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The rapid structural shift in employment to new industries and fields may create high unemployment even as millions of vacancies go unfilled.
04/30/2009
The Labor Departments JOLT statistics for job openings shows over 3 million job vacancies. The reason for this is the mismatch in qualifications and the speed with which industries are downsizing, and the shift to new industries and fields away from banking, retail, construction and autos. This makes new initiatives in retraining and government cost sharing to enable companies to hire and retrain super critical. Germany has some initiatives lkke this.
Linked Articles
Stuck at Unemployed: When A Layoff Becomes a Lifestyle
Washington Post 06/06/2009
Help Wanted: Why That Sign's BadBusinessWeek 04/30/2009
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
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
Politicians who deride "mere spending programs" may have not got it right.
02/15/2009
Republicans in the House, with every single one voting against the Stimulus bill, have derided government spending as wasteful and unnecessary. The impact on the deficit makes it look sensible. However on closer examination Robert Frank, a Cornell economist, points out that in some situtations like this government spending can be not wasteful but productive and efficient, and necessary.
Linked Articles
Go Ahead and Save. Let the Government Spend.
New York Times 02/15/2009
In Gingrich Mold, a New Voice for Solid Resistance in G.O.P.New York Times 02/15/2009
Akio Toyoda brings a broader mindset, American and overseas experience to his CEO role.
01/12/2009
The grandson of the founder was educated in the U.S. and worked in the Chinese operations. He brings a broad exposure to countries around the world that his predecessors lacked with their more parochial backgrounds. This will be invaluable as he steers Toyota back to its roots and accomodates a changing world.
Linked Articles
New York Times 06/02/2010
Toyota, Needing Change, Taps a Scion to LeadWall Street Journal 01/12/2009
Even as sales of the Prius and hybrids also drop the small Honda Fit shows impressive results.
10/19/2008
Honda Fit that appeals to a lot of people as arefined quality car with excellent fuel efficiency.
Linked Articles
New York Times 10/19/2008
Toyota delays new Prius plantDetroit News 12/16/2008
Sheila Barr voices concern about lack of serious homeowner help, only institutional help.
08/27/2008
FDIC's Sheila Barr voices concern for a lack of serious homeowner help and an incomprehensible reluctance to do anything serious for homeowners in Congress or the Bush Administration even as Barr, Paulson and Bernanke offered no choice to CEO's of leading banks at the meeting last week in Paulson's offices but to sign term sheets for accepting $125 billion from the government. Another $125 billion goes to smaller banks. And a unspecified amount goes to buy troubled assets under TARP, and money to buy commercial paper, and other institutional help. Still nothing on a large comprehensive basis to help homeowners in difficulty which is at the root of this crisis according to Feldstein, Hubbard, Bair.
Linked Articles
FDIC Chief Raps Rescue for Helping Banks Over Homeowners
Wall Street Journal 10/16/2008
Agency’s Head Expects Banking’s Crisis to WorsenNew York Times 08/27/2008
The apathy in GM's Board with an ever downward spiral.
07/07/2008
GM's Board is not having the vigorous discussion that one expects to see in a company going on a downward spiral.
Linked Articles
GM's Massive Quarterly Loss Adds to Turnaround Pressure
Wall Street Journal 08/02/2008
GM Weighs More Layoffs, Sale of BrandsWall Street Journal 07/07/2008
Sales of the Honda Civic, Toyota Prius,Ford Focus and the Honda Fit , all smaller cars are doing well
06/20/2008
Even so Toyota will not go ahead with making the Prius at the new plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi, is a sign of the severity of the economic downturn that is shaping up for 2009 and 2010.
Linked Articles
The Smaller the Better, Automakers Are Finding
New York Times 06/20/2008
Toyota delays new Prius plantDetroit News 12/16/2008
How all carmakers and Detroit automakers in particular missed what was happening in the economy and the market with dire results.
05/20/2008
Even as late as May 22, 2008 Ford pared its outlook to 14-15 million cars as reported by Jeff Bennett in the WSJ. That puts the situation in October 2008, with a 30-40% drop in sales year over year only 5 months away.
