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Clarendon is a 15 minute Neighborhood, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia just a few Metro stops from downtown Washington DC. One can walk to where ever one needs to go within 15 minutes. This writer suggests that people will not move to such neighborhoods till more of them are built and the price comes down. In 2024 15 minute neighborhoods cost much more and offer less living space- not an attractive option he says. Houses elsewhere in Arlington cost as much as apartments in Clarendon. 

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U.S. president Trump announces withdrawal from the Paris climate change accords, saying the U.S. will consider re-entering the agreement  or coming up with a new deal. He said "I was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris." Trump said he was concerned about the environment, and avoided saying climate change scientific evidence was not correct. He based his concerns on the idea that China and India were getting an unfair financial advantage over the U.S. The U.S. had pledged under the Paris accords to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28% from 2005 levels by 2025. The WSJ's Stokols and Ballhaus point out that president Trump had the option because of the nonbinding agreements committing nations to a broader goal of reducing emissions to combat temperature change of of 3.6 degrees F, to have modified emissions targets and still remained in the Paris accords. For Trump the motivation may have rested more on politics to shore up support in the Republican party which has largely opposed climate change targets.  ...

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Robert Shiller explains why price increases in U.S. housing are likely to remain at inflation adjusted 1-2 % a year in coming years. The Zillow-Pulsenomics Home Price Expectations Survey, incorporating 100 forecasters, and the S&P Case/Shiller Composite Index Futures, as of Dec. 2012, both show this modest growth for the next 5 years. The sharp price increases of 2012, with the S&P/ Case-Shiller 20 City Index up 9% from March to Sept. 2012, are seen as partly seasonal and not likely to last. Reasons he cites against the possibilities of another U.S. housing price surge are a more regulated housing market, wary buyers, lower economic growth, preferences for renting vs buying, and harder to rent detached single family homes. Recent housing price increases also include seasonal fluctuations and could moderate in coming months, says Shiller. History shows only one housing price boom in the U.S. in the last hundred years, with real prices increasing 68% from 1942 to 1953. By comparison the price surge in home prices from 1997 to 2006 was 86% in real terms, which was reversed almost entirely by 2012. The Census Bureau statistics show the home ownership rate declining to 65.5% in the third quarter of 2012 from 69% in the third quarter of 2006. Karl Case said in an op-ed in the NYT in 2010- the investment in a home was never meant to be a way to pay the bills and enjoy an artificially high standard of living, and only seen as a safe investment for most of American history. ...

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The significance of Notre dame Cathedral for France and Europe over 1000 years is shown in this timeline in Le Monde.  The year 1163-  An ancient cathderal St Etienne Cathedral is in decline. In its place will be built Notre Dame. Maurice de Sully becomes Bishop of Paris in the reign of Louis VII in the 12th century. Sully decides to build a great cathedral in honor of the Virgin Mary. The first stone is laid inthe presence of Pope Alexander III. The year 1239- Louis the IX is the first canonized King of France, Saint Louis participated in the seventh and eighth crusade and purchased the relics of the Passion from the Latin Emperor of Constantinople. These relics are seen to be the most honored in Christendom and are installed in the Notre Dame Cathedral.The most significant is the crown of thorns which he carries into the cathedral barefoot in 1239. He build Sainte Chappelle 500 metres away in the Isle de Cite. The year 1594- The Wars of Religion tear France apart. Henry IV is caught in the midst of the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants from 1562 to the Edict of Nantes in 1598 . It is at Notre Dame that the King Henry iV asserts his power against the Catholic League by attending a Te Deum. Notre Dame is again used as a symbol of recapture in 1918 and on Aug 26, 1944 with the Magnificat for Liberation. 1708- With Louis XIII comes the dedication in 1638, the Vow of King Louis XIII putting his kingdom under the protection of the Virgin Mary, and August 15 as celebration day. 1844- Viollet le Duc emerges as the builder of the renovation of the now aging structure of Notre Dame. Two million frances for restoration run out in 1851. The project resumes in 1859. 1991- It is the project of tourism and heritage as the national site of France. 2019- the second renovation of Notre Dame in Paris begins after the fire.   ...

