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U.S. defense preparedness in Europe and in other continents in 2015-2016- the views of Lt. Gen. "Ben" Hodges and Gen. Raymond Odierno
02/09/2015
Linked Articles
This Is No Time to Cut The U.S. Army
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2015
The View From NATO’s Russian FrontWall Street Journal 02/09/2015
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
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
Lufthansa low cost carrier Eurowings and Air France-KLM low cost carrier Transavia in 2015- an effort to setup separate airlines to remain competitive
09/28/2014
Linked Articles
Lufthansa Chief Carsten Spohr Defends Airline’s No-Frills Push
New York Times 12/08/2014
Air France Pilots End Two-Week StrikeNew York Times 09/28/2014
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
A call for increasing the minimum wage from 600 American economists saying this will help 28 million working age Americans, most disproportionately women
02/08/2014
Linked Articles
The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage
New York Times 02/08/2014
Over 600 Economists Sign Letter In Support of $10.10 Minimum Wage: Economist Statement on the Federal Minimum Wage | Economic Policy InstituteUnknown 02/09/2014
Faces the U.S. Federal Reserve's Janet Yellen will have in mind as she shapes Fed policies
01/23/2014
The long term unemployed will shape Yellen's thinking on Fed policy in 2014-2015, especially men of working age.
Linked Articles
More Men in Prime Working Ages Don't Have Jobs
Wall Street Journal 02/06/2014
Don’t Expect Job Data Alone to Persuade Fed on RatesNew York Times 01/23/2014
Stanford Hoover Institution's Fouad Ajami on the Middle East policies of U.S. president Obama that led to sectarian conflict and increase in terrorism
10/24/2013
Without a residual U.S. presence in the Middle East acting as a restraining influence on Shiite militias, Sunni groups, other foreign powers, leading to an exacerbation of sectarian conflict by the Malliki government, created the conditions for the rise of terrorism. Only in 2015-2016 were the effects of this seen with the breakup of Syria and Iraq, and the millions of refugees making their way to Turkey, Jordan, and Europe, followed by the increase in terrorism in Europe and the U.S.
Linked Articles
Notable & Quotable: Fouad Ajami on the Sunni-Shiite Fight
Wall Street Journal 01/05/2016
Fouad Ajami: A Lawyer Lost in a Region of ThugsWall Street Journal 10/24/2013
A black law student at the University of Brasilia, a Harvard trained law graduate in Curitiba, and others changing Brazil's legal system
08/23/2013
Barbosa is one of eight children of a bricklayer in Minas Gerais, now Chief Justice in Brasilia. Dallagnol is a Harvard trained graduate who is working with other prosecutors in Curitiba, a provincial city, investigating corruption and money laundering in Petrobras.
Linked Articles
How Brazil’s ‘Nine Horsemen’ Cracked a Bribery Scandal
Wall Street Journal 04/07/2015
A Blunt Chief Justice Unafraid to Upset Brazilâs Status QuoNew York Times 08/23/2013
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 Egyptâs Military Leaders
New York Times 08/24/2013
Democracy in Egypt Can WaitNew York Times 08/16/2013
Airbus shift away from Europe and German government financing after increasing publicly traded shares to 72%
06/16/2013
Linked Articles
Airbus Vows to Fly With Own Wings
Wall Street Journal 02/27/2014
Airbus on Track to Double Profit Margin by 2015Wall Street Journal 06/16/2013
Assessment of U.S. president Obama's two terms in office 2008-2016 (2)- a declining middle class and struggling working class
02/13/2013
Linked Articles
Obama’s Legacy: Trump and Bernie
Wall Street Journal 01/13/2016
Obama, in State of the Union, makes case that middle class is job one - The Washington PostWashington Post 02/13/2013
Unemployment in the U.S. in 2010-2013 with fewer workers looking for work
12/07/2012
Linked Articles
The Case of the Missing Workers
Wall Street Journal 12/07/2012
A Jobless Dilemma: What's Wrong With Fort Wayne?Wall Street Journal 12/07/2012
Lt. Gen "Ben" Hodges, Commander U.S. Army in Europe, on the Russian moves towards Mariupol in eastern Ukraine in Feb. 2015
02/08/2015
Ben Hodges describes the Russian threat to peace in Eastern Europe under president Putin and the need for U.S. preparedness.
