sales were from emerging markets, up from 10% a decade earlier, showing the pace of the change. Unilever, P&G, Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive and other companies are following similiar strategies. P&G has used Mexico as a lab for experimenting with new products at low price points and Danone has done this in Indonesia.
Linked Articles
Danone Expands Its Pantry to Woo the World's Poor
Wall Street Journal 06/25/2010
P.& G. Sees the World as Its ClientNew York Times 12/12/2009
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