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Deep differences in 2015 between Alexis Tsipras of Syriza and the Merkel government in Germany on debt forgiveness and the bailouts for Greece
01/26/2015
The deep differences between Greeks and Merkel operate at two levels. On the level of austerity policies Greece shares the view with other EU countries, the governments of Hollande in France and Renzi in Italy that austerity is not the best course for the eurozone. This view is also shared by people in Spain facing unemployment exceeding 20%, though the government of Rajoy in Spain like that of Samaras in Greece lived with the austerity policies with some changes. At this level there is also support from within Merkel's coalition government from Social Democrats. The other level of deep differences is on debt forgiveness and bailouts where Greece has to find its own way out in negotiations hoping that the EU and the IMF will agree to make concessions based on action taken by Syriza to ensure prudence in fianncial management. On issues such as minimum wage one would expect Syriza to be firm and make concessions where the hardship does not fall on the poorer and working class, winning support from the Social Democrats in Merkel's coalition. Beyond the symbolic moves and posturing the actual negotiations are likely to take into account the eurozone's need for help on the fiscal side desired by the ECB's Draghi to support monetary easing to fight deflation, and the need to keep the eurozone intact at a sensitive time. Syriza for its part is aware that a majority of Greeks favor staying in the eurozone.
Linked Articles
Greece’s new prime minister wants Germany to pay for Nazi war crimes - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/26/2015
A young, impatient leftist is Greece’s defiant new face - The Washington PostWashington Post 01/27/2015
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
The fragility of China's financial system in 2014-2015 as cited by Standard & Poors and the IMF
10/17/2014
With total debt to GDP of 250%, (and 100% of this since 2008), according to the Economist, the risks to China's financial system continue to grow.
Linked Articles
Economist 10/17/2014
Chinese debt: The great hole of ChinaEconomist 10/17/2014
A shift in opinion towards vigorous discussion about austerity for the first time since 2010 when the eurozone crisis began- Valls, Gabriel, Asmussen, Renzi, Draghi, Lagarde join the debate
10/09/2014
Linked Articles
Germany, France Tap Economists for Advice to Avoid ‘Lost Decade’
Wall Street Journal 10/14/2014
Merkel Hints at Economic Policy Shift in GermanyNew York Times 10/09/2014
Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide and the Justice Department's investigation of Countrywide in 2014
08/22/2014
Nocera and Morgenson of the NYT on the Justice Department's delayed 2014 investigation of Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide which was at the center of the 2008 mortgage financial crisis in the U.S.
Linked Articles
An Unfinished Chapter at Countrywide
New York Times 08/23/2014
Lessons Not LearnedNew York Times 08/22/2014
Euribor close to zero and relief for suffering homeowners with mortgages in Spain, Portugal and other eurozone countries
05/28/2014
Most mortgages in Spain and Portugal are based on the Euribor rate. The ECB's monetary policy under Draghi has led to the decline of the Euribor rate to near zero in 2015, giving homeowners in extremely high unemployment countries such as Spain and Portugal much needed relief. Homeowners in Italy, with stagnant incomes and high unemployment, and other eurozone countries also get relief.
Linked Articles
Tumbling Interest Rates in Europe Leaves Some Banks Owing Money on Loans to Borrowers
Wall Street Journal 04/14/2015
Spain Still Suffering Fallout From Housing BustWall Street Journal 05/28/2014
Questions about whether justice and accountability were accomplished in the U.S. Justice Department's settlement with Credit Suisse
05/19/2014
A WSJ editorial and a separate piece in the NYT question the assumption that justice and accountability were achieved in the U.S. government's settlement with Credit Suisse. The nagging question- is Attorney General Holder simply burnishing his image after failing to establish accountability and justice following the 2008 global financial crisis, which dealt a serious blow to America's middle class. Collective wrongdoing starts with individual actions, and holding individuals responsible establishes accountability, so that the public is protected from future actions of this nature. Somewhere since the crisis this principle has been lost in the Obama administration. A churn in management for failures is considered healthy for other American companies, and healthy for free enterprise, readers are likely to wonder why this is not so for the banks.
