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With 1 in 6 mortgages or 16%, 12 millon mortgages "under water," the Feldstein Plan makes sense.
10/04/2008
Martin Feldstein, headed Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan. His plan is to go to the root of the problem, which is the estimated 40% of mortgages expected to be worth less than market value of the home by Deutsche Bank estimates as the crisis peaks.
Linked Articles
Housing Pain Gauge: Nearly 1 in 6 Owners 'Under Water'
Wall Street Journal 10/08/2008
The Problem Is Still Falling House PricesWall Street Journal 10/04/2008
The Uptick Rule and how it could have prevented the kind of shortselling that almost killed Morgan Stanley.
10/02/2008
Shortselling, the uptick rule and the collapse in share price at Morgan Stanley and later in November 2008 at Citigroup.
Linked Articles
NYSE Chief Leans Toward Uptick Rule
Wall Street Journal 10/02/2008
Anatomy of the Morgan Stanley PanicWall Street Journal 11/24/2008
Fed not likely to risk taxpayer money on Lehman
09/12/2008
Lehman may be allowed to fail or a sale arranged by Treasury without taxpayer funds.
Linked Articles
No Deal Reached Yet to Decide Lehman's Fate
Wall Street Journal 09/13/2008
Sink or Swim for LehmanWall Street Journal 09/12/2008
The New York Times editorial faulting both Russia and Georgia shows where the position of the US and Europe may end up being.
08/12/2008
The criticism of both countries suggests that the statements that this is a resurgence of the Cold War may be overdone especially in a completely different period.
Linked Articles
New York Times 08/12/2008
Russia Says It Has Halted Military Action in GeorgiaNew York Times 08/13/2008
Reports linking Karzai's brother to heroin trade fit in with Scweich's account in the NYT.
07/27/2008
Schweich is deputy to Anne Patterson Asst Secretary of State for international narcotics and law enforcement. His story in the New York Times fits in with accounts of links to the heroin trade of Karzai's brother who heads the provincial council in Kandahar. This also shows how trust is being lost in the Afghan government among the people as stated in a cable by a senior career foreign service officer from Britain in Kabul to the French government.
Linked Articles
Reports Link Karzai’s Brother to Heroin Trade
New York Times 10/05/2008
Is Afghanistan a Narco-State?New York Times 07/27/2008
Roche's bid for complete ownership of Genentech.
07/22/2008
Can the long standing independent operation of Genentech's discovery team under Levinson be maintained under the effort to integrate Genetech more into Roche. Will it result in synergies removing "a Chinese wall" as a head of Roche R&D puts it or will it lead to the loss of key members of the team over time especially as they were not brought into the discussion process about this move leaving them in confusion.
Linked Articles
Roche's Big Hurdle with Genentech
BusinessWeek 07/24/2008
Roche Bid Blindsided GenentechWall Street Journal 07/22/2008
Appreciation of the yuan would accelerate a shift in Chinese industry out of low cost low margin goods.
06/30/2008
Chinese policymakers are moving industry to higher value added goods with innovation and better technology and less price sensitive goods.
Linked Articles
China's Export Machine Threatened by Rising Costs
Wall Street Journal 06/30/2008
Yuan's Path Seems Up -- EventuallyWall Street Journal 06/30/2008
Geneal Motors Board and its top management hobble along without a vision or timely decisions at critical turning points.
06/28/2008
The lack of vigorous discussion at the Board and top management levels of Gneral Motors is the most striking thing about the company. Classic example how the larger and more successful an institution, there is no assurance that even the vital skills of vigorous discussion and openness to fresh thinking promoted by its founders like Alfred Sloan in this case in one of his meetings, that these skills will be available in the future.
Linked Articles
GM's Massive Quarterly Loss Adds to Turnaround Pressure
Wall Street Journal 08/02/2008
McCain Offers Aid, No 'Bailout' on AutosWall Street Journal 06/28/2008
China's oil demand to grow at 2-3% over the next 15 years by one estimate.
06/20/2008
A much slower growth in oil demand as fuel efficient engines make a strong impact. Government policy raising oil prices, giving tax breaks for smaller engines to promote smaller cars on Chinese roads, and promotion of new hybrid and electric car technologies with significant subsidies, all push in this direction.
