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2016 U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush's Tax Plan that spells out details, and takes a shot at 4% growth for restoring lost social and economic mobility in the U.S.
09/09/2015
The efforts to wrestle with the deficit in 2011-2012 led to a vigorous debate on changing the tax code, yet political leaders failed to take up new ideas or spell out the details. Jeb Bush, with advisors Martin Feldstein and Kevin Warsh, takes the unconventional approach of putting in the details, and taking up ideas such as the idea of limiting itemized deductions to 2% of adjusted gross income proposed by Feldstein in that debate. On the $2.1 trillion in income held overseas by U.S. companies Bush proposes 8.75% tax paid over 10 years. On business investment he proposes capital investment be allowed to be deducted in full immediately. It is based on the idea that business investment can drive a vigorous recovery, that workers bear 50% of the burden of higer taxes through sluggish wage growth. It levels the playing field for debt and equity capital, removing "carried interest" provision, as a lesson from the excessive leverage taken by financial institutions in the past.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/10/2015
Jeb Bush Tax Plan Makes Forays Into PopulismNew York Times 09/09/2015
Looking back at Hong Kong and China today and yesterday- China in 1842 and in 1945, nationalism and commercial interests of foreign powers
01/09/2015
A wariness with foreign powers in China stems from the influences left behind from the British commercial interests and the Japanese invasion of China. Compared to that period, the period of collaboration on an equal footing and playing field is is a short and recent one that has taken place for just three decades 1985-2015. Fears that the accelerated development in China could slow down without a strong central government, combine with the awareness of the need for western technology and open communications in today's global economy to accelerate the development, create in the Chinese mind a problem that needs to be tackled carefully to continue progress. Awareness of the huge inequalities and corruption in the rush towards modernization, need to tackle extensive contamination of air and water, and need for social security and healthcare for an aging population create a new urgency for careful policy making to sustain progress.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 01/12/2015
‘China 1945,’ by Richard BernsteinNew York Times 01/09/2015
Abenomics advisers Yamamoto and Hamada, and Japanese prime minister Abe's decision in Nov. 2014 to challenge the Finance Ministry's views
11/20/2014
Abe calls for a snap election in Dec. 2014 after delaying the second increase in the consumption tax from 8% to 10% in 2015. About 53% of the Japanese public opposed the doubling of the consumption tax by 2015 in 2011 poll as the DPJ party Noda administration pushed for it on the advice of the Finance Ministry. Now after the 3rd quarter showed Japan in a recession over 70% of the Japanese public oppose a second increase in the consumption tax to 10% from 8% in 2015. Abenomics advisors Hamada and Yamamoto now say this increase in the tax (especially when wages are only gradually increasing) was never a part of the Abenomics.
Linked Articles
Japan’s No. 1 Reflationist Does a Victory Dance
Wall Street Journal 11/20/2014
With Bad Economic News for Japan, Abe’s Magic Seems to EvaporateNew York Times 11/20/2014
Gen. James Jones, former National Security Advisor to U.S. president Obama, joins Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State, describing the failure of Obama's Middle East policy
08/11/2014
Linked Articles
How to Save Iraq and Honor American Sacrifice
Wall Street Journal 08/15/2014
A Rift in Worldviews Is Exposed as Clinton Faults Obama on PolicyNew York Times 08/11/2014
The events in Lviv and in the Square in Kiev Feb-20-21, 2014, that led to the collapse of the Yakunovych government in Ukraine
02/22/2014
A parallel diplomatic effort that may have been driven by the events in Lviv and in the Square and underestimated the depth of feeling in Ukraine and the organization of the protest movement.
Linked Articles
As His Fortunes Fell in Ukraine, a President Clung to Illusions
New York Times 02/23/2014
European Ministers Brokered Ukraine Political CompromiseWall Street Journal 02/22/2014
Faces of workers quitting work or reducing hours as they qualify for subsidies on health insurance under the Obama Healthcare Law
02/05/2014
Faces of the workers taking subsidies available to lower income workers under the Obama Health Care Law. The Congressional Budget Office projections for 2021 show about the equivalent of 2.3 million workers worth of hours reduced as a result of the healthcare law subsidies giving workers more choice. Many use the time to work on startup business or child care for grandchildren. The jobs freed up and the hours could be taken up by other workers looking for jobs. Gains in childcare would be another result.
