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The safety failures that could have been prevented with stronger oversight and control for the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster
03/21/2011
The independent parliamentary panel in Japan concuded in its July 2012 Report that the nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant was "a profoundly man-made event." Here in its investigations after the accident the Wall Street Journal finds some of the safety flaws that could have been corrected but were not due to the compete lack of effectiveness of the safety agency and its failure to do its job. As a result licenses for forty year old nuclear reactor designs and installation designs were simply renewed without requiring changes or shutting down these reactors. It is these older designs that were also improperly installed that failed.
Linked Articles
Japan Plant Had Troubled History
Wall Street Journal 03/21/2011
Design Flaw Fueled Nuclear DisasterWall Street Journal 07/01/2011
Iran, N. Korea, and the dangers of nuclear weapons proliferation
03/07/2011
Linked Articles
New York Times 03/06/2012
Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear ProliferationWall Street Journal 03/07/2011
The maintenance failure for the safety valve and the switch controlling it in the BP explosion.
05/13/2010
A dead battery in asuper-critical switch and hydraulics leaks that made inoperative a crucial safety valve that was the last barrier between safety and an explosion in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico led to the accident on the BP oil rig.
Linked Articles
Safety Valves Had a Dead Battery, Investigators Find
Wall Street Journal 05/13/2010
BP's Hayward Says Company Could Have Done More Disaster PreparationWall Street Journal 05/13/2010
Why the Obama health care law gets an "F" grade from the Dean of Harvard Medical School
11/18/2009
The failure to replace the "fee-for-service" system in favor of capitated payments is cited as one of the main reasons. The other reasons are it does not resolve the issues of introducing competition in quality of care and cost, and continues the practices that disguise the true cost of care with a highly fragmented system of care. In a op-ed, Jeffrey Flier, Dean of the Harvard Medical School, gives a detailed account for the reason for his grading. A poorly drafted or incomplete law says Flier can make things worse, citing the example of the health care law in Massachusetts which is driving up costs, as it does not change the old dysfunctional system's key features such as "fee-for service," and instead tries to build a new system on broken foundations. Pearlstein in the Washington Post says the Obama health care law has addressed the "fee-for-service" problem, but this is really not the case, and Flier's reasoning may be the clue to the deeper problem for the Obama health care law.
Linked Articles
Steven Pearlstein: Eat your broccoli, Justice Scalia - The Washington Post
Washington Post 04/01/2012
Health 'Debate' Deserves a Failing GradeWall Street Journal 11/18/2009
Two scenes-one of Gates and the other of Sgt. Hyland- and the knot that ties them together.
05/15/2009
Scenes of a rainy night at an airforce base in Delaware, as Defense Sec. Gates prays in a 747 with draped coffins of dead soldiers. And the scene of a maimed soldier, Sgt Hyland, weeping in front of a picture of Specialist Jonathan at a battalion hall in Diyala province. near Baghdad. And the relevance to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Linked Articles
Wounded Soldiers Return to Iraq, Seeking Solace
New York Times 10/15/2009
Pentagon's Gates Keeps Single-Minded Focus on Dual Wars in Iraq and AfghanistanWashington Post 05/15/2009
Geithner's Paulsonlike plan for toxic assets and doubts whether it can work.
03/23/2009
Krugman and Eavis have doubts about the new Geithner plan as it looks so much like his predecessor Paulson's failed efforts to do much about toxic assets. Krugman sees things only getting worse as 600,000 jobs are being lost every month, as Geithner, Congress and the public fail to push for the tough solutions including government taking over failed banks to deal with tosic assets without having to sort out pricing in advance.
Linked Articles
Geithner's Gamble Needs Speculators
Wall Street Journal 03/23/2009
Financial Policy DespairNew York Times 03/23/2009
Gorbachev, Medvedev or Putin, and whats Russia's real thinking and priorities?
08/20/2008
Putin clearly has something personal that grates him about Sahkavili and this has been injected into already evident Russian sore feelings since the 1990's, so its hard to make out where Russia's real priorotoes lie with Europe or without. It still appears that after Georgia they are still firmly with economic integration with Europe.
Linked Articles
West Baffled by 2 Heads for Russian Government
New York Times 08/21/2008
Russia Never Wanted a WarNew York Times 08/20/2008
Diplomacy with Iran and changing perceptions.
12/11/2007
The reversal of intelligence estimate of Iran concluding tha Iran gave up developing nuclear weapons in 2003, how it now creates a huge shift to diplomatic negotiations and peaceful resolution of differences.
