LyrArc Article Gist
The U.S. has 22 states that offer some form of work sharing programs to reduce layoffs by having workers work for shorter hours and receive partial unemployment insurance. This is a variation of the "kurzarbeit" programs that have helped Germany reduce layoffs during 2009 and during the period of high unemployment in Germany following the reunification of the country. Worksharing has major benefits in high tech and manufacturing industries where it is difficult to replace employees when the downturn is over and demand picks up. For the economy as a whole it reduces the stress of higher unemployment from cyclical swings in the economy.

LyrArc Article Gist
Michael Corkery catches up with the indefatigable Paul Volcker at the office he shares with Richard Ravitch on the fourth floor of Rockefeller Center. Ravitch reminisces about events in 1975 when he tried to get a loan for New York City from the head of the New York Federal Reserve, who at the time was Paul Volcker. Today both men are working on another municipal crisis- the financial crisis facing U.S. states. They have raised $2 million from foundations and other sources, and hired a staff. They plan to publish a report on the crisis in 2012. The idea is to throw light on the issues so that the public can understand this better. Volcker says work is more relaxing than fishing, even though both men have spent much time fishing. The conversation drifts to the Occupy Wall Street protests and Ravitch says people forget what Teddy Roosevelt said about the malefactors of great wealth. Volcker insists it was Franklin Rosevelt, Ravitch says its Teddy.

LyrArc Article Gist
Spain's conservative Partido Popular party wins 44.6% of the vote and 186 seats in parliament for an absolute majority. This follows a strong win for the party in regional and municipal elections, giving it control of local and regional governments in addition to the federal government. The Socialist party received 28.7% of the vote, a record low.

LyrArc Article Gist
In nominal terms China's currency, the yuan, appreciated by 3.7% in 2011. The real effective exchange rate, measured on a trade weighted basis and adjusted for relative consumer prices is the more significant rate. The real rate shows the yuan up by 5.3% in 2011, according to the Bank for International Settlements. In November 2011 the yuan appeared to be weakening, and China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, says China wants to see the renminbi more flexible "in either direction."

LyrArc Article Gist
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, on what the automatic spending cuts from the sequester- after the failure of the Supercommittee in Congress to reach agreement- will mean for the Defense Department and defense preparedness.

LyrArc Article Gist
Yan Xuetong, is professor of political science and dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University, Beijing. He is the author of Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power. In this essay translated from the Chinese, Xuetong says China's new leaders should borrow ideas from ancient Chinese philosophers and theorists like Guanzi, Confucius, Xunzi and Mencius who pointed to the importance of morally informed leadership as the key to success in the long term. Xuetong presents this as the best way for China to compete with the U.S. At the same time it gives Xuetong a basis for calling on the new Chinese leadership to create a less unequal society, with attention paid to social justice and balanced development free from corruption, similiar to the calls made in the U.S.

LyrArc Article Gist
Mariano Rajoy, leader of the Partido Popular, becomes the new prime minister of Spain, as his party wins 186 seats in the 350 member parliament. The Socialist party of outgoing prime minister Zapatero won 110 seats, which is down from the 169 seats it had in the previous parliament. The Socialists won elections in 2004 and 2008, when the Spanish economy was growing at 3%. This gives Rajoy and the Partido Popular an absolute majority in parliament; which it will need to take stronger measures than were taken by the Zapatero administration to resolve the debt situation with the cajas savings banks, and make other changes to get the economy growing again. Rajoy told the Spanish people that Spain needed to make a "common effort" to face the "most difficult economic situation that Spain has faced in the past 30 years." Referring to the general feeling in Spain that in the waning days of the Zapatero administration Spain had appeared to have no voice in the EU negotiations, Rajoy said: Spain's voice "needs to be respected in Brussels. We will stop being a problem and instead form part of the solution." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The U.S. Supercommittee in Congress fails to reach an agreement to come up with $1.2 trillion in savings to reduce the deficit by the Nov. 23, 2011 deadline. This shifts the focus to the sequester or triggering automatic cuts in Jan. 2013, as mandated in the Congressional deficit reduction deal of August 2, 2011. These automatic cuts would reduce defense spending by 10%, cut social programs without touching Medicaid and Social Security, by 7.8%, and reduce Medicare payments by 2%.