Linked Articles
The View From NATO’s Russian Front
Wall Street Journal 02/09/2015
Desperation and Destruction in Contested Ukraine CityNew York Times 02/08/2015
The challenges facing K-12 education in the U.S. in 2015 with a larger proportion of children from less affluent and poor backgrounds, and two thirds of American children failing math and reading proficiency required levels in 8th grade for 2015
01/17/2015
With a majority of children in California, Texas, and some midwestern states in the U.S. from less affluent or poor backgrounds, and about two thirds of all American students failiing to meet required proficiency in math and reading at 8th grade, the educational challenge of of creating a well qualified work force to build America's future is daunting. Eight years of policy changes in education and private efforts have failed to produce adequate results.
Linked Articles
U.S. student performance slips on national test - The Washington Post
Washington Post 10/28/2015
Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty - The Washington PostWashington Post 01/17/2015
The huge negative effect of tech on jobs in the U.S., and other countries- prioritizing solutions in 2015-2025
10/06/2014
The Economist and William Galston writing in the WSJ, look at the hugely negative effect on jobs as technology makes it possible to produce the same output in goods with fewer workers. Galston offers solutions for the U.S., and the Economist offers solutions for EUrope, Asia, and other regions that need to create jobs.
Linked Articles
Countering Tech’s Damaging Effect on Jobs
Wall Street Journal 10/15/2014
The world economy: Wealth without workers, workers without wealthEconomist 10/06/2014
China, the U.S. and Japan- the task of reestablishing peaceful cooperation in the Pacific region after the missteps of 2011-2013
07/09/2014
Meetings for the sixth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Bieijing between the U.S. and China, and Japanese prime minister's address to the Australian parliament in Canberra, at about the same time in July 2014, showing how the path of peaceful cooperation will have to be actively pursued to remain a reality. Underpinning the hopes of China, Japan and neighboring countries in Asia is the U.S. will and purpose for maininting the post war peace and stability for the benefit of all, that at times has been missing in the words and actions of the Obama administration. Lack of peace in the region would seriously affect China's effort to bring better incomes to the large majority of people still in the countryside and leave China stuck in middle income status of countries like Mexico, damage the prospects of improving incomes of billions of people in India, other parts of Asia and Latin America. In this sense the Japanese people have shown the wisdom of keeping the conditions of peace that have prevailed for the post war period, and the U.S. with undiminished will and purpose in its post war role can affirm the hopes of the people of the region, including the hope of people in China, India, Japan, S. Korea, and Latin America.
Linked Articles
U.S., China try to emphasize potential for cooperation - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/09/2014
Abe's Constitutional Reform Push SlowsWall Street Journal 07/09/2014
Hope and reality in India and Nigeria- The Singh administration in India 2010-2014, and the Jonathan administration in Nigeria 2011-2015
02/21/2014
Are too many young people in the most populous countries of Africa and Asia seeing their hopes dashed and their dreams vanish with the mismanagement of the resources of the country and of the economy? Is the demographic dividend in these countries about to be wasted? Is the goodwill of foreign investors in Europe and the U.S. eager to bring the latest technologies to these countries, as they did in China, about to be wasted by sheer mismanagement and misallocation of resources? These questions are on the minds of young people in Nigeria and India as they rest their hopes on the Buhari and Modi administrations.
