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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
Local governments and state-owned companies are fueling a real estate bubble in China in 2009-2010.
07/29/2010
Northwestern University Prof. Shih estimates that state banks in China hold $1.68 trillion in debt of local investment companies which invest for local governments. In many cases the banks have little collateral. The central government in China aggressively supported this lending to quickly get money to projects in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, but this may have backfired with money going into speculation and building a bubble.
Linked Articles
Chinaâs Real Estate Boom and Conflicting Policy
New York Times 08/01/2010
Where China Hides Its DebtBusinessWeek 07/29/2010
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
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
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
Rehman Malik's admission that the miliants are entrenched in the southern Punjab.
04/29/2010
How this affects the American war efforts allied with poor governance in Afghanistan as problems lead back to Pakistan.
Linked Articles
Official Admits Militancyâs Deep Roots in Pakistan
New York Times 06/02/2010
U.S. Report on Afghan War Finds Few Gains in 6 MonthsNew York Times 04/29/2010
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
Ed Whitacre and the revival at General Motors- restarting an American icon that had fallen into bad ways
11/13/2009
The management changes and the management style that went into changing General Motors, once an icon of American enterprise in the prewar and early post war period.
Linked Articles
After Bankruptcy, G.M. Struggles to Shed a Legendary Bureaucracy
New York Times 11/13/2009
Ed Whitacre's Battle to Save GM from ItselfBusinessWeek 04/29/2010
The crying need for civilian aid and rural development programs in Afghanistan
10/18/2009
Commander Adams describes his experience in Khost province of Afghanistan. Dexter Filkins describes his experience about an irrigation canal that has been neglected through the long years of war.
Linked Articles
Afghanistan Doesn't Need More Troops
Wall Street Journal 10/28/2009
Stanley McChrystal’s Long WarNew York Times 10/18/2009
Iran, N. Korea and President Obama's approach to nuclear weapons proliferation
07/05/2009
The views of Nunn, Perry, Shultz and Kissinger after meetings at the Hoover Institution on developing a new approach to nuclear proliferation after decades of relying on "mutually assured destruction", and the approach of President Obama. During the Cold War the U.S. and the Soviet Union faced each other, the situation in 2012 is very different with Iran, N. Korea, Pakistan, and the risks of terrorism.
Linked Articles
Youthful Ideals Shaped Obama Goal of Nuclear Disarmament
New York Times 07/05/2009
Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear ProliferationWall Street Journal 03/07/2011
Treasury data show the 10 year Treasury bond yield went up to 3.78% in April from 3.0% 3 months ago.
06/11/2009
The effect of large Fed purchases of Treasury's may be the reverse of lowering rates, as creditors to the government see rising inflation from the Fed's unprecedented actions.
Linked Articles
Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest Rates
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2009
Fed's Conundrum on Treasury PurchasesWall Street Journal 06/15/2009
As the government sells $5 trillion in new debt by one estimate, the problem of an estimated $ 1 trillion in troubled assets on the banks books is being put off for another day.
06/04/2009
The FDIC's Legacy Loans Program's $1 billion pilot program attracts no interest. The Public Private Partnership Program of Secretary Geithner, like Secretary Paulson's TARP program before Geithner, is also unlikely to attract much interest as banks are not willing to take the prices that would require them to show large losses on their books. But this means that these problems are postponed for another day.
Linked Articles
Plan to Help Banks Clear Their Books Is Halted
New York Times 06/04/2009
Rising Interest on Nations’ Debts May Sap World GrowthNew York Times 06/04/2009
The investment stragtegist at Standard and Poors thinks this rally may end withe the market testing new lows.
05/31/2009
This is what happens to rallies in the depths of bear markets, as history shows, says Sam Stovall of Standard and Poors.
Linked Articles
Rising Interest on Nations’ Debts May Sap World Growth
New York Times 06/04/2009
What About the Valley After the Rally?New York Times 05/31/2009
Who is the sucker in this war? Mohamed Hanif and Thomas Friedman offer two perspectives on the Afghan war.
07/31/2010
Mohamed Hanif of the BBC's Urdu Service gives the view of ordinary Pakistanis outside of the small military and civilian elite that runs Pakistan. They are just looking in and are more interested in the electricity that can illuminate a village, than with an obsession for India. Pakistan has lagged in economic development and has no emerging middle class like India. Friedman of the New York times sees America a the sucker in this game, but is oblivious to the feeling of ordinary Pakistanis who were never part of this.
