Russian president Putin and BP's 20% stake in Rosneft

10/18/2012

Putin sees the larger British ownership stake in Rosneft a offering more stability to the company. This also provides Russia with a reliable partner on other projects and access to new technology. Putin defended the deal for Rosneft to acquire TNK-BP because of the endless conflicts between the partners, which he says he warned against at the outset. He pointed to the 50-50 ownership arrangement in TNK-BP as inherently unstable leaving no one in control.

Linked Articles

Moscow Had 'Mixed Feelings' on TNK-BP Deal, Putin Says

Wall Street Journal 10/25/2012

Stephen Fidler, Stephen, Fidler

Wall Street Journal 10/18/2012

Gregory L. White, Gregory, L., White, Dana Cimilluca, Dana, Cimilluca, Alexis Flynn, Alexis, Flynn, Selina Williams, Selina, Williams

A search for the soul of China in the midst of industrial progress

09/09/2012

Linked Articles

Rebalancing a Divided China

Wall Street Journal 10/03/2012

Tom Orlik, Tom, Orlik

New York Times 09/09/2012

Gerard Lemos, Gerard, Lemos

How keeping seniors as a protected class in current Social Security proposals impacts the young and leads to shrinking investments in defense, social programs, research, education and infrastructure

08/16/2012

This includes the Republican Paul Ryan proposal which also stays away from touching Social Security for today's seniors and passes on the costs to the young. Democrats are using demagoguery and intimidation on this issue. Samuelson cites CBO estimates which show that even with shrinking defense and nondiscretionary spending by a third the U.S. deficit would still be 6.75% of GDP in 2023.

Linked Articles

Robert Samuelson: Ryan’s budget asks nothing of the elderly -; unfortunately - The Washington Post

Washington Post 08/16/2012

Robert Samuelson, Robert, Samuelson

Washington Post 08/16/2012

Editorial

David Walker, the new chairman of Barclays Bank in 2012- the man to set Britain's banking on the right path

08/09/2012

Linked Articles

A True Brit Is the Choice by Barclays

Wall Street Journal 08/10/2012

Dana Cimilluca, Dana, Cimilluca, David Enrich, David, Enrich

Wall Street Journal 08/09/2012

David Benoit, David, Benoit

Spain macroprudential supervision of its banking system once lauded now turns out to be "timid" and false, could the same be true for China?

07/18/2012

Spain's central bank had a reputation of providing good supervision for Spain's banking system. The problems at the Cajas Savings banks and the current assessment after the request for $125 billion in EU funds for Spain's banks shows how this turned out to be false. Does China face a similiar problem with its housing bubble. The U.S., UK and Spain, failed to control and manage the effects of a housing bubble, can China be a lone exception? Rapid growth enabled China to cope with bad loans in the banking system, with slower growth, a weak European market for exports, and a stimulus that is about one eighth the size in annual investment- one trillion yuan over 4 years in the current stimulus compared to 4 trillion over 2009-2010 in the last stimulus plan. Can China manage this bubble, does it have the experience managing this type of problem or has it papered over the problems as Spain did? This has repercussions for industries and countries from the export sector in Germany, Australia and Brazil to industries such as the German automobile industry, and companies such as Caterpillar.

Linked Articles

As China’s economy slows, real estate bubble looms - The Washington Post

Washington Post 10/03/2012

Jia Lynn Yang, Jia, Lynn, Yang

Wall Street Journal 07/18/2012

Christopher Bjork, Christopher, Bjork, David Román, David, Román

Boeing and lessons learned from the $50 billion Dreamliner project- (1) a shift to incremental improvement for the path ahead

06/08/2012

No more moonshot projects, say CEO McInerney, and Ray Conner, head of the airplanes division. The cost of the Dreamliner exceeds $50 billion by 2015, according to Barclays Capital, including R&D and related costs. The focus is now on incremental change, on striving for simplicity, reducing complexity, and increasing reliability, after the experience of over 3 years of repeated delays, cost overruns, and reliability failures, high complexity, and overloaded manufacturing processes on the Dreamliner project.

Linked Articles

At Boeing, Innovation Means Small Steps, Not Giant Leaps

Wall Street Journal 04/03/2015

Jon Ostrower, Jon, Ostrower

Wall Street Journal 06/08/2012

Jon Ostrower, Jon, Ostrower

China's second Stimulus in 2012 following the one in 2008-2009, and World Bank chief Zoellick's advice for a different policy mix

05/30/2012

A more measured response this time from the Development Reform Commission (DRC) and the State Council. Targeted spending on select and strategic projects to avoid inflating the housing bubble any further, and screening out projects with dubious merit.

