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2016 U.S. presidential candidate Carly Fiorina's record at Lucent Technologies and HP and the Trump comment of it being "not a good picture"
08/17/2015
Linked Articles
The Influence of Fiorina at Lucent, in Hindsight
New York Times 09/21/2015
Carly Fiorina’s Business Record: Not So SterlingNew York Times 08/17/2015
Japan's fighter pilot Harada's message of "never to forget," the new generation of leaders, and a public unaware of the horrors of war
04/03/2015
Harada and Noonan describe the problem today of a generation of leaders and public that were born following the Second World War, who have no knowledge of the horrors and the pain of that war. He has tried to keep the memory of that conflict and the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, by teaching Japanese children in a kindergarden so that a new generation does not forget.
Linked Articles
Retired Japanese Fighter Pilot Sees an Old Danger on the Horizon
New York Times 04/03/2015
Misplaying America’s Hand With IranWall Street Journal 04/04/2015
Looking back at Hong Kong and China today and yesterday- China in 1842 and in 1945, nationalism and commercial interests of foreign powers
01/09/2015
A wariness with foreign powers in China stems from the influences left behind from the British commercial interests and the Japanese invasion of China. Compared to that period, the period of collaboration on an equal footing and playing field is is a short and recent one that has taken place for just three decades 1985-2015. Fears that the accelerated development in China could slow down without a strong central government, combine with the awareness of the need for western technology and open communications in today's global economy to accelerate the development, create in the Chinese mind a problem that needs to be tackled carefully to continue progress. Awareness of the huge inequalities and corruption in the rush towards modernization, need to tackle extensive contamination of air and water, and need for social security and healthcare for an aging population create a new urgency for careful policy making to sustain progress.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 01/12/2015
‘China 1945,’ by Richard BernsteinNew York Times 01/09/2015
China, the U.S. and Japan- the task of reestablishing peaceful cooperation in the Pacific region after the missteps of 2011-2013
07/09/2014
Meetings for the sixth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Bieijing between the U.S. and China, and Japanese prime minister's address to the Australian parliament in Canberra, at about the same time in July 2014, showing how the path of peaceful cooperation will have to be actively pursued to remain a reality. Underpinning the hopes of China, Japan and neighboring countries in Asia is the U.S. will and purpose for maininting the post war peace and stability for the benefit of all, that at times has been missing in the words and actions of the Obama administration. Lack of peace in the region would seriously affect China's effort to bring better incomes to the large majority of people still in the countryside and leave China stuck in middle income status of countries like Mexico, damage the prospects of improving incomes of billions of people in India, other parts of Asia and Latin America. In this sense the Japanese people have shown the wisdom of keeping the conditions of peace that have prevailed for the post war period, and the U.S. with undiminished will and purpose in its post war role can affirm the hopes of the people of the region, including the hope of people in China, India, Japan, S. Korea, and Latin America.
Linked Articles
U.S., China try to emphasize potential for cooperation - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/09/2014
Abe's Constitutional Reform Push SlowsWall Street Journal 07/09/2014
McDonald's and a shift in nutritional habits in the U.S., especially in the younger age groups
01/17/2014
With about one third of the population in developed countries considered obese, there is greater awareness especially among younger people, about the need to read nutritional labels carefully, look for fresh food, and manage calorie intake. There is a shift also away from fast food to places where there is greater nutritional choice and to eating at home. The recession may have induced more people to consider eating less outside.
Linked Articles
Americans' Eating Habits Take a Healthier Turn, Study Finds
Wall Street Journal 01/17/2014
McDonald's Faces 'Millennial' ChallengeWall Street Journal 08/25/2014
The broken link between credit expansion and GDP growth in China (1)
06/24/2013
Orlik and the editors of the WSJ point to the broken link between GDP growth and credit expansion. The IMF warns of increasing credit expansion. Stalling productivity growth and waste means every dollar of investment is bringing in less GDP growth. Stiglitz and Sen point out the need for improving other indicators such as healthcare, education and the environment as an overall guage of progress not just GDP growth. The new Chinese leadership is aware of the need for rebalance the economy towards consumer spending. Moves to reduce healthcare costs form the first efforts in this direction. Search terms "Orlik," "rebalancing."
