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LyrArc brings in selected articles from many of the world's top publications.

Articles are selected by experts and you can see the gist of the important articles.

Mitt Romney on 60 Minutes

1 Links 3 Groups   
New York Times - 09.24.2012 Original article ›
Andrew Rosenthal, Andrew, Rosenthal
LyrArc Article Gist
Andrew Rosenthal expresses Democratic party skepticism about Romney's tax plans to reduce tax rates for all Americans by 20%, reduce taxes for the middle class, and increase what the rich pay by reducing deductions and closing loopholes, and still be able to support the budget. Harvard economist and Romney advisor Feldstein has done the research on how Romney could do this and which loopholes Romney would address, in the WSJ 8/28/2012. The gap between the two parties is so large, and President Obama's failure to take the Simpson-Bowles recommendations to reduce deductions seriously, is leading to a lack of openness to different ideas.
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Meg Whitman: Those Responsible for Autonomy Deal Are Gone

  
Wall Street Journal - 11.20.2012 Original article ›
Meg Whitman, Meg, Whitman
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Meg Whitman, CEO of H-P, says both the head of strategy, Robison, and the CEO, Apotheker, who made the Autonomy Inc. acquisition are gone. H-P is taking a $8.8 billion charge on the $11.1 billion acquisition made by Apotheker in Oct. 2012. She says normally the team doing the due diligence reports to the CFO, yet in the case of Autonomy the team reported to the head of strategy, which she changed soon after becoming CEO. Whitman was a member of the Board when it approved the acquisition, and she says someone pointed us in the right direction, referring to the whistleblower who pointed out improprieties.
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Sclerosis in China's Economic Veins

1 Links 1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 11.23.2010 Original article ›
Wsj Online, Wsj, Online
LyrArc Article Gist
Derek Scissors writes that the effects of stimulus weakens over time, even in economies like China's that are only partly market based. And he says China has used stimulus for years. He says that in 2001, fixed investment was at 38% of GDP, investment growth 12% and revised GDP growth 8%. In the first 3 quarters of 2010, GDP growth was 10.6%, but this required investment growth of 24% and that was with fixed investment now equal to 72% of GDP. These figures suggest the difficulty of getting growth at higher and higher levels of investment. His view is that more likely than a crisis is a stalling economy.
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Russia Seeks Foreign Investment to Fill Budget Gap

8 Groups   
New York Times - 01.24.2011 Original article ›
Andrew E. Kramer, Andrew, E., Kramer
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To meet the budget deficit Russia plans to issue $50 billion worth of ruble denominated bonds and privatize $10 billion in state assets every year until 2014. Russia is also changing its policy to attract foreign investment. For the first time since the 1998 financial crisis Russia will turn to international banks and pension funds in the US and Europe to maintain financing for a whole range of activities- from modernizing the military to paying high public sector wages. Russia is planning the sale of a stake in state bank VTB. And shares in oil companies, hydroelectric dams and shipping lines are also expected to go on the market.
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In Greece, a Brewer'€s Dream Runs Into Frustration

1 Groups   
New York Times - 01.29.2011 Original article ›
Landon Thomas Jr., Landon, Thomas, Jr.
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The problem of poor competitiveness in Greece which is stifling the economy. A recent analysis by research firm Variant Perception based in London, shows severe pricing distortions in the Greek economy. The cost of labor in Greece from 2005-2010 was, on average, 25% higher than in Germany. And small business is muffled by the bureaucracy and old rules and restrictions. Compared to Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain have lower labor costs. This increases the trade deficit for Greece. Greece has one of the highest number of lawyers per capita in the world, one lawyer for every 250 people compared to 272 in the US.
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The state of Spanish banks: Under siege

1 Groups   
Economist - 02.21.2011 Original article ›
Economist.Com
LyrArc Article Gist
Estimates vary on how much capital Spain's banks will need to recapitalize and push their tier one ratio to 8%. Moody's says they will need 17 billion euros to push their tier one ratio to 8% and UBS says they will need 120 billion euros to regain confidence in financial markets. The banks will have to redeem 90 billion euros of debt in 2011, 45% of this by the two largest banks, according to Barclays Capital. The problem lies in large debt in declining housing markets. Spain's banks have 323 billion euros or 31% of GDP in loans in the housing and property markets.
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Original article 3 minutes, gist 1 minute