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The declining prospects for construction and heavy equipment manufacturers in the Chinese market with the slowdown in growth in China. This affects Caterpillar Inc, Volvo AB and Komatsu Ltd. Between 2008 to 2010 investments in machinery, construction projects and other types of fixed assets went up by 61% to $4.36 trillion. China's domestic manufacturers Sany Heavy Industry Co. and Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co. also expanded during this period. Now analysts see demand in China as having collapsed compared to the earlier period. Monthly sales of hydraulic excavators for July 2012 declined by 23% to 5886 units, and first half sales were down by 38%, according to machinery trade association. China's stimulus spending also contributed to the surge. The new stimulus planned for 2013 is more selective in investments and much smaller because of overcapacity and overbuilding in many sectors. Some investments such as John Deere's new plant under construction in China and two in Brazil also under construction, will move forward at a slower pace and impact margins. Cummins CEO, Linebarger sees the situation continuing throught he second half of 2012 and recovering gradually in 2013. The slowdown is not deterring construction machinery equipment manufacturers. Caterpillar CEO, Doug Oberhelman, sees demand accelerating after the lull and is slowing its plan to double workforce in China to 11,000, and quadruple excavator production by 2015, but not idling assembly plants so that he has inventory on hand for a recovery. Exports of made in China excavators is also an option, and exports increased 115% in July 2012, over the prior year. But this may be based on manufacturers belief that the drop in demand in 2008 and recovery in 2010 will recur, which may only result in higher inventories as the current stimulus is much smaller and selective. The Chinese government plans to follow the DRC/ World Bank Report and is moving away from the large role of state run firms in the economy....

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Under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, natural islands or rocks are given territorial sovereignty going out 12 nautical miles, but no such sovereignty exists for reefs that are submerged in high tide. Two U.S. B-52's fly within 2 nautical miles of the Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly Islands in late Dec. 2015, about 600 miles south of Hainan Island in the South China Sea. China claims control over the South China sea navigation routes through its reclamation work in the seven rocks and reefs in the Spratly Islands. The U.S., Japan, India, Vietnam, Philippines and other countries say these are international waters and form key navigation routes from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for global shipping. In late October 2015, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of another island built by China in the Spratly Islands.

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The U.S. jobs added for Dec. 2011, are 325,000, according to ADP figures, but the reliability of these figures has been questioned because of the different methods used in calculating the number. For Nov. 2011, the ADP number for private sector jobs added was 206,000. The same number from the Labor Department was 140,000. For June 2011 there was wide divergence- the ADP showed private sector jobs added as 157,000, the same number from the Labor Department was 57,000 jobs. For December 2010, ADP reported private sector jobs increased by 297,000, and official numbers showed 113,000. For December there are seasonal issues as well that affect the figures. Other factors affecting the jobs picture is the loss of jobs inthe government sector, and the gains in jobs predominantly coming from poorly paid retail and restaurant industries and fewer job gains in the better paid construction and manufacturing industries.

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Gen. Chen Bingde, People's Liberation Army chief of general staff, leads a military delegation from China to the U.S. He made a speech at National Defense University in Washington D.C. in May 2011. In that speech he pointed out that China's military capabilities remain far behind the U.S. capabilities, which he described as "a gaping gap." He described China's military modernization as having "unfortunately aroused unfounded suspicion and exaggeration of China's defense and military capabilities." With the overstatement of the threat posed by China only "distorting China's strategic intention, tarnishing its international image, and polluting the political environment for Sino-U.S. military relations." In other remarks he said China "does not want to use our money to buy equipment or advanced weapons to challenge the United States." The meeting between Admiral Mullen and Gen. Bingde was the first in seven years between military chiefs of the two countries.

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China Central Television (CCTV) in August 2013 cited the high prices charged for luxury car models in China. One report on CCTV gives the price of a luxury sport utility vehicle such as a Land Rover as 1.89 million yuan or $305,000 in China, while the same model could be purchased for $87,000 in the U.S. Land Rover agreed to a price reduction after investigation by the pricing and antimonopoly division of NDRC. Range Rover 5.0 V8 with a price tag of 2.89 million yuan will now sell for 2.65 million yuan. Considering the prices currently charged the price reductions of upto $32,000 still means prices are extremely high. Consultancy Automotive Foresight analysts say market forces have a bigger impact and the models chosen for the price reduction are not high volume models. A bigger impact it says would come on car models where the demand is high.