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 07/01/2013
China's Silver Linings PlaybookWall Street Journal 06/24/2013
New leadership and old faces, Jiang Zemin, Xi Jinping, and the uncertain outlook for change in China
11/15/2012
Jiang Zemin, 86 years and former president, who set China on the three decade push for modernization, put his imprint on the seven member Politburo Standing Committee that runs China. Jinping and five other members of the Politburo are close allies of Jiang Zemin. Zemin was Mayor of Shanghai, China's business capital during the Koumintang pre war regime and now in the post war period. He made some of the reforms that led to China's entry into the World Trade Organization and its subsequent rise as a major trading nation. His support for Jinping gives the new president room for making political and economic changes that are needed in this period. The older members of the Politburo, most in the mid-60's, placed on the Politburo by Zemin are likely to be cautious and the outlook for change is uncertain.
Linked Articles
Xi Jinping Offers Few Hints of a Shift in Direction in China
New York Times 11/15/2012
Ex-Leader Wins in Beijing Power PlayWall Street Journal 11/16/2012
Mexico's emergence as the fourth largest exporter of cars in the world in 2012
10/02/2012
Mexico is expected to export 2.14 million cars in 2012. This makes it the fourth largest exporter after Japan, Germany, and S. Korea. Mexico is expected to overtake S. Korea in a few years. About 130,000 engineers are graduating each year from Mexico's technical universities, according to President Calderon. Mexican plants have quality and productivity that is comparable to Japanese plants for Nissan, say Carlos Ghosn, Nissan CEO.
Linked Articles
In Mexico, Auto Plants Hit the Gas
Wall Street Journal 11/20/2012
In Mexico, auto industry fuels middle class - The Washington PostWashington Post 10/02/2012
Marketing Coca-Cola, low priced beer, and the surge in obesity and diabetes (2) - Brazil, Mexico, India, China, and African countries
06/27/2012
Linked Articles
With West Flat, Big Brewers Peddle Cheap Beer in Africa
Wall Street Journal 03/20/2013
India Has 1.2 Billion People but Not Enough Drink CokeWall Street Journal 06/27/2012
Obama and election advisor Plouffe- responsible governance, Simpson-Bowles and an election imprint on "everything"
05/26/2012
A White House aide says election advisor David Plouffe's influence affected "everything" in the Obama White House. Tom Friedman points to the influence of campaign consultants on the White House as overreaching and pervasive, going so far a to describe the campaign being developed in test tube fashion. Karl Rove pointed to president Obama keeping an eye on reelection 18 months before Nov. 6, 2012, as not a positive development. Friedman specifically mentions president Obama's failure to endorse the Simpson-Bowles commssion on deficit reductions as part of the imprint of election advisors because reducing tax expenditures or deductions might prove politically unpopular. Yet this was part of responsible governance to take on unpopular positions- something other presidents, including Democratic president Truman, did not fail to do choosing instead to educate pubic opiion on difficult steps needing to be taken. Truman took the decisions head on such as confronting the soviets in Greece and other parts of Europe and in Korea after the fall of the Iron Curtain, so soon after a major war when the public was weary of conflict.
Linked Articles
Obama Adviser's Strategy Is High Risk, High Reward
Wall Street Journal 10/31/2012
President Obama Should Seize the High GroundNew York Times 05/26/2012
Declining sales of gasoline model cars in India, higher rates on car loans, and a severe slowdown in the automobile market
05/07/2012
Linked Articles
In India, Subsidies Upend Car Sales
Wall Street Journal 07/02/2012
Maruti Suzuki Plans Replacement for Alto Compact CarWall Street Journal 05/07/2012
The challenges facing Peugeot Citroen with its focus on low-cost small fuel efficient cars and the high labor costs in France
04/16/2012
Linked Articles
Big Car Plant Closure Shows Europe Woes
Wall Street Journal 07/12/2012
Renault Takes Low-Cost LeadWall Street Journal 04/16/2012
Zhou Xiaochuan, head of the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, and the Development Research Center (DRC) think tank
02/23/2012
The road map and priorities of the DRC and the PBOC are now the road map and priorities of the Jinping-Keqiang administration A sense of deepening awareness takes hold on party leaders Jinping and Li Keqiang that the current trajectory of Debt to GDP ratios could lead to the kind of situation before the banking crisis in Japan and S. Korea. The importance of striking a balance with growth of private companies to support future growth and move away from reliance on state owned enterprises is part of the change supported by DRC and PBOC.
