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Irin Carmon, author of "Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg," says Ginsburg and Scalia showed that working together at the U.S. Supreme Court was possible, even with very different opinions in interpreting the law. Ginsburg and Scalia were friends, and shared similiar background, coming from boroughs of New York, both law professors, and both judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Both loved Opera performances. On issues such as women's rights, rights of minorities, gay rights, Scalia and Ginsburg were on opposite sides. Yet both enjoyed a long friendship. Scalia went so far as to say that if one disagreed with a colleague on interpretation of the law but could not be a friend, one should get another job. This kind of spirit of working together is now missing in Congress, says Ginsburg, and hopes someday that will happen. At the nation's highest court Ginsburg says Scalia was nice enough to provide her with his dissenting opinion, so that Ginsburg would have more time in preparing her rebuttal....

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Because of the proliferation of information and content on the internet, it is the services that help users navigate the content that do well not the content producers. This is one of the big reasons for the continuing failure of AOL and Yahoo. U.S. onine advertising went up to $31.3 billion in 2011 from 2010, according to eMarketer. Yahoo's share of U.S. online advertising will decline to 11% in 2011 from 16.1% in 2009. And AOL's dropped to 2.7% from 4.4%, according to eMarketer. The average cost to reach one thousand views on Yahoo in July 1998 was $25 per thousand, it is $6.50 in July 2011, and was $7.65 in July 2010, according to SQUAD Webcosts. Rob Norman, CEO of WPP PLC's GroupM North America, says he is really skeptical about the value Yahoo brings. He sees it as mostly commoditized inventory, and little that has a unique value to users. Analysts say that over time this problem of falling ad rates with commoditizing of content and proliferation of inventories could be faced Facebook by also....

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Jan Corzine will tell the House Agriculture Committee in hearings today in prepared testimony: "I simply don't know where the money is," and that "there were an extraordinary number of transactions during MF Global's last few days." Trustees looking at MF Global liquidation say about $1.2 billion is missing from customer accounts. MF Global made extraordinary bets on European sovereign debt of Italy, Spain and Portugal and other countries of over $6 billion. He says he reduced the leverage of the firm from 37 to 1 in early 2010 to 30 to 1 in late 2011. He says there were discussions where his strategy was debated and that it was prudent strategy to make these investments. He lobbied the CFTC on the issue of whether there should be a ban on futures firms swapping customer funds for higher yielding assets such as government bonds, because these transactions would benefit futures commission merchants. There are questions of conflicts of interest because CFTC head Gary Gensler and Jan Corzine both worked closely at Goldman Sachs....

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The FBI talked to Steve Job's friends, neighbors, family, former business associates and Jobs in a background investigation in 1991. Jobs was being considered for an appointment in the President George H.W. Bush administration and this was part of the background check. He is described as not having a good start in high school- as his GPA at Homestead High School in Cupertino, California was 2.65. He is said to have used marijuana and LSD in college. This was the period when Jobs was running NeXT, and five years before Apple acquired NeXT and Jobs returned to Apple. The account affirms the description in Walter Isaacson's book of a person who was driven and could have rough edges in his human dealings. The FBI background check account has this to say-"several individuals questioned Job's honesty stating that Mr Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals." In his personal life Jobs is described as neglecting a daughter born out of wedlock with a high school girlfriend....

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Thomas Hoenig, chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, says the five largest financial institutions in the US are 20% larger today than they were before the 2008 crisis. These five institutions control $8.6 trillion in financial assets or the equivalent of 60% of gross domestic product in the USA. He points out that whether we like it or not, these firms are too big to fail. Though these institutions survived the 2008 crisis with a bailout from the Fed as shown in the Fed's recent revealed documents, Hoenig says, little has changed on Wall Street. Two years after the crisis of 2008, these firms again operate with bonus and compensation schemes that reflect not the recent failures but a sense of success. Hoenig says this is why the American people are angry. An absence of accountability and blatant inequities with which smaller businesses and institutions were treated compared to the large ones, is why they will remain angry. Without this accountability he feels Americans cannot build a national consensus for the sacrifices needed to rebuild the American economy....

