World News Insights
1-3 Minute Gist
Search, personalize, or simply browse. Follow the world around you from gist and context to insights.
Who we are | Our Credo | Ways of using Lyrarc | FAQ | Send Feedback | First Letter From the Editor
Sign up. It's free and easy to use
Create an account
to personalize your feed of articles and topics.
Browse Articles or use Lyrarc's US patented "Groups" and "Links" for new insights. A Lyrarc Group of Articles on a topic gives insights into particular angles shown in the Group Title. A Lyrarc Link shows more specific insights for 2 articles.
All Topics Links
Failures at BP and a White House approach too dependent on BP for controlling the Oil Spill.
05/01/2010
A long history of failures at BP and the slow indecisive action of the Obama administration.
Linked Articles
In Gulf, It Was Unclear Who Was in Charge of Rig
New York Times 06/05/2010
Drilling Down: A Troubled Legacy in OilWall Street Journal 05/01/2010
Cost cutting and cost reduction strategies at Toyota and BP that misfired.
02/22/2010
It costs about $6 millon a day for BP to fix the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in May 2010. It cost Toyota much more to make the larger recall and in lost sales and the damage to its image than the $100 million estimated saving by efforts to limit the recall.
Linked Articles
Drilling Down: A Troubled Legacy in Oil
Wall Street Journal 05/01/2010
Toyota Cited $100 Million Savings After Limiting RecallNew York Times 02/22/2010
David Rieff provides insights on why all developing countries, Mexico, Brazil, India, Indonesia and China need to take child malnutrition seriously
10/11/2009
The Indian lower house of parliament passed a Food Security bill in August 2013. Rieff says China made serious progress to reduce malnutrition from over 21% for children under 5 years to around 7% today after 1990. In India malnutrition for children under 5 years is above 40%. There is a lot that developing coutnries can learn from each other in this area including the Bolsa Familia program in Brazil which uses the concept of improving vaccination for children and school attendance as requirements for subsidy payments to the poor. Mexico and Indonesia have different versions of programs to help the poorer sections of society. The problem is acute in India because of indifference induced by caste and other considerations and the high level of malnutrition for children. Rief says how good is ademographic dividend when many of these children are permanently and silently impaired by malnutrition by the age of three. India's Congress party leader, Sonia Gandhi, put it differently in parliament: "What is our responsibility to these people?"
Linked Articles
New York Times 10/11/2009
India's Lower House Passes Food Bill to Help PoorWall Street Journal 08/26/2013
U.S. president Obama, lobbyists and the 2010 Obama health care law
07/24/2009
The political process and the influence of lobbyists on Congress and the White House constrains the development of laws that control healthcare costs. Higher health care costs means less money for infrastructure development, education, research and development funding, and other priorities which build a future for Americans.
Linked Articles
E-Mails Highlight Extent of Obama's Deal With Industry on Health Care
New York Times 06/08/2012
Obama's Health Expert Gets PoliticalWall Street Journal 07/24/2009
BP, Shell and other foreign oil companies expand production in Iraq in 2012-2014
07/01/2009
Ambitious goals for oil production are set by the Iraqi government as oil companies from the, U.S., Europe, Russia and China, provide the expertise to increase production from older oil fields. Problems of infrastructure and national oil legislation hinder rapid development.
Linked Articles
Crude Oil Output Is Soaring in Iraq, Easing Markets
New York Times 06/02/2012
Oil Companies Reject Iraq's Contract TermsWall Street Journal 07/01/2009
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
Child hunger in India and India's Food Security legislation in August 2013
03/13/2009
Food expert Rieff cites figures showing child malnutrition at over 40% in India for children under the age of 5 in 2009. A World Food Program report says 230 million people in India are hungry each year. India's Food Security legilation has to be seen in this context. Rieff says India is in danger of losing its demographic dividend as a result of child malnutrition. All developing countries can learn from each other and their programs to reduce child malnutrition, improve health care and vaccinations, and introduce healthy food and sanitary practices. Programs are in place in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, and China.
Linked Articles
As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists
New York Times 03/13/2009
India's Lower House Passes Food Bill to Help PoorWall Street Journal 08/26/2013
The Economist's view of nationalization as an option.