Linked Articles
China's Central Banker Leads Push to Overhaul Economy
Wall Street Journal 11/05/2013
New Push for Reform in ChinaWall Street Journal 02/23/2012
"Operation Car Wash"- Petrobras, construction firms Odebrecht SA, Andrade Gutierrez, the Workers Party, and young prosecutors in Curitiba, Brazil
04/07/2015
Linked Articles
Brazil Arrests the Heads of Construction Giants in Graft Probe
Wall Street Journal 06/19/2015
How Brazil’s ‘Nine Horsemen’ Cracked a Bribery ScandalWall Street Journal 04/07/2015
Deep differences in 2015 between Alexis Tsipras of Syriza and the Merkel government in Germany on debt forgiveness and the bailouts for Greece
01/26/2015
The deep differences between Greeks and Merkel operate at two levels. On the level of austerity policies Greece shares the view with other EU countries, the governments of Hollande in France and Renzi in Italy that austerity is not the best course for the eurozone. This view is also shared by people in Spain facing unemployment exceeding 20%, though the government of Rajoy in Spain like that of Samaras in Greece lived with the austerity policies with some changes. At this level there is also support from within Merkel's coalition government from Social Democrats. The other level of deep differences is on debt forgiveness and bailouts where Greece has to find its own way out in negotiations hoping that the EU and the IMF will agree to make concessions based on action taken by Syriza to ensure prudence in fianncial management. On issues such as minimum wage one would expect Syriza to be firm and make concessions where the hardship does not fall on the poorer and working class, winning support from the Social Democrats in Merkel's coalition. Beyond the symbolic moves and posturing the actual negotiations are likely to take into account the eurozone's need for help on the fiscal side desired by the ECB's Draghi to support monetary easing to fight deflation, and the need to keep the eurozone intact at a sensitive time. Syriza for its part is aware that a majority of Greeks favor staying in the eurozone.
Linked Articles
Greece’s new prime minister wants Germany to pay for Nazi war crimes - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/26/2015
A young, impatient leftist is Greece’s defiant new face - The Washington PostWashington Post 01/27/2015
The miscalculations and missteps of Russian president Putin in 2014 leading to a major crisis for the Russian economy in 2015
12/18/2014
A major miscalculation was totally misjudging Merkel and post-war German public opinion about policies that remind people about the period between the two World Wars- this is anathema to Germans who see the European Union as a way to build a new and different Europe. The other miscalculation was on how a foreign adventurous policy in Syria would affect Sunni world opinion, in particular Saudi Arabia. Just as Brezhnev took Russia into Afghanistan where Russia had no vital interest leading to eventual Soviet collapse, Putin risked alienating a key member in OPEC pricing moves and hurting Russia's economic interest. By not listening to Kudrin, the head of Sberbank, and other economic advisers from the first and second terms of the Putin-Medvedev administrations, Putin opened the door to two years of serious missteps, risking the very real accomplishments of the first and second term of creating a stable growing Russian economy with close economic ties to Europe. The only positive outcome of the crisis and low oil prices would be making the shift away from oil dependence, which was talked about but never seriously attempted in the Putin administrations. For this to happen major new investments would have to be made and technology links to the outside strengthened, both hammered by the missteps in 2013-2014. The irony of all this is that Putin gained the support of rural Russians in the countryside in the 2012 presidential elections by promising no return to the economic crisis conditions following earlier ruble collapses. Now by ignoring Kudrin and other wiser counsel from the first and second administrations he does just that.
Linked Articles
Putin’s Year of Defiance and Miscalculation
Wall Street Journal 12/18/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin Seeks to Reassure on EconomyWall Street Journal 12/18/2014
Tesla's plans to increase production of electric car batteries and go mass-market in 2014-2017
02/26/2014
Linked Articles
Tesla Plans $5 Billion Battery Factory
Wall Street Journal 02/27/2014
Tesla Plans $5 Billion Battery Factory for Mass-Market Electric CarNew York Times 02/26/2014
Declan Walsh on why the firing of live ammunition on protesters in Cairo may end up as a watershed event for the Muslim world going forward
08/16/2013
Declan Walsh sees this in the context of the Muslim world. Janvoo sees this in the context of the world beyond, of Aisa and Latin America which have moved beyond the divisive politics of the past and away from military regimes- S. Korea, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and one party PRI Mexico. The return of Gen. Park's daughter as president of S. Korea was a different one when she apologized for the behaviour of her father, even saying she coud not spit on the image of her father. Nieto's PRI is apologetic about its past and says its different, working with the opposition PRD and PAN parties on constitutional changes for reforming the econoy. Egypt and the Arab world is no exception. The Saudis and Emirates are able to deliver in economic terms as long as oil supplies and prices are high. Egypt has to find its own path and learn from the past to build the future.
