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The United States - Mexico Trade Agreement - removing the negative connotations of NAFTA with protections for American auto and steel workers
08/28/2018
Linked Articles
What the U.S.-Mexico Trade Pact Says
WSJ 08/27/2018
Trump Hails U.S.-Mexico Trade Pact, Says ‘We’ll See’ With CanadaWSJ 08/28/2018
Why initiating Brexit by invoking the Lisbon Treaty's Article 50 could go into 2017, or even past 2020 into new general elections- (3) the inclusion of key "Leave" supporters in Theresa May's cabinet
08/16/2016
By including a key member of the "Leave" vote, Mr Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, in the cabinet as Foreign Secretary, Theresa May has given herself a lot more flexibility in tackling the Brexit issue so that it does not hurt the British economy. It would be hard for a key cabinet member not to be part of the team position on issues, and for the team to ignore the Bank of England's role in steadying the economy. By making the issues important to working class people in Britain her priorities Theresa May also lays the ground for everyone in Britain to gain moving forward as the economy recovers.
Linked Articles
Wait and see: Theresa May is in no hurry on Brexit | Europe | DW.COM | 15.08.2016
DW.COM 08/15/2016
Theresa May, New British Prime Minister, Gives Boris Johnson a Key PostThe New York Times 07/13/2016
Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain- preserving the gains of the peace deal and the open borders after Brexit
07/12/2016
Northern Ireland favored Remain in EU by 55%. Should it be pushed into a situation of withdrawing from the EU like Scotland which also favored Remain based on the preference of voters in England and Wales? Should Ireland be divided by hard borders again after 20 years of peace and open borders? These are questions the people of Ireland are asking.It is also a question for Irish Americans who supported the peace deal.
Linked Articles
The New York Times 07/12/2016
Ireland in the sun after Brexit vote? | Europe | DW.COM | 05.07.2016DW.COM 07/05/2016
Rules for bonuses and executive pay in the UK, U.S. and EU for banks and financial institutions in 2015-2016- restoring trust and ensuring soundesss of banks
04/22/2016
Linked Articles
New Rules Curbing Wall Street Pay Proposed
Wall Street Journal 04/22/2016
New Rules Curbing Wall Street Pay ProposedWall Street Journal 04/22/2016
Donald Trump's proposal for 45% tariff on China's exports to the U.S.- how a policy of bringing jobs home could lead to the loss of 1 million U.S. jobs
03/08/2016
By damaging the international trading system including with allies such a Canada, Britain, France and Germany, the result of a downward spiral through higher tariffs in other countries, could end up costing the U.S. 1 million jobs. Under such a system the U.S. would lose many of the advantages of its booming tech sector, its tech driven global advantages in many industries, without signifcant gains in low cost imports such as clothing which would simply migrate to other countries such as India. The problem of worker wage stagnation in the U.S., and loss of jobs in certain sectors, is very real, but this is the wrong way to tackle the problem. China is already moving towards a consumer driven economy. Economists show that trade with Mexico would be seriously hurt both ways, creating more pressure of migrants at the border under such proposals as a 45% tariff and its indirect effect on Mexico, when the actual fact is that net migration from Mexico is the lowest it has ben in decades. Politics can do strange things as when two senators Smoot and Hawley from agricultural states Utah and Oregon, at the head of important committees in the U.S. Congress pushed and passed legislation for a 60% tariff in 1930 for the industrial sector they had no idea about. When Smoot and Hawley lost reelection in 1932 they left behind a lot of damage, especially for the farmers and workers they thought they were fighting for.
Linked Articles
How Trump’s Hard Line on Trade Could Backfire
Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016
Can Trump Start a Trade War?Wall Street Journal 03/08/2016
Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt who led Germany during its postwar economic transformation in the 1970's and setup the groundwork for the Euro
11/10/2015
Linked Articles
Helmut Schmidt dies; West German chancellor was transformative leader - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/11/2015
Helmut Schmidt, Assertive West German Chancellor, Dies at 96New York Times 11/10/2015
Errors made by the IMF, Syriza Tsipras far left government, leading to the third bailout program of 2015 for Greece
07/06/2015
Just when the first signs of growth in the economy were taking place in 2014 the IMF held back on a 7.2 billion euro payment to Greece which would have increased liquidity to the private sector for growth. The IMF hope to gain leverage with a future Syriza far left government. The first half of 2015 led to economic anxiety in Greece with a failed negotiating strategy of Syriza far left government focussing only on the debt and not on the economy. The damage led to about 85 billion in addtional financing needed following the closing of Greece's banking system in July 2015.
