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Job prospects for college graduates in 2011 are showing significant improvement from the previous year. About 19% more graduates will be hired in 2011 compared to 2010, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. For college seniors, the survey shows 41% having an offer in 2011 compared to 38% in 2010. But the situation remains difficult for students who graduated in 2009 and 2010. Ernst & Young hired 2800 graduates in 2011- up 22% from 2010. The jobless rate for college graduates in the age group 20-24 is 6.4% in April 2011, coming down from 7.1% in the prior year, according to the Labor Department. In April 2007 the unemployment rate was 3.5%. The situation is uneven, with better prospects for graduates in computer science, engineering, accounting and economics, and most of the jobs in the private sector.

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Thomas Sargent of New York University and Christopher Sims win the Nobel Prize in Economics for 2011. Sargent, a professor at New York University, is best known for his work on "rational expectations theory, " which points out that people base their actions on their expectations about the impact of government policies in the future. The implications for today are that monetary policy by lowering rates cannnot permanently lower unemployment, as people will expect higher future inflation and insist on higher wages for labor and higher interest rates for capital. Sargent did most of the signifcant work on the theory of rational expectations at the University of Minnesota from 1971 to 1987. Sims work is in statistical relationships and use of vector autoregressions to study the economy. He taught at the University of Minnesota from 1974 to 1990.

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Andrew Rosenfeld, a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, and chief executive of an investment advisory firm, says the Public-Private Investment Program proposed by Secretary Geithner has serious flaws. It risks government money, and expects too little from private investors. The government will essentially finance the private investor's purchase of these toxic assets at an auction, with the private investors putting some money of their own, to buy these assets at prices emerging from the auction. It runs right smack into the problem that Secretary Paulson under President Bush faced when he suggested the auction plan as a way for these toxic assets to be sold off to buyers. It was never clear how shuch an auction would work, and whether it would work at all. Meantime the worsening credit crisis required direct injection of capital into banks. Now Secretary Paulson's abandoned effort has been essentially revived in the Geithner program, with the same problems but with the carrot of government taking up most of the risk with its financing. Rosenfeld argues that under this plan the government assumes all the risk of losses, and if private investors make too much money off of it it will create a public outcry and the risk of an AIG type situation. This might lead to lower bids and the money generated for the banks might end up being too small to make a difference. There is a better way he says, and this is for the government using existing authority to seize banks that look insolvent. Its fairer because the government will own the toxic asets, and the bank, and the proceeds for the sale of the bank, and these would be offsetting the cash that it would inject to recapitalize the bank. The way it would do it is to inject cash in the form of Treasury notes as equity in the bank, and at the same time remove the bank's toxic assets and place them in the basement of the Treasury building, while it waits to see what they turn out to be worth. Bank regulators would swap Treasury securties for the toxic assets "at par," which is at the amount of the original purchase price of assets removed. Within a short time, a month or a few months, the bank could be sold to private investors. This is sounder because it takes away the pricing problem which looks like its never going to be resolved, as banks and investors are never going to agree on toxic asset price. And the new bank could start clean and start lending flowing in the economy. If the bank turns out to be so badly managed and with so many bad bets that it cannnot be sold, its essentially insolvent and irrecoverable, so it should be liquidated. Nobel winner Krugman says some of the same things in his columns in the NYT. He has a sense of despair seeing the return of the failed Paulson solution of auctions with a new twist, even as the economy is flailing in the wind, with job loss numbers over 600,000 and jumping each month....

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Economic progress in South Asia may finally put behind it simmering political tensions is evident from nature of this proposal on Kashmir by Pakistan. This proposal by President Musharraf is for India and Pakistan to recognize the "line of control" as a de facto border, gradually withdraw troops, and support a new body to run the government in Kashmir. Musharraf say Pakistan then "will have to, yes," give up its claims on Kashmir. The region would have to be given more autonomy to run its affairs. Musharraf would still have to win support from the political parties for this proposal to take shape and be able to control militants in the region who oppose a settlement.

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Negotiations between European leaders, especially Germany's Merkel and the Obama administration on climate change at G8 meeting. The U.S. and Europe try to work out differences. The U.S. is vague about some language such as the starting year against which emissions reductions will be measured, and has resisted the European pressure to set strong goals over the next 10 years. Europe wants 1990, while the USA, Australia and Japan prefer 2005. Europe wants to see language in aformal document that is being developed for the G-8 meeting, which also includes developing countries, for limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels.

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The Economist describes the fraud in the election and the odious group of warlords and crooks that Karzai has pulled together to get support for this election. If they get as reward positions in the ministries then "the war is over" according to one diplomat. And without acredible government the chances are poor for any"good outcomes." Eide, the UN diplomat in the country says ultimately this will be decided not by governments but by people sitting at thier kitchen tables making up their mind as the follow the information in the media. And the President has only 37% of Democrats with him who want to see more troops in Afghanistan in a recent poll.