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Share purchases on credit using margin financing doubles between July and December 2014 to $130 billion for the Shanghai and Shenzen stock exchanges. Retail investors open 370,000 accounts in Nov. 2014 alone. The Shanghai Stock Exchange share index went up by 25% in November 2014, and 50% since July 2014. The Securities Regulatory Commission made new restrictions on the use of riskier lower rated bonds as collateral for short term borrowing, and warned investors about rampant speculation. The sudden rise in the Shanghai index comes as investors shift away from investing in a cooling off property market, but creates its own set of risks especially with margin financing which could lead to quick downward spiral. A 5.4% drop in the Shanghai index on Dec. 9, 2014, leads to a 1-2% decline in global markets, at a time when oil prices decline added to uncertainty in the financial markets.

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The WP's Adam Taylor gives readers glimpses of Ukraine's and Crimea's history. The Crimea was at various times part of the Greek and Roman Empires as Taurica, the Mongols, the Khanate since 1400, and part of the Russian Empire since 1783. About 60% of the population is Russian in the Crimea, 12% Tartars. Under the Soviet Union it was first the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Republic till 1945 and then Crimean Oblast, an administrative region of Russia. It was made part of Ukraine by Russian premier Krushchev in 1954, Krushchev himself being a Russian who came up through the Ukrainian Communist party. In Dec. 1991 a referendum was held in Ukraine, 54% of Crimean voters favored independence from Russia. Crimea remained part of Ukraine with autonomy including its own constitution, and legislature. A 1997 treaty allowed Russia to base its Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea.

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Catalans formed a 400 kilometer human chain from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean to show their support for a secession referendum on Catalonia's independence from Spain. About 1.6 million people are said to have participated according to Catalan government officials. Spain's central government seeks to delay the issue to 2016 because of the financial crisis and high unemployment in Spain. The Convergence and Union Party of Arturo Mas takes a moderate position on this issue citing the concerns of the the government in Madrid, and the the ERC party which is the second largest party is firm about its demand for Catalan independence. Sentiment in Catalonia favors more autonomy, and a better deal for Catalonia in finances from the central government. Spain has setup a decentralized system of government following the long period of Franco's dictatorship, when Catalan language and culture were suppressed.

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Former Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino joins the Board of Directors of Twitter as its first female director. Scardino was the first woman to become CEO of a FTSE 100 company in the UK when she was appointed head of Pearson in 1997. Her reflection on the progress since then is one of disappointment. She told the Telegraph newspaper when she left Pearson that not much had changed in the 16 years since 1997, with few women on the board of directors, chairmen or CEO positions in the corporate world. Yoree Koh points out in this report that only 8.4% of Silicon Valley companies have women directors, according to an annual study put out in Dec. 2012 by the Universiy of California, Davis. About 40% of the tech companies in the S&P Composite 1500 index have no women on their boards, according to an Ernst & Young report.

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The emphasis on clarity in communicating monetary policy taken by Ben Bernanke at the U.S. Federal Reserve. This is of special significance as political parties in the U.S. face tough fiscal cliff negotiations in Dec. 2012. The Fed laid out its plan on interest rates in clear and precise terms, giving for the first time a specific figure on unemployment of 6.5%. The Fed plans to keep rates low till unemployment drops to 6.5%, as long as inflation is subdued at about 2-2.5% and long term inflation expectations remain low. A similiar approach was adopted by Mario Draghi of the European Central Bank by clearly communicating intentions for buying bonds of Spain and Italy in July 2012 with his statement "Believe me this will be enough." This contrasts with the style of central bank chief Shirakawa at the Bank of Japan which has led to serious criticism in Japan.