Linked Articles
Health Law To Cut Into Labor Force
Wall Street Journal 02/05/2014
They quit their jobs, thanks to the health law - The Washington PostWashington Post 02/09/2014
Change and South Africa- The African National Congress in 1944 and the African National Congress in 2013
12/05/2013
The changing mood of young people in South Africa as the ANC fails to live up to its ideals.
Linked Articles
New York Times 12/05/2013
In Mandela's Home, Grief and GlorificationWall Street Journal 12/06/2013
Declan Walsh on why the firing of live ammunition on protesters in Cairo may end up as a watershed event for the Muslim world going forward
08/16/2013
Declan Walsh sees this in the context of the Muslim world. Janvoo sees this in the context of the world beyond, of Aisa and Latin America which have moved beyond the divisive politics of the past and away from military regimes- S. Korea, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and one party PRI Mexico. The return of Gen. Park's daughter as president of S. Korea was a different one when she apologized for the behaviour of her father, even saying she coud not spit on the image of her father. Nieto's PRI is apologetic about its past and says its different, working with the opposition PRD and PAN parties on constitutional changes for reforming the econoy. Egypt and the Arab world is no exception. The Saudis and Emirates are able to deliver in economic terms as long as oil supplies and prices are high. Egypt has to find its own path and learn from the past to build the future.
Linked Articles
Other Nations Offer a Lesson to Egyptâs Military Leaders
New York Times 08/24/2013
Democracy in Egypt Can WaitNew York Times 08/16/2013
Governor Jerry Brown of California and former U.S. Fed chairman Volcker- reviving the great tradition of public service in the U.S.
05/29/2013
The public interest is critical for a nation to advance and create improvement. A vigorous tradition of public service is essential for the public interest to be preserved. It also commands the highest respect with its common sense approach setting aside ideologies, with its integrity, character and humility.
Linked Articles
Jerry Brown is spending more on ballot measures than on his own campaign - The Washington Post
Washington Post 10/24/2014
Volcker Plans to Restore Faith in GovernmentNew York Times 05/29/2013
Greece and living up to euro currency responsibilities- efforts under Papadopoulos 2002, Giannitsis 2001, Manos 1998 and Tsipras's commitment in 2015 15
01/28/2013
Can Greece live up to its euro currency responsibilities, is the question raised inside the eurozone, as Greece renews its commitment to reforms to build a modern economy. A look back at politicians who emphasized euro currency responsibilities and the candid remarks by Tsipras in an intervew with Bret Stephens of the WSJ.
Linked Articles
The Politicians Who Warned Greece—but Were Ignored
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2015
Stephens: The Conscience of a RadicalWall Street Journal 01/28/2013
U.S. Fed chairman Bernanke's activist interest rate policies to tackle high unemployment and central bankers from MIT
12/12/2012
A pragmatic activist focus in economic thinking shaped at the MIT economics department in Cambridge, Masachusetts. The ECB's Mario Draghi, Bank of England's Mervyn King, and Bernanke shaped their thinking at MIT. Draghi and Bernanke had the same PhD. advisor- Stanley Fischer. Factors calling for a pragmatic approach include the lack of political agreement on th deficit, the housing and foreclosure crisis effects, higher inequality and unemployment effects on the middle class, the effects of the globalized economy on working class manufacturing jobs, people dropping out of the labor foce, and lower inflation, which called for a larger focus on unemployment. Bernanke emphasized the "enormous waste in human potential and productive resources of the economy" throughout 2009-2012. Draghi emphasized the abnormal nature of excessive borrowing interest rates for Italy and Spain during the ECB's bond buying efforts in 2011-2012. Both efforts had a stabilizing effect on the economies of the U.S. and Europe during a period of political discord about future policy.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 12/13/2012
MIT Forged Activist Views of Central Bank Role and Cinched Central Bankers' TiesWall Street Journal 12/12/2012
Obama advisor, Christina Romer, and support for Simpson-Bowles recommendations on limiting deductions
11/10/2012
The Feldstein, Romney proposals based on the ideas of the Simpson Bowles Commission of limiting tax deductions finds convergence with Obama economic advisor, Christina Romer's support for Simpson Bowles recommendations after the 2012 presidential elections.