Linked Articles
Credit Suisse Pleads Guilty in Felony Case
New York Times 05/19/2014
Holder Convicts SwitzerlandWall Street Journal 05/21/2014
BaFin, German federal financial regulatory authority, and the problems at Deutsche Bank- regulators slow to act on information
03/28/2014
Eyk Henning of the WSJ points out the slow response of regulator BaFin to information about problems at Deutsche Bank that suggest a broken culture in a report on March 28, 2014. This comes 6 years after the WSJ first reported the LIBOR rate manipulation in 2008 leading to British and U.S. regulatory investigations. In April 2015 Deutsche Bank made a legal settlement for LIBOR rate manipulation of $2.5 billion with U.S. and British regulators. As the time when regulatory authority passes to the European Central Bank, and after a period of 7 years since the 2008 WSJ report, BaFin finally sends its report on the broken culture at the bank. A month later the two co-CEO's at the bank resign.
Linked Articles
Germany Blasts Deutsche Bank Executives Over Culture
Wall Street Journal 07/17/2015
German Financial Watchdog Bites BackWall Street Journal 03/28/2014
Christine Lagarde and John Lipsky on the need to move forward with the IMF reforms giving greater representation to emerging market countries in G-20
03/25/2014
Lagarde and Lipsky point out that this does not change the U.S. voting rights of 16%. They emphasize the stabilizing role the IMF has played for the global economy in crises and the more open thinking at the IMF on economic programs.
Linked Articles
The U.S. Should Ratify Its Agreement to IMF Reform
Wall Street Journal 04/02/2014
Congress Can Help the U.S. By Reforming The IMFWall Street Journal 03/25/2014
The role of Germany's Siemens and U.S.'s Exxon in promoting dialogue and de-escalation following the Ukraine crisis
03/06/2014
Linked Articles
Siemens Chief Meets Putin in Russia
Wall Street Journal 03/27/2014
Exxon Says Russian Projects Remain on TrackWall Street Journal 03/06/2014
Bolivia and the Pope Francis visit- showing a way for the "grassroots" empowerment idea, prudent financial management, increasing growth rate and attracting investors
02/16/2014
Linked Articles
In Fiery Speeches, Francis Excoriates Global Capitalism
New York Times 07/11/2015
Turnabout in Bolivia as Economy Rises From InstabilityNew York Times 02/16/2014
Emerging Markets 2014 financial crisis (1) - Argentina, Turkey and Thailand, shown to have failed to learn the lessons of the 1997 financial crisis
01/30/2014
Linked Articles
Emerging-Market Slide Tests How Much Nations Learned From Past
Wall Street Journal 01/30/2014
Emerging markets: Don’t panicEconomist 02/04/2014
Slowing growth in Russia- the impact of the emerging markets crisis and the Ukraine crisis
08/11/2013
Growth slows to 1-2% in Russia in 2013, with the risks of the emerging markets crisis and the Ukraine political crisis hurting foreign investor confidence in Russia.
Linked Articles
Russia's Power Play Hits Economic Weak Spot
Wall Street Journal 03/04/2014
Russia's Growth Pace Continues to WeakenWall Street Journal 08/11/2013
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 struggle to rebuild Liberia's health system so that it can handle another epidemic after the Ebola Virus crisis
10/30/2014
Alongside the report by Helene Cooper from Liberia, Betsy McKay's report provides an exceptional view of the health system and people coping with the Ebola virus in the region.
Linked Articles
West Africa Struggles to Rebuild Its Ravaged Health-Care System
Wall Street Journal 06/05/2015
Liberia’s Ebola Crisis Puts President in Harsh LightNew York Times 10/30/2014
Africa's tragedy (1) - Liberia's Sirleaf in the Ebola Crisis
10/16/2014
Exceptional reporting by NYT's Helene Cooper and Heidi Vogt giving readers a feel for life on the ground in Liberia.
Linked Articles
Liberia’s Ebola Crisis Puts President in Harsh Light
New York Times 10/30/2014
In Liberia, U.S. Soldiers Race EbolaWall Street Journal 10/16/2014
Much needed boost from lower oil prices for eurozone countries Germany, France, Italy and Spain
10/09/2014
For countries like Germany in the eurozone with what Draghi calls "fiscal space" but did not use it, the drop in oil prices from $100 to $65 in 2014 offers relief at the right time to get back to growth in 2015.
