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The U.S. Federal Reserve's March 2012 U.S. bank stress tests and the questions about overoptimistic assumptions
03/14/2012
Experts question the the overoptimistic assumptions for losses on home equity lines of credit, second lien mortgages and legal settlements. The capital ratios for the banks shown under the stress tests of 3-4% indicate high levels of leveraging, one of the principal causes for the banking crisis of 2008-2009.
Linked Articles
Stressing the Bank 'Stress Tests'
Wall Street Journal 03/14/2012
Questions as Banks Increase DividendsNew York Times 03/14/2012
Unemployment at 14.6%, with 60% long term unemployed, and a worsening of the economic crisis in Ireland in 2012
03/01/2012
The situation in Ireland is worse now than it was in 2010 after the burst of the housing bubble and the failure of its banking system.
Linked Articles
A Bedraggled 'Celtic Tiger' Struggles to Retrain Workers
Wall Street Journal 04/20/2012
Ireland becomes a test for E.U. crisis remedy - The Washington PostWashington Post 03/01/2012
Greece and EU in 2015- (4) How are the structural issues such as tax evasion in Greece being tackled, after Monti's effort to tackle this in Italy in 2012?
02/18/2012
Surprisingly the Syriza government in 6 months in office did not come up with a plan to implement for tax evasion. This was a major issue for the IMF and in Greece's interest, even though it was going contrary to long standing practice in Greece as it was in Italy. Estimates of lost revenue are about $11 billion each year for tax evasion. By comparison the IMF payment due was less than $2 billion on June 30, 2015. Sustainable long term finances make this a major issue in Greece's own interest. Greece has an aging population and the number of retirees are growing in relation to young working people making this an important issue for stable finances under any administration, and regardless of the euro.
Linked Articles
How Greek tax evasion sunk the global economy
Washington Post 07/10/2012
A Hollow Target for Greek DebtWall Street Journal 02/18/2012
U.S. automaker GM's efforts to reduce risk levels from pension obligations in 2012-2013
02/16/2012
WIth lower margins than competitors General Motors (GM) is increasing the margin of safety by reducing risk levels from its underfunded pension plan.
Linked Articles
GM Acts to Pare Pension Liability
Wall Street Journal 06/02/2012
GM Cuts Benefits for Salaried StaffWall Street Journal 02/16/2012
Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and weak support from financially struggling white voters
01/13/2012
By a 26% margin financially strapped white voters affected by high unemployment favor Romney over Obama. This is wider than the 18% margin by which Obama, Kerry and Gore lost this group in prior elections. It will be crucial in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan which were hard hit by the economic downturn.
Linked Articles
Romney holds key advantages among financially struggling white voters - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/25/2012
White Blue-Collar Vote May Be Crucial in ElectionNew York Times 01/13/2012
The jobs crisis facing the U.S. as higher automation in manufacturing lowers job creation
12/10/2011
It is becoming harder to reduce unemployment with the larger use of automation and robotics in today's new plants creating fewer jobs than in the past.
Linked Articles
Man vs. Machine, a Jobless Recovery
Wall Street Journal 01/17/2012
The Next First (and Only) 100 DaysNew York Times 12/10/2011
Convergence of ideas on deficit reduction around Simpson-Bowles and limiting tax expenditures and deductions
11/17/2011
Limiting tax deductions, loopholes to say $35,000 for high income earners goes further than earlier proposals from Obama advisors to limit tax deductions to 28% in distributing the tax burden more equitably. Obama advisor, Christina Romer, and Romney advisor Feldstein, support limiting tax deductions in this way to help reduce the deficit, creating the basis for an agreement between Republicans and Democrats.
Linked Articles
Budget Showdown Offers an Opportunity for Progress
New York Times 11/10/2012
GOP supercommittee members’ tax plan gives party an identity crisis - The Washington PostWashington Post 11/17/2011
Reagan-Bush and Obama on immigrants- A Reality Check
09/29/2011
A Better Way. The question of who was more humane in their response is one for the public in a nation of immigrants. Bush and Reagan stood up for the state paying for illegal immigrant children getting schooling in the straightforward honest way to a difficult question in the primary debates years ago. There is no empty rhetoric when Bush says he does not want 6-8 year old children to live in fear and deprived of an education thinking they were living outside the law. And Reagan points out that rather than talk of putting up a fence lets work out our mutual problems with Mexico. The elder Bush goes further and stands up for immigrants in a way that the country has not seen for a long, long time. "They are good, strong people," he says, and "part of my family is Mexican."
