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Views of experts from Raghuram Rajan, Paul Krugman and Simon Johnson are at odds with the Obama administration's recycling of prior Paulson's bank rescue plans
04/21/2009
Rajan and Johnson call for smaller, more transparent financial institutions through the government takeover of insolvent banks and breaking them up into smaller financial institutions that pose less risk to the country's economy and are easier to manage, and less prone to excessive risk taking. And they propose crafting policy and antitrust laws to make this work. Questions raised about the administration having too many people on its economic team who are deferential to Wall Street and not with a mindset that questions key assumptions -some call them sacred cows- that are put forward by Wall Street.
Linked Articles
Economists Seek Breakup of Big Banks
Wall Street Journal 04/21/2009
Time for Bank Creditors to Share the Pain?New York Times 04/29/2009
Interest rate swap contracts sold by banks to the city of Detroit in 2005 and the "kiko" derivative contracts sold by banks to exporters in S. Korea before the 2008 global financial crisis
04/03/2009
The huge losses suffered by Detroit and by exporters in S. Korea and how the issues raised were handled in the two places. What takes precedence fairness or contracts, how much of a contract has to be intelligible to the investor and the broader question of why banks needed to write such contracts or conduct business in this way which could hurt their reputation. An example is given by Floyd Norris of NYT where Bankers Trust reputation suffered badly in 1994 for selling such contracts to P&G.
Linked Articles
New York Times 04/03/2009
'Safe Harbor' in Bankruptcy Upended in Detroit CaseNew York Times 12/23/2013
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 efforts of banks in better shape but still weak to wish the crisis away.
03/06/2009
Chase and Goldman's efforts to rewrite history, and act as though they did not benefit from government help is wrong and dangerous says the Economist. Its dangerous because it sends the message that any resoultion of toxic assets on banks books is unnecessary, and these banks should be treated differently when it comes to setting new prudent bank regulations, including setting regulation for incentives that do not support excessive risk taking and leveraging. A change in the economic climate for the worse could make this a dangerous complaceny.
Linked Articles
New York Times 03/06/2009
Thanks, for nothingEconomist 06/11/2009
Bonuses, executive compensation and performance in the UK, public outcry.
01/20/2009
The executive compensation and bonus situation in the UK. RBS and othe banks and the public outcry. As RBS shares drop to 12 pence or less than the price of a candy bar, loss for 2008 is 28 billion pounds, and the British government comes up with $20 billion pounds of government money for RBS and takes 70% ownership, reports in the Sunday Telegraph suggest executives plant to handout $1 billion in bonuses. How?
Linked Articles
U.K. Boosts Its Bailout As Bank Losses Rise
Wall Street Journal 01/20/2009
British Official Plans a Review of Bonuses After OutcryNew York Times 02/09/2009
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
Petraeus describes his information gathering efforts and Bret Stephens talks with Zardari
10/01/2008
The war in Afghanistan is beginning to take a new turn as Petraeus looks for ways to reverse gains by Taliban and Zardari commits Pakistan to work alongside the US.
Linked Articles
The Most Difficult Job in the World
Wall Street Journal 10/04/2008
Insurgents in Afghanistan Are Gaining, Petraeus SaysNew York Times 10/01/2008
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
BMW, Benz and luxury retailers Saks, Nordstrom face declining luxury consumption.
04/30/2008
Sales at luxury retailers full priced stores are flat or declining while their factory outlets are seeing increased sales. BMW and Mercedes are taking writedowns for the drop in the value of their secondhand leased cars in the USA. This reflects declining economic conditions in April 2008.
Linked Articles
Profit Hurt, BMW Diverts Cars From U.S.
Wall Street Journal 04/30/2008
Luxury Retailers Pin Hopes on OutletsWall Street Journal 04/30/2008
ACA- Insuring the CDO's
04/03/2008
The insurance itself was not insurance but a chance to use different accounting rules to take the issuance of collateralized debt obligations to new heights. ACA was an outfit by the river issuing flood insurance. It had an A rating and was supposed to insure AAA securities.