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Apple's sales in India are insignificant because of the lack of 3G networks. RIM's Blackberry and apps work well on the existing 2G networks. Prices are higher with the cheapest iPhone costing $705 at a Reliance iStore. The cheapest iPad 2 goes for $603. Blackberry phones cost less than $200. As a result Apple's iPhone sales are only 2.6% of India's smartphone shipments for the 2nd quarter 2011. RIM's is 15%, Samsung Electronic's is 21%, and Nokia's 46%, according to IDC. RIM is extending its distribution in India from 15 cities in 2010 to 80 cities in 2011. IDC estimates that smartphone shipments in India will grow by 68% a year, reaching 81.5 million units by 2015.

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Sony is setting aggressive goals for its medical business by targeting sales of 200 billion yen ($2.6 billion) by 2020. The Olympus joint venture with Sony is expected to make up about one third of the sales. Olympus has a 70% share of the endoscopes market. Sony is planning on sales of 50 billion yen for its medical monitors, printers and other equipment by March 2015. With its recent investment of 50 billion yen in the joint venture Sony now has a 11% stake in Olympus, making it the largest shareholder. Olympus will use half of the capital injection to develop better medical devices and the rest to setup training centers in emerging markets and cover costs.

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Reliance Power's total capacity is expected to reach 5000 megawatts by Dec. 2012. The company plans to install total capacity of 35,000 MW. It is building a 3,960 MW thermal project at Tilaiya in Jharkhand state, eastern India. Another plant of the same capacity is being built at Chitrangi in Madhya Pradesh, central India. About 75% of the funding will be through debt. Relince is in talks with U.S. and Chinese banks to fund the $8.35 billion for these 2 projects. Loans agreements are in place for $5 billion from the Export-Import Bank in the U.S. and $12 billion from Chinese banks, funding that is coming as part of buying equipment from the U.S. and China.

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A recent study shows that by 2030, 70% of India's jobs would be created in the cities, and about 590 million people would live in India's cities. This will require urban planning and proper arrangements for housing and commercial space which India's cities sorely lack. Cities in India, from Chennai and Delhi to Mumbai and Bangalore, are way over-stretched, roads are perpetually choked, sewers, water lines and electricity are lacking. And there is no housing for new arrivals from rural areas as this migration to the cities takes place. India's building codes and zoning laws are outdated, and urban planning experts say their are ideas about urban design but very little gets implemented.

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Hyundai says it has a road map, though not pecisely outlined, of how it will achieve its goal of an average of 50 mpg for all cars in its lineup. Hyundai sees 75-80 % of its cars running on gasoline engines, and 15-20% being hybrids or plug in hybrids, and 5% runnning on fuel batteries by 2025. Hyundai today is America's fuel economy leader with an average of 30.8 mpg in 2008, the most recent Environmental Protection Agency figures. Honda's comparable figure is 30.1 mpg, Toyota's 29 mpg, and about 24 mpg for Detroit carmakers. Rules set by the government require 35.5 mpg in 2016. Hyundai prefers to take the role of leader in setting fuel economy goals.

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India's current account deficit of 4%- with imports exceeding exports of goods and services- and its small foreign exchange reserves of $293 billion as of April 14, 2012, place serious constraints on building a sizable energy fund to support additional imports of coal and other energy supplies. India is facing severe shortages of coal for the power industry. This places constraints on the country's growth rate. Finance Ministry officials and members of the Planning Commission are looking at setting up a $10 billion energy fund for securing additional supplies of crude oil and coal. Energy imports are placing a strain on India's finances and even the relatively small fund will need money from energy companies in the private sector.

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Bezos talks about his acquisition of the Washington Post in conversation at the Business Insider Ignition conference, Dec. 2014. He says he was initially skeptical about the acquisition as he knows little about the newspaper industry. His decision was based on his expertise in internet related technologies and the potential of bringing the newspaper into the digital age. One of the steps taken is to introduce a free Washington Post app for the Amazon Kindle, which will cost $1 following a trial period. He is working closely with Shailesh Prakash, the Post's head of technology. Bezos sees The Post newspaper not just as a local paper, but a paper with national and global reach using the internet for access.

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Mayor Bloomberg's last day in office. He jokes about using his library card after 4383 days in office and taking up running outdoors again. He thanks people around him for being the real problem solvers and on the ground soothers who made the city work for 12 years, that they not he worked at the real level where the real problems were. Like many others before him in America he says he will be able to look back and tell his kids, your father made an effort to make their lives and their childrens lives better. The day ends as he swipes his senior discount MetroCard and boards a No.4 train home to the Upper East Side.

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Gazprom's Chairman, Alexei Miller, says Ukraine owes $1.89 billion for gas deliveries after missing a March 7 payment deadline for Feb. deliveries. Transit shipments through Ukraine to Europe will continue. Russia provides 30% of Europe's gas needs and 15% of all Europe's gas demand goes through Ukraine, particularly Germany, Italy and Britain's utility companies. Europe's dependence on Russian supplies of natural gas gives a new twist to the crisis in Ukraine. Russia also needs the revenue from the natural gas exports to finance its own development as growth has slowed down sharply in 2013-2014, making this a situation where both sides in Europe need to resolve the standoff in Ukraine wihout escalation.