Linked Articles
Car Makers' Boom Years Now Look Like a Bubble
Wall Street Journal 05/20/2008
Ford Motor Pares OutlookWall Street Journal 05/22/2008
Debt gorged Britain and the U.S.
03/22/2008
British debt is even worse than the American debt with household debt to income ratio at 1.62 in Britain compared to 1.42 in the USA. Continental cousins in Germany have a ratio of 1.09.
Linked Articles
Debt-Gorged British Start to Worry That the Party Is Ending
New York Times 03/22/2008
Frugality Forged in Today's Recession Has Potential to Outlast ItWall Street Journal 04/06/2009
Pakistan, Islamist politicians and expectations for better lives in the modern world
01/04/2008
The older politicians who are sobering up to the realities even in the border provinces are not for militancy, and badly want better health care, and hospitals. No one will turn down better infrastructure and standards of living and employment.
Linked Articles
New York Times 01/06/2008
Islamist Politicians Emerge As Pakistan's Power BrokersWall Street Journal 01/04/2008
Great Moderation and Monetary policy
09/20/2007
Bernanke's views about the half point interest rate cut in 2002 in his first months as Fed governor showed his concerns for overheating of residential construction but also that this was overweiged by his concerns for deflation and economic gloom current at the time.
Linked Articles
Economist 09/20/2007
Fed in 2002 Feared Deflation, Newly Released Transcripts ShowWall Street Journal 04/11/2008
Laffer says inflation and high interest rates are a sure thing with the $1 trillion increase in the monetary base since Sept 2008.
04/23/2009
This is the largest increase in the monetary base in the last 50 years by afactor of 10, and is unlike anything ever experienced before. He sees inflation and rising interest rates as a result surpassing anything seen in the 1970's. Bernanke he says faces a Hobson's choice between contracting the monetary base and putting the economy back in recession and letting things go the way they are resulting in steep inflation. He sees the Fed having the option of increasing the reserve requirements at banks, to restrain the increase in the monetary base.
Linked Articles
Economist 04/23/2009
Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest RatesWall Street Journal 06/11/2009
Geithner's Plan for Toxic Assets
03/23/2009
Experts are doubtful Geithner's plan of March 23, 2009 for toxic assets will work. Its similiar to plans previously announced by Paulson in the Bush administration. Views of Krugman, Eavis and Reinhart. If lack of confidence and lack of liquidity were the only problems they say, government money as incentives might work, but the problem is more basic and structural. These mortgage securities are from a time of easy money, now investors are shy of risks and would discount them even more as a safety factor, and banks would not want to sell them at that price. Are stress tests and nationalization of failed banks around the corner?
Linked Articles
Why Congress Will Kill the Bank Rescue
Wall Street Journal 03/24/2009
Geithner's Gamble Needs SpeculatorsWall Street Journal 03/23/2009
The shift in management at Toyota to Akio Toyoda and the changing priorities as the market changes.
02/24/2009
What worked for Toyota in the past doesn't work anymore, and rapid expansion by CEO's before Akio Toyoda brings a whole range of problems even before the recall disaster of 2010. The company's narrow Nagoya, Japan, based management world view, with hardly any American representation on its Board, only makes things worse.
Linked Articles
Akio Toyoda - Toyota's plan to repair its public image
Washington Post 02/09/2010
A Scion Drives Toyota Back to BasicsWall Street Journal 02/24/2009
For a Nobel prize winning economist a sick feeling in the stomach in February 2009.
02/13/2009
Is the US going the way of a train wreck as Japan did from the mid 1990's to 2003 with every set of actions falling short of the task of cleaning up the banking system and economic recovery? Krugman and Japanese experts who tackled the Japanese banking crisis sense something like this is happening in the US.
Linked Articles
New York Times 02/13/2009
In Japan’s Stagnant Decade, Cautionary Tales for AmericaNew York Times 02/13/2009
What the best way to get results for the stimulus, the view of state governors, and of green project advocates.
12/24/2008
Views of state governors and green advocates on how best to attack the problem raised for stimulus spending that would work to meet short term job goals and longer term goals for energy and transportation to meet sustainability criteria and design better ways to live and work.