Linked Articles
BusinessWeek 04/03/2008
Building WonderlandNew York Times 04/06/2008
Starbucks losing its upscale appeal with rapid expansion
01/08/2008
Among the changes in the mass market downscaling of Starbucks was the introduction of hot breakfast sandwiches. Schultz did not like the smell of the sanwiches taking away the aroma of coffees that was a key part of the Starbucks experience.
Linked Articles
Schultz Takes Over to Try to Perk Up Starbucks
Wall Street Journal 01/08/2008
Starbucks Shares Rise as CEO ReturnsWall Street Journal 01/09/2008
How McDonalds has changed by borrowing ideas from Starbucks and from the next generation of franchisees
01/07/2008
McDonald's takes the ideas of baristas from Starbucks and gets ideas for picture based ordering, credit card payment and community event participation from younger franchisees. Along the way it is trying to change perception of the chain as not being healthy eating. A lot remains to be done to move away from the super size obsesson.
Linked Articles
McDonald's Takes On A Weakened Starbucks
Wall Street Journal 01/07/2008
'Super Size Me' Generation Takes Over at McDonald'sWall Street Journal 03/08/2012
Pakistan, Jinnah and the dominant role of the military in the state
01/06/2008
It takes a deep knowledge of a place to know why things are turning out the way they are. Part knowledge of history, sidelining of Muslims after the British drove out the Mughals, knowledge of choices, choice of a separate state on religious lines, the creation of Pakistan, and knowledge of the cast of characters, Mohammed Ali Jinnah of the Muslim League whose picture here and his manners show a person aloof and more fitted to the British era,and the generals Ayub,Yahya, Zia and Musharraf.
Linked Articles
New York Times 01/06/2008
In Musharraf’s Shadow, a New Hope for Pakistan RisesNew York Times 01/07/2008
The gap between the admirable comments and clarity of Obama's Georgetown sppech and the growing foreclosures, dramatic drops in business and consumer lending.
04/14/2009
Failure to stem foreclosures and to ramp up business and consumer lending, by taking over insolvent banks and offering loans at attractive rates, is hurting the economy and will lead to further job losses.
Linked Articles
Lending By Bailout Recipients Falls Again
Washington Post 04/16/2009
Text of Obama Economic SpeechBusinessWeek 04/14/2009
Reinhart's view that the Geithner Public-Private Investment program won't work
03/24/2009
Reinhart, joins Peter Eavis, Rosenfeld and Krugman, in view that this won't work. He thinks the government is just buying time for a favorable opportunity to take stronger action. It may be engaging in this circuitous roundabout plan as away of saying that we tried aprivate sector solution. Krugman warns though that time is running out with the job loss numbers.
Linked Articles
New York Times 04/06/2009
Why Congress Will Kill the Bank RescueWall Street Journal 03/24/2009
Krugman thinks no early action to takeover insolvent banks will prolong this crisis, the President wants to "do no harm" by undermining confidence.
03/06/2009
Krugman thinks that this crisis could go on for adecade if no actions are taken to takeover insolvent banks before the situation worsens. THe President in his speech at Georgetown, on April 13, says he has not acted preemptively, not out of coddling these banks and their management, but becuase he did not want to undermine confidence. It suggests the President has moved quickly on many fronts, and he may be taking a pause to take stock of the situation and how to improve public support, before thaking on this issue and a number of others in the next round.
Linked Articles
BusinessWeek 04/14/2009
The Big DitherNew York Times 03/06/2009
How the Japanese experience in their banking crisis holds new lessons for America as it grapples with its own banking crisis.
02/13/2009
Experts who tackled the Japanese banking crisis say America is facing the same train wreck as politicians take ineffectual action in tackling the bad debt, and not until this bad debt is cleaned up will the broader economy recover.
