LyrArc Article Gist
Think BIG America, Reagan-Friedman theory that says government is best kept out leaves the Nation with hobbled dilapidated infrastructure.  New York City languishes in crisis with decades of neglect of its subway system modernization, the failure of the congestion pricing scheme puts the city in dire straits. Even Mumbai, India, where no subway system existed is getting a new subway. We show the Erie Canal as part of the DNA of America, to think big and move at the forefront of the first Industrial Revolution. It was built in 7 years from 1818 to 1825 for $7 million and opened up the vast hinterland of New York State- Rochester, Buffalo on Lake Erie, Schenectady- and connected it by navigable waterway with locks to the Hudson river at Albany and on to New York City and the Atlantic. On May 13, 1954 Republican president Eisenhower signed the Seaway Act and authorized construction of the St Lawrence Seaway with Canada at cost of $C135 million with 22,000 workers.The US Army Corps of engineers began construction of the US section in 1957 and completed it by 1959 for oceangoing ships to navigate the St. Lawrence River from Duluth in Minnesota and Milwaukee to Quebec and on to Montreal and the Atlantic. These are the projects that built the Midwest and Northeastern states, and Quebec.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Failure by EU leaders to take early and decisive action to reduce Greece's debt to sustainable levels in 2009. This was when the IMF report by Dutchman Bob Traa blew the cover off the Greek coverup of deteriorated finances. Policy missteps included ECB president Trichet and other EU leaders pushing austerity measures and not taking needed tough action on reducing the debt. By November 2011 a 50% reduction in debt with bondholders taking the losses is not enough to correct the situation. Greece's debt is discounted by 70% by Nov 2011. Analysts estimate an 85% reduction in Greek debt being necessary for Greece to pull through without a default.

LyrArc Article Gist
This Wall Street Journal article in 1993 documents the struggles and failures experienced by Steve Jobs after he left Apple in 1985 and started the company Next.

LyrArc Article Gist
Failure of quant models a second time around. Search fr clues to future from the 1987 and 1998 crisis. Burton Malkiel's sense that there will be more hedge fund blowups but the economy should recover. Whether this will be after a recession or early recovery followed by a recession after other excesses as in the 2 prior crises is still to be played out.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Republican tax law of 2018 is unpopular, according to a new NBC/WSJ poll in April 2018. Only 27% of people in the poll view the tax law favorably, 36% view the tax law unfavorably. About one third or 32% say they have no opinion, possibly because they have no clear idea of how it will impact them or the country. On trade and other economic issues the Republican Party is viewed more favorably, including for its tougher stance to give the U.S. a level playing field. Even though the Republicans are not viewed so favorably on taxes, the poll findings show the Democrats are not seen as better on taxes and economic issues. The poll also shows the Democratic Party better able by large margins to handle issues such as gun violence, sexual harrassment and health care. This shows that under an aging Democratic leadership of Pelosi, Hoyer and Schumer, and the failure of Hillary Clinton, the younger Democrats with a more Progressive tendency are having to make their own case with people not clear how the Democrats can offer a better alternative. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This exceptional account by WSJ's Shira Ovide on Microsoft Windows 10 looks at ways CEO Satya Nadella is changing Microsoft's culture and old way of doing business. Microsoft is changing its culture and strategy of charging for all its products. It will let businesses and individual buyers upgrade for free to the new Windows 10 product. This means $500 million less in sales revenues in 2015, but opens up new oppoortunities in sale of add-on apps and services on more devices, such as health sensors and smartphones. The failure to penetrate the smartphone business- with a meager 3% penetration for Windows in smartphones - is a problem facing Microsoft as it competes with Apple, Google and other companies. Terry Myerson describing the thinking behind this change at Microsoft puts it in a cultural perspective, saying that it should result in a more engaged user base. There is a sense that the space Microsoft is in stretches way beyond PC's to all the new computing devices now in place, including smartphones and other devices, with Windows taking up only 15% of these devices. Founder Bill Gates calls this "exciting" and is excited to see the reaction in the market....

