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Span's Cajas Savings bank, problems with managment and culture, lack of financial controls, and the large losses from the real estate bubble
05/24/2012
Bankia was the new name for seven troubled cajas savings banks that were merged. The failure of the government's handling of the bad real estate debt, the collapse of the IPO price for bankia's IPO, and the insovency followed by takeover of Bankia by the government, is what led to the $125 recapitalization request by Spain to the EU. The cajas in Galicia give an insight into the operation of these savings banks, in many cases run by leaders who became influential in the political system and expanded healvily int real estate during the bubble years. Management remained in place for decades with authoritarian leaders and there were no financial controls.
Linked Articles
Clash of Cultures Upends Spain's Cajas
New York Times 08/20/2012
Spain to Recapitalize Bankia in Latest BailoutWall Street Journal 05/24/2012
Reviving American Manufacturing- America and Toolbox Values
05/17/2012
Linked Articles
What Happened to the Craftsmanship Spirit? A Essay
New York Times 07/21/2012
Rich Karlgaard: The Future Is More Than FacebookWall Street Journal 05/17/2012
Increasing U.S. dependence on Saudi Arabian oil supplies after sanctions on Iran
04/13/2012
U.S oil imports from Saudi Arabia in the first half 2012 compared to 2011 increased by 20%.
Linked Articles
U.S. Reliance on Saudi Oil Is Growing Again
New York Times 08/16/2012
Pressure on Oil Supply EasesWall Street Journal 04/13/2012
Deutsche Bank's hit to its image in Germany with legal settlements and ongoing investigations 2009-2013
03/21/2012
The criminal investigation into alleged tax fraud in trading of carbon emissions certificates, the raid at Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt headquarters in Dec. 2012, and arrest of some senior executives, continues problems with the bank's image in Germany since the 2008 financial crisis. Deutsche Bank's was highly leveraged during the 2008 financial crisis and is perceived as contributing to the crisis. Changing the culture at the bank is likely to take more than the introduction of the new co-CEO arrangement in mid 2012 with Anshu Jain and Jurgen Fitschen, say experts. Germany's judiciary was critical of Fitschen for not respecting the independence of the judiciary and understanding the separation of powers for a call he made protesting the raid in the investigation.
Linked Articles
Image Remake Suffers Hit at Deutsche Bank
Wall Street Journal 12/20/2012
Deutsche Bank Lists Litany of Legal RisksWall Street Journal 03/21/2012
Italy's labor laws and competitiveness- the views and actions of Mario Draghi and Elsa Fornero
02/24/2012
Draghi tells WSJ interviewers what economist Dornbusch once told him- the Europeans were so rich they did not have to work anymore. Draghi and Fornero emphasize the large culture change needed in Italy. Fornero says too often labor, business, and govenment tweaked the rules to benefit one special group, and Italy lost its sense of being a rule bound society.
Linked Articles
Italy Official Seeks Culture Shift in New Law
Wall Street Journal 06/27/2012
Europe's Banker Talks ToughWall Street Journal 02/24/2012
Changes to labor laws in Italy and Spain to increase competitiveness and accompanying culture change (1)
02/10/2012
The significant changes underway in labor laws that should increase productivity and competitiveness of Spain and Italy. The need for the culture change that goes with this.
Linked Articles
Italy Official Seeks Culture Shift in New Law
Wall Street Journal 06/27/2012
Spain Approves Changes to Labor PolicyNew York Times 02/10/2012
"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
A smaller Wall Street in New York as the culture shifts towards emphasis on technology and other fields.
12/27/2011
The culture at Goldman Sachs and on Wall Street and the growing feeling that a shift to growth in other fields is a healthy development for New York and the U.S.
Linked Articles
Public Rebuke of Culture at Goldman Sachs
New York Times 03/14/2012
Wall Street Meets RealityNew York Times 12/27/2011
Tax evasion in Italy and Greece and Germany's insistence on good governance and financial practices for a sound euro currency
11/25/2011
One estimate of tax evasion in Italy cited by Faiola in the Post is $340 billon a year. Greece has a similiar problem. This is one area in which the culture and practices of individual countries have to converge to acceptable norms to make a common currrency viable, something the founders of the euro currency did not take as seriously as needed and account for in a disciplined framework. The political enthusiasm for a union of European countries of EU founders led to ignoring the dangers of not having controls and convergence in place.
Linked Articles
New York Times 12/01/2011
Amid crisis, Italy confronts a culture of tax evasion - The Washington PostWashington Post 11/25/2011
A cultural shift in job choices on U.S. campuses away from investment banking and finance to technology and other fields
11/22/2011
Shift in choices by graduates during U.S. campus recrutiing by companies.
Linked Articles
Wall Street' Latest Campus Recruiting Crisis
New York Times 03/15/2012
A Blow to Pinstripe AspirationsNew York Times 11/22/2011
Free trade and its impact on counties and communities across the U.S.
09/27/2011
About one-third to two-thirds of the benefits from trade are erased by the cost of government payments in the form of unemployment insurance, food stamps and disability benefits for U.S. communities that fare worse from a surge in imports. This is one of the conclusions in a research study by professors Hanson and Autor of 722 clusters of counties in the U.S.
Linked Articles
Cities Adapt With Mixed Results
Wall Street Journal 09/27/2011
Tallying the Toll of U.S.-China TradeWall Street Journal 09/27/2011
Mercedes Benz targets younger buyers with smaller cars
09/14/2011
The average age of Mercedes Benz buyers is 53 years compared to 49 for BMW and Audi. Mercedes targets younger buyers with the B class compact.