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The share of new mortgage loans backed by the US government through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is at 92%. This makes the fast overhaul of the two agencies much more difficult. Treasury Secretary Geithner said last week that overhaul of the two agencies could take 5 to 7 years. The problems with Fannie and Freddie are real. The U.S. government subsidizes mortgages through Fannie and Freddie, encouraging Americans to take on more debt. Their balance sheets pose serious risks in another crisis, as long term investments are financed with short term borrowing. Any losses will be the responsibility of the US government. A recent paper from the US Treasury outlined some of the steps needed to wind down both agencies and to reform the way they operated including- requiring larger down payments and lowering loan limits, and increasing the fees charged for the government's guarantees to be more in line with the risk being taken. Slower reform in this area means additional systemic risks in the event of another crisis....

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The near-premium or near-luxury car segment that Honda is appealing to with its Acura ILX and Buick is appealing to with its Verano model. The European carmakers also plan to bring cars to the U..S. that are economically priced and have luxury features. White points out that baby boomer buyers in their fifties and sixties are particularly careful to compare these cars with the luxury features on a moderately priced Accord and Taurus, and can see any flaws in the near-luxury cars which indicate compromise such as afour cylinder engine or manual controls where electronic controls are expected. Honda's marketing people have looked at American buyers and see the new profile of a customer who is sophisticated but is also looking at price in today's more fugal environment for purchases, as the buyer they are targeting. But they will have to be careful as this category bumps up against the moderately priced cars that have some luxury features and are competitively priced to attract buyers.

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Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of Egypt, gives his ideas on Articles 2 of the 1971 Constitution (which established Islam as the religion of the state), and Article 7 of the interim Constitution (which guarantees equal citizenship before the law, regardless of religion). As head of Egypt's agency of Islamic jurisprudence, he gives his assurance to the West and to Egyptians, that the religious establishment of Egypt and he personally, is committed to tolerance and popular sovereignty that respects the rights of all citizens. He points to Egypt's tradition of a moderate and tolerant view of Islam. He says that Egypt threw out the heavy hand of authoritarian rule after many years and is not about to replace this with another type of authoritarian rule based on Islam. Islam's place in Egypt he argues, will be similiar to state churches in Denmark, and England, and similiar to Islam as the national religion in secular states like Tunisia and Jordan. The kind of Islam he sees for Egypt, in his words, is that of freedom and tolerance....

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Sanger, Erlanger and Rudoren describe in detail the differing interests of Congress, the Obama administration, the Iranian hardliners around Khamanei, the Israelis, the Europeans, and the Russians each quietly pushing its own interests. Beyond the physics of a deal, a Republican Congress, Democrat Obama and Iranian hardliner Khamanei, each are trying to get their own narrative to look right with public opinion they face, that they have not backed down. The Israelis find any deal unacceptable and reject even a small lifting of sanctions, because of the "existential" threat. Add to this Sunni Saudi Arabia which says it will match Shiite Iranian capabilities with their own uranium enrichment facilities if Iran is allowed to retain capabilities. And economic interests also figure into this- Russian interest is in keeping Iranian oil off the market as long as possible so that oil prices do not fall further in 2015, which means delay an agreement as long as possible. The French see the Obama administration as likely to give too much away for an agreement and want tougher terms....

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Margarethe Vestager brings a candour and forthrightness rare in European politics. As economy minister and deputy prime minister she led the Social Liberal Party in the coalition government in Denmark. The Social Liberal Party is unique in that it is part of left leaning alliance with Social Democrats, yet emphasizes as part of its platform education that encourages the creative development of pupils, and freedom in methods of teaching to encourage creativity. Vestager has increased the scope of the EU investigation to look at the Android system in mobile, and filed formal anti-trust charges against Google. Vestager says about Google, that "the amount of data it controls gives rise to societal challenges." She graduated in Economics from the University of Copenhagen. Her husand is a math teacher. One of her hobbies is knitting elephants, and one of them will be offered for bidding at the Danish Seamen's Church in Brooklyn, where she is speaking on April 19. She brings a fresh breath of air to the functioning of the European Commission in Brussels, often viewed as bureaucratic and slow. ...