Toward a Different Fiscal Future

7 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 02.08.2010 Original article ›
Glenn Hubbard, Glenn, Hubbard
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As remedies for the $1.6 trillion federal budget deficit for 2010, which says Hubbard threatens to compromise Americas economic future, set agggressive targets for reducing discretionary spending limiting growth to 2%. Hubbard also wants to see 1% reduction in projected entitlement spending growth for Social Security and Medicare. This can be done progressively, he says, by lowering the growth in spending for middle and upper income households and strengthening the safey net for lower income people. And third he would have a broad based consumption tax to pay for added social spending. Hubbard was adviser to president George W. Bush and is Dean at Columbia Business School.
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U.K.: Devaluation No Balm

3 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 03.10.2010 Original article ›
Richard Barley, Richard, Barley
LyrArc Article Gist
The U.K.'s deficit in trade in goods widened to 8 billion pounds in January 2010, even with the 25% decline in the value of sterling against the dollar and the euro. This suggests that devaluation is not likely to help rebalance the economy and things will have to be adjusted the hard way in the manner being done in Greece, Ireland and possibly Spain with cuts in spending. In the past the devaluations were accompanied by drop in interest rates, but this time interest rates are already low. And the U.K.'s weak manufacturing and excessive reliance on financial services does not help in boosting exports.
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Lexus, a Toyota Brand, Avoids Taint From Recalls

1 Links 2 Groups   
New York Times - 03.11.2010 Original article ›
Nick Bunkley, Nick, Bunkley
LyrArc Article Gist
Lexus sales overall are up 5% in 2010 compared with 2009 which is about the average for luxury brands. And Lexus residual values have held steady. This as the sales of Toyota cars are falling and residual values declining slightly. About 500,000 Lexus cars were recalled compared to 8 million Toyota cars. So does this mean that Lexus is unaffected especially with the highly publicized accident on aSanDiego Freway of aLexus ES350 with unintended acceleration? Sales of Lexus ES and IS series recalled for faulty accelerator pedal are down 6%, while sales of other Lexus models are up 12% compensating for the recalled Lexus models.
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Europe's new regulators: Continental shift

2 Groups   
Economist - 11.06.2010 Original article ›
Economist.Com
LyrArc Article Gist
Starting January 1, 2011, new rules governing European finance will be put in place. Three new European regulators will exercize control over large parts of Europe's financial markets. The new bodies take over from three committees that earlier co-ordinated the supervison of European banks, insurers, pension funds, and securities. Credit derivatives and ratings agencies will be brought under regulation. The new rules centralize authority that was exercized by national supervisors -or as in some cases as in Ireland not exercized at all. Considerable power will be exercized by the new agencies. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will directly supervise ratings agencies.
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Microsoft Dips Further Into Open-Source Software

1 Links 3 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 04.16.2012 Original article ›
Shira Ovide, Shira, Ovide
LyrArc Article Gist
Microsoft embraces open-source software for the first time. CEO Steve Ballmer once considered Linux open-source software "a cancer." Microsoft announces the creation of Microsoft Open Technologies in April 2012, as a unit that will manage the introduction of open source software programs and the compatibility of Microsoft software with open-source software. Cloud computing has strong elements of open-source software in it and Web services provided by Google and Facebook rely on Linus's open-source software. Younger programmers are trained with working on Linux and it is important for Microsoft to accept and work with the open-source software community to retain its influence in the field.
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Peering Over J.P. Morgan's Hedges

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 05.18.2012 Original article ›
David Reilly, David, Reilly
LyrArc Article Gist
David Reilly points out that using the regulatory figures JP Morgan had exposure to Italy of $87.5 billion, to Spain of $57.5 billion, and an exposure of $390 billion for France, Germany and the Netherlands. This is as of Dec. 2011. This is higher than the netted figures given out by the bank. In his chairman's letter Dimon showed bank exposure to Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain of about $15 billion with potential loss in a bad situation of $3 billion. This is if portfolio hedges work. If for some reason they did not work as anticipated, the losses could be much higher.
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PC Firm Lenovo Hunts For Brazil Acquisitions