Linked Articles
Benz on a Budget, Angling for Youngsters
New York Times 03/14/2014
Mercedes Renews Small-Car PushWall Street Journal 09/14/2011
Alan Meltzer and Thomas Hoenig's criticism of Federal Reserve Bank chairman Bernake's failure to look at long term consequences of low rates
08/11/2011
Hoenig points to the Fed's lowered rates in 2003 after the burst of the dot com bubble and higher unemployment of 6.5% in 2003 and Meltzer which led to the mortgage meltdown of 2008. Meltzer points to QE II's $600 billion monetary easing in 2010 which failed to revive the economy or reduce unemployment in 2011. They emphasize the Fed's lack of attention to the long term consequences of their actions. Both question the role of the Fed in creating jobs and see the role of the Fed as a neutral player, as deeper structural changes such as ashift to export driven economy, lower consumption take time and are only delayed by a continuation of old policies.
Linked Articles
Kansas City Fed President Defies Conventional Wisdom
New York Times 08/13/2011
The Folly of Economic Short-TermismWall Street Journal 08/11/2011
Alexei Kudrin and other experts see the potential for a deep economic and political crisis in Russia as the situation in the eurozone worsens
05/23/2012
The Center for Strategic Studies in Moscow was prescient in predicitng political dissatisfaction before parliamentary elections. The former finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, anticipated the 2008 global financial crisis and set aside reserves in the sovereign wealth fund to cope with the crisis. Both now see the potential for a worsening economic and political situation in Russia as Greece nears exit from the eurozone and the banking crisis in Europe leads to reduced loans to Russia. At the same time the political polarization in Russia between pro and anti Putin factions creates other tensions.
Linked Articles
Report Says Support for Putin Is Dropping
Wall Street Journal 05/23/2012
Russian Recession Could Prompt Political Woes, Report SaysNew York Times 05/24/2012
Hollande, Ayrault, and "the strong signal to Germany"
05/15/2012
French president Hollande's appointment of Ayrault, a professor of German studies as premier, is seen as "a strong signal to Germany." So is the appointment of a former minister of European Affairs, Muscovici, as finance minster. This sets the tone and groundwork for a closer fiscal and political union in Europe, to provide the foundation for the euro as a common currency in the eurozone. Germany and France now have two leaders whose mentors were strong proponents of European Union, former German chancellor Kohl and former European Commission president Jacques Delours.
Linked Articles
Logic Pushing Europe Toward Greater Integration
New York Times 06/07/2012
Ayrault Named French PremierWall Street Journal 05/15/2012
The Gallois Report and reviving France's competitiveness
04/12/2012
Linked Articles
Departing EADS Chief Urges Europe to Recommit to Industry
New York Times 04/12/2012
France Looks to Halt Industrial DeclineWall Street Journal 11/06/2012
The prospects of oil price increases in second half 2012 with an Iranian cutoff and diminishing Saudi reserve supplies
03/18/2012
Linked Articles
Fears of a 2008 Repeat for Oil
Wall Street Journal 03/18/2012
The End of the Saudi Oil Reserve MarginWall Street Journal 04/03/2012
Egypt, the IMF, and efforts to revive the economy
02/17/2012
Efforts to revive the economy with aid from the IMF. IMF head, Christine Lagarde, will visit Cairo in August 2012 for discussions with the Morsi government.
Linked Articles
Egypt, IMF Chief to Discuss Loan
Wall Street Journal 08/16/2012
Muslim Brotherhood Looks West in Bid to Revive Egyptian EconomyWall Street Journal 02/17/2012
Increasing competitiveness and culture change in Italy and Spain (2)
02/08/2012
Linked Articles
Spain Plans to Burn Its Bridges to Keep Vacationers on the Job
Wall Street Journal 02/08/2012
Italy Official Seeks Culture Shift in New LawWall Street Journal 06/27/2012
Kodak's slow struggle to reinvent itself since 2000, and the succesful effort at reinventing itself of Fuji Films in Japan
01/20/2012
Kodak Labs scientists continue to look for new applications for its patents and technologies at Eastman Kodak Park in Rochester, New York. A more successful effort at reviving the company in the face of technological obsolescence was made by its rival Fuji Films in Japan since 2000.
Linked Articles
At Kodak, Clinging to a Future Beyond Film
New York Times 03/20/2015
Fujifilm Thrived by Changing FocusWall Street Journal 01/20/2012
Reviving the U.S. economy with reduced uncertainty and private investment (2)
12/10/2011
Linked Articles
George Shultz: Memo to Romney — Expand the Pie
Wall Street Journal 07/14/2012
The Next First (and Only) 100 DaysNew York Times 12/10/2011
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
Sony Xperia Ion 4G smartphones and reviving Sony's smartphone sales after the separation from Ericsson
10/07/2011
Linked Articles
Sony Rolls Out Its Xperia Ion Smartphone
New York Times 06/24/2012
Sony's Brave Call on HandsetsWall Street Journal 10/07/2011
Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany- (2) in 2011 with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the monastery where Luther studied, and in 2015 with arrival of Syrian refugees
09/24/2011
Linked Articles
Empathy and Angst in a German City Transformed by Refugees
New York Times 09/11/2015
Pope Visits Venerated Lutheran MonasteryNew York Times 09/24/2011
Reviving the U.S. economy with reduced uncertainty and private investment (1)
09/06/2011
Linked Articles
New York Times 09/06/2011
Stimulus and the Depression: The Untold StoryWall Street Journal 09/26/2011
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