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German politicians are critical of Finance minister Schauble's remarks comparing Putin's takeover of Crimea to Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland. Merkel distances herself from the remarks considering that a singular event. Former chancellor Kohl tells the Bild newspaper, "there's been a lack of sensitivity in dealing with our Russian neighbor, especially President Putin." Decades of hard work in building relations with the Soviet Union since Willy Brandt initiated engagement, followed by Schmidt, Kohl and Schroeder, are seen as being put at risk by the German public and government. Business interests are also at stake. Polls show 60% of German's oppose sending the German air force to NATO's eastern borders, and German foreign minister Steinmeier said there was no way for Ukraine to join NATO. A former German ambassador to the U.S., head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, says Germany not the U.S. would suffer the most from a deterioration in relations. Companies like Siemens and Deutsche Bahn put a high priority on de-escalation of the crisis....

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Amazon has 15,000 employees in Seattle from global employees of about 97,000. New towers being built in downtown Seattle will bring 12,000 new workers to Seattle. The development is similiar to that of other companies such as Twitter which are developing urban spaces to attract young employees with children. This means the city has to bring public schools and create residential space in the city. The area Amazon is using was bought by Microsoft founder Paul Allen for development that never started and is from the city's gritty maritime past. Northeastern University based in Boston has started a remote campus near Amazon buildings. A park next to the Museum of History and Industry provides green space. And the Museum itself was renovated with a contribution from Amazon founder Bezos. Amazon's head of global estate and facilities, John Schoelter, says the renewal of the area was apparent as soon as Amazon began work in South Lake Union area. Instead of driving through this area people now mingle in urban spaces here. ...

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China's view on its new Air Defense Zone as expressed by the Foreign Ministry is that if European countries and Japan are entitled to set their own air defense zones then China should be able to set its own zone. The differences with Asian neigbors and the U.S. arises over the fact that this overlaps with the zones of S. Korea, Japan and Taiwan and also covers the area of the disputed Senkaku Islands. Other problems lie in the ambiguous wording and failure to share this information in advance with other countries. As it stands B-52's from the U.S. and Japanese planes entered the zone on Nov. 29, and Chinese fighter jets tracked the planes but there was no incident. U.S. civilian airlines have agreed to follow the rules set by China for the air defense zone, and the U.S. government says it will let the airlines make the decision to follow the zone. The EU protested the setting up of the new air defense zone.

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Sargent offers an assessment of Hillary Clinton's years in office as U.S. Senator and Secretary of State following her role as First Lady. Less polarizing, respected by 4 of 10 Republicans, and respected for her tenacity and effort. He cites Hillary's remarks in 2008 that the glass ceiling has about 18 million cracks in it- that Hillary who grew up during the feminist revolution helped take it further even if the achievements were incomplete. In retrospect the Clintons served the country with passion and dedication right upto to the end, and strove hard to put behind them any blemishes to their record. The Obama administration was itself built upon the public servants who gained experience in the Clinton administration, more so than previous aministrations, because of Obama's relative obscurity as a community activist in Chicago. Names like Panetta, Lew, Napolitano, show how much of the old is in the new, and the humility to work with them as colleagues and fill the lack of experience of the new president, may be the best example of public service the Clintons could offer....

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OECD released a study that shows losses in mortgage sector in the United States, the amount that banks and companies have to writeoff as losses could reach $300 billion. The study points out that only some of these losses are reflected so far and more will be seen when the mortgage rates reset upwards in May 2008. The study assumption is for a default rate on mortgages of 14% on subprime mortgages. Loans made to borrowers with poor credit amount to $125 billion. When you include losses on loans on Alt-A mortgages given to people with better credit the losses reach $300 billion. Banks are exposed to the subprime mortgage market through securities of housing loans and the writeoffs could be in excess of the actual amount on defaults as the writeoffs may be made in the next 6-12 months even though given time the housing market should stabilize. Over time the OECD sees the situation stabilizing after the worst of the losses are seen in 2008.

