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LyrArc brings in selected articles from many of the world's top publications.

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Finding the Roots of Candidate's Economic Beliefs

1 Links 9 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 08.12.2012 Original article ›
Gerald F. Seib, Gerald, F., Seib
LyrArc Article Gist
Rep. Paul Ryan got his start in politics in 1983 when he was hired to work for a think tank Empower America. This think tank was formed by Weber, Kirkpatrick, Bennett and Kemp, to preserve Reagan era ideas of focussing on economic growth generated by private investment. This was followed by working as an aide to Senator Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Jack Kemp till his election to Congress in 1996. Kemp was the big idea guy and it was Paul Ryan who delved into the budget details at the time to support Kemp's ideas. Kemp was Republican vice presidential candidate, the same position that Ryan is in today. Ryan represented the area around Janesville, Wisconsin, in the U.S. Congress. He graduated from the University of Miami, Ohio.
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German at European Central Bank at Odds With Country’s Policy Makers

6 Groups   
New York Times - 08.27.2012 Original article ›
Jack Ewing, Jack, Ewing, Melissa Eddy, Melissa, Eddy
LyrArc Article Gist
Jorg Asmussen, senior member of the executive board of the ECB from Germany says in a speech in Hamburg; "The markets are pricing in a disintegration of the eurozone. Such systemic doubt is dramatic- and for the European Central Bank, unacceptable." He supports buying of bonds of member countries by the ECB. Both Asmussen and Jens Weidmann were economics students of former Bundesbank head, Axel Weber at the University of Bonn. Asmussen who is from the SPD party, was deputy finance minister and then nominated to the executive board of the ECB. Jens Wieidmann was an advisor to German chancellor Angela Merkel and was nominated to head the Bundesbank. Weidmann has continued the Bundesbank position opposing buying of sovereign bonds by the ECB, increasing the split in German opinion on this issue.
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How China Can Defeat America

1 Links 5 Groups   
New York Times - 11.20.2011 Original article ›
Yan Xuetong, Yan, Xuetong
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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.
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Mexicans in New York City Lag in Education

4 Links 5 Groups   
New York Times - 11.24.2011 Original article ›
Kirk Semple, Kirk, Semple
LyrArc Article Gist
Census data show that 41% of all Mexican Americans in New York city schools have dropped out of school. Of Mexican American immigrants ages 19-23 only 6% are enrolled in college. This becomes significant considering that Mexican Americans are the fastest growing large immigrant group in the city, numbering 183,200, up from 33,600 in 1990, according to Census figures. These figures are worse than that of the Mexican American population as a whole, because of higher rates of illegal immigration, lack of stability in households, parents holding multiple jobs and lacking knowledge of English or contact with the school. Many are not aware that illegal immigrants who graduate from high school in New York State or earn a G.E.D. are allowed to attend the state public university system and pay in-state tution.
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Obama Picks Bipartisan Pair for Fed

2 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 12.28.2011 Original article ›
David Wessel, David, Wessel, Sudeep Reddy, Sudeep, Reddy
LyrArc Article Gist
The nomination of Harvard economist Jeremy Stein, who has experience in monetary policy and financial regulation, to the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The nomination of Stein was presented to Congress by the Obama administration with the nomination of a Republican, Jay Powell. Powell served in the Bush administration as undersecretary of the Treasury for domestic finance. Powell has experience in investment banking and private equity. Powell graduated from Georgetown Law School and is now a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Former Fed governor Laurence Meyer's firm, Macroeconomic Advisors, said in a letter to clients that the nominees would significantly help deliberations at the Fed, and bring expertise in areas that the Fed needs to strengthen. Stein's published work has endorsed higher capital standards for banks.
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Getting to Know You ...