Linked Articles
Falling Oil Prices Spur New Bets on Global Economic Growth
Wall Street Journal 12/08/2014
Merkel Hints at Economic Policy Shift in GermanyNew York Times 10/09/2014
Obama's second term- (5) the U.S. president's foreign policy failures in Syria and Iraq seen up close by Clinton and Panetta
08/11/2014
A Defense Secretary and Secretary of State in the Obama administration describe up close president Obama's failure to act at key moments in the crisis in Iraq and Syria. This has badly damaged the U.S. credibility and what it stands for in the Middle East and the rest of the world.
Linked Articles
A Rift in Worldviews Is Exposed as Clinton Faults Obama on Policy
New York Times 08/11/2014
Former Defense Chief Panetta Criticizes Obama in New MemoirWall Street Journal 10/07/2014
More women without jobs in 2014 compared to 2010, and the 20% of U.S. households in 2014 either underwater or with less than 20% equity in their homes
05/19/2014
Most parts of the Democratic base badly damaged in the Obama administration's policy decisions in the housing and mortgage crisis of 2008-2009. A delayed economic recovery with weakness in consumer spending as one of the predictable outcomes of the policy decisions taken for homeowners.
Linked Articles
Economic Recovery Yields Few Benefits for the Voters Democrats Rely On
New York Times 05/19/2014
Mortgage, Home-Equity Woes LingerWall Street Journal 05/20/2014
The deteriorating situation for the U.S. long term unemployed and workers seeking fulltime but stuck in part time low paying jobs
04/04/2014
By March 2014 about 6 years after the 2008 financial crisis 7.4 million workers could not find full time work.
Linked Articles
It's Still Bad for the Long Term Unemployed
New York Times 04/04/2014
The Decline of WorkWall Street Journal 04/05/2014
Ukraine's economic crisis during the conflict with Russia- 2014-2016
03/28/2014
Linked Articles
IMF Reaches Deal to Provide up to $18 Billion to Ukraine
Wall Street Journal 03/28/2014
Ukraine’s Hryvnia Plunges After Rate RiseWall Street Journal 02/07/2015
Ukraine's crisis of poor governance- the new role of civic activists and young people in 2016
03/22/2014
Linked Articles
Economist 04/19/2016
EU Faces Difficult Choices Over UkraineWall Street Journal 03/22/2014
GE (General Electric) low tax rate of 4.2% in 2013, 10.3% in 2014, and the move to a normal tax rate in 2015
03/05/2014
An aggressive policy of tax reduction using GE Capital at GE leads to an astonishingly low tax rate. Shareholders see the uncertainty from GE Capital's volatile earnings and tax strategies with great skepticism. GE shares dropped to $6 during the 2008 global financial crisis because of GE Capital losses, and GE needed government rescue funds. The day CEO Immelt announced the decision to exit the banking business GE shares went up by 11%. GE's tax rate without the banking business will go up to about 20%.
Linked Articles
Price of Selling GE Capital? Tax Breaks
Wall Street Journal 04/14/2015
How corporate America is losing the debate on taxesWashington Post 03/05/2014
Pressure on U.S. for bond buying cutbacks from India and Brazil at G-20 in Sydney, Australia, and U.S. finance officials Sheets and Sobel
02/14/2014
Sheets at Treasury and Sobel at IMF are U.S. finance officials faced with the task of addressing concerns of India and Brazil on cutbacks in bond buying, lack of progress on IMF changes.
Linked Articles
U.S. to Face G-20 Pressure Over Bond-Buying Cutbacks
Wall Street Journal 02/21/2014
Obama Moves to Fill International Economics PostsWall Street Journal 02/14/2014
An assessment of Germany's Angela Merkel's 10 years in office (2)- from the eurozone crisis to Ukraine and the refugee crisis
08/23/2013
Linked Articles
Germans Respond to Merkel's 'Motherly' Side
Wall Street Journal 08/23/2013
The refugee crisis could actually be a boon for Germany - The Washington PostWashington Post 09/10/2015
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