02/03/2009
The Economist says that as in the case of Northern Rock and RBS, because of the scale of the problem and it only getting worse over time, nationalization is the best option. And it says its no use exacerbating the problem by pretending otherwise.
Linked Articles
Economist 02/03/2009
Financial Policy DespairNew York Times 03/23/2009
Vaccine Maker Pfizer and the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
01/26/2009
The limits to litigation risk for vaccines is one reason for the attractiveness and growing investment in the vaccines development. Its also what Pfizer hopes to develop with the Wyeth acquisition for $68 billion.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 02/23/2009
Pfizer Agrees to Pay $68 Billion for Rival WyethNew York Times 01/26/2009
Te Capps and the Muirs in Boise, Idaho, and the national savings rate.
01/02/2009
How the Capps and the Muirs, two couples in their thirtes and forties and their families are scrimping and saving like older generations of Americans. The implications of this for the national savings rate which is forecast to reach 10% by Goldman Sachs in 2009. What this means for consumption spending according to Rodriguez, and why the economy may be setting up for a longer downturn approaching ten years.
Linked Articles
Hard-Hit Families Finally Start Saving, Aggravating Nation's Economic Woes
Wall Street Journal 01/06/2009
The Doomsayers Who Got It RightWall Street Journal 01/02/2009
New heights in fund raising - president Obama in 2008 and the Koch Brothers plans for 2016
12/06/2008
U.S. congresswoman Sheila Bair once said it was the task of fund raising that deterred her and others like her from pursuing careers of national service at higher levels. Obama outspent McCain and Romney by wide margins in 2008 and 2012, right wing groups such as the Koch brothers are organizing similiar efforts of their own for 2016 so as not to be outspent by their opponents.
Linked Articles
Final Fundraising Tally for Obama Exceeded $750 Million
Washington Post 12/06/2008
Koch Brothers’ Budget of $889 Million for 2016 Is on Par With Both Parties’ SpendingNew York Times 01/26/2015
Another misstep by automakers management was the failure to win public support as they missed the changes coming over the country.
11/18/2008
The falling clout of the Detroit automakers as the nation changed and things changed but the automakers dug in their heels into the status quo.
Linked Articles
Clout Has Plunged for Automakers and Union, Too
New York Times 11/18/2008
Bridge Loan to NowhereWall Street Journal 12/06/2008
New York Times editorial asks Congress to "Show us Hope" as 12 million households or 1 in 6 mortgages go under water.
10/02/2008
NYT laments the lack of anything to give hope to homeowners in the $700 billion bailout plan. So do Feldstein and Hubbard both Republican Presidential advisors of reagan and Bush.
Linked Articles
New York Times 10/02/2008
Housing Pain Gauge: Nearly 1 in 6 Owners 'Under Water'Wall Street Journal 10/08/2008
The need for a new European economic government to back the euro currency.
04/29/2010
The French view that there should be a common economic government and clear institutional responsibilities and the German view that is not so willing to cede national sovereignty in economic matters. The fiscal and structural flaws that need to be repaired for the euro currency to work.
Linked Articles
Economist 05/13/2010
As Greek Drama Plays Out, Where Is Europe?New York Times 04/29/2010
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
Bill Gates and David Rieff on the untapped resource for India and the global economy of India's children
10/11/2009
The challenge of getting hundreds of millions of rural Indian children into the development mainstream through better healthcare, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, education and agricultural improvement is the next major challenge for India and the global economy. It is a huge untapped resource for India and the global economy.
Linked Articles
Bill Gates: What I Learned in the Fight Against Polio
Wall Street Journal 11/10/2013
India’s Malnutrition DilemmaNew York Times 10/11/2009
The disillusionment of Mexico's voters with the the Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon administrations of the National Action Party
07/09/2009
The failure to meet rising expectations in Mexico. Mexico's GDP would be 2.5% higher if the oil sector was opened up, labor laws were changed and competitiveness introduced to the country's oligopolies in airlines telecom and other sectors, says Mexico's Center for National Competitiveness.