10 Groups   
New York Times - 01.14.2012 Original article ›
Thomas L. Friedman, Thomas, L., Friedman
LyrArc Article Gist
Friedman visits the campaign office of Abdel Moneim Fotouh, a doctor running for president of Egypt. What he finds is a lively debate among Egyptians, new and many voices discussing the future of Egypt and a transition to democratic forms of government and economic progress. One newly elected member of parliament Hamzawy tells Friedman that Islamists from the Brotherhood have about two thirds of the seats, the liberals 20%. Moderates within the Islamists like Fotouh, who left the Brotherhood, form a separate faction inside the Brotherhood. There will be a need to transcend differences and work together. Egypt is still under the rule of the military, but many democratic voices are now present and a lively debate is on which will provide the impetus for real change and progress, if properly channelled.
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Harold Meyerson - Jobs: The wrong export

2 Groups   
Washington Post - 12.15.2010 Original article ›
Harold Meyerson, Harold, Meyerson
LyrArc Article Gist
Meyerson points to Germany's success in manufacturing with labor costs that are higher than in the USA. Hourly manufacturing compensation in Germany (wages plus benefits) was $48 in Germany in 2008, and $32 in the USA, according to the most recent year surveyed by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meyerson says American companies are sitting on $1.9 trillion in cash at a time when companies are creating jobs at a crawling pace. Only 50,000 net jobs were created in November 2010. He suggests a new economic advisor for the Obama administration, someone who brings experience and also believes in the US role in manufacturing- Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel Corporation. See Grove's article on US manufacturing and its special role in keeping the American economy strong. He would replace Larry Summers.
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Malone Is Fired Up by Cable and Ready to Buy

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 07.12.2010 Original article ›
Jessica E. Vascellaro, Jessica, E., Vascellaro
LyrArc Article Gist
John Malone offers some frank comments on the economy, on the dollar and the Obama administration. He has little confidence in America's future. The dollar is strengthening he says only because of the situation in Europe in the Mediterranean countries. He says the Obama administration consists mainly of lawyers and advisers, people who are better at dividing the pie, not enlarging the pie, the kind of thing we need so much now. He sees the risks to his company Liberty coming mainly from the economy. He has big concern about the retail side, consumers and the larger economic conditions, the macroeconomic picture. He draws attention to the fact that nobody will make it if America doesn't, and that for the next year or two things will be tough.
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Educational Gaps Limit Brazil's Reach

1 Links 4 Groups   
New York Times - 09.04.2010 Original article ›
Alexei Barrionuevo', Alexei, Barrionuevo'
LyrArc Article Gist
A World Bank 2008 Report concluded that Brazil's current state of education would lead to its falling behind other developing economies, and act as a constraint on growth. Brazil's 15 year old chidren came in 49th out of 56 countries on the reading exam for the Program for International Student Assessment, with more than half scoring in the test's bottom reading level in 2006, with scores in math and science worse than that. Of the 25 million workers who could join the work force in 2010, about 22% are not considered qualified for the labor market, according to a government report. The World Bank Report says Brazil stands to miss out on the "demographic window," in which increasing numbers of younger workers make the economy more productive, unless it addresses problems in education.
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Mexico’s middle class is becoming its majority - The Washington Post

3 Links 5 Groups   
Washington Post - 03.18.2012 Original article ›
William Booth, William, Booth, Nick Miroff, Nick, Miroff
LyrArc Article Gist
The growing middle class in Mexico is to be seen in cities like Queretaro, far from the drug violence seen in cities on the Texas border. Even though growth has averaged only 2-3%, the number of Mexicans who see themselves as middle class in a country of over 100 million is 65%, according to a survey by pollster Jorge Buendia. The definition of middle class is a new refrigerator, a car and a couple of cellphones. Sometimes this is also aspiring to be or thinking you are middle class. A big change is the shift to small families. Astonishing as this may sound, Mexico's fertility rate has declined from 7.3 children per woman in 1960 to 2.3 today, according to the World Bank. The U.S. fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman.
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Original article 9 minutes, gist 1 minute