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Jenny Strasbourg of the WSJ provides this much needed report from London about the courageous decision by AstraZeneca and Oxford University to give vaccines away at no profit to the whole world, to billions of people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Without this brave decision by a British company and a British University the world would be a lot poorer, more variants could have happened, making us realize the great contribution Britain has made and how indispensable it is to the planet. Add to this the effort of Indian companies including Serum Institute that provided the manufacturing facilities and capabilities for making most of the British vaccine. AstraZeneca delivered 2.3 billion doses of the vaccine globally as of mid-December, according to the company. The International Monetary Fund estimates that low and middle income countries received 3.25 billion vaccines as of Dec. 11, About half of this or 1.6 billion doses were Astra Zeneca shots. This is a bigger share than any other vaccine by far and a life saver to the world. AstraZeneca stepped up early in a true to the best ideals in Britain to meet the needs of the world-  aiming to deliver 3 billion doses in 2022 and sell them at no profit as long as the pandemic continues. As the shot does not need cold storage it is ideal for India and other Asia, Africa and Latin America. "We are all very proud throughout the company of the impact we have had," says AstrZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot. By far the biggest manufacturing was done at Serum Institute of India which supplied 1.3 billion doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to 70 countries. Mr. Modi pushed forward the export of vaccine made in India to the world from the beginning in the same spirit of cooperation and the best ideals that Britain was living upto. Serum Institute can produce as much as 250 million doses of vaccine a month making it possible for India to tackle the vaccination population of 1.3 billion people.   None of this could have happened without Oxford University and AstraZeneca and Indian companies with Mr. Modi's active support living up to the best ideals of Britain and India for the world. "When you add up the benefits to humanity, I think you'll find the vaccine holds up pretty well in terms of the ill health it has prevented, and the deaths it has prevented," says John Bell, a senior Oxford academic who in 2020 guided the University through its vaccine-partnership talks with Astra Zeneca. Because in the real world AstraZeneca shot has held up so well it is also a choice for booster shots. ...

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Typical of so much of what is written about the World Health Organization and its role in the pandemic, this podcast in the WSJ fails to quickly convey the critical function of the WHO as an early warning system the world has depended on, including China. The H1N1 epidemic originated in Mexico. Asian countries including China and India depended on very quick response from the country where the epidemic originated  in allowing entry into the affected area for experts from advanced countries such as the U.S. The global response was then coordinated across countries quickly with complete transparency. The head of China's CDC himself faced a problem with transparency with the provincial authorites in Wuhan. 1.    Fundamentally this quick entry was denied the U.S. Request by U.S. to China was made on Jan. 6 for U.S. team to go to Wuhan, quick permission was denied and given only about 6 weeks later on Feb 16. This delay is the crux of the problem for the U.S.. Taiwan confirmed human to human transmission on Jan. 1, the WHO was saying this was not clear as late as Jan. 14. These costly delays are what the U.S.  letter is about.  The head of the CDC China Gao Fu called Dr. Redfield head of CDC in the U.S. on the next day after he suspected Wuhan provincial authorites were vague about what was happening. Gao Fu was alarmed when scanning the internet on December 30, 2019, about rumors of a vaguely worded lung disease in internal memos of Wuhan. He called Wuhan authorites and was not getting clear answers on that day, then deciding on December 31 to send his own team to Wuhan, as reported in German magazine Der Spiegel- Hackenbroch, Zand, 05/20/2020.  Der Spiegel says in its special report on the early period in Wuhan that Gao Fu was so alarmed about what was happening enough to be in tears in his series of calls with Dr. Redfield in the immediate days that followed. The date was shortly after the GAO Fu sent the team to Wuhan, December 31 and New Years Day 2020, as reported in Der Spiegel. See the link to Lyrarc gist of Der Spiegel's "A Failed Deception: The Early Days of the Coronavirus in Wuhan."  2.  President Trump points out the standards of the WHO- in the concluding point of his letter to WHO- when a three time prime minister of Norway, Gro Brundtland was head of the WHO during the SARS crisis of 2003. She acted quickly and decisively and no time was lost. It is this failure of the early warning system under the new president of the WHO after 2017 Dr. Tedros that alarms the U.S.  with about 100,000 deaths.  3.  This failure it can now be said was partly a result of a election in 2017 for the position of WHO president which was flawed. This was the first time a WHO head, an important position was put up for an election. The Executive Board was responsible for this appointment since the founding of the WHO as part of the UN, based in Geneva, Switzerland, after World War II. This system worked. The election was clearly a bad process for appointing the president of the WHO which should be done entirely on the capabilities of the person holding this position not on a flawed voting process. It is flawed because India and Bangladesh hit by a cyclone during the coronavirus have suffered greatly, as have other countries, but had only 2 votes for 1.5 billion people, when Barbados (385,000 population) and Laos (7 million) which had less than one  hundredth the population had the same number of votes. The U.S. had one vote. The election resulted in lobbying and a process in which many candidates stayed away because they simply would not go through such a process. The position was too important to the world- most of the advanced countries had forgotten about the danger of epidemics to let this happen by 2017, as shown in the way the austerity years led to cancellation of the preparations for pandemic in France and Britain. The austerity years and neglect of public health during these tech boom years in the western world made it possible for this to happen. 3.   Along with the 1 month ultimatum action is already being taken to restore the effectiveness of the importance of the Executive Board. The head of the health ministry in India, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, has been appointed the new chairman of the Executive Board on May 22. This restores the voice of billions of people in Asia in the process, and brings the major countries with the greatest risk in a pandemic into the decision process for tackling the pandemic, this includes the rest of the world.     ...

