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Google increased the bid for Motorola Mobility by 33% on a single day in August 2011- adding $3 billion to the cost.

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Mercedes Benz is pushing sales of its newly designed small cars as part of a strategy to attract younger buyers. A retooled, sleek version of the B Class compact is part of this strategy. The average age of U.S. Mercedes buyers is 53 years, compared to 49 years for Audi and BMW. Smaller cars are also part of the strategy to meet the new fuel economy standards in the U.S. and Europe. Mercedes is investing $1.9 billion in a new Hungarian plant and expanded German capacity to build smaller cars and SUV's. Sales of the smaller size A and B class Mercedes cars increased slightly by 1.4% to 222,400 in 2010. This compares with increase in overall sales volume up by 12% to 1.26 million cars in 2010.

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Delta, Southwest, and United executives say they will continue to maintain the discipline in managing capacity that they have exercized in 2010-2011. Delta plans to extend a 4-5% fourth quarter 2011 cut in capacity into 4th quarter 2012. Southwest plans to keep capacity flat or down slightly.

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Same store sales continued to drop for the fifth consecutive quarter for Best Buy electronics retail stores. Best Buy shares have declined by 32% as of September 14, 2011. Best Buy has 1,100 stores in the U.S. and competes with online retailer Amazon for electronics sales. Investors see Best Buy management's plans to reduce square footage by 10% as too slow a response to a developing crisis for big store sales. Best Buy CEO, Brian Dunn, says about 40% of online purchases from Best Buy are picked up at its stores. He sees a role for retailers with physical store space because, as he sees it, customers still want to see, touch and feel the latest tablet or other electronic gadget. Critics say customers are prone to use the stores to look at products, and make the actual purchases online at Amazon, where no sales tax is paid.

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Meltzer says the northern European countries France, Germany, Netherlands, and others should form a new currency union, and leave the euro currency to Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Greece (the PIIGS countries). This way Greece can devalue its currency to bridge the gap of 20% between wages in Greece and the productivity of workers in Greece. The new currency union would follow fiscally binding rules. After the adjustments in currency were made by Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain, these countries could be admitted to the new currency union of the northern countries. This would be conditional on acceptance of financial discipline and enforceable sanctions by these countries. Meltzer says clever agreements designed to protect the bankers are not the solution, as they only shift the responsibility and the burden for wasteful and reckless behaviour to taxpayers. Bondholders would take losses in a devaluation, and banks that are at risk should be either allowed to fail or given loans on strict repayment conditions. ...

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Rich Kramer, CEO of Goodyear since April 2010, says the tiremaker's turnaround strategy was to focus on selling higher technology tires directly to customers at premium prices. About 75% of tires now sold sell at $130 and up. As recently as 2007, 40% of Goodyear's tires were low-end tires selling at retail stores for $60 each. Goodyear has shifted focus from selling to automakers to selling to customers at retail stores. The prior strategy was focussed on covering operating costs and achieving sales volume. Goodyear now sees itself as a consumer products company, in addition to being an auto supplier. Sales were 89.7 million tires in the first half of 2011. A small increase in sales of 2% from the prior period resulted in a 25% increase in revenue to $11 billion, and income of $143 million. Another reason for improvement in sales and profits is better labor relations. This was achieved by investing in new technology and plants, and putting $1 billion into the union health care fund for retired workers. The union agreed to a two tier wage system with more flexible work rules. The new technology introduced by Goodyear includes tires that reduce rolling resistance for commercial trucks and passenger vehicles. Goodyear is working on new technology to increase fuel efficiency. A $1.5 million grant from the Department of Energy funds research for tires with a miniaturized air pump that maintains air pressure. Other research involves tread design that improves fuel efficiency. ...

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Italy's borrowing costs went up to 5.6% interest on 6.5 billion of five year bonds sold on Sept 13, 2011. This was up from 5% at a similiar auction in July 2011.

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Earnings of the typical American man working full-time year round declined in 2010, and is now in inflation adjusted terms below the level in 1978, according to the U.S. Census Department. The income of a typical Ameircan family has declined for three consecutive years and is now at $49,445 for 2010. This is the level reached in inflation adjusted terms in 1996. 15.1% of the American people lived below the poverty line in 2010, and 22% of children lived below the poverty line. The poverty line is set at $22,314 for a family of four in 2010. Statisics from the U.S. Census Department.

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Email exchanges between OMB staffers and Obama administration officials, released exclusively to the Washington Post, show the Obama administration urging the OMB to speed up its decision on the half a billion dollar loan to Solyndra. This was part of stimulus funds to the solar industry. Solyndra was a favorite of the Obama administration according to the Washington Post, and aides to Rahm Emmanuel and other officials sent emails urging speeding up approval. OMB officials in their replies stated they were under pressure. One email by a senior OMB staffer sent to McSweeney, Biden's domestic policy advisor, Aug 31, 2009, said: "we have ended up with a situation of having to do rushed approvals on a couple of occasions (and we are worried about Solyndra at the end of the week)... we would prefer to have sufficient time to do our diligence reviews." Other emails referred to "the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra," and indicated "there isn't time to negotiate." Solyndra had large investments by the funds operated for the family foundation of George Kaiser, an Obama fundraiser....

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The participation of Islamist men who did a lot of the hard fighting against Gaddafi with secular leaders in the new government of Libya. Islamist leaders complain the west does not understand them and their aspirations for freedom above all else. One Islamist leader says westerners think we want to lock up our women in boxes. See the amazing account of Belhaj in an interview with Nordland of the New York Times, Sept. 1, 2011. Belhaj is an Islamist who led the rebel fighters into Tripoli and was appointed head of the administration in Tripoli. He tells Nordland he is grateful to NATO for its help and holds no rancor for the past.

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Slow progress in rebuilding Japan's northeastern coast six months after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.