Linked Articles
Nigerian Central Bank Governor Ousted
Wall Street Journal 02/21/2014
India Allocated Coal Fields to Private Companies Illegally, Top Court RulesNew York Times 08/25/2014
Faces of workers quitting work or reducing hours as they qualify for subsidies on health insurance under the Obama Healthcare Law
02/05/2014
Faces of the workers taking subsidies available to lower income workers under the Obama Health Care Law. The Congressional Budget Office projections for 2021 show about the equivalent of 2.3 million workers worth of hours reduced as a result of the healthcare law subsidies giving workers more choice. Many use the time to work on startup business or child care for grandchildren. The jobs freed up and the hours could be taken up by other workers looking for jobs. Gains in childcare would be another result.
Linked Articles
Health Law To Cut Into Labor Force
Wall Street Journal 02/05/2014
They quit their jobs, thanks to the health law - The Washington PostWashington Post 02/09/2014
Greece and EU in 2015- (3) How do people in Europe see the European Project? How do Greeks see the European Project?
11/04/2013
Linked Articles
Support for the European Union Is Rising, Survey Suggests
New York Times 06/02/2015
Athens's Love Affair With the Euro PersistsWall Street Journal 11/04/2013
Creating friendly livable urban space- the work of Amazon, Google and Twitter in Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago
08/25/2013
Linked Articles
Twitter Helps Revive a Seedy San Francisco Neighborhood
New York Times 11/01/2013
As Amazon Stretches, Seattleâs Downtown Is ReshapedNew York Times 08/25/2013
Poverty and hunger for the working poor in Britain's post industrial north- 2009-2014
08/20/2013
Food charities working in Africa now concentrate their efforts in Britain's post industrial northern towns.
Linked Articles
As the Working Poor Become More Common in Britain, So Does Hunger
New York Times 01/02/2014
U.K. Moves To Tackle Income SqueezeWall Street Journal 08/20/2013
Shell, Chevron and Exxon withdrawing from shale oil exploration in Europe and China in 2015
08/01/2013
Linked Articles
Non-U.S. Shales Prove Difficult to Crack
Wall Street Journal 03/19/2015
Shell's Profit Falls on Shale Write-DownWall Street Journal 08/01/2013
Funding infrastructure needs in Asia and the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
02/14/2013
Led by China, and with founding members India, S. Korea, Britain, Australia, France, Germany and Italy, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is intended to provide much needed financing for infrastructure in Asia. Huge bottlenecks for development exist in Asia's developing countries, including India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Philippines, which can only be tackled through innovative methods of financing. China which has moved ahead in infrastructure development is providing the leadership for this bank. Experts say Europe is right to join, and the U.S. should have supported the idea at the early stage.
Linked Articles
Hostility From U.S. as China Lures Allies to New Bank
New York Times 03/19/2015
Hot Topic in Moscow Talks: How to Fund InfrastructureWall Street Journal 02/14/2013
U.S. Fed chairman Bernanke's activist interest rate policies to tackle high unemployment and central bankers from MIT
12/12/2012
A pragmatic activist focus in economic thinking shaped at the MIT economics department in Cambridge, Masachusetts. The ECB's Mario Draghi, Bank of England's Mervyn King, and Bernanke shaped their thinking at MIT. Draghi and Bernanke had the same PhD. advisor- Stanley Fischer. Factors calling for a pragmatic approach include the lack of political agreement on th deficit, the housing and foreclosure crisis effects, higher inequality and unemployment effects on the middle class, the effects of the globalized economy on working class manufacturing jobs, people dropping out of the labor foce, and lower inflation, which called for a larger focus on unemployment. Bernanke emphasized the "enormous waste in human potential and productive resources of the economy" throughout 2009-2012. Draghi emphasized the abnormal nature of excessive borrowing interest rates for Italy and Spain during the ECB's bond buying efforts in 2011-2012. Both efforts had a stabilizing effect on the economies of the U.S. and Europe during a period of political discord about future policy.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 12/13/2012
MIT Forged Activist Views of Central Bank Role and Cinched Central Bankers' TiesWall Street Journal 12/12/2012
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