Linked Articles
IMF Warns Eurozone That Greece Needs Far More Debt Relief
Wall Street Journal 07/15/2015
How to Undo the Damage in GreeceNew York Times 07/06/2015
Hard realities- what a Greek exit from the eurozone in 2015 could do for Greece and for the European Union
04/29/2015
The Economist says Greece could end up becoming a failed state at the doorstep of the European Union. With the major parties losing support extreme parties on the right and left would increase support. The economy of Greece would suffer serious damage. As prices have declined by 16% with no surge in exports, a devaluation of the drachma would not be of much help. Argentina went through a period of severe hardship following the default on the currency. Greece, says the Economist, may be engaging in a strategy to extract concessions from the EU by waiting till the last minute. Yet this strategy has its drawbacks because of the damage to Greece's economy in the process, with the slight growth under the Samaras administration turning into a recession with the 6 months of the Syriza government in 2015.
Linked Articles
What Greece Faces if It Defaults
New York Times 04/29/2015
My big fat Greek divorceEconomist 06/20/2015
China's debt at over 250% of GDP and the financial crisis in 2015- Harvard Prof. Rogoff and former Treasury Secretary Paulson on the reckoning with debt issues
04/20/2015
Linked Articles
A Warning on China Seems Prescient
New York Times 08/24/2015
A Veteran of the Financial Crisis Tells China to Be WaryNew York Times 04/20/2015
What Greece won in the negotiations and what Greece lost in the failure of talks with the EU, capital controls, closing of banks and the referendum on July 5, 2015
02/27/2015
Major concessions were won by Greece on the most important issues of the surplus, and the size of the public sector with high unemployment. Compromise was being reached on the value added taxes and age for getting pensions, next down the list. Next on the list were pension cuts which undoubtedly would hurt pensioners but in the larger picture of the economy would come after the size of the surplus and dateline, and the size of public sector. The size of these cuts is small compared to the cost of 60 billion euros from the damage done to the economy, and the alternatives for pensioners and the rest of the country. under bank closure. For the EU this was seen as part of pension reforms and for left leaning Syriza compromising on behalf of pensioners.
Linked Articles
IMF Raises Referendum Stakes With Call for More Aid for Greece and Debt Relief
Wall Street Journal 07/03/2015
What Greece WonNew York Times 02/27/2015
Resilence of the Russian economy in 2015-2016 compared to other emerging markets- (1) the decision to let the ruble float in Nov. 2014
02/09/2015
Linked Articles
Russia and Turkey Show Oil Prices Aren’t Everything
Wall Street Journal 01/25/2016
Ruble’s Fall Tests Governor of Russia’s Central BankNew York Times 02/09/2015
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
A different- more EU conscious- Alexis Tsipras of the Coalition of the Radical Left in Greece in 2014
12/12/2014
Alexis Tsipras is seen as moderating his programs to keep Greece in the European Union if elected in 2015, as Greeks favor remaining in the EU.
Linked Articles
Greek Leftist Party Spooks Some Investors
Wall Street Journal 12/12/2014
The Economic Consequences of Syriza’s Alexis TsiprasWall Street Journal 12/29/2014
The 1976 Montreal Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the Rio Olympics- decades long debt hangovers and costs growing from the $1+ billion in Montreal to $50+ billion in Sochi
08/24/2016
Developing and developed countries alike have seen the cost of the Olympics as a huge burden. Many countries or cities that committed to hosting the Olympic games during boom years were facing economic hard times by the time of the games. Corruption and mismanagement of public funds, overspending and cost overruns added to the problems. Citizens uproar caused cities such as Boston and Oslo to withdraw bids for the Olympics. The Olympics appears to be a costly way to show off a country, and raises questions about better allocation of funds in other directions, especially when upward mobility is a problem for the middle and working class, countries have other infrastructure needs, and neglected basic needs in education, healthcare, public services.
Linked Articles
The 40-year hangover: how the 1976 Olympics nearly broke Montreal
The Guardian 07/06/2016
Rio Games Highlight Problems With the Olympic ModelThe New York Times 08/23/2016
Why initiating Brexit by invoking the Lisbon Treaty's Article 50 could go into 2017, or even past 2020 into new general elections- (1) the pro stay vote in Ireland and Scotland
08/16/2016
Theresa May, Britain's prime minister, is deeply committed to the idea of the union of England with Scotland and Ireland. Invoking Article 50 of Lisbon Treaty, a step necessary for Brexit, would also lead to Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party to initiate plans for a second referendum for Scottish independence, as Scotland votd to remain in the European Union. The issue of Ireland and Northern Ireland's vote to remain in the EU would also lead to serious repercussions. In short it will be hard to separate the leave vote in England from the stay vote in Scotland and Ireland, as it will be difficult for most British people to imagine a England without a British identity. If the referendum had asked the second question "Do you still vote leave if this means the end of Britain or the United Kingdom?" the vote could have turned out differently for nationalist voters.