Linked Articles
China's Thirst for Oil Could Come Up Short
Wall Street Journal 06/01/2010
China Sharply Raises Energy PricesNew York Times 06/20/2008
American driving habits and preferences are finally beginning to change in 2008 as oil prices reach $4.00 to $4.70 per gallon.
06/19/2008
Americans miles driven reached 3 trillion miles by 2007 and now are headed downward for the first time in 10 years. its affecting car prteferences in favor of smaller cars and changing driver habits.
Linked Articles
The Smaller the Better, Automakers Are Finding
New York Times 06/20/2008
Driving Less, Americans Finally React to Sting of Gas Prices, a Study SaysNew York Times 06/19/2008
IHS Energy Associates's Yergin sees shale technologies changing the energy business by 2020, and IEA misses this completely
05/22/2008
Long term forecasting is a difficult business. IEA's 2015 forecast missed the situation in 2015 completely. Yergin was right but did not see how fast this would happen with oil prices down to $50 per barrel in 2015 and prices at the pump below $2.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 12/12/2011
Energy Watchdog Warns Of Oil-Production CrunchWall Street Journal 05/22/2008
BMW, Benz and luxury retailers Saks, Nordstrom face declining luxury consumption.
04/30/2008
Sales at luxury retailers full priced stores are flat or declining while their factory outlets are seeing increased sales. BMW and Mercedes are taking writedowns for the drop in the value of their secondhand leased cars in the USA. This reflects declining economic conditions in April 2008.
Linked Articles
Profit Hurt, BMW Diverts Cars From U.S.
Wall Street Journal 04/30/2008
Luxury Retailers Pin Hopes on OutletsWall Street Journal 04/30/2008
The strategy of passing on food price increases in emerging markets of Unilever, P&G (Procter & Gamble), Danone and Nestle
04/30/2008
Linked Articles
Grain Companies' Profits Soar As Global Food Crisis Mounts
Wall Street Journal 04/30/2008
Unilever Sales Rise as Its Prices ClimbWall Street Journal 11/04/2011
What appropriate lessons emerging economies can draw from the global financial crisi of 2008.
10/03/2008
Lessons that emergig economies can draw from the global financial crisis of 2008 may be the wrong ones if there is a return to more state control over the economy which has resulted in wasted decades of development in many countries.
Linked Articles
Economist 10/09/2008
Development Doesn't Require Big GovernmentWall Street Journal 10/03/2008
Bob Woodward on decisionmaking in the Obama White House and the Bush White House
09/15/2008
In "The War Within" Woodward described how Bush persevered to get the job done right in Iraq. In "The Price of Politics," Woodward describes how Obama failed to use his presidential leadership and suthority to get all sides to reach an agreement. Bill Keller of the NYT says Obama failed to make the "unpleasant choices" a president has to make, including supporting the president's own Simpson-Bowles Commission on the U.S. deficit.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/15/2008
Notable & QuotableWall Street Journal 09/07/2012
Did Putin overreact in Georgia 2008 and Ukraine 2014? Russia and the dangers to the Russian economy of not maintaining good relations with the West
08/13/2008
Russia tones down its overreaction as 66% of Russians polled in June say Russian forces should not enter Ukrainian terrritory. Putin and Russians in the administration policy making may have underestimated the reaction in the U.S. as reflected in this WSH editorial saying Americans should remember the words of Gen. Lucius Clay during the Berlin Blockade and the subsequent airlift. This could be why analysts in Russia now maintain that good relations with the West must be maintained, and entry of Russian forces into Ukraine would have disastrous consequences for Russia in terms of western sentiment and foreign investor sentiment. In such a situation Germany would be likely to support the stronger U.S. position seeing this in terms of the language used in theBerlin Airlift of 1948. For Germany and Russia this would be reversing the hard won gains of building relations from the time of Brandtand Kohl till today, fifty years of effort to build better relations and economic relationships- just too much for sober heads in Moscow Paris, and Berlin to accept, and closing another chapter in Russia's interactions with the West.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 08/13/2008
Seeing Cost of Saber Rattling in Ukraine, Putin Alters CourseNew York Times 07/11/2014
The Afghan war as asort of political football for the Democrats to burnish their anti soviet or now Obama to burnish his antiterrorist credentials.