Linked Articles
For Stimulus Plan, Obama Team Weighing 'Green' Jobs vs. Traditional Projects
Washington Post 12/24/2008
Jon S. Corzine - A Bold Stimulus Package -- $1 Trillion Bold -- Is NeededWashington Post 12/24/2008
UAW opposes any consolidation or merger as it would mean loss of may more jobs.
10/14/2008
From UAW President Gettelfinger's view consolidation would only mean loss of even more jobs to a devastated Detroit. A better source of cash for GM would be more loans from the federal government as democratic candidate Obama has suggested a $50 billion loan package. At that point a Chrysler consolidation if it were to occur could be done through a rationall consolidation or merger as opposed to the large closures that the present situation might require.
Linked Articles
UAW chief opposes GM-Chrysler merger
Detroit News 10/14/2008
Howes: One of Big 3 may not surviveDetroit News 10/14/2008
How good were the U.S. Federal Reserve's stress tests of 2012?
07/16/2008
Reilly questions the leveraging aspect of the Fed's 2002 stress test results as they leave U.S. banks leveraging at between 20-30 times capital, the situation that prevailed before the crisis. Experts including Anil Kashyap at the University of Chicago pointed out how the process of deleveraging works in reverse before the collapse of Lehman in 2008- for every $1 of bank losses the deleveraging cycle reduces bank lending by $20- $30.
Linked Articles
Stressing the Bank 'Stress Tests'
Wall Street Journal 03/14/2012
How Bad Will It Get on Wall Street?BusinessWeek 07/16/2008
Geneal Motors Board and its top management hobble along without a vision or timely decisions at critical turning points.
06/28/2008
The lack of vigorous discussion at the Board and top management levels of Gneral Motors is the most striking thing about the company. Classic example how the larger and more successful an institution, there is no assurance that even the vital skills of vigorous discussion and openness to fresh thinking promoted by its founders like Alfred Sloan in this case in one of his meetings, that these skills will be available in the future.
Linked Articles
GM's Massive Quarterly Loss Adds to Turnaround Pressure
Wall Street Journal 08/02/2008
McCain Offers Aid, No 'Bailout' on AutosWall Street Journal 06/28/2008
Differing timelines for Bill Ford and Mullaly at Ford and Wagoner at GM in their shift to smaller cars.
06/04/2008
GM was late in the shift to smaller cars than Ford even as the shift was taking place. Both companies though remained mired in a decades long stagnation in fuel efficency even as companies like Honda moved forward, and as the gap with the Europeans and the Japanese in the technology and skills of making small cars widened.
Linked Articles
G.M. Closing 4 Plants in Shift From Trucks Toward Cars
New York Times 06/04/2008
Bill Ford on Tipping Points and Thinking SmallBusinessWeek 07/31/2008
Lower incomes in manufacturing and and a general lowering of expectations in U.S. midwestern states like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin (1)
04/20/2008
Improving unemployment figures in Ohio in 2012 with 7.2% unemployment has come with lower incomes in manufacturing and a lowering of expectations about the future.
Linked Articles
Ohio economy improving, but residents can’t feel it - The Washington Post
Washington Post 08/08/2012
The Wage That Meant Middle ClassNew York Times 04/20/2008
Nokia in Emerging Markets.
01/25/2008
How Nokia stayed ahead of the market and with new competitors like Apple's Iphone and stayed ahead of the rapid changes in the cell phone market, customers needs, new ways of using the phones, and new technologies and software changing the way cellphones are used every 1-2 years.
Linked Articles
Motorola to Spin Off Handset Unit, As Icahn Waits
Wall Street Journal 02/01/2008
Nokia Earnings Jump on Emerging MarketsWall Street Journal 01/25/2008
Cherry Automobile and BYD, 2 unlikely pioneers for the car industry in China.
12/04/2007
How Cherry and BYD, with small beginnings but the vision and perseverance moved to take leadership positions in the car industry in China. They are also moving into export markets in western countries. BYD has the lead and the low cost technical manpower to sell electric cars at an attractive enough price to make a dent in the market, even with gasoline prices coming down.
Linked Articles
Technology Levels Playing Field in Race to Market Electric Car
Wall Street Journal 01/12/2009
In China, Chery Automobile Drives an Industry ShiftWall Street Journal 12/04/2007
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