Linked Articles
Democrats Like a Romney Idea to Cap Tax Deductions
New York Times 11/12/2012
Budget Showdown Offers an Opportunity for ProgressNew York Times 11/10/2012
The weakness in Ford Motor Company's improved results and recovery in 2011-2013
10/30/2012
Ford Europe is one cause for concern. Another problem is the lower market share in light vehicle sales in 2012 and the deteriorating quality and reliability ratings for cars.
Linked Articles
Ford Results Show Power of U.S. Operations
Wall Street Journal 10/30/2012
Ford's Purring, but Its Cars Aren'tWall Street Journal 10/31/2012
Large losses of investors as the Swiss National Bank removes its cap on the Franc in Jan. 2015- from brokerage firm FXCM to retail investors
01/19/2015
Linked Articles
Swiss Franc Bets Turned on a Dime
Wall Street Journal 01/19/2015
Surge of Swiss Franc Triggers Hundreds of Millions in LossesWall Street Journal 01/19/2015
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
The failure of Maliki to reduce sectarianism in Iraq, and the failure of the Obama administration's Middle East policy, lead to reversal of years of effort in Iraq
08/15/2014
WSJ reporter Bradley talks to Maliki's aides who say he is only interested in personal power not the future of Iraq. Gen. James Jones, National Security Advisor to U.S. president Obama 2009-2010, says Maliki's corrupt policies and using increased sectarian conflict to further personal power, and president Obama's failure to act in Syria when chemical weapons were used as well as not maintaining a training presence after the withdrawal, are both responsible for the summer 2014 collapse in Iraq.
Linked Articles
How to Save Iraq and Honor American Sacrifice
Wall Street Journal 08/15/2014
Iraq Crisis: Nouri al-Maliki QuitsWall Street Journal 08/15/2014
China, the U.S. and Japan- the task of reestablishing peaceful cooperation in the Pacific region after the missteps of 2011-2013
07/09/2014
Meetings for the sixth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Bieijing between the U.S. and China, and Japanese prime minister's address to the Australian parliament in Canberra, at about the same time in July 2014, showing how the path of peaceful cooperation will have to be actively pursued to remain a reality. Underpinning the hopes of China, Japan and neighboring countries in Asia is the U.S. will and purpose for maininting the post war peace and stability for the benefit of all, that at times has been missing in the words and actions of the Obama administration. Lack of peace in the region would seriously affect China's effort to bring better incomes to the large majority of people still in the countryside and leave China stuck in middle income status of countries like Mexico, damage the prospects of improving incomes of billions of people in India, other parts of Asia and Latin America. In this sense the Japanese people have shown the wisdom of keeping the conditions of peace that have prevailed for the post war period, and the U.S. with undiminished will and purpose in its post war role can affirm the hopes of the people of the region, including the hope of people in China, India, Japan, S. Korea, and Latin America.
Linked Articles
U.S., China try to emphasize potential for cooperation - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/09/2014
Abe's Constitutional Reform Push SlowsWall Street Journal 07/09/2014
Hope and reality in India and Nigeria- The Singh administration in India 2010-2014, and the Jonathan administration in Nigeria 2011-2015
02/21/2014
Are too many young people in the most populous countries of Africa and Asia seeing their hopes dashed and their dreams vanish with the mismanagement of the resources of the country and of the economy? Is the demographic dividend in these countries about to be wasted? Is the goodwill of foreign investors in Europe and the U.S. eager to bring the latest technologies to these countries, as they did in China, about to be wasted by sheer mismanagement and misallocation of resources? These questions are on the minds of young people in Nigeria and India as they rest their hopes on the Buhari and Modi administrations.