Linked Articles

In China, a New Round of Stimulus

New York Times 05/30/2012

Michael Wines, Michael, Wines

Wall Street Journal 05/31/2012

Sudeep Reddy, Sudeep, Reddy

The July 2012 Report by an independent parliamentary panel on the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and prime minister Naoto Kan's testimony

05/28/2012

The report calls the disaster "a profoundly man-made event," and "a disaster 'Made in Japan,' " citing cultural factors that contributed to the accident. It is sharply critical of TEPCO and the Japanese government's response. Both the report and the testimony of the prime minister at the time of the accident, Naoto Kan, refer to the 'nuclear bloc' or 'nuclear village' in Japan that promotes nuclear energy. Some of its actions are dangerous to safety, such as locating the nuclear safety agency NISA inside the same ministry that promotes nuclear power, a critical flaw. Ironically Germany made the decision to make a gradual shift out of nuclear power after looking at the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and near collapse in Japan, while Japan is reactivating its nuclear plants to meet energy needs without having obtained public confidence in the system of nuclear energy including the essential safety actions. The result is a profound credibility gap about the nuclear plant industry, and public opposition in Japan.

Linked Articles

Report blasts Japan’s preparation for, response to Fukushima disaster - The Washington Post

Washington Post 07/06/2012

Chico Harlan, Chico, Harlan

New York Times 05/28/2012

Martin Fackler, Martin, Fackler

The $436 million payment by Greece to holdout bondholder Dart Management and the $1.5 billion demanded by holdout bondholder Elliott Management leading to Argentine default in 2014

05/15/2012

Greece made the payment to Dart Management at a time of 20% unemployment and daily protests on Athens streets, a month before elections in June 2012. Greece only did this as a last resort for release of EU funds that were being held up to make pament of interest on debt. This exacerabated discontent inside Greece as pensions were being cut and layoffs taking place, including increase in electricity bills. The Syriza party made gains in that election and the two main parties lost ground to other parties, including a violent anti-immigrant party. Argentina's Christina Kirchner faces a difficult time with the unions and centrist parties in Buenos Aires province, with a shortage of cash and sovereign wealth fund down to $29 billion in May 2014. Stevenson points out the payment to Elliott Management could lead to a situation where Argentina owed $15-$27 billion to all holdout and exchange investors in its bonds.

Linked Articles

Argentina Finds Relentless Foe in Paul Singer's Hedge Fund

New York Times 07/30/2014

Peter Eavis, Peter, Eavis, Alexandra Stevenson, Alexandra, Stevenson

New York Times 05/15/2012

Landon Thomas Jr., Landon, Thomas, Jr.

The crisis facing the power industry in India with stalling coal production and inadequate supples

04/19/2012

Power shortages continue to act as a constraint to India's growth.

Linked Articles

Scandal Spurs Indian Coal Auction

Wall Street Journal 04/24/2012

Saurabh Chaturvedi, Saurabh, Chaturvedi

New York Times 04/19/2012

Vikas Bajaj, Vikas, Bajaj

The absence of solutions to the underlying problem of increasing U.S. health care costs in fiscal cliff deficit negotiations

04/03/2012

Without a new approach to increasing health care costs, especially considering the demographic changes in the U.S. with more people on Medicare in future years, the problems of defunding other areas such as education, R&D, and infrastructure, to fund these increases is likely to continue. Estimates show that the 50 million Americans enrolled in Medicare in 2012 will grow to 80 million by 2030, according to the Medicare program actuaries. Demographic changes as the baby boom generation ages mean more Americans relying on Medicare and Medicaid. With continually increasing health care costs from costly technologies, increasing of diabetes, asthma and other diseases, pricing in the medical industry, and some fraud costs, this is a toxic mix that will lead to to a situation where one of three dollars in spending get swallowed up here.

Linked Articles

Beneath Budget Battle, a Health-Spending Juggernaut

Wall Street Journal 12/17/2012

Laura Meckler, Laura, Meckler

Wall Street Journal 04/03/2012

John H. Cochrane, John, H., Cochrane

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

Laura Stevens, Laura, Stevens, David Crawford, David, Crawford

Wall Street Journal 03/21/2012

Laura Stevens, Laura, Stevens, Eyk Henning, Eyk, Henning

China's Stimulus plan in 2012-2013 and the problem of "uncoordinated, unbalanced and unsustainable development"

03/06/2012

China's premier Wen Biao told the National People's Congress, China's parliament, in March 2012, that it was urgent to tackel the "problem of uncoordinated, unbalanced, and unsustainable development." He called for "an acceleration of the transformation" of the economic model towards consumption and away from exports and infrastructure spending. The accelerated approval of 254 investment projects in May 2012 puts off this task of rebalancing development for China and the world economy. With slowing growth in China and the last Stimulus of 2008 having propelled the housing bubble, the options were limited. A decrease in the reserve requirement by 0.5% in 2012 for China's banks was not expected to spur growth because lending was not expected to increase, as the demand for loans is low. A sharp falloff in growth below 7% was feared leading to the acceleration in investment.

Linked Articles

China’s stimulus policy means trouble down the road - The Washington Post

Washington Post 05/31/2012

Editorial

Wall Street Journal 03/06/2012

Bob Davis, Bob, Davis