Dartmouth President Is Obama's Pick for World Bank

2 Groups   
New York Times - 03.23.2012 Original article ›
Annie Lowrey, Annie, Lowrey
LyrArc Article Gist
President Obama picks Dartmouth College president, Jim Yong Kim, as the U.S. choice for president of the World Bank. Kim is a physician who co-founded Partners in Health, a nonprofit organization for providing health care to the poor. He was a former director of the Department of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization. Working with Partners in Health in Lima, Peru, mid-1990's, he helped establish a large scale treatment program for drug resistant tuberculosis. Such programs are being promoted in 40 countries since then. Under the leadership of Mr. Zoellick, the World Bank provided $57 billion in assistance to low and middle income countries in 2011. About $90 billion was raised in a fund to be used for aid to the poor in developing countries, including China and India.
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Amgen's First CEO

1 Links 9 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 04.23.2012 Original article ›
Stephen Miller, Stephen, Miller
LyrArc Article Gist
George Rathmann, is the scientist at Amgen who pushed for development of EPO, a hormone which stimulates red blood cell production, when the bio-tech venture company was struggling in the mid-1980's. After approval by the EPA in 1989, Epogen became Amgen's main product with sales of $2 billion in 2011. Rathmann graduated from Northwestern University, and received his PhD. from Princeton University in physical chemistry. He helped develop Scotchguard at 3M, and later headed the R&D department at the diagnostics division of Abbott Laboratories. He built Amgen from a staff of four in the early days in 1980, and it was his intuitive sense that Amgen should focus its entire effort on EPO development in the mid-1980's that led to its success.
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In Zillow-Trulia Deal, Making Room for Brokers

5 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 07.29.2014 Original article ›
Joe Light, Joe, Light
LyrArc Article Gist
Real estate website Zillow says it will partner with brokerage firms, following its acquisition of No. 2 real estate website Trulia Inc. CEO Randy Marsh of Zillow says Zillow was started as a media firm depending on advertising revenues, not a real estate brokerage. As Zillow was started by employees who left Expedia brokerage firms are nervous about the deal, considering what happened to travel agencies following the shift to sites like Bookings.com, Expedia and Kayak. Broker acceptance is important for the success of the combined firms. Brokers rely on the websites for information, but realize they have lost control of the information they once controlled. The two firms have combined revenue of $400 million, but lost money during 2014. Zillow plans to issue $3.5 billion in stock in the deal closing by 2015.
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Patrick Modiano, a Modern ‘Proust,’ Is Awarded Nobel in Literature

1 Groups   
New York Times - 10.09.2014 Original article ›
Alexandra Alter, Alexandra, Alter, Dan Bilefsky, Dan, Bilefsky
LyrArc Article Gist
Patrick Modiano wins the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2014. His work is on the search for identity, and is based mostly on France during the Occupation and after World War II. Le Clezio is the other recent Nobel Prize Winner for Literature in France. Clezio travelled widely and one of his novels Onitsha is based in Nigeria. By contrast Modiano is less well known outside France and writes for a smaller audience. Modiano expressed surprise on hearing the news. A German with a similiar post World War II theme covering a similiar period is Heinrich Boll, who won the Nobel Prize for literature. The focus in Boll is the hardships in Germany following the war. The war raised many questions inside France and Germany in the postwar years.
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Independent Is Elected Taipei Mayor as Taiwan’s Governing Party Falters

7 Groups   
New York Times - 11.29.2014 Original article ›
Austin Ramzy, Austin, Ramzy
LyrArc Article Gist
Kon Wen-je wins the mayoral election in Taipei, Taiwan, by 57% to 41% over a Koumintang party candidate. The Koumintang party prime minister resigns. The vote is seen as a repudiation of the closer trade ties to China pursued by the Koumintang. The wealth of Koumintang candidates, the benefits to Koumintang connected businessmen who benefit from increasing trade ties to China, at a time of higher housing prices and increasing inequality, was also an issue in the campaign. Wen-je ran as an Independent candidate supported by the Progressive Democratic Party. This also suggests the direction for the presidential election for 2016. Taiwan has shown increasing wariness over closer trade ties, at a time when protests in Hong Kong have raised questions about China's committment to western democratic values.
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Former GM CEO Says Successor Faces Tough Job