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This video shows Dr. Birx explaining the three Phases for reopening the U.S. economy. Each state's governor would decide when a state thinks it is safe to move to the first phase. States which have not been affected much and fewer cases in the western part of the U.S. such as Idaho, North Dakota, Iowa could open earlier. Texas could start in May. California would have to do more testing before it starts Phase 1. New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Massachusetts, would come later because of the severity of the crisis. Each phase criteria are carefully set out and parameters set down for social distancing rules to be followed, number of people, locations, how offices open, how stores open, how hospitals open. Germany and the U.S. have set out detailed guidelines and phases. A state in the U.S. could even move back in phases if data shows it is doing badly. Hotspots would continue to be tracked and resources shifted from the federal government quickly to these new hotspots now that medical supplies, medical personnel and other shortages such as testing are being aggressively addressed. ...

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The deputy chief medical officer, Dr. Jenny Harries, asks people in Britain to limit themselves to what is sensible and not what is possible, to use common sense, so that reopening works. The Housing Secretary, Mr. Jenrick says the room for maneouvre is limited with the reproduction R ratio for Britain at somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9. There is also a lag period for data making it so that the current situation is not known. Germany's after reopening is now estimated by Robert Koch Institute at 1.14 so that there is some shift to be expected as the opening happens, the idea being to limit this to around the 1.0 figure. Britain reopens cautiously and in  in a patchy way with primary schools reopened, and people from different households allowed to meet in groups of six as long as they stay 2 metres apart. Outdoor markets and car showrooms are also reopening. Also stated is the need to be sensitive to geography as areas such as London which were hit early and with severity are now better off than areas in the north of England. ...

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Two law school professors at Fordham University, Kysar and Sugin, say the Republican tax bill is extreme because it was not based on working with Democrats. As a result not a single Democrat supported this tax legislation. The problem- when the Republicans lose their majority in Congress- a serious possibility after the loss in a Senate race in deep red state Alabama- the whole issue of tax legislation would come up again. This is not without precedent as the Democrats won the presidential election in 2008 and Republicans made a sweeping victory in Congress in 2010.This is why Senators Casey and Wyden (Democrats) and Orrin Hatch (Republican) head of the Finance Committee stated on the floor of the Senate on Dec. 19, 2017, that the next time and in future both parties need to engage in real discussion on taxes. The lack of serious discussion on the health care bill passed by Obama in 2008 has created some of the same problems today that this tax bill passed in a similar way without discussion with the other party is likely to face by 2019. No one needs to look further to realize that the political system is failing in its job of grappling and solving the nation's problems. Kysar and Sugin say this bill is like the 1981 tax cuts skewed towards high income Americans which failed to generate economic growth as intended an led to a swift reversal with tax increases in 1982 and years that followed in 1983, 1984. President Obama failed to address tax reform after appointing the Bowles Commission and not taking up its recommendations to reduce deductions. Another effort at changing the system was made without serious debate, a kind of Republican response to the way Democrats passed the Affordable Care healthcare bill in 2008. Real changes to update the tax laws may be put off till both parties can wrap their hands around the problem together. ...