Linked Articles
Other Nations Offer a Lesson to Egyptâs Military Leaders
New York Times 08/24/2013
Democracy in Egypt Can WaitNew York Times 08/16/2013
Pakistan Railways and Iraqi Railways- a picture of the Middle East and South Asia in 2014
05/18/2013
Declan Walsh and Tim rango provide aunique insight into the lives of common people in two regions of Asia and the Middle East. A century after the European powers invested in railway lines connecting all parts of the Middle East from Turkey to Iraq and Syria, and connecting all parts of South Asia from the Afghan border to Ceylon, two reporters of the NYT visit the railways in both regions showing the prevailing state of affairs. In Iraq decades of wars and conflict have reduced the railways to a crumbling condition. In South Asia mismanagement, cronyism, corruption has led to disinvestment in Pakistan Railways and inflicted similiar damage to the rail network. Through rail one can see into the life of common people in these regions. What one sees shows that five decades after the colonial powers left this region, the educated elites, the political parties, the military, the religious leaders, have all failed the common people of their homeland.
Linked Articles
A Train Ride Through Time: From Iraq’s Checkered Past Into an Uncertain Future
New York Times 10/18/2014
In a Journey on a Crumbling Railway, a Picture of a Nationâs TroublesNew York Times 05/18/2013
Mitt Romney's turnaround takes him from the cautious Romney back to the spontaniety and boldness of "Dad"
10/10/2012
Mitt Romney and dad George Romney, three term governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. George Romney was known for his boldness in going over the fence to talk directly with UAW union workers.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 11/01/2012
Lessons From a Father's CampaignWall Street Journal 10/10/2012
The Obama admnistration and the conflict in Syria
08/28/2012
A brief history shows the Alawite community constitutes about 13% of the population in Syria and live mainly in the coastal region near the Mediterranean. Under the French Alawites generally supported the colonial regime and the community was used by the French colonial regime to act as a buffer as they ruled a predominantly Sunni population. The Alawites joined the military and Hafez Assad, an Alawite general, seized control in 1971. His son now rules Syria. The Obama administration has largely missed the struggle of the people for freedom from dictatorships in Syria and Egypt under Mubarak.. With Turkey and Egypt supporting the young people in Syria, the U.S. investment is minor in military and other support compared to the cost of letting the war continue with unintended consequences for the entire region.
Linked Articles
New York Times 11/13/2012
Assad Draws Shock Troops From Elite Sect in SyriaWall Street Journal 08/28/2012
Marketing of Coca-Cola, low priced beer and the surge in obesity and diabetes (1)- Mexico, Brazil, China, India and African countries
06/08/2012
Linked Articles
With West Flat, Big Brewers Peddle Cheap Beer in Africa
Wall Street Journal 03/20/2013
Former Coke executive slams ‘share of stomach’ marketing campaign - The Washington PostWashington Post 06/08/2012
A shift in priorities away from drug wars and rising level of violence in Mexico in the presidential elections of 2012
05/20/2012
Linked Articles
U.S. Braces for Mexican Shift in Drug War Focus
New York Times 06/10/2012
Interview with Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto - The Washington PostWashington Post 05/20/2012
VW Audi, GM, Mercedes and BMW compete for luxury car sales from China's affluent class in 2011-2016
04/23/2012
Linked Articles
Audi Sees Promise in China's Appetite for Upscale Cars
Wall Street Journal 04/23/2012
Luxury-Car Fight Revs UpWall Street Journal 04/24/2012
Surging U.S. car sales 2013-2016- the impact of an aging automobile population, new technological features including fuel efficiency, lower gasoline prices, lower monthly payments and an improving job market
03/16/2012
Linked Articles
U.S. car sales hit record high in 2015 - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/06/2016
As Cars Are Kept Longer, 200,000 Is New 100,000New York Times 03/16/2012
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