2 Links 12 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 05.29.2012 Original article ›
Juro Osawa, Juro, Osawa, Yun Hee Kim, Yun Hee, Kim
LyrArc Article Gist
Lenovo's efforts to increase sales in India and Brazil. Lenovo is the largest PC company in India with 15.8% market share in the first quarter of 2012. It has only 3.6% market share in Brazil and is planning to increase its market share in the Brazilian market. Its market share in China is 30%. Slowing sales in China is increasing the focus on growth in Latin America. Lenovo's head of Asia-Pacific and Latin America, Milko van Duijl says Lenovo will have to build a manufacturing presence in Brazil to be successful there. Lenovo is now the second largest in PC sales worldwide after H-P.
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Twist and Pout

1 Links   
Wall Street Journal - 06.21.2012 Original article ›
Editorial
LyrArc Article Gist
This WSJ editorial says the U.S. Federal Reserve's Operation Twist has not resulted in improving growth. The Fed has lowered its forecasts for growth in June 2012 after its effort in the first part of Operation Twist when it sold $400 billion in short term debt. It says the Fed cannot come with growth using monetary policy, only supply side policies, changes in regulatory policies and the efforts of private enterprise can do this. All it does is have financial markets hang on every word of the Fed chairman Bernanke, as it will for the next two months about the prospects for a QE III.
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IKEA Says It Is Ready To Give India a Try

1 Links 11 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 06.25.2012 Original article ›
Amol Sharma, Amol, Sharma, Jens Hansegard, Jens, Hansegard
LyrArc Article Gist
IKEA's plans announced in June 2012 for opening 25 stores in India with an investment of $1.9 billion. IKEA says it will meet the requirement that 30% of its products be sourced from small scale local industries, as it plans to increase its purchases in India from $450 million currently to $1 billion in a few years. It said the government should be flexible in its defining of small-enterprises. For India the entry of large scale retailers will help modernize its supplier base in a number of areas. India's current account deficit has increased to 4% of GDP making it important to send a strong positive signal to foreign investors.
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Mideast Staggered by Cost of Wheat

6 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 05.19.2011 Original article ›
Liam Pleven, Liam, Pleven, Matt Bradley, Matt, Bradley
LyrArc Article Gist
Higher per capita wheat consumption in Middle East countries means that the impact of rising wheat prices hits these countries harder. Wheat futures have gone up by 91% in less than one year. Tunisians for example eat 478 pounds per person a year compared to 177 pounds in the U.S., according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Governments in the Middle East buy wheat at world prices and subsidize it heavily to meet the needs of their people. Wheat at these prices cost Egypt $361 per metric ton in February, which was up significantly from $172 in July 2010. This adds $1.7 billion to Egypt's import bill in 12 months.
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HBO’s ‘Too Big to Fail’ and the politics of portrayal - The Washington Post

4 Groups   
Washington Post - 05.24.2011 Original article ›
Ned Martel, Ned, Martel
LyrArc Article Gist
William Hurt plays Treasury secretary Hank Paulson in the HBO movie "Too Big to Fail," on the financial crisis of 2008. The approach HBO producers took to get the details of the story right included having actors talk to the real life figures like Hank Paulson. Hurt did a lot of questioning. Paulson was aware that his legacy would be shaped by how this story was told. Hurt came out of the discussions, including a three day visit to Paulson's home on a coastal Georgia island, saying that he did not feel manipulated. Hurt would continue to look at Paulson's actions from his own notions of value.
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Original article 8 minutes, gist 1 minute

Britain’s Costly Debate

1 Links 1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 01.21.2015 Original article ›
Editorial
LyrArc Article Gist
This editorial in the WSJ finds problems in the policies of the Tories and the Labor Party before the parliamentary elections in Britain in May 2015. It says Chancellor Osborne hurt lower income families disproportionately by raising the value added tax from 17.5% to 20%. Lower oil prices are lowering prices for middle and low income families, not the policies of the Conservative Party, it points out. Not much has been done to increase housing supply, with housing costs taking up about half of a family's income in some places. It finds little comfort in the targeted subsidies of the Tories, or the minimum wage ideas of Labor.
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The Dangers of Make-Believe Foreign Policy

  
Wall Street Journal - 02.12.2015 Original article ›
Karl Rove, Karl, Rove
LyrArc Article Gist
Karl Rove, former Deputy Chief of Staff to president George W. Bush, expresses the concern on the Republican side on U.S. president Obama's thinking about Islamic terrorism expressed in recent speeches and interviews. Obama told CNN interviewer Zakaria that it was wrong to suggest that terrorist networks were "an existential threat to the U.S. or the world order." Earlier references to the Islamic State as a "javvee team" in 2014 show the U.S. president unable to take the situation seriously. Rove questions the president's claim that "we ended two wars in a responsible way." The situation in Iraq especially has seen significant reversal since Bush's second term.
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Strong Dollar Hammers Profits at U.S. Multinationals