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The revival of the Mid-Market part of the downtown area in San Francisco after Twitter sets up headquarters here in April 2011. Twitter signed a lease till 2021 with Shorenstein Properties for a 11 story building built in 1937, for 295,000 square feet. Other developers are moving into San Francisco. Tishman Speyer is constructing two office buildings in the area called South of Market in San Francisco. Rents are now at $53.84 per square foot in San Francisco in the fourth quarter 2013 compared to $46.12 in the third quarter, according to C.B.R.E. Vacancy levels have dropped from 9.7% in 2012 to 8.2% in October 2013, and down from 15% in 2010.

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Regulation in theE.U. is more difficult than in the US because of the differinginterests of countries, with the U.K. seeing things diffrently from the Germans and the French. Under the new Obama financial regulatory framework white paper the Fed gets increased powers for overisght over the financial system. Under the proposed system for the E.U. that emerged from the Brussels summit, June 19, 2009, the European Central Bank would setup a European Systemic Risk Council headed by the President of the ECB. But its role is only advisory. This Council would "have the power to make recommendations but not to implement policies directly." French President Sarkozy says that it will acquire powers over time through experience and practice.

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Russia's largest companies in metals like nickel, iron ore and aluminium, may end up in state control by the end of the year as the government is loaning money to these companies. These companies owe billions of dollars to state controlled banks and foreign banks and are heavily in debt. This would be a reversal of something that started with the loans for shares under which tycoons like Potanin got control of state assets in metals companies, in exchange for loans to the state. A company that will combine the assets of Norilsk Nickel, UC Rusal, and OAO Metalloinvest is being formed, with the state taking alarge minority stake at the initial stage.

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After years of running budget deficits, Canada under the Conservatives worked hard to balance its budget. The Conservatives under Stephen Harper did not accept the need for large stimulus spending, as a result his government almost lost its second term in a parliamentary vote that did not happen because the governor general closed Parliament for 7 weeks. Now it has come up with a stimulus plan of $40 billion in Canadian dollars of tax breaks and new spending. Most of the money will go to maintaining roads, railways and ports and in encouraging home improvements. The government is also adding C$50 billion to its C$75 billion fund to buy mortgage-backed securities.

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A sore point for taxpayers and Congressmen like Jeff Bingaman American taxpayers do not get an equity stake like the 7% that Buffett got from Goldman Sachs for his $5 billion. Andrews responds to the objection of Treasury that this will make some firms reluctant to come forward and so not enable broad participation which is an important goal of Treasury, by saying that the Buffett deal puts the burden on Treasury to demonstrate why taxpayers should accept "a raw deal". He also raises the question of recapitalizing the banks which is not effectively accomplished under the present plan making the plan incomplete in its goal of increasing the flow of credit.

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GM CEO Wagoner was asked to resign by the Obama admninistration. The news was given Wagoner by Steven Rattner, who heads the auto industry task force setup by President Obama, at Rattner's office at Treasury. Mr Henderson, GM's Chief Operating Officer will fill in for Wagoner. When Wagoner assumed office in 2000 GM's stock price was $70, now it is $3.62, and GM capitalization is $2.21 billion in March 2009. Since 2004 GM has not earned aprofit, and has logged $82 billion in losses. Right upto the end the board of directors and lead directors backed Wagoner, even when the company was short of cash in the waning days of the Bush administration, and public opinion was very critical of the way management and unions had driven the company into the ground, all through this they held on, showing how hard it is to get an entrenched board and management doing things the wrong way. Now the Obama administration has taken years of festering issues in the auto industry and at auto companies head on. Not only Wagoner, the task force is working with GM to replace a majority of its directors. Kent Kresa a longtime director is to serve as chairman of GM. The President in a speech today on the auto industry said that he was rejecting the plans for restructuring provided by both GM and Chrysler. He is giving GM 60 days to come up with a new plan. The government would provide suffficient working capital for the next 60 days, during which time a revamped board and top management would have to come up with new restructuring plan. Obama made it clear that an expedited government sponsored bankruptcy was a clear option. And officials said that the inordinate amounts of debt at both GM and Chrysler have to be scrubbed, and bankruptcy would be "quick rinse" to rid the companies of much of their debt and contractual obligations. And the government would stand behind the warranties of both companies. For Chrysler the government is giving 30 daysto come up with a new plan, and time to reach an agreement for Fiat to work to revive Chrysler. And Obama reassured the public that FIat would have to repay the government before it could take money from the new Fiat run Chrysler out of the country. If Fiat and Chrysler reach an agreement and only then would the government step in with $6 billion in loans. If not Chrysler would be allowed to collapse....

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Toyota, GM, VW, BMW and Mercedes are targeting younger buyers. This means bringing more technology and internet devices into even basic models for tech savy younger demographic. It also means bringing prices down to where younger buyers can afford the cars, including luxury models of BMW, Mercedes and Audi VW. New models of BMW and Mercedes at the Detroit Auto Show will lease for under $300 within reach of young professionals.