LyrArc Article Gist
Years of failure of politicians in Congress in Brazil, and poor decisions in running the government by the Worker's Party by overspending leaving little money for services, sanitation, health and other priorities, leads to Brazil turning to a former army officer in the 2018 elections. Corruption charges with collusion of politicians and the state owned oil company on contracts known as the Car Wash scandal further damaged the reputation of politicians in the Worker's Party. Jair Bolsonaro was elected to Brazil's Congress in 1990 after a short period in the military at a time when democratic institutions were being restored in Brazil following decades of military dictatorship. By 2014 after two terms in office the Worker's Party led by a former automobile plant worker Da Silva had lost popular support with overspending, failure to upgrade public services and neglect of basic infrastructure such as sanitation, leading to widespread protests. In the 2014 congressional elections Bolsonaro won by nearly 500,000 votes, leading to his bid to run for president from a small party which had the support of Brazil's military. The military played a role in supporting the Getulio Vargas administration from 1930-1945, which pushed industrialization in Brazil and set minimum wage, workers rights. Democracy was restored by 1945 after Brazil sided with the U.S. in the war. In 1964 the administration of Joao Goulart was overthrown in a military coup after popular discontent and protests. Democracy was restored in 1985 with centrist parties playing apart till the election of the Worker's Party under Ignacio Lula in 2008. Six years into his administration by 2014 issues of overspending and poor management of public services led to loss of popular support for the Workers Party as the public looked for alternatives to combat crime, improve public services and address problems of lack of spending on sanitation, public services, health care. The collapse of the commodities pricing boom led to higher unemployment and a shrinking economy leading to unrest and public protests.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The U.S. House of Representatives votes 285-144 to suspend the debt ceiling till Feb. 7, 2014. The deal forged in the Senate by Democrat Reid and Republican McConnell passed in th Senate by 81-18. The U.S. stock markets closed with the DJIA at 15374, up 1.6% compared to Sept 30 when the government shutdown began. The Republicans opposing the passage outnumbered those supporting it 144 to 87 in the House of Representatives. Because this was a repeat of similiar failure to reach agreement and last minute deals in 2012 and 2011 the equity markets appear to have taken the conflict between the two parties in stride.

LyrArc Article Gist
A view that there is more pain ahead and more failures of financial companies even after the Fed and Treasury's massive intervention the week ending September 19, 2008.

LyrArc Article Gist
The last successful coup attempt was in 1997, so the coup attempt in July 2016 by the military comes as a surprise. DW.com  discounts reports that the coup attempt was clumsy, or that Erdogan himself was involved in a fake coup to consolidate power. It says the coup involved about a third of the military officers, who would have been successful if Erdogan himself had not escaped just a few minutes before an airborne team was supposed to take Erdogan. The prime minister Yildrim also was not taken, and private television broadcasters also continued to broadcast. The other failure was to not being able to control the police which remained neutral, and to gain the support of the religious establishment, as mosques broadcast appeals to resist the coup. As a result had the coup succeeded it would have meant a struggle to control the country. The business and upper class that have strong differences with Erdogan and his authoritarian style also failed to support the coup, as they saw this as an incorrect move. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Letters from John Bogle of Vanguard who faults excessive leveraging for the crisis, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and others on the failures of Wall Street and investment banking firms.

LyrArc Article Gist
Earthquake in the middle of a civil war devastating Burma. A series of blunders made by politicians and well meaning westerners, and the failures of geopolitical competition that lead to the civil war after a recent restoration of democracy for a few years.

LyrArc Article Gist
Manjoo says Mayer's failure at Yahoo comes from making small moves but not acting as a transformational CEO by changing Yahoo's business. He says three years later apart from small acquisitions such as Tumblr Yahoo's business was the same as before. By Nov. 2015 the Board and investors appeared to be saying that Mayer had run out of time to make the changes needed to preserve Yahoo's U.S. internet business.

LyrArc Article Gist
After the failure of its venture with Redi-Clinic , which put its clinics business in reverse, Walmart is rebuilding this business. In 2008 Walmart talked of having 400 clinics by 2010. But of the 78 that were running in 2008, all but 17 closed. Now Walmart is partnering with Hospitals. And Redi-Clinic is doing the same. Walmart now has 33 clinics, with 26 having a hospital affiliation.