Linked Articles
Pocketbook Issues Weigh on Mexico Voters
New York Times 06/30/2012
Calderón's hatful of troublesEconomist 07/09/2009
WPost editorial thinks Obama's speech at Georgetown scored well on clarity and grasp of facts, but poorly on candor and courage to address entitlement reform.
04/14/2009
The WPost editors agree that defict reduction and entilement reform are a hard sell for the President, whereas the rest of his agenda can sail through a Democratic Congress. It asks the question, is the President dodging the tough choices?
Linked Articles
From President Obama, Economic Clarity but Little Courage
Washington Post 04/15/2009
Text of Obama Economic SpeechBusinessWeek 04/14/2009
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
The financial crisis poses a challenge to the idea of a single European Community, the EU itself.
02/26/2009
The countries of Eastern Europe and the banks of western European countries are enmeshed in a growing financial crisis that threatens the unity of Euope, and the idea of the European Community. What kind of help will Germany and other nations of western Europe provide. Will this be differentiated by different groups of countries like the Baltics different from Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic, and how will leaders like Angela Merkel of Germany negotiate the political winds, as she faces an upcoming election.
Linked Articles
The bill that could break up Europe
Economist 02/26/2009
Sweden Aids Bailout of Baltic NationsNew York Times 03/13/2009
The Economist's view that nationalizing the failed banks is the only serious option.
02/03/2009
With the banks in private hands it becomes almost impossible to value these toxic assets says the Economist. As the situation worsens between now and 2010 nationalization will become more acceptable. Its the only serious option, and one way ot or another the government will be guaranteeing these assets, as the banks are dependent on the government. It asks why pretend otherwise?
Linked Articles
Economist 02/03/2009
The spectre of nationalisationEconomist 02/03/2009
Declining foreign trade and how this affects U.S. GDP and GDP in other nations.
01/13/2009
How the decline in foreign trade unlike anything seen since 1945 is affecting the US and global economy.
Linked Articles
Trade Secret: GDP's Pillar Looks in Peril
Wall Street Journal 01/13/2009
Global Trade Posts Sharp DeclineWall Street Journal 01/14/2009
The Obama Economic Action Plan and what neuroscence tells us about fear in financial markets and business.
12/07/2008
The Obama economic action plan with large investments in infrastructure and green energy and in education and national competitiveness, and what neuroscience tells us about the part fear plays in making financial institutions and business not play the role they are otherwise able to play inleading economic activity.
Linked Articles
In Hard Times, Fear Can Impair Decision-Making
New York Times 12/07/2008
Obama Pledges Public Works on a Vast ScaleNew York Times 12/07/2008
A rescue plan would involve dbtholders, unions, and management all taking a haircut.
11/21/2008
How the automakers failed to convince Congress and end up in a three way battle in Congress between the Democrats, Republicans and the midwestern Congressmen with things like automakers private jets drawing scrutiny over how this industry was diffeerent in the way it did things including the higher medical benefits of union workers that burdened the companies.
Linked Articles
Detroit’s Bid for Aid Fails For Now
New York Times 11/21/2008
Terms of a Rescue PlanBusinessWeek 12/11/2008
Changing picture- as Democrats take control of White House and Congress- in the drug industry and health care
11/06/2008
Linked Articles
Medicare, Medicaid Deficits Loom Over Health Priorities
Wall Street Journal 11/06/2008
New FDA Leaders Could Be Tougher on Drug MakersWall Street Journal 11/06/2008
We took a different way to help millions around the world build educated informed mindsets that affects and shapes their lives. For a future that is open, global and digital, with everyone having access to high quality information. We believe in the renewal of America, renewal of Europe, the renewal of India, the rest of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The renewal of our supply chains, health, education, infrastructure, as we rebuild our countries after the pandemic. Literacy and knowledge we believe cannot thrive and grow in a world of web bots, web crawlers, or AI. This requires human curiosity, human learning, and human imagination. We take as inspiration the saying- “One has to be free, and as broad as sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear, only then can truth shine in it.” Every contribution whether big or small is precious- in this crisis and ahead.
Support Lyrarc from as small as $1
Terms and Conditions | Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Contact Us