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Improvements in birth rate and more immigrants in Germany are making the demographic picture look better in Germany. About 13 million people are expected to reach retirement age in just a few years, according to Prof Enzo Weber, Institute of Employment Research. This means 13 million new pensioners. Birthrate today is about 1.4 children per woman. At this level of birthrate and even a low rate of immigration of 100,000 per year Germany's population of 83 million today would decline over time. Between 1990 and 2008 more people left Germany than came in with a net outflow. Some level of immigration would be the only way to keep the level of people in the workforce of 43 million today to become stable in the future. This would be needed to support the increasing number of pensioners. Yet the general aging of the population is expected to continue. And a high level of immigration in too short a time such as from the Syrian refugee crisis creates other tensions in the social fabric of society. Germany's very homogenous society faces a challenge that goes beyond the politics of the refugee crisis of today. Too many immigrants in too short a time is not the solution, immigration has become too politicized in today's context, good and early integration of immigrants through language and culture training needs to be established. Prof. Weber points out that the influx of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe has helped the labor market, and there is no reason that the labor market could not dry up with the number of people retiring soon. Tackling that will involve making family and career life choices easier and enabling flexible work-life choices, increasing retirement age, and some level of healthy immigration. A demographic summit will be held on March 16th in Berlin to look at the problem. ...

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Melloan says President Bush is rightly offering Eisenhower's proposal for peaceful use of electrical energy as a friendly gesture to India. Ike made the "atoms-for-peace" proposal to the United Nations in Dec 1953, saying: "A special purpose would be to provide abundant electrical energy to power-starved areas of the world." This also helps in other ways- 1. Takes pressure off gas prices with rising demand in India met by nuclear energy. 2. Gives American exporters a big market for nuclear energy equipment (companies like GE). 3. Improves prospects for other American exporters and businesses in India as the economic relationship grows larger. India is not receiving anywhere near the foreign investment China is receiving, actually minscule in comparison. This gets the whole relationship rolling. 4. Nuclear energy is an attractive option for India as it has few oil resources, and reduces dependence on coal from the standpoint of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions.

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The devaluation of the Argentine peso from 9.8 to the dollar to 13 to the dollar in Dec. 2015 by president Macri is leading to higher inflation hurting the working class. The cutting of export taxes is helping farmers. Removing most currency controls is designed to help increase foreign investment by letting foreign companies freely repatriate profits. Also expected to be removed are bureaucratic procedures that limit imports of new equipment for manufacturers. Middle class voters see the moves helping the economy in the long run with new foreign investment and changing the outlook for investment. A former central bank president Mario Blejer points out that after 12 years of the previous Kirchner administration Argentina needs investment- by improving the outlook for investment and removing import controls the government plans to stimulate investment to lead to economic growth. Inflation is up 25% and Macri is keeping Mrs. Kirchner's price control programs in place to prevent a surge in inflation beyond the impact of the devaluation. ...

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The U.S. economy added an average of 284,000 jobs each month for October, November and December 2015. In December 292,000 new jobs were added. The monthly rate for the first 9 months was an average of 200,000 jobs. This shows the pace accelerated by Dec. 2015. In all 2.65 million jobs were added in 2015. The unemployment rate is now at 5%. Yet the wage gains are modest, at 2.5% for 2015. The average hourly wage is at $25.24. The labor force participation rate has declined for many years and stands at 62.6%, as many people are too discouraged to look for work- this is the share of Americans having jobs or looking for work. Experts say this is like a huge shadow work force existing on the side that could explain the lack of wage gains, as the official figure of unemployment is not reflecting the discouraged workers who have dropped out of the labor market.

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Time Inc. publishes about 80 print magazines, including Time, People, and Sports Illustrated. CEO Joe Ripp says Time Inc. was slow to respond to the digital transformation of media, and revenue is declining for several years. In 2014 Time Inc. ad revenue from digital ads was only 17%. Unlike Meredith Corp. and other companies which have television stations, or cable-television systems which can support its business, Time has little in the way of support, and could be broken up if the transformation into digital fails. Ripp was Chief Financial Officer of first Time Warner in 1999, and then of AOL Inc. at the time of the merger with Time Warner Inc. One of Ripp's recent risky moves not followed by other media companies is merging the media content side with the advertising side in native advertising. Time Inc. has 7000 employees as of Dec. 31, 2014, 800 fewer than the prior year.