Japan's fighter pilot Harada's message of "never to forget," the new generation of leaders, and a public unaware of the horrors of war

04/03/2015

Harada and Noonan describe the problem today of a generation of leaders and public that were born following the Second World War, who have no knowledge of the horrors and the pain of that war. He has tried to keep the memory of that conflict and the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, by teaching Japanese children in a kindergarden so that a new generation does not forget.

Linked Articles

Retired Japanese Fighter Pilot Sees an Old Danger on the Horizon

New York Times 04/03/2015

Martin Fackler, Martin, Fackler

Wall Street Journal 04/04/2015

Peggy Noonan, Peggy, Noonan

Adidas slipping in the U.S. market which sets the trends for the $52 billion global sportswear and athletic footwear market

02/06/2015

Linked Articles

How Adidas Aims to Get Its Cool Back

Wall Street Journal 03/26/2015

Ellen Emmerentze Jervell And Sara Germano, Ellen, Emmerentze, Jervell, And, Sara, Germano

Wall Street Journal 02/06/2015

Ellen Emmerentze Jervell, Ellen, Emmerentze, Jervell

Russia and global financial markets in 2014-2015- a disconnect between an economy connected to the global economy and separation from a postwar order of international cooperation within a global economy

01/29/2015

Linked Articles

Stopping Putin Without Firing a Shot

Wall Street Journal 02/11/2015

Roger C. Altman, Roger, C., Altman

Wall Street Journal 01/29/2015

Richard Barley, Richard, Barley

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

Gregory White, Gregory, White, Anton Troianovski, Anton, Troianovski

Wall Street Journal 12/18/2014

Alexander Kolyandr, Alexander, Kolyandr, James Marson, James, Marson

Shaile oil as a lasting factor for oil supplies beyond 2015- U.S. shale oil production likely to weather Saudi price cuts as technology advances

10/23/2014

Linked Articles

The new economics of oil: Sheikhs v shale

Economist 01/13/2015

Economist.Com

Wall Street Journal 10/23/2014

Mark P. Mills, Mark, P., Mills

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

Ben Protess, Ben, Protess, Jessica Silver Greenberg, Jessica, Silver Greenberg

Wall Street Journal 05/21/2014

Editorial

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

John Lipsky, John, Lipsky

Wall Street Journal 03/25/2014

Christine Lagarde, Christine, Lagarde

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

Ted Mann, Ted, Mann

Washington Post 03/05/2014

Jia Lyn Yang, Jia, Lyn, Yang

South Africa's Mandela's willingness to challenge established bias, restraint and generosity of spirit

12/09/2013

Ross Sorkin gives the example of Mandela changing his thinking on nationalization when confronted with the facts and Friedman points out Mandela's vision in giving whites a sense of pride in the new South Africa. Friedman goes further to compare this with the effort to get just enough votes to win elections, zip code by zip code using computer generated data on demographics and other parameters, that he sees in the U.S..

Linked Articles

How Mandela Shifted Views on Freedom of Markets

New York Times 12/09/2013

Andrew Ross Sorkin, Andrew, Ross, Sorkin

New York Times 12/10/2013

Thomas L. Friedman, Thomas, L., Friedman

Why China and India see a "win-win spirit" in the Iran nuclear deal of July 2015- access to lower cost oil supplies for an extended period

08/21/2013

With the need to boost growth in India, and slowing growth in China, the prospect of lower cost Iranian oil imports is a bright spot for both countries.

Linked Articles

Oil-Thirsty China a Winner in Iran Deal

Wall Street Journal 07/15/2015

Brian Spegele, Brian, Spegele

Wall Street Journal 08/21/2013

Abheek Bhattacharya, Abheek, Bhattacharya

Declan Walsh on why the firing of live ammunition on protesters in Cairo may end up as a watershed event for the Muslim world going forward

08/16/2013

Declan Walsh sees this in the context of the Muslim world. Janvoo sees this in the context of the world beyond, of Aisa and Latin America which have moved beyond the divisive politics of the past and away from military regimes- S. Korea, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and one party PRI Mexico. The return of Gen. Park's daughter as president of S. Korea was a different one when she apologized for the behaviour of her father, even saying she coud not spit on the image of her father. Nieto's PRI is apologetic about its past and says its different, working with the opposition PRD and PAN parties on constitutional changes for reforming the econoy. Egypt and the Arab world is no exception. The Saudis and Emirates are able to deliver in economic terms as long as oil supplies and prices are high. Egypt has to find its own path and learn from the past to build the future.

Linked Articles

Other Nations Offer a Lesson to Egypt’s Military Leaders

New York Times 08/24/2013

Declan Walsh, Declan, Walsh

New York Times 08/16/2013

Charles A. Kupchan, Charles, A., Kupchan

The Washington Post under the new vision of Amazon's Jeff Bezos

08/06/2013

The man behind the Kindle e-reader takes up the job of putting the Post on tablets.

Linked Articles

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos known for patience, focus on detail in his business ventures - The Washington Post

Washington Post 08/06/2013

Peter Whoriskey, Peter, Whoriskey, Lynn Yang, Lynn, Yang, , Cecilia Kang, Cecilia, Kang

Washington Post 08/06/2013

Paul Farhi, Paul, Farhi