Linked Articles
New York Times 12/11/2007
In Iran Reversal, Bureaucrats Triumphed Over Cheney TeamWall Street Journal 01/14/2008
Handan Iron & Steel Works, Hebei Province, and ThyssenKrupp, Dortmund, Germany, a world away- bad decisions and environmental pollution in China
10/02/2006
Did China's government officials underestimate the cost of environmental pollution in bringing the old polluting plant from Dortmund, Germany? How much will a cleanup cost? In 2007? In 2015 or 2020? Were these costs figured in? Who got the better deal- Germany or China?
Linked Articles
Why Beijing Is Trying to Tally The Hidden Costs of Pollution As China's Economy Booms - WSJ.com
Wall Street Journal 10/02/2006
China Grabs West’s Smoke-Spewing FactoriesNew York Times 12/21/2007
Contrasting approaches of the U.S. and Germany after the nuclear plant disaster in Fukushima, Japan
03/20/2011
Linked Articles
Indian Point Evacuation Plan Is Unrealistic
New York Times 03/20/2011
Panel Urges Germany to Close Nuclear Plants by 2021New York Times 05/11/2011
Local governments and state-owned companies are fueling a real estate bubble in China in 2009-2010.
07/29/2010
Northwestern University Prof. Shih estimates that state banks in China hold $1.68 trillion in debt of local investment companies which invest for local governments. In many cases the banks have little collateral. The central government in China aggressively supported this lending to quickly get money to projects in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, but this may have backfired with money going into speculation and building a bubble.
Linked Articles
Chinaâs Real Estate Boom and Conflicting Policy
New York Times 08/01/2010
Where China Hides Its DebtBusinessWeek 07/29/2010
The inaction at GM 2009-2013 for the defective ignition switch recall and the inaction at Toyota for unintended acceleration recall
02/10/2010
GM's management lost track of quality issues that were buried at lower levels during the bankruptcy period. Toyota's management in the U.S. referred the NHTSA to quality managers in Japan who did not make the necessary effort to look into and address the problem. This shows that quality is not just a technical issue for the engineers and requires management atention at the highest levels, direct reporting to top managers. It also shows that quality problems never go away, will always be present, no matter how good you think you get. Small mistakes can be very costly as BP, TEPCO in the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Toyota, have shown in the recent past.
Linked Articles
General Motors Misled Grieving Families on a Lethal Flaw
New York Times 03/24/2014
Safety Agency Scrutinized as Toyota Recall GrowsNew York Times 02/10/2010
Iran, N. Korea and President Obama's approach to nuclear weapons proliferation
07/05/2009
The views of Nunn, Perry, Shultz and Kissinger after meetings at the Hoover Institution on developing a new approach to nuclear proliferation after decades of relying on "mutually assured destruction", and the approach of President Obama. During the Cold War the U.S. and the Soviet Union faced each other, the situation in 2012 is very different with Iran, N. Korea, Pakistan, and the risks of terrorism.
Linked Articles
Youthful Ideals Shaped Obama Goal of Nuclear Disarmament
New York Times 07/05/2009
Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear ProliferationWall Street Journal 03/07/2011
Paulson-Bernanke's "forced" acquisition of Merrill by Bank of America.
04/21/2009
Questions raised about the efforts by Paulson to prevent Lewis from backing out of the Merrill deal. The creation of even larger institutions through such combinations, and even weaker institutions.
Linked Articles
Economists Seek Breakup of Big Banks
Wall Street Journal 04/21/2009
Busting Bank of AmericaWall Street Journal 04/27/2009
Brazilian real and Mexican peso plunge October 6, 2008.
10/16/2008
The plunge in the Brazilian Real and the Mexican Peso and the unwinding of derivative contracts that worsened the situation.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 10/22/2008
Bad betsEconomist 10/16/2008
The decline of Motorola's mobile phone business.
01/24/2008
Nokia and Motorola how one followed up and came up with a viable strategy and the other just let things slip after the Razr a one time hit with no followup and no clear direction. Nokia set the direction and tone in the emerging markets and took the lead.
Linked Articles
Nokia Earnings Jump on Emerging Markets
Wall Street Journal 01/25/2008
Without a Hit Razr Sequel, Profit Drops for MotorolaNew York Times 01/24/2008
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11/20/2007
On the decline of the US dollar and how the countries of the Persian gulf are dealing with this issue.
Linked Articles
Economist 11/29/2007
Wealthy Nations In Gulf Rethink Peg to DollarWall Street Journal 11/20/2007
The Oil Price Shock of 2006 and the potential for oil price increases for 2012
04/29/2006
In 2006 as in 2012 the world faces tight supplies and a confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program.
Linked Articles
Fears of a 2008 Repeat for Oil
Wall Street Journal 03/18/2012
Trading Frenzy Adding to Rise in Price of OilNew York Times 04/29/2006
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