LyrArc Article Gist
A single patent system that will be implemented for the European Union. The European Commission says its plan would allow companies to register an EU wide patent for about the cost in the U.S. of $2700. Currently companies first register with the European Patent Office, and then reregister in every EU member state.

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In a forceful speech at George Washington University, on April 14, 2011, President Obama outlined his proposal for addressing the U.S. budget deficit. His plan includes a mix of tax increases and spending cuts. His plan is for a $4 trillion deficit reduction over 12 years, with $1 trillion coming from revenue increases, $2 trillion from spending cuts, and $1 trillion from savings in interest because the U.S. would borrow less. Obama's plan would end the Bush-era tax cuts for people earning more than $250,000 a year and eliminate a number of tax breaks. Spending cuts would include cuts in Medicare costs, discretionary spending, and defense. Obama's plan would commit to automatic, across the board spending cuts and tax increases if an initial target is not reached by 2014. Obama said the Republican plan proposed by Paul Ryan presented " a vision that was less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America....The's nothing courageous about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it and don't have any clout on Capitol Hill."...

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The lack of a change in culture at Moody's two years after the financial crisis of 2008.

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The Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation respond to inquiries by the New York Times on how adequately their agencies have responded to the financial crisis of 2008. The inquiries relate to whether these agencies have conducted the prosecutions of senior executives of financial companies that are necessary to ensure there is no recurrence of the behaviours in financial markets that led to the crisis.

LyrArc Article Gist
The lack of prosecutions after the financial crisis of 2008. Several reasons cited- the fragility of the financial system in 2009, the lack of support from regulatory agencies, the lack of funding for the FBI and the Justice Department to assign special resources for the effort. Even the most egregious cases such as the one at Countrywide have not been prosecuted, even from the standpoint of preventing the recurrence of such behaviours.