Linked Articles
Wait and see: Theresa May is in no hurry on Brexit | Europe | DW.COM | 15.08.2016
DW.COM 08/15/2016
No return to border controls in Northern Ireland, UK PM May says | News | DW.COM | 25.07.2016DW.COM 07/25/2016
"Deaths of Despair", the causes and effects in a larger context, and the drop in America's ranking in the Social Progress Index to 19th in 2016
07/01/2016
How the middle aged white Americans 45-54 are faring in the current environment with fewer opportunities and greater vulnerabilities in health, education incomes, savings, quality of life, mortality, upward mobility, for this group. Tragically this means their children and the next generation is also affected in the way fewer opportunities are available in the future. The situation is unique to America with weaker social protection than Europe, and to Britain because of years of austerity. There are no quick fixes with easy slogans, and requires first a national awareness, national consensus, and may require the better part of a generation to solve and restore the hope and promise of Jefferson in making the "inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" available to all.
Linked Articles
Rising Death Rates for Middle-Aged White Americans Are Forcing a Policy Rethink
WSJ 06/30/2016
The U.S. Now Ranks 19th in ‘Social Progress,’ With Finland and Canada Topping the ListWSJ 06/30/2016
Lack of coordination between EU nations and with Turkey- identified as a serious problem following the Brussels airport/subway terrorist attacks in March 2016
03/24/2016
Linked Articles
Hillary Clinton Criticizes Republican Rivals in Counterterrorism Speech
Wall Street Journal 03/24/2016
Brussels Suicide Bomber Slipped Terror NetWall Street Journal 03/24/2016
The EU's evolving relations with Turkey in 2016- Germany's Merkel and the Erdogan government reach an agreement on refugees in March 2016
03/07/2016
Merkel facing populist pressures and opposition from the CDU to accepting more refugees tries to get Turkey to stem the flow and send refugees back to Turkey. The Erdogan government with its own problems and seeking a closer relationship with the EU following the Russian bombing of the Turkmen in Syria and shooting down of a Russian plane approves the agreement.
Linked Articles
Stakes Are High for Germany’s Angela Merkel in Success of New Migrant Deal
Wall Street Journal 03/24/2016
Turkey Places Conditions on E.U. for Migrant HelpNew York Times 03/07/2016
German experts and public opinion who see Greece's exit from the eurozone as the best thing for the euro in July 2015 (1)
07/07/2015
Chancellor Merkel's statement that the the Euro is the EU, now place more emphasis on building a strong future for the euro. Experts in Germany believe the euro is better off without Greece by July 2015. As the WSJ editorial points out political contagion is now a bigger threat to the euro, with euro skeptic parties joining populist parties with no committment to the common currency and its basic rules.
Linked Articles
German Finance Chief’s Hard Line on Greece Limits Angela Merkel’s Room to Maneuver
Wall Street Journal 07/09/2015
It’s Time for Greece to Leave the EuroNew York Times 07/07/2015
Greece and EU in 2015- (1) How close were the 2 parties in the negotiations? Is default and eurozone exit good for Greece?
06/03/2015
Linked Articles
Greece’s Creditors Make Some Concessions as Showdown Approaches
Wall Street Journal 06/03/2015
My big fat Greek divorceEconomist 06/20/2015
Greece and EU in 2015- (2) Was there a breakdown in a willingness to "compromise" and in building "trust"? Did the inexperience of Tsipras and Varoufakis play a part?
04/20/2015
Linked Articles
A Finance Minister Fit for a Greek Tragedy?
New York Times 05/20/2015
Greece on the BrinkNew York Times 04/20/2015
The puzzle of U.S. job gains in 2014-2015 with tepid wage gains- a result of labor market slack not reflected in 5.5% unemployment rate, low productivity, low investment
03/07/2015
Linked Articles
Sluggish Productivity Hampers Wage Gains
Wall Street Journal 03/07/2015
Brisk Jobs Growth Puts Focus on FedWall Street Journal 03/07/2015
The response of financial markets to Russian intervention in Ukraine 2014-2015, as arms aid to Ukraine is seen as not a good option
02/11/2015
Linked Articles
New York Times 02/11/2015
Stopping Putin Without Firing a ShotWall Street Journal 02/11/2015
Russia and global financial markets in 2014-2015- a disconnect between an economy connected to the global economy and separation from a postwar order of international cooperation within a global economy
01/29/2015
Linked Articles
Stopping Putin Without Firing a Shot
Wall Street Journal 02/11/2015
From Russia With No LoveWall Street Journal 01/29/2015
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
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