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Krauthammer is critical of the Obama White House for using debt reduction to advance its 2012 election campaign
07/07/2011
Krauthammer points to the lack of initiative by the Obama administration in debt reduction.
Linked Articles
The Elmendorf Rule - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/09/2011
Negotiating the Debt Ceiling on a Knife's EdgeNew York Times 07/07/2011
The slow economic growth in Italy and the impact on Italy's debt sustainability
06/24/2011
Linked Articles
Italy Seeks to Spur Growth, Narrowing Gap With Peers
Wall Street Journal 07/18/2011
Italy Needs a Growth RenaissanceWall Street Journal 06/24/2011
Lawrence Lindsey says the Fed has got itself boxed in with little choice but to keep interest rates low
06/15/2011
Federal Flow of Funds Report for 2011 by the U.S. Federal Reserve shows 61% of net Treasury issuance was purchased by the Fed. Lindsey points out that the Fed has itself boxed in to keep rates low for years because for the U.S. government to borrow at more normal rates of 5.7% rather than the 2.5% at which it borrows today, would mean an addition $800 billion in interest costs by 2021.
Linked Articles
Demand for U.S. Debt Is Not Limitless
Wall Street Journal 03/28/2012
Notable & QuotableWall Street Journal 06/15/2011
The lack of any meaningful help to prevent foreclosures for homeowners who are unemployed.
06/04/2011
The adverse effects on housing, on banks holding second mortgages, and on the economic recovery in the U.S., of the lack of a plan and little effort by the Obama administration to help the unemployed facing foreclosure. Most of the programs to prevent foreclosure were designed at the time of the bailouts for subprime lending situations. Prof. Davis at the University of Wisconsin call it outrageous that less than $2 billion of the $45 billion allocated to help homeowners at the time of the bailouts had been spent by Treaury Department as of May 2011.
Linked Articles
Unemployment Strains Foreclosure Aid
New York Times 06/04/2011
Second-Mortgage MiseryWall Street Journal 06/07/2011
How U.S. student debt of over $1 trillion in 2011 can delay a recovery in the U.S. housing market and have serious implications for the U.S. economy
04/11/2011
Linked Articles
Student-Loan Debt Tops $1 Trillion
Wall Street Journal 03/22/2012
College Loans Weigh Heavier on GraduatesNew York Times 04/11/2011
Muni-Bond Default Estimates of $100 Billion
02/09/2011
Estimates on muni-bonds default range from the high side presented by Meredith Whitney to the more moderate estimate of $100 billion over several years by Roubini.
Linked Articles
Muni Default Estimate: $100 Billion
Wall Street Journal 03/02/2011
In Muni-Bond Ills, Danger and HopeWall Street Journal 02/09/2011
Israelis fears and hopes for the Peace Treaty with Egypt
02/01/2011
Israeli opinion is gradually shifting from fears and uncertainty about the situation in Egypt to hope that the Peace Treaty with Egypt will be preserved. The poor economic conditions in Egypt and the need to attract foreign aid and foreign investment reinforce the view that new leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will focus on economic issues. Ehud Barak put this clearly when he said early in the Arab Spring that the movement towards democracy in the Middle East is setting the pathway to modernity.
Linked Articles
Israelis Cling to Faith in Peace Treaty
Wall Street Journal 05/24/2012
Islamists at the GatesNew York Times 02/01/2011
Greece's Path Back (10)- Germany's and chancellor Merkel's view of the euro and the changes needed
01/30/2011
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 04/10/2013
Merkel's Defense of Euro Forged in East GermanyNew York Times 01/30/2011
Bringing peace to Kashmir- the elections in 2014 with a 70% turnout as ordinary Kashmiris turn to development and infrastructure building
01/01/2011
Weary of conflict a whole region turns to economic development and infrastructure building plans as the next step to a brighter future. South Asia makes a new beginning as it catches up with its neighbors in East Asia. A billion plus market extending from South Asia to Indonesia makes a new beginning in 2014. Even the Kashmir Valley hears the message- the synergy of technology, capital, human resources and good governance can pave the way to a better future that is within the reach of today's young generation of South Asians and Indonesians.