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/29/2011
More Deportations Follow Minor Crimes, Records ShowNew York Times 04/06/2014
The cost of the electric battery in electric cars and building a viable electric car industry
07/02/2011
Major advances in battery technology and cost are needed for electric cars to take off. Gasoline needs to be higher than $4.50 a gallon in the U.S. for electric cars to be economically attractive. This includes a rebate of $7500 towards the higher cost of the electric cars. Battery cost is a major component of the extra cost.
Linked Articles
Ford CEO: Battery Is Third of Electric Car Cost
Wall Street Journal 04/18/2012
Long and Winding Road for Electric VehiclesWall Street Journal 07/02/2011
The Wall Street Journal calls the June 2011 E.U. plan for Greece "the French deception," and the Economist says it is doomed to failure
06/30/2011
Doubling the interest rate on loans owed by Greece to French and German banks is called "the French deception" by the Journal . The Economist sees the sharp spending cuts and tax increases having enough detrimental impact on economic growth to make the debt load larger than before.
Linked Articles
Greece and the euro: The abuses of austerity
Economist 07/02/2011
The French DeceptionWall Street Journal 06/30/2011
The lack of any meaningful help to prevent foreclosures for homeowners who are unemployed.
06/04/2011
The adverse effects on housing, on banks holding second mortgages, and on the economic recovery in the U.S., of the lack of a plan and little effort by the Obama administration to help the unemployed facing foreclosure. Most of the programs to prevent foreclosure were designed at the time of the bailouts for subprime lending situations. Prof. Davis at the University of Wisconsin call it outrageous that less than $2 billion of the $45 billion allocated to help homeowners at the time of the bailouts had been spent by Treaury Department as of May 2011.
Linked Articles
Unemployment Strains Foreclosure Aid
New York Times 06/04/2011
Second-Mortgage MiseryWall Street Journal 06/07/2011
The Elop memo in 2011 and the sale of Nokia's mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2013- the startling change of fortunes for Nokia
02/09/2011
Nokia was a pioneer in the development of mobile phones in an earlier era when fixed lines were the norm. It dominated the mobile phone business in the period before 2009 for 2 decades before the coming of smartphones. The change in Nokia's market came quickly and suddenly with the advent of the iPhone and Nokia was unprepared for this development. This is a classic case of obsolesence and disruptions caused by innovation and new technologies. Other companies from the previous era before cloud computing and the internet, H-P, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft, face the continuing challenge to adapt or lose to new competitors.
Linked Articles
Microsoft in $7 Billion Deal for Nokia Cellphone Business
Wall Street Journal 09/03/2013
Full Text: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop’s ‘Burning Platform’ MemoWall Street Journal 02/09/2011
Fitting a long term trend line to the Case-Shiller Index Peter Schiff says the index should be at 126. It was 159 in Oct 2010.
12/30/2010
Linked Articles
The Sickness Beneath the Slump - Economic View
New York Times 06/11/2011
Home Prices Are Still Too HighWall Street Journal 12/30/2010
The dire need for a free trade agreement between India and Pakistan
03/01/2012
Trade between India and Pakistan was only $2.7 billion. This is smaller than India's trade with Sri Lanka. Michael Boskin, who was instrumental in setting up the North American Free Trade Agreement says trade models suggest that this should be around $50 billion, or 20 times larger, and would bring benefits in wages and economic conditions in the two countries.
Linked Articles
A Passage to India-Pakistan Peace
Wall Street Journal 04/16/2012
Pakistan to Ease India Trade LimitsWall Street Journal 03/01/2012
Ford to double its manufacturing capacity in Chongqing, China by 2014, making it the largest outside of Michigan
02/27/2012
Ford plans to invest $600 million to more than double manufacturing capacity in Chongqing to 770,000 by 2014. This comes at a time of major slowdown in the market in China after years of hyper growth. Ford lags behing GM and VW in China and missed some of the spurt in growth.
Linked Articles
Ford Plans to Boost Production in China
Wall Street Journal 04/06/2012
Ford Faces China HurdlesWall Street Journal 02/27/2012
GM, Ford and Chrysler efforts to improve profit margins in 2011-2013
02/16/2012
Detroit automakers profit margins lag behind Hyundai and VW which have 9% margins. The lower margins leaves Detroit automakers more exposed to risks from swings in the market. Detroit automakers are showing improved discipline in reducing inventory overhang and keeping supply in closee relation to demand. Still Ford's small car inventory is much higher than normal and Ford needs to reduce production to balance supply and demand at its higher prices.