07/30/2008
Friedman warned about the overhyping of the Afghan war as being the right war by Obama. Charlie Wilson, Rep. from Texas, is described as doing this during Reagan's contras war in Nicaragua, making that one the bad war and the anti soviet war in Afghanistan as the good war.
Linked Articles
Stephen G. Rademaker - Obama Strategy Raises Questions on Afghanistan
Washington Post 09/05/2009
Drilling in AfghanistanNew York Times 07/30/2008
Israeli refiner Alon and the market supply and demand for asphalt.
07/23/2008
As more and more refiners turn the heavier oils into gasoline and diesel the supplies of bitumen for asphalt are expected to shrink leaving asphalt in short supply if demand to fix aging roads picks up.
Linked Articles
Oil Cost Boosts Asphalt, for Now
Wall Street Journal 07/23/2008
Israeli Refiner Expands in U.S.Wall Street Journal 07/23/2008
General Motors Management
07/02/2008
Questions raised about General Motors Management and also indirectly about the insular Board of Directors as GM's market share and stock reach a low not reached for several decades and both are comfortable with the status quo.
Linked Articles
GM Weighs More Layoffs, Sale of Brands
Wall Street Journal 07/07/2008
Can Teflon Last for GM's Wagoner?Wall Street Journal 07/02/2008
China makes a major shift to higher value added and technology products.
06/30/2008
The cheap products made at high costs to labor, the environment are out and the remaining textile products and similar product companies will have to be more sophisticated and make more value added products. Chinese government policy will discourage the older polluting factories in the south and encourage high tech leadership products for world markets.
Linked Articles
China’s Ambition Soars to High-Tech Industry
New York Times 08/01/2008
China's Export Machine Threatened by Rising CostsWall Street Journal 06/30/2008
The impact of energy costs on the Chines export model of low cost low margin textiles, shoes household goods
06/20/2008
Higher energy prices are showing up in the higher cost of Chinese goods abroad along with other cost increases.
Linked Articles
China's Export Machine Threatened by Rising Costs
Wall Street Journal 06/30/2008
China Sharply Raises Energy PricesNew York Times 06/20/2008
CarMax used SUV and truck prices for early months of 2008 show stunning declines prompting GM rethinking its entire product lineup.
06/19/2008
CarMax, a used car retailer says price declines for SUV's and pickup trucks were severe in early months of 2008 with a 25% decline. The declines were sharpest in May and early June suggesting that things could get very bad for carmakers which don't make an abrupt and dramatic shift away from these types of vehicles.
Linked Articles
GM Puts Off Truck, SUV Redesigns In New Focus
Wall Street Journal 06/19/2008
Grim CarMax News Hits Auto MakersWall Street Journal 06/19/2008
Huge shift in car mix in favor of smaller cars as USA buyers finally make the shift and fast.
06/19/2008
Small cars sales move up quickly from 12.5% to 20% of vehicles sold. Market is running at 12.5 million vehicles in May 2008. The small car share will rise much higher as supplies increase, currently small cars sell quickly and are in short supply especially for Hona Fit and Civic cars and the Ford Focus.
Linked Articles
The Smaller the Better, Automakers Are Finding
New York Times 06/20/2008
GM Puts Off Truck, SUV Redesigns In New FocusWall Street Journal 06/19/2008
Board meetings at GM and the how the culture and style of management stalled decisions on fuel efficiency and small car development.
05/15/2008
The evolution of the old management styles and attitudes as Ford brought in outside management and Bill Ford took a new tack, and at GM where old management plodded on inexorably in the old way. Which is quite different from what Alfred Sloan had advocated in his memoirs when he insisted on discussion and debate on critical decisions in board meetings for them to be worthwhile.
Linked Articles
BusinessWeek 05/15/2008
Bill Ford on Tipping Points and Thinking SmallBusinessWeek 07/31/2008
FDIC Bair's proposal to aid homeowners anticipating the banking and mortagage crisis.
04/30/2008
FDIC Sheila Bair seen in retrospect after her anticipation of the mortgage and credit crisis and helping prepare FDIC for it. And for the comprehensive approach she took and which later convinced people at Treasury who had earlier adopted a case by case approach not realizing how deep and far reaching this crisis would be.
Linked Articles
Agency’s Head Expects Banking’s Crisis to Worsen
New York Times 08/27/2008
Bair Proposal Seeks Government Loans To Aid HomeownersWall Street Journal 04/30/2008
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