4 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 01.17.2014 Original article ›
Jeff Bennett, Jeff, Bennett
LyrArc Article Gist
Akerson's last day at GM. He talks about saving GM and the selection of Mary Barra as the new CEO. In a talk with employees at the Detroit Rennaissance Center Akerson says about saving GM: " You had to feel you were doing something for the country. To let the industry go by the wayside... it could be fixed and I love an underdog. Although I am a Republican I knew the bailout was the right thing to do." He says about Barra that when she took the product development job things were in chaos, and Barra was a decisive person who did a miraculous job in an uncomfortable situation. About Barra's personal characteristics Akerson says- "she is humble, confident and decisive and she will move the needle- also a very balanced individual and well centred."
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Julia Roberts on Her Family and Fame

  
Wall Street Journal - 04.21.2014 Original article ›
Elisa Lipsky Karasz, Elisa, Lipsky Karasz
LyrArc Article Gist
Elisa Lipsky-Karasz's fascinating account of the life Julia Roberts has built for herself on a quiet street in a modest home in Malibu, being that mom across the street no more, no less, as she raises 9 year old twins Hazel and Finn and 6 year old Henry. The actress famous for Erin Brockovich (2000) and other movies leads a simple life with the coming an going of school days and spring vacation being the key points of the year. Any movies are done on her schedule and now focuses on narrower topics such as the fight against AIDS of a doctor who is a polio survivor- The Normal Heart was done during children's summer and Thanksgiving vacations. And its a life she is grateful for, being just like anybody else on that street.
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Xia Yeliang: The China Americans Don't See

11 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 10.26.2013 Original article ›
Xia Yeliang, Xia, Yeliang
LyrArc Article Gist
A Peking University economics professor who believes that China should take the best of western institutions not just its technologies and management makes his views public on the internet. He will be removed form his teaching position at Peking University by the end of this year. He is offered a teaching position at Wellesley College in Massachusetts in the U.S. Other Amercan Universities with ties to Chinese Universities have remained silent on his situation, says Xia Yeliang. His wife continues to work in accounting at the University. China's leaders see it as acceptable to work within the system to make improvements but not make the views public in the western media because this creates a bad impression of the party and the country, as Xia Yeliang is told by the party chief at Peking University.
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Argentine President Loses Ground in Election

3 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 10.28.2013 Original article ›
Taos Turner, Taos, Turner
LyrArc Article Gist
Sergio Massa, mayor of Buenos Aires, wins the midterm elections in Buenos Aires with a margin of over 12 points over a Peronist candidate supported by Christina Kirchner. Kirchner won election in 2011 with 54% of the vote. Since then her popularity has declined. Her faction of the Peronist party won about a third of the vote in the 2013 midterm elections but lost in Buenos Aires province which has about 40% of the national vote. Inflation estimated at 25% and slowing economic growth of about 3% are leading people to question the policies of president Christina Kirchner. Sergio Massa is a former chief of staff of Christina Kirchner who has formed his own party after differences with Kirchner on the need for a more business friendly policy to attract foreign investment.
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G.M. Names First Female Chief Executive

6 Groups   
New York Times - 12.10.2013 Original article ›
Bill Vlasic, Bill, Vlasic
LyrArc Article Gist
Mary Barra, 51, head of global product development, is the new CEO of GM following Dan Akerson. Akerson will retire. She is a electrical engineer who started as a co-op student at GM in 1980. Her experience includes engineering positions, managing a assembly plant, and heading the human resources department in 2009. The president's position goes to CFO Dan Ammann, 41. Former Cummins CEO and chairman, Mr. Solso, will take up the chairman's position at GM. Mark Reuss will assume Mary Barra's position. This completes the transition planned by Akerson as the government sells its remaining shares in GM following the bailout. Akerson says he felt as if he was seeing a daughter graduate from college. It is a significant moment for the U.S. auto industry as a younger leadership looks to the future.
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Jacob Lew, Low-Key Power Broker