Linked Articles
Nigerian Central Bank Governor Ousted
Wall Street Journal 02/21/2014
India Allocated Coal Fields to Private Companies Illegally, Top Court RulesNew York Times 08/25/2014
South Africa's Mandela's willingness to challenge established bias, restraint and generosity of spirit
12/09/2013
Ross Sorkin gives the example of Mandela changing his thinking on nationalization when confronted with the facts and Friedman points out Mandela's vision in giving whites a sense of pride in the new South Africa. Friedman goes further to compare this with the effort to get just enough votes to win elections, zip code by zip code using computer generated data on demographics and other parameters, that he sees in the U.S..
Linked Articles
How Mandela Shifted Views on Freedom of Markets
New York Times 12/09/2013
Why Mandela Was UniqueNew York Times 12/10/2013
Overhaul of the U.S. National Security Agency including the bulk collection of Americans phone records
11/25/2013
Linked Articles
Shaken NSA Grapples With an Overhaul
Wall Street Journal 11/25/2013
End the N.S.A. Dragnet, NowNew York Times 11/25/2013
Insights into the thinking of Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke for a strong labor market before increasing interest rates
07/18/2013
Yellen is expected to look beyond the unemployment rate target of 6.5% set by Bernanke in Dec. 2012, and give emphasis to the long term unemployed. Bernanke also mention the under employment rate as an additional factor to consider.
Linked Articles
Don’t Expect Job Data Alone to Persuade Fed on Rates
New York Times 01/23/2014
Bernanke Plays Down Link Between Jobless Rate, Fed MovesWall Street Journal 07/18/2013
Mark Hulbert of Financial Digest and the importance of stocks with financial quality after the emerging markets crisis of 2014
03/01/2013
Linked Articles
Ten Stocks to Own During a Market Correction
Wall Street Journal 02/08/2014
Stocks for Thick and ThinWall Street Journal 03/01/2013
The Swiss central bank's effort to keep Swiss Franc at 1.20 to the dollar and Japan's Abe government's push for the yen at 90 to the dollar
12/25/2012
A determined effort by the Swiss National Bank to preserve export competitiveness as eurozone economies contract in 2013, by printing francs and buying up euros and foreign assets. The effort is designed to counteract declining wages and prices in Switzerland. The newly elected Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe supports aggressive action by Japan's central bank to keep the yen between 85 yen and 90 yen to the U.S. dollar.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 12/25/2012
Button-Down Central Bank Bets It AllWall Street Journal 01/09/2013
New leadership and old faces, Jiang Zemin, Xi Jinping, and the uncertain outlook for change in China
11/15/2012
Jiang Zemin, 86 years and former president, who set China on the three decade push for modernization, put his imprint on the seven member Politburo Standing Committee that runs China. Jinping and five other members of the Politburo are close allies of Jiang Zemin. Zemin was Mayor of Shanghai, China's business capital during the Koumintang pre war regime and now in the post war period. He made some of the reforms that led to China's entry into the World Trade Organization and its subsequent rise as a major trading nation. His support for Jinping gives the new president room for making political and economic changes that are needed in this period. The older members of the Politburo, most in the mid-60's, placed on the Politburo by Zemin are likely to be cautious and the outlook for change is uncertain.
Linked Articles
Xi Jinping Offers Few Hints of a Shift in Direction in China
New York Times 11/15/2012
Ex-Leader Wins in Beijing Power PlayWall Street Journal 11/16/2012
The high turnout of evangelical Christians and Catholics as a factor in the 2012 U.S. presidential election
10/31/2012
The voter turnout among evangelical Chrisitians could be a factor in the 2012 U.S. presidential election similiar to that in 2004. Both Romney and George W. Bush gaining this vote.
Linked Articles
Henninger: Romney's Secret Voting Bloc
Wall Street Journal 10/31/2012
Rove: Sifting the Numbers for a WinnerWall Street Journal 10/31/2012
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