Linked Articles
In Japan’s Stagnant Decade, Cautionary Tales for America
New York Times 02/13/2009
Ailing Banks May Require More Aid to Keep SolventNew York Times 02/13/2009
A shortsighted approach to a solution for oreclosures that is the root of the problem
01/05/2009
A lot of the discussion gets stuck somewhere depending on whose blinkers you put on, when the issue of who started the forest fire in the economy that foreclosures have become. This prevents a rational solution, and the taking of clear decisive steps to fix it before its too late.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 03/02/2009
Housing Push for Hispanics Spawns Wave of ForeclosuresWall Street Journal 01/05/2009
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
Friedman from the Gut and the Gut as one sees it in Egypt, Arab or Muslim capitals.
09/09/2008
A sociological and psychological perspective on why people believe what they believe because of their own personal experiences and their immediate surroundings. Why its weird but its real and one has to take this into account when appealing to people and why in this situation its gut and not logic or details that persuades.
Linked Articles
9/11 Rumors That Become Conventional Wisdom
New York Times 09/09/2008
From the GutNew York Times 09/10/2008
Imbalances in the global economy that will take time to correct- the situation in the U.S., Europe and emerging markets in 2012-2013
05/05/2008
The perception that "this time is different" is a typical behavioural reaction in history to to financial crises studied by Rogoff and Reinhart. Economic weakness is part of the mechanism for correcting global imbalances which happens over a number of years.
Linked Articles
Economy May Face Prolonged Pain, History Suggests
Wall Street Journal 05/05/2008
Boom, Bust. Repeat.Wall Street Journal 10/09/2009
Greenspan and his philosophy that let him take such an ambitious experiment in unrestrained markets.
04/08/2008
Grennspan took huge risks in his ambitious experiment with the American economy of a philosophy that simply said allow markets to operate unrestrained and trust in humans benevolent intentions and enlightened self interest. Goodman and Ip document the details. Did he believe that there was something miraculous that would prevent things from imploding, something inherently sacred about an idea of markets, when plain common sense like Buffets said that the arithmetic did not add up and in the end thats all that counts common sense.
Linked Articles
Taking Hard New Look at a Greenspan Legacy
New York Times 10/09/2008
His Legacy Tarnished, Greenspan Goes on DefensiveWall Street Journal 04/08/2008
Sheila Bair at FDIC has proposal to help homeowners similiar to Feldstein's
03/07/2008
Sheila Bair 's proposal to help homeowners is similar to what Martin Feldstein proposed on the pages of WSJ on March 7, 2008. About 2 months later FDIC proposes to take action to help homeowners by offering homeowners with debt to income ratios above 40%, a loan from the government for 20% of their loan amount with no interest charged for the first 5 years, and loan payments required to be lowered to affordable numbers.
Linked Articles
How to Stop the Mortgage Crisis
Wall Street Journal 03/07/2008
Bair Proposal Seeks Government Loans To Aid HomeownersWall Street Journal 04/30/2008
Two pioneers in the car industry, one Tata Motors in very small economical cars from India and the other BYD in economical electric cars fro China.
01/08/2008
BYD and Tata Motors are pioneers in economical small cars and electric cars. Both have a good shot at accomplishing their goals and taking leadership position in their field because of the low cost high quality technical manpower they have, the vision of the head of the company, and the early start.
Linked Articles
Technology Levels Playing Field in Race to Market Electric Car
Wall Street Journal 01/12/2009
Four Wheels for the Masses: The $2,500 CarNew York Times 01/08/2008
The military and civilian leadership in Pakistan for six decades since independence and the U.S. involvement in S. Asia
01/06/2008
Militancy shifts to a younger generation of leaders in the border provinces of Pakistan, Baluchistan, Northwest Frontier province and Waziristan. Taliban was a creation of the Pakistan army to create strategic depth for Pakistan by getting a Islami militant run organization take over Afghanistan after the Russians left. It has turned into a complete mess as that militancy has spread to Pakistan's border provinces.
Linked Articles
New York Times 01/06/2008
Next-Gen TalibanNew York Times 01/06/2008
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