Linked Articles
Modi’s Campaign Stop in Kashmir Is Notable for Lack of Unrest
New York Times 12/08/2014
Kashmir's troubles: Shaking the mountainsEconomist 01/01/2011
A Brady Plan type solution to the debt crisis in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and other EU countries
11/30/2010
The extension of maturities for the debt of these countries is a key part of the solution. The Brady Plan that helped sove the Latin American debt crisis of the eighties and nineties is an example of the way out of the crisis. Resistance from bankers to taking losses of upto 30% and extending the maturities for debt. The need for Germany and other countries to set aside money that would be needed to recapitalize banks that need funds to handle these losses. Nicholas Brady when asked about this says it is important for this to be "a unified decision." This would create the confidence in the financial markets that will be needed.
Linked Articles
Europe's Central Banker Seeks Deeper Fiscal Union
Wall Street Journal 06/03/2011
Nervous Europe Trying to Halt Economic CrisisNew York Times 11/30/2010
The U.S. Federal Reserve's increased purchase of Treasury debt with QE1 and QE2 and only slight increase in economic growth in the U.S.
10/07/2010
IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisors, and Moodys Analytics models showing insignificant impact on U.S. from QE1, QE2 efforts. Nigel Gault, IHS Global Insight's model showing only a 0.1% increase in U.S. growth rate from $500 billion of purchases by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Linked Articles
QE2-Inspired Stock Rally May Soon Disappear
Wall Street Journal 08/08/2011
Fed’s $2 Trillion May Buy Little Improvement in JobsBusinessWeek 10/07/2010
The threat posed by China's local government debt to China's banking and financial system
07/29/2010
Because of the opaqueness of the financial system the estimates of the local government debt varies from 27% to 42% of GDP. Prof Shih of Northwestern University, an expert on this subject, now estimates this to be $2.6 trillion or 42% of GDP. Other estimates from the National Audit Office put this at 27% and from China's central bank put this at 30%. Prof Shih's earlier estimate was 34%. Because of the large number of local government entities and the lack of transparency the figures may actually turn out to be higher as China's regulators and other analysts improve their estimates. The 42% estimate is $2.6 trillion in local government debt. China's large foreign exchange reserves of $3 trillion and low interest rates will give China some space for addressing the problem with another round of injection of capital into the banking system.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 06/28/2011
Where China Hides Its DebtBusinessWeek 07/29/2010
David Stockman says Republicans have given up their role in doing financially responsible budgeting for decades.
07/11/2010
The budget deficits, Reagan's Budget director says, developed to this point after decades of irresponsivble budget behaviour that has lasted gone on for four decades. He says the Greece style deficit of 120% of GDP for the USA by 2015 calls for austerity.
Linked Articles
Four Deformations of the Apocalypse
New York Times 07/31/2010
Crisis Awaits Worldâs Banks as Trillions Come DueNew York Times 07/11/2010
The cost of the electric battery in electric cars and building a viable electric car industry
07/02/2011
Major advances in battery technology and cost are needed for electric cars to take off. Gasoline needs to be higher than $4.50 a gallon in the U.S. for electric cars to be economically attractive. This includes a rebate of $7500 towards the higher cost of the electric cars. Battery cost is a major component of the extra cost.
Linked Articles
Ford CEO: Battery Is Third of Electric Car Cost
Wall Street Journal 04/18/2012
Long and Winding Road for Electric VehiclesWall Street Journal 07/02/2011
Increasing domestic consumption in Saudi Arabia will diminish reserve supplies and put pressure on oil prices in 2012-2013
06/23/2011
Saudi domestic consumption increasing at 10% a year will diminsh the Saudi role as a reserve supplier. Estimates are for zero reserve supplies by 2020 and oil imports by 2038, so large is the effect of growing use of oil at home. The Arab Spring means subsidies and social spending will increase, supporting continuing use of oil at current levels for a rapidly growing population.