Linked Articles
Detroit's Welcome Sticker Shock
Wall Street Journal 05/04/2012
GM Cuts Benefits for Salaried StaffWall Street Journal 02/16/2012
"Hiroshima" 1945 and the Siege of Leningrad 1941-1942 - What a post war Russian, American and Japanese generation could understand and what is lacking in the Middle East
01/27/2012
Noonan asks the question about what a post war generation of Americans, Russians and Japanese could understand about the horrors of nuclear war and of the Second World War, and how this is lacking in the Middle East as each nation strives for nuclear weapons from Iran to Saudi Arabia. Separately in another link Kaname Harada asks a different question- has a new generation in Japan born after 1945, both leaders and the public, forgotten about that period including "Hiroshima."
Linked Articles
Vladimir Putin Describes Loss of a Brother at Ceremony
New York Times 01/27/2012
Misplaying America’s Hand With IranWall Street Journal 04/04/2015
Honda's struggle to recover after the tsunami in Japan with lower margins
12/21/2011
Honda is seeing lower margins as it struggles to recover in the U.S. and other markets. Honda had to use more incentives than Toyota in the U.S. market leading to deteriorating profit margins in 2012. Sales of newer models failed to catch on making Honda dependent on the Civic and the Accord in the U.S. market. The appreciating yen added to the impact on margins with a further shift to manufacturing overseas planned as a response.
Linked Articles
Honda Pins Revival on U.S. Auto Sales
Wall Street Journal 06/01/2012
Honda Revs Up Outside JapanWall Street Journal 12/21/2011
The huge disparity betwen Mexican American high school dropout rates nationwide and in New York city, and the abysmal college enrolment rate
11/24/2011
Semple cites census data showing about 40% dropout rate for the Mexican American immigrant community in New York city, with no other minority community having more than a 20% dropout rate. The college enrollment rate for the Mexican American immigrant community is cited as ony 6% and cause for alarm considering the large Mexican American immigrant community in New York and and nationwide. This is much worse than the rate for the Mexican American community in the U.S. and for Hispanics in the U.S. as The recent Pew Hispanic Center study shows a 76% high school completion rate and a 46% college enrollment rate for U.S. Hispanics 18-24 years with a high school diploma for 2011.
Linked Articles
Mexicans in New York City Lag in Education
New York Times 11/24/2011
Hispanics' College Enrollment Surges, Report FindsNew York Times 08/20/2012
Imran Khan and the changing democratic process in Pakistan
10/30/2011
Linked Articles
Has Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif changed his stripes? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/10/2013
Ex-Cricket Star Leads Big Antigovernment Protest in PakistanNew York Times 10/30/2011
Italian banks better capitalized than Spanish banks in 2012
07/13/2011
Linked Articles
Spain to Recapitalize Bankia in Latest Bailout
Wall Street Journal 05/24/2012
Spanish Banks More Vulnerable Than Italy'sWall Street Journal 07/13/2011
The June 2011 European Union plan for Greece faces strong criticism for being unworkable
07/01/2011
This plans doubles the interest rate for Greece debt owed to French and German banks under a French banking proposal. Sharp spending cuts and tax increases face opposition inside Greece and their negative impact on economic growth may leave Greece with a much larger debt to GDP ratio in 2011 than in 2010.
Linked Articles
Greece and the euro: The abuses of austerity
Economist 07/02/2011
Move Buys Time for Greece, But Growing Debt LoomsWall Street Journal 07/01/2011
Lawrence Lindsey says the Fed has got itself boxed in with little choice but to keep interest rates low
06/15/2011
Federal Flow of Funds Report for 2011 by the U.S. Federal Reserve shows 61% of net Treasury issuance was purchased by the Fed. Lindsey points out that the Fed has itself boxed in to keep rates low for years because for the U.S. government to borrow at more normal rates of 5.7% rather than the 2.5% at which it borrows today, would mean an addition $800 billion in interest costs by 2021.
Linked Articles
Demand for U.S. Debt Is Not Limitless
Wall Street Journal 03/28/2012
Notable & QuotableWall Street Journal 06/15/2011
The Volcker Rule and the actions taken by the Independent Commission on Banking in Britain
04/07/2011
Britain has a much larger financial sector as aproportion of its economy than the U.S. For this reason the U.K.'s Independent Commission on banking takes a serious view of systemic risks- separating investment banking from deposit taking.
Linked Articles
Volcker to Push Back on Banks' Trading
Wall Street Journal 02/13/2012
British Bank Proposal Expected to Include Stiff RulesNew York Times 04/07/2011
GE (General Electric) and GE Capital- Breaking the link and returning to industrial business roots
01/26/2011
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
GE to Exit Retail Lending, Tightening Focus on Industrial BusinessesWall Street Journal 11/17/2013
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