  
New York Times - 12.01.2012 Original article ›
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Sheryl, Gay, Stolberg
LyrArc Article Gist
Jacob Lew, U.S. Budget Director under president Clinton and under president Obama, is Obama's chief of staff. He guides the negotiating team for the Democrats in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations with Republicans. Colleagues describe him as thorough and meticulous. He negotiated with Republicans in 2011, running into problems with Republicans and Speaker Boehner, who saw him as inflexible in the negotiations. Lew is a son of Polish immigrants living in Queens, New York, and participated actively in Democratic causes from his student days. This time the lead negotiator is Treasury Secretary Geithner. Lew was an aide to Democratic Speaker Tip O'Neill. In 1983 he helped O'Neill in negotiations for Social Security legislation when Reagan was president. In 1997 he helped negotiate an agreement with Republicans to balance the budget under president Clinton.
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Their Future Is Ours

1 Groups   
New York Times - 11.17.2009 Original article ›
Editorial
LyrArc Article Gist
Studies by Professors who are co-directors of immgration studies at NYU show that the 16 million children of immigrant families are having hard times because of difficulties faced by their families including long periods of separation leading to depression, poverty, isolation. The absent parent being commonly the father. Most of these children are from Hispanic families. Immigrant children were crowded in the lower ranks for English language skills. The professors Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco have studied immigrant children for over 20 years. This NYT editorial says the children are going to be part of a new generation of Americans and are th human capital of the future even as they are tangled up in the messy immigration debate that ends up treating many of these families poorly.
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Britain to Levy a One-Time Tax on Banker Bonuses

4 Groups   
New York Times - 12.10.2009 Original article ›
Landon Thomas Jr., Landon, Thomas, Jr.
LyrArc Article Gist
Banks in Britain will be charged a 50% tax on 2009 bonuses of more than 25,000 pounds or $40,800. It will be imposed directly on the bonus pool at banks and will be paid by the bank. It takes place effective immediately and affects 2009 profits. The public in Britain is sympathetic to such a move and it comes in the midst of concerns about the British deficits similar in proportion to that of Greece, and of the Dubai debt crisis. Andrew Hilton, who runs CSFI, a research center focussed on financial issues put it aptly: "I think banking has become a truly parasitical business. Bankers these days borrow money at 30 basis points and lend it to te governmet at 300 basis points and then they go play golf."
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Currency-Exchange Gamble Is Costing Polish Consumers

1 Groups   
Washington Post - 03.15.2009 Original article ›
Craig Whitlock, Craig, Whitlock
LyrArc Article Gist
The collapse of the zloty, losing half its value against the Swiss franc is proving to be traumatic for Polish consumers who took out loans in Swiss francs for property, cars, consumer goods. In the past the zloty had soared in value and it was cheaper to pay off the loans in Swiss francs which had lower interest rates. Now with the zloty losing so much value it is proving very difficult to pay off these loans. What was once seen as a win-win game, says a economic advisor to Poland's President, now is turning into a risky currency gamble. He says that people were taking risks without knowing the consequences and what they were getting into, much like homeowners in the US getting into risky subprime loans.
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Poverty in Latin America

1 Links 6 Groups   
Economist - 09.15.2005 Original article ›
Economist.Com
LyrArc Article Gist
About Brazil's Bolsa Familia program to help the very poor by having requirements that they send their children to school and get them vaccinated. President Lula who comes from a poor background himself introduced this program to reduce poverty. This is done in a way that requires families to send their children to school and improve the chances of reducing both hunger and malnutrition as well as help bring improvements through education and health care, so that poverty is not passed on from generation to generation. It is unique in the developing world and making a real difference in Brazil. Brazilian advisors are helping India with its program, which merely provides food subsidies but does not have the requirements of Bolsa Familia, which help the next generation build better lives.
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Original article 10 minutes, gist 1 minute

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