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German wages overall slipped in 2007 in real terms and are not keeping up with inflation,they have declined in 4 of the last 5 years according to economists so there is considerable pressure to increase wages. Wages as a share of national income has been falling steadily since 2003. And there is a lot of worker resentment to the information now readily available about what the managerial elite is making. One survey by Kienbaum Consultants shows that German managers earnings increased by 17.5% last year. The scandals at Siemens and the other scandals involving CEO of Deutsche Post and other scandals of Hartz at Volkswagen have undermined public confidence in the country's mangerial elite to the point that only 15% of the public have any confidence in them according to poll by TNS Emnid a polling and research company. Local eletions in Hamburg confirmed a shift to the left and to Social Democrats which will make it more difficult for the Christian Democrats under Merkel to execute their agenda of freeing up the economy....

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At the closing stages of the primary season Obama is seen as bringing an advantage in terms of bringing in new voters to the electoral process especially younger people. But more significantly and this may be the difference in the calculations of superdelegates is their own future and the future of the party. First their own future is helped if a nominee of the party cn energize new voters. Second its seen by a growing and significant number of people in the party that a nominee in 2008 has to put all 50 states in contention. This 50 state strategy may hold the critical insight to the nomination process in its final stages by superdelegates. This stems from frustration among Democrats at two elections in which Gore and Kerry went down in a blue states and red states division almost identical in both elections to a large degree. Any candidate thatcan bring Republican fringe voters to vote for a Democratic nominee may be the one to win the 2008 election and most of the Democratic superdelegates will be thinking of this....

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NYT editorial says Bush Administration thinks it has time on its side in the housing foreclosure crisis but they are wrong. The White House has not come up with a clear strategy or what needs to be done as the way forward from here. And this it says wil prove costly. Because there is no clear direction coming out of the White House the Congress also has not been able to articulate a clear strategy with near unanimous support. Alt-A loans called Alt A for alternative to grade A prime loans are scheduled to reset to higher payments starting 2009 with losses mounting in 2010 and 2011. Alt A losses are projected to reach $150 billion but his is based on price declines following a stable pattern, but if housing prices take a steep decline then losses could go much higher causing a great deal of instability to the financial system, which will be harder to fix at that time. NYT is urging the Bush administration to wake up to the impending crisis.

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Brazil's oil company, Petrobras, has 55.7% of voting shares controlled by the government. Petrobras's nonvoting shares make up most of the widely held stock, which has increased significantly in recent years. Petrobras is Latin America's largest publicly traded company with market value of $96.9 billion. Oil production by Petrobras is 1.9 million barrels a day, larger than Brazil's expected consumption of 1.85 million barrels a day for 2006. The policies of former President Henrique Cardoso are credited with making Petrobras competitive. Cardoso passed a constitutional amendment that allowed foreign companies to compete against Petrobras. And he put new managers from banking in charge of the company, leading to significant changes in how the company was run. With new deepwater drilling oil production increased by 12% a year during the Cardoso years 1997-2002. Under the Lula administration Petrobras has also reflected the government's social goals by delaying passing on price increases in gasoline and cooking gas and limiting the price increases. Under President Lula the CEO and senior managerial appointments for Petrobras have come from the ranks of his political party, the PT. Jos Eduardo Dutra, and Jos Gabrielli are members of PT. Under the Lula government Petrobras faced little competition from foreign oil companies and Petrobras dominates the Brazilian oil sector....

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Tightening budgets in Greece, Spain and Germany, mean that governments are now cutting the prices they pay to pharmaceutical manufacturers. The governments are the largest buyers of pharmaceutical and medical products in Europe.

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Visionary physicist Charles Townes conducted the breakthrough research that led to the development of the laser in a long career that spanned several decades of work as a professor at Columbia University, a researcher at Bell Labs, and at MIT and UC Berkeley.