LyrArc Article Gist
As England and Australia prepare for Ashes cricket Test series, Mike Atherton looks at the two captains, Tim Paine for Australia and Joe Root for England. Tim Paine is an unlikely captain because of not playing in enough matches after hand injuries and surgeries. He is a Tasmanian and played on and off for Australia. He also came in unusual circumstances as a captain after failures of the Australian team, with his close relationship with coach Justin Langer. Joe Root by comparison is a top batsman and has made it to the top after playing well for England in many matches. 

The result is a contrast in the two sides. Yet in cricket as in any sport anything can happen. And the Australian side will do its best to upset any predictions.

LyrArc Article Gist
A government report gives a second by second account of a high speed train collision in China on July 23, 2011. It shows major equipment failures, human errors, and confusion in communications.

LyrArc Article Gist
Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, in meetings with bankers and business leaders says Britain should remain in the single market 2 years after exit from the European Union, according to the Sunday Times. Theresa May plans for Britain to exit the EU in 2019. The reason is that this would protect business as it adjusts to leaving the single market, a kind of transition or Brexit buffer period. This period "really informs what businesses need to do because you transition and restructure during that window," Carney told a House of Commons Treasury Committee. About the changes in the politics in the U.S. and Europe Carney has said about basic fairness in bankers language- "market fundamentalism can devour the social capital needed for capitalism" to work, referring to the moral failures in operations of the banks by 2009 and how it hit the middle and working class incomes and wealth.

LyrArc Article Gist
On my bookshelf is NY financier Felix Rohatyn's 2009 book, Bold Endeavors, citing the bold investments America has made in the past from Louisiana Purchase, Erie Canal, Transcontinental Railroad, Land Grant Colleges, Homestead Act, Panama Canal, Rural Electrification, Interstate Highway System, and how this needs to happen once again. NYT lacks this vision. In this Op-Ed it  leaves the field open after comparing Mamdani to De Blasio's failure to run NYC. NYT Editorial Board says Mayor Bloomberg was an effective manager and ran the city better than other mayors, it describes the accomplishments of Andrew Cuomo but does not give Cuomo second chances to use his experience to serve New York City, after Michael Bloomberg comes out in favor of Cuomo. This is  NYT and NYC dysfunction. It says there is so much to do in NYC to improve life in the city but refuses to make the tough decisions needed to make things happen, turning into someone who decides who gets second chances to serve the city and the country.  The Washington Post was clear in warning about the danger of a "free everything" Mayor as this has never worked and fiscal chaos happened in NYC in the 1970's, a NYC near bankruptcy in 1975 which Rohatyn tackled as head of NY's Municipal Assistance Corporation and $10 billon in bonds backed by New York state. NYT and NYC residents have short memories. Most have forgotten Rohatyn and his vision in Bold Endeavors, or were not part of the American fabric of the 20th century, which again points to the importance of history, civics and education. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
In a massive intervention last week and again this week the Bank of England cut interest rates from 0.25% to 0.1% and launched a 200 billion pound program to buy UK government bonds and corporate bonds to support the economy and business. Investors sold UK government debt for short term cash holdings and invested in U.S. currency holdings as the safest asset they could find, as the economic effects of the coronavirus epidemic hit capital markets. Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England stated that it was the government's job of preventing temporary "dislocation" becoming permanent economic "destruction." Business failures are expected as a result of the coronavirus impact and also layoffs resulting in a temporary jump in unemployment. The government needs to take steps to mitigate these effects in the UK as is being done in the U.S. by the Trump administration with $1 trillion in direct assistance to business and people affected by the crisis. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
US president Biden created the largest boom in manufacturing since the space race in the 1960's. It is now at risk because of failures early in 2021-2022 in the Biden administration trying to be humane in migrant policy, but in reality also because of the bigger issues of the pandemic, vaccine skepticism, the economy, the Ukraine war in Feb. 2022 that delayed action till 2023, and the unanticipated complete collapse of Venezuela's economy leading to migrant surge. The Border was closed in 2024 by president Biden. When Trump blocked passage of Republican legislation supported by Biden, senior Republicans asked Biden to block migrant entry by executive order, Biden acted and the Border was closed. Will it now reverse the biggest manufacturing boom the US has had since 1960? How much blame should Biden take when he acted forcefully on all fronts- the pandemic, vaccines, manufacturing, and on no. 4 by closing the southern Border in 2024 by executive order? ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Schapiro comes to the SEC at acritical time but has the experience and skills to respond to the challenges facing the agency as its failures in regulation come to light one after another.