Linked Articles
In Pakistan, Echoes of American Betrayal
New York Times 07/31/2010
The Great (Double) GameNew York Times 07/31/2010
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
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
strikes and wage increases in Chinese factories and the effects on inflation..
05/29/2010
Inflation reached a high of 3.1% increase in May 2010 over the previous year according to government data. The wage increases are still to be reflected in eventual inflation. The need for stronger measures such as increasing interest rates and revaluing the currency.
Linked Articles
China Inflation Rises to a 19-Month High
New York Times 06/11/2010
Unrest May Signal New Phase in China EconomyNew York Times 05/29/2010
Small investors are losing confidence in the US stock market in 2010.
05/27/2010
A trend shows small investors withdrawing from the market and less buying on dips in the stock market. There was abrief respite as the market recovered in 2009 but the trend to net outflows in the mutual funds that invest in stocks was reestablished in May 2010.
Linked Articles
Small Investors Flee Stocks, Changing Market Dynamics
Wall Street Journal 07/12/2010
Chuck Schwab Is Worried About Small Investors. Should We Worry Too?BusinessWeek 05/27/2010
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
Why the Obama health care law gets an "F" grade from the Dean of Harvard Medical School
11/18/2009
The failure to replace the "fee-for-service" system in favor of capitated payments is cited as one of the main reasons. The other reasons are it does not resolve the issues of introducing competition in quality of care and cost, and continues the practices that disguise the true cost of care with a highly fragmented system of care. In a op-ed, Jeffrey Flier, Dean of the Harvard Medical School, gives a detailed account for the reason for his grading. A poorly drafted or incomplete law says Flier can make things worse, citing the example of the health care law in Massachusetts which is driving up costs, as it does not change the old dysfunctional system's key features such as "fee-for service," and instead tries to build a new system on broken foundations. Pearlstein in the Washington Post says the Obama health care law has addressed the "fee-for-service" problem, but this is really not the case, and Flier's reasoning may be the clue to the deeper problem for the Obama health care law.
Linked Articles
Steven Pearlstein: Eat your broccoli, Justice Scalia - The Washington Post
Washington Post 04/01/2012
Health 'Debate' Deserves a Failing GradeWall Street Journal 11/18/2009
The slow and faltering progress on USAID and other rural development projects in Afghanistan
10/28/2009
This will rank as one of the great failures in this decade old war. Most of the progress is patchy and on-again and off-again as described here.
Linked Articles
Afghanistan Doesn't Need More Troops
Wall Street Journal 10/28/2009
U.S. military dismayed by delays in 3 key development projects in Afghanistan - The Washington PostWashington Post 04/29/2011
Shift to Social Democrats as German chancellor loses public support in Germany.
09/28/2009
The main reason the Social Democrats did poorly in the 2009 elections in Germany says an expert is because they driftd aay from their working class base with their economic reforms. Now there is a shift back to the Social Democrats and Greens under the Christian Democratic government of chancellor Merkel.
Linked Articles
Merkel Looks to Recharge Her Ratings
New York Times 07/21/2010
Germany's Long Road to ReformWall Street Journal 09/28/2009
BP, Shell and other foreign oil companies expand production in Iraq in 2012-2014
07/01/2009
Ambitious goals for oil production are set by the Iraqi government as oil companies from the, U.S., Europe, Russia and China, provide the expertise to increase production from older oil fields. Problems of infrastructure and national oil legislation hinder rapid development.
Linked Articles
Crude Oil Output Is Soaring in Iraq, Easing Markets
New York Times 06/02/2012
Oil Companies Reject Iraq's Contract TermsWall Street Journal 07/01/2009
With capacity utilization at 68%, too much slack in the economy for inflation to take root.
06/11/2009
Producer Price Index showed its steepest decline since 1949 for May 2009 over May 2008. And there are still 10 unsold homes for every one sold, with the typical being 6.
Linked Articles
Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest Rates
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2009
Housing Starts Jump in May for Third MonthWall Street Journal 06/16/2009
With $5 trillion of new debt issue estimated in 2009-2010, the prospect of continued bailout of auto industry for years dims outlook for reversing this.
06/03/2009
Some experts point to the need for a 50% reduction in capacity in the auto industry from 2008. Demand may be lower than the 9.5 million vehicle year that the auto task force says is needed for GM to breakeven. This will mean continued government aid to the industry for a number of years.
Linked Articles
Rising Interest on Nations’ Debts May Sap World Growth
New York Times 06/04/2009
Kicking the Tires on the General Motors DealWashington Post 06/03/2009
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