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 03.23.2015 Original article ›
Dan Strumpf, Dan, Strumpf
LyrArc Article Gist
U.S. companies with international operations or exports are seeing lower profits in 2015 with the surge in the value of the dollar, as it approaches parity with the euro currency in a short period of time. At the same time the dollar has surged to 120 yen to the dollar. The currency shifts are part of a new global dynamic in which the eurozone and Japan increase competitiveness and exports to boost their economies, fend off deflation, and help return the global economy to a sustained growth phase. Aggressive bond buying and QE by the ECB is part of this new dynamic in the global economy.
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Tesla Plans $5 Billion Battery Factory

1 Links 5 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 02.27.2014 Original article ›
Mike Ramsey, Mike, Ramsey
LyrArc Article Gist
Tesla's plans for a new battery factory that would reduce the cost of producing electric batteries to bring down the cost of its electric cars to $35,000. It could travel 200 miles on a single charge.The new battery would reduce battery cost by 30% in the first year. It would reach full production by 2020. Average cost is around $400 per kilowatt hour, according to experts and Tesla will be striving to cut that in half. Estimated cost of the plant is $4-$5 billion, with $2 billion coming from Tesla. Tesla says it will raise $1.6 billion with a bond issue. Production would start in 2017.
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Spain's King Felipe Strikes New Tone In Catalonia

5 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 06.27.2014 Original article ›
Matt Moffett, Matt, Moffett
LyrArc Article Gist
Prince Felipe uses Catalan in a visit to Girona. He praised the Catalan language saying Catalan "is in a permanent, sincere and enriching dialogue and co-existence with Spanish." Under the Spanish constitution following the Franco period divisions, the king is thrust into the role of "arbitrating and moderating" between institutions. The Partido Popular of former premier Anzar and current premier Rajoy, is seen as performing poorly in interaction with regions such as Basque and Catalonia. Spanish public opinion, as reflected in a 2014 poll of the newspaper El Pais, show 75% of Spaniards supporting the king playing a role in creating a dialogue and facilitating agreements between politicians.
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Longer-Term Deal With Iran Faces Major Challenges

  
New York Times - 11.24.2013 Original article ›
Michael R. Gordon, Michael, R., Gordon
LyrArc Article Gist
Michael Gordon of the NYT points out that the nuclear deal with Iran reached in Geneva on Nov. 23, 2013, is largely a holding action and a way to put some constraints on the nuclear program till Iran and the U.S. can work out some major differences. The Obama administration looks to be willing to concede Iran's rights to enrich uranium- it is the strict limits that are needed that are the points of negotiation. The agreement is given in the 4 page document- the Joint Plan of Action which leaves most of the core sanctions in place and lets Iran keep most of its nuclear infrastructure.
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Low bank wages costing the public millions, report says - The Washington Post

1 Links 2 Groups   
Washington Post - 12.04.2013 Original article ›
Danielle Douglas, Danielle, Douglas
LyrArc Article Gist
Low bank wages for the U.S.'s 500,000 bank tellers. The median annual income of a bank teller in the U.S. is about $24,100 or $11.59 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to a report by the Committee for Better Banks, about 39% of bank tellers in New York rely on public assistance. Nationally bank tellers need $105 million in food stamps, $250 million in earned income tax credit and $534 million in Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program to get by. According to SNL Financial bank profits reached $141.3 billion in 2012, and median chief executive pay was about $552 million.
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Original article 4 minutes, gist 1 minute

Senate Democrats Say Cost of Health-Care Bill Can Be Trimmed

1 Groups   
New York Times - 06.26.2009 Original article ›
Robert Pear, Robert, Pear
LyrArc Article Gist
Senate Finance Committee chairman says Senate Democrats have found ways to reduce the cost of the health care plan from $1.6 trillion to $1 trillion. A tax on some employer provided health benefits, cuts in Medicare and Medicaid spending, employers helping to pay the cost of health insurance for low-income workers, and limiting the eligibility for subsidies to households with incomes at 3 times the poverty level or $66,150, instead of 4 times the poverty level. Also a reduction in the plan to give tax credits to small businesses to help them buy insurance. And expansion of Medicad would be delayed to 2013.
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