LyrArc Article Gist
Elected to the Politburo in 1980, Gorbachev became president of USSR in 1985. In the six year period to 1991 he launched a movement to free the USSR from the rigid constraints of communist party rule called Perestroika to improve productivity, freedoms and quality of life. He came from a peasant family with Ukrainian origins and was born in 1931 during the period of upheaval in Russia. The rapid removal of Soviet rule was something Russia was not able to adapt to in the early years with no experience in democratic process. By 2000 after drop in life expectancy and fall in the standard of living Mr. Putin emerged as president.  Russia's economy recovered under Putin's three terms till the miscalculations in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, that were itself a result of a sense that Russia had lost something with the fall of the Soviet Union and the advancement of NATO and the European Union. Gorbachev's sense in his memoirs was that Russia would do best under democracy. Even in 2017 he wrote that Russia and its people were "ready for a real multiparty system, fair elections and a regular rotation of government." Yet he was too much of an optimist and not enough hands on to grasp that Russia was a large economy and safeguards had to be put in place for the rule of law to prevent lawless elements that could control companies, safeguards for the vulnerable sections of society such as pensioners and older people, and limited self government through elected assemblies and parliaments were needed for a decade before democracy to take roots. Gorbachev's knowledge of American and British democracies, constitutions and parliaments and their evolution over centuries was non existent, with little contact and education of this sort under the Czar or Soviets. The democracies in Germany and Japan were established with American power and extensive education, the Marshall Plan, and unlimited imports by the US from Japan to prevent economic catastrophes of the kind experienced by the Weimar Republic in Germany in the 1920's. No plan from western aid and assistance, limited self government of the people was introduced as training ground as in India. In India the British introduced limited self-government or Swaraj in the 1930's with elected assemblies in Indian states, in the pattern of Dominion states such as Canada and Australia. Mohandas Gandhi negotiated the rights of indentured Indians in South Africa in this arrangement and studied British law and constitutions. This led to the catastrophic failure of the rule of law in Russia after 1979, lawless elements emerging under Yeltsin  that controlled companies and the state, high unemployment, failure of the economy, and drop in life expectancy between 1979 and 2005. How this led to the Putin years and now led to the war in Ukraine is covered in more detail under the Lyrarc article on Gorbachev and how he is seen in Germany. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Economist says British prime minister David Cameron's negotiations with the European Union during the recent summit talks were a failure. The diplomacy of the Cameron administration is described as inept and is seen as damaging British interests severely. It leads to an isolation of Britain in Europe. In this negotiation French President Sarkozy is seen as coming out ahead. The inept efforts to protect Britain's financial sector are unlikely to benefit the sector.

LyrArc Article Gist
In talking about the systemic risks of the failure of GM, about 3 million jobs depend on the auto industry with 1,187,000 employed by dealerships of which 325,000 are employed in GM dealerships. Another concern is that GM's pension obligations are underfunded by $18 billion at the end of 2008 according to Deutsche Bank. This would be added to the $11 billion deficit at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. were GM to fail.

LyrArc Article Gist
Paul Krugman in NYT explains the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. He says the bank invested its money in safe Treasury bonds which fell in value with Fed's policy of sharp increase in interest rates to fight inflation. It presented itself as the bank for people in Silicon valley and succeeded more than it imagined possible leading to these investors putting their money at SVB bank. However Krugman points out SVB bank did not put this money from deposits into startups, it put these deposits in safe US Treasury assets. It is Venture Capital that put its money in the startups at Silicon Valley, then panicked and set in motion a bank run that led to $42 billion withdrawals on one day Thursday March 9. These SVB assets have value says Krugman. Over time the government says Krugman will get much of its money back from these Treasury assets of SVB.  Then why the government rescue by president Biden? A bank run of this type undermines confidence in other regional banks affecting the US banking system in a way that is totally unnecessary when the banking system as a whole is safe. In fact the Fed vice chairwoman Lael Brainard understood and made clear these risks says Krugman, and she now heads Biden's national Economic Council.   ...