Linked Articles
The End of the Saudi Oil Reserve Margin
Wall Street Journal 04/03/2012
Rising Saudi Thirst for Oil Drives Plans to Go NuclearWall Street Journal 06/23/2011
Declining demand for gold in China by 2014-2015 and the future for gold prices
06/14/2011
Linked Articles
Cooling Chinese Demand for Gold Adds to Metal’s Gloomy Global Outlook
Wall Street Journal 11/04/2014
Investors Going for the Gold in China May Want to ReconsiderWall Street Journal 06/14/2011
Austerity measures and economic contraction in Portugal 2010-2013- the terms of the 2011 EU-IMF loan agreement with Portugal
05/05/2011
The forecasts of higher unemployment reaching 17% and economic contraction of 7% for 2011-2013 are widely diverging from the original estimates in 2011 by EU and IMF officials. This increases the urgency for reappraisal of the terms of the original agreement including borrowing rates, giving more time to achieve deficit targets, and other action to put Portugal back on the road to growth in 2014.
Linked Articles
Portugal to Seek New Bailout Terms
Wall Street Journal 03/04/2013
Government Sees Deep Recession Ahead for PortugalNew York Times 05/05/2011
China's rising debt burden and growing risks to the economy
03/09/2011
Linked Articles
China's Debt Burden Limits Policy Leeway
Wall Street Journal 03/09/2011
Beijing's Financial Day of Reckoning Is NearWall Street Journal 06/21/2011
Meredith Whitney's forecast of hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. muni-bond defaults
02/07/2011
A more moderate estimate by Roubini of $100 billion. The serious problems in state and local governmet finances in the U.S.
Linked Articles
Muni Default Estimate: $100 Billion
Wall Street Journal 03/02/2011
Meredith Whitneyâs Muni Bond Prediction Draws ScrutinyNew York Times 02/07/2011
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
Inequality, the middle class and economic growth
01/15/2011
Studies show a growing middle class and lower middle class as one of the conditions underpinning steady economic growth. Adam Smith also points this out in his book The Wealth of Nations, written in the 18th century as England began its transformaton with the Industrial Revolution. Growing wages created a middle class and demand for goods and services that enable England to prosper. A similiar process took place in the U.S. with Henry Ford's effort to provide higher wages in his automobile plants in the 1920's that led to a growing middle class able to afford automobiles.
Linked Articles
Inequality: The rich and the rest
Economist 01/15/2011
The 1 Percent Clubâs Misguided ProtectorsNew York Times 12/10/2011
Taylor and Cochrane say the French and German banks exaggerated the effects of contagion in the Greece debt crisis from the beginning
12/02/2010
Prof. Cochrane at the University of Chicago and Prof. Taylor at Stanford University, say French and German banks exaggerated the effects of contagion from the beginning as a way to delay writedowns on Greek bonds held by the banks. The appearance of lurching from one summit negotiation to the next throughout 2011 dented confidence in the eurozone with slowing or negative growth in eurozone economies, and is likely to hurt banks operating in the new economic enviroment.
Linked Articles
'Contagion' and Other Euro Myths
Wall Street Journal 12/02/2010
A Better Grecian BailoutWall Street Journal 02/22/2012
The Brady plan and the expert opinion of John Cochrane and others about the need to extend the maturities of the debt of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and other EU countries.
11/30/2010
Linked Articles
'Contagion' and Other Euro Myths
Wall Street Journal 12/02/2010
Nervous Europe Trying to Halt Economic CrisisNew York Times 11/30/2010
How Apple's Steve Jobs put together the iPhone product in 2004-2007, and how Nokia missed the smartphone opportunity
09/26/2010
Linked Articles
Apple Engineer Recalls the iPhone's Birth
Wall Street Journal 03/26/2014
Nokiaâs New Chief Faces a Culture of ComplacencyNew York Times 09/26/2010
Job saving in Germany, "kurzarbeit" and the experience of piecemeal implementation in France by 2014
07/29/2010
Piecemeal implementation of "kuzarbeit" type job preservation efforts leads to failure in France with unemployment reaching 10.4% by the third quarter of 2014, according to Insee. Proper implementation would require changes in the legal system, and a change in the culture for business, trade unions.
Linked Articles
French Attempt at German-Style Labor Reform Flounders
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2014
The Price of Saving Jobs in GermanyBusinessWeek 07/29/2010
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