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Bruni expresses cynicism about the lack of conviction and authenticity in Romney's claims.

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The Supreme Court of India cancelled the 122 telecom licenses issued by the government in 2008 at below market prices and called for a new auction in 4 months. It said the permits were given in a manner "arbitrary, capricious and contrary to public interest," and declared them "illegal and quashed."

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Among the things that make the U.S. different from Britain, that Roberts does not mention, is the character of the U.S. as a nation of immigrants. As true today as it was for millions who came to these shores from Ellis Island at the turn of the century. This makes for a much more adaptable society with different strains of thinking. Another point that makes the U.S. different is that it has striven to be an anticolonial power in its policies- working to ease the transition to independence of countries in the former French and British empires. The U.S. business and economic system has worked to bring development and economic progress in all parts of the world, as a partner in contrast to a colonial power. In this sense the U.S. has a very different character and a different capability for renewal than the empires of an earlier period- and new basis for belief in itself renewable from period to period.

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Jaapanese companies like Nissan and cosmetics maker Shiseido moving to lower priced products to market to price conscious Japanese consumers and to growing middle class in other Asian countries.

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The U.S. Federal Reserve issued the results of the third round of stress tests since 2009. It said 18 0f 19 financial firms had enough capital buffers to continue lending in a sharp decline in the economy with a fall in housing prices and the stock market and unemployment rising to 13%. Ally Financial failed the test. Citigroup, MetLife and SunTrust Banks were asked to resubmit their capital plans to the Fed. Citigroup's dividend plan was rejected. No banks were asked to raise capital. J.P. Morgan and other banks were allowed to issue dividends and buyback shares. J.P. Morgan plans to repurchase $15 billion in stocks in the next 12 months. Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp also plan to issue dividends and buyback shares. Analyst estimates are for $32 billion in added dividend increases and share buybacks in in the next 12 months. The results are a boost for bank stocks.

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Toyota's goal is to remain the preeminent automobile manufacturer in emerging markets and the IMV is part of its strategy for achieving this goal. The IMV series for emerging markets, with one million in manufacturing capacity coming off a single platform to lower costs, is designed to meet local needs from a price standpoint and rough road conditions. Sales of one million off of a single platform is an achievement only Toyota will have achieved. A minivan, a sport utility vehicle and 3 pickup trucks are all made from a single chassis, with localized production since 2004. The IMV series is expected to account for 10% of the 9.58 vehicle sales goal for 2012. CEO Akio Toyoda plans to increases sales in emerging markets to 50% of total sales by 2015, up from 40% in 2011. IMV vehicles are made in 11 emerging market countries- in Argentina, India, South Africa and Thailand, and are sold as the Hilux pickup, the Fortuner SUV, and the Innova minivan. Over the years Toyota has transferred more of the design and development to emerging market countries to meet local preferences and reduce the effects of a strong yen, leaving only core components to be designed and manufactured in Japan. As it recovers from supply disruptions due to floods in Thailand and the tsunami in Japan, Toyota is planning on sales of 9.58 million in 2012, a steep climb of 21% from the 7.95 million sold in 2011....

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A lost sense of moral purpose for the U.S. Presidency during the Obama years, ironically from a president who was eloquent in his writings about the rights of minorities and people struggling for basic rights everywhere. He wrote years ago that words written two hundred years earlier had to mean something, that the words made their claim on the community called America. The questions he raised have not gone away by being ignored during the presidency.

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Best Buy sales increase by 3.4% in U.S. stores for the nine weeks of the 2014 holiday season through Jan. 3, and online sales increased 13.4%, with the improving U.S. economy. Sales were higher for newer flat screen televisions and smartphones as customers made replacement with new models. The outlook for 2015 remains uncertain because of volatile exchange rates and declining electronics prices.

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A brief history of Alibaba, its founder Jack Ma, and ways in which it is different from the internet business sites in the U.S. Like Google it gets its profits from advertising, but acts as online retailer with its website Taobao. With 50% of the Chinese e-commerce market for delivered parcels, Alibaba generated revenue for 3rd quarter 2012 of $1.78 billion, and net profit of $792 million.

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Proposals by economists Rajan, Stein and Kashyap on financial catastrophe insurance, and bonuses held in escrow, as corrective measures after learning from the 2008 global financial crisis.

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A Republican move for a 3 month extension of the U.S. debt ceiling to provide time to reach a negotiated deal with Democrats.

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Friedman draws attention to a very important thing that a perceptive eye like his has grasped, there is too much rhetoric on the democratic and Obama side about focussing on Afghanistan without knowledge of whats going on in the field and all the risks in haphazard involvement and expansion of the war, reminiscent of the small war that was going on in south east Asia when Kennedy assumed office. Another young and inexperienced President who needed to show that he could be tough and just as the cold war was taking shape with the Berlin airlift and other events in Europe. The early years of the Kennedy administration led to an haphazard expansion of the war without fully understanding the situation in the ground. Scweich and Rory's account and the cable by the British ambassador in Kabul and other links show that the war there has to be very carefully handled by the most capable people knowledgeable about what is happening in the ground.

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Alan Blinder points out that the political partisanship that has emerged in 2010 has not served America well, as it has deprived the government of the fiscal policy tools, which would be more effective than the Fed's only mildly effective tool of buying $100 billion a month of medium and long term Treasury debt. The country he says is tied up in partisan knots that prevents the use of the fiscal policy tools, and leaves the Fed with the choice of doing something only nudging the rates on government and private securites a bit (by 30 basis points for Treasury debt and 15 basis points for private securities as an example, not enough for more than a mild impact on corporate spending). The fiscal policy tools are he says of a wide variety and pack a lot more power, and he cites three as examples: offering significant lasting tax breaks for job creation, large enough to produce results (larger and long term than the HIRE program), government hiring directly onto public payrolls and government paying local and state governments for hiring at the local levels, the government offering to compensate states for a cut in the sales tax for a year to stimulate consumer spending. Would'nt this raise the deficit though? Blinder points out that the deficit problem lies in the future. Right now there is so much slack in the economy, that public spending will not crowd out private spending. And with Treasury rates at an all time low, Treasury can finance the larger deficit in the short term. A depreciation of the dollar or inflation, he says, is not a worry, because now there is worry about deflation, and the USA needs a lower dollar to push exports up and rebalance its economy. This does not slight the deficit issue and the culture of poor budgeting among both parties, as Reagan Budget Director David Stockman pointed out in an op-ed piece, but accomodates the real dangers and opportunities of difficult policy choices. This is why he laments the advertising campaign and public relations campaign against the 2009 stimulus bill, and the expected paralysis of fiscal policy from the extremely partisan 2010 midterm elections, and public opinion consumed by fear of deficits. Leaving the Fed with the unenviable choice of using only mildly effective tools. Other experts and columnists mention the risks associated with the Fed's large scale purchase of securities, if this leads to another asset bubble and subsequent collapse, and another bailout needed for financial institutions. Peter Eavis in one column in the WSJ points to the lack of effectiveness of the first round of quantitative easing of $1.7 trillion. And Kelly Evans, in the WSJ, points to the risks of "bad" inflation, if another round of quantitative easing by the Fed leads to increases in the price of commodities such as oil and food (such inflation falling heaviest on lower income households).The US Financial Regulatory Reform bill has received low grades, and recent standards for reserve capital in worldwide banking reforms are stretched out over a long period, leaving fragility in the economic system, if something were to go wrong....