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The $436 million payment by Greece to holdout bondholder Dart Management and the $1.5 billion demanded by holdout bondholder Elliott Management leading to Argentine default in 2014
05/15/2012
Greece made the payment to Dart Management at a time of 20% unemployment and daily protests on Athens streets, a month before elections in June 2012. Greece only did this as a last resort for release of EU funds that were being held up to make pament of interest on debt. This exacerabated discontent inside Greece as pensions were being cut and layoffs taking place, including increase in electricity bills. The Syriza party made gains in that election and the two main parties lost ground to other parties, including a violent anti-immigrant party. Argentina's Christina Kirchner faces a difficult time with the unions and centrist parties in Buenos Aires province, with a shortage of cash and sovereign wealth fund down to $29 billion in May 2014. Stevenson points out the payment to Elliott Management could lead to a situation where Argentina owed $15-$27 billion to all holdout and exchange investors in its bonds.
Linked Articles
Argentina Finds Relentless Foe in Paul Singer's Hedge Fund
New York Times 07/30/2014
Bet on Greek Bonds Paid Off for a Vulture FundNew York Times 05/15/2012
De Anza College in Cupertino, California where a Apple co-founder got his start and the implications of tax avoidance strategies
04/28/2012
A U.S. Senate Report in May 2013 points to tax avoidance strategies by Apple, and Apple CEO Tim Cook appears before a Senate hearing. EU leaders meet in Brussels to address the problems of tax avoidance by digital companies which aggravate the budget deficits of EU countries, especially at a time of cutbacks in infrastructure spending and education that supports the digital companies access to to human resources. De Anza College in Cupertino is where on of the Apple cofounders went to school. The head of the college describes the effects of cutbacks in funding on the college. On the other side of the Atlantic Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden's prime minister makes a similiar case saying the digital companies need access to infrastructure and educational centres which makes the payment of taxes used to fund this necessary for the whole system not to fall into dysfunction.
Linked Articles
Apple's Tax Strategy Aims at Low-Tax States and Nations
New York Times 04/28/2012
Europe Tackles Tax EvasionWall Street Journal 05/22/2013
The IMF's signal of caution for austerity measures in Spain in April 2012, saying a gradual approach to deficits is best considering the risks
04/18/2012
The IMF's words of caution also apply to austerity measures being undertaken in Great Britain.
Linked Articles
IMF Says Recovery Remains Fragile
Wall Street Journal 04/18/2012
Spain Dips Back Into Recession, Banker CautionsWall Street Journal 04/18/2012
Ford's plans to invest $1.3 billion to scale up its manufacturing operations in China
04/06/2012
Expansion of manufacturing facilities in Chongqing with a$600 million investment and a $760 million investment for a new plant in Hangzhou are part of Ford's effort to catch up with other manufacturers in China. Ford's forecast is for a 5% increase in the market each year for the next decade. The risk is that Ford will be scaling up just as the market is slowing after five years of hyper growth, with increased competition in the Chinese market hurting profit margins, and the distance of the Chongqing plant from the west coast of China making it harder to export to other emerging markets.
Linked Articles
Ford to Build New Plant in China to Catch Up With G.M.
New York Times 04/19/2012
Ford Plans to Boost Production in ChinaWall Street Journal 04/06/2012
Wage hikes and excess demand for labor in China in 2012-2013 reduce the need for Stimulus
03/14/2012
The need for stimulus to keep jobs for migrant workers and maintain social stability does not exist in 2012 the way it appeared in 2008, when about 20% of migrant workers lost their jobs and wages for migrant workers fell by 10%, according to estimates by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Stanford University. In 2012 there is excess demand for labor and reports show the efforts to reduce the 60 hour work week in some factories is running into problems with a shortage of labor. This means less need for stimulus that would aggravate problems in the housing bubble and inflation.
Linked Articles
China's Workers in No Need of Stimulation
Wall Street Journal 06/04/2012
China's Wage Hikes Ripple Across AsiaWall Street Journal 03/14/2012
Apple and poor working conditions at factories of suppliers including Foxconn in China
03/06/2012
Linked Articles
Labor audits find poor working conditions at Apple factories - The Washington Post
Washington Post 03/30/2012
Dividends Emerge in Pressing Apple Over Working Conditions in ChinaNew York Times 03/06/2012
Italy's labor laws and competitiveness- the views and actions of Mario Draghi and Elsa Fornero
02/24/2012
Draghi tells WSJ interviewers what economist Dornbusch once told him- the Europeans were so rich they did not have to work anymore. Draghi and Fornero emphasize the large culture change needed in Italy. Fornero says too often labor, business, and govenment tweaked the rules to benefit one special group, and Italy lost its sense of being a rule bound society.
Linked Articles
Italy Official Seeks Culture Shift in New Law
Wall Street Journal 06/27/2012
Europe's Banker Talks ToughWall Street Journal 02/24/2012
Exit from the Eurozone and return to the drachma as the most likely and best outcome for Greece after April 2012 elections
02/22/2012
John Taylor and the Ifo Institue's Sinn say the recapitalization of Greece's banks and the lower interest rates negotiated after the March 2012 bailout make exiting the euro and achieving economic growth doable. The Papdemos government's need for time till 2015 to complete the program of changes, and the elections in April 2012 in which opposition parties outpolled Pasok and New Democrachy lays the political groundwork for the exit.
Linked Articles
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/08/2012
A Better Grecian BailoutWall Street Journal 02/22/2012
John Taylor and Ifo Institute's Sinn say the best option for Greece to make economic recovery is to exit the eurozone
02/17/2012
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 02/22/2012
INTERVIEW: Ifo's Sinn: In Greece's Interest To Leave Euro ZoneWall Street Journal 02/17/2012
The difficult choices facing women in the U.S. for parenting and work
02/04/2012
Linked Articles
Washington Post 06/25/2012
Why French Parents Are SuperiorWall Street Journal 02/04/2012
Steadily growing automobile market in China in 2014-2015 (4)- the buyer preference for better quality of foreign carmakers hurts local carmakers Geely and Cherry
01/06/2012
Linked Articles
Chinese Car Makers Struggle to Lure Buyers
Wall Street Journal 04/21/2014
Car Makers Gauge Shift In China's Auto PolicyWall Street Journal 01/06/2012
Mario Monti, head of Italy's new government, on the conviction that austerity measures in the absence of growth won't work
12/15/2011
Linked Articles
Italy Leader, Monti, Tells Germany Austerity Isn't Enough
New York Times 01/11/2012
Leaders Grow Further Apart on SolutionsWall Street Journal 12/15/2011
The importance of long term bond buyers to restoring confdence in Italian and Spanish government bonds in 2012-2013
12/02/2011
Large institutional buyers such as insurance companies and pension funds have exited the market for Italian and Spanish government bonds creating a great deal of instability in the market and pushing up yields as aresult fo the fear factor. The need for the ECB to take up large scale purchase of bonds to induce these longterm buyers to return to the market and restore a measure of confidence. The June 28 summit authorized the rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM or EFSF) to make these purchases, but experts say it has only 248 billion euros and needs to go back to markets for additional funding.
Linked Articles
Return of Long-Term Bond Buyers Seen as Crucial to Europe
New York Times 06/29/2012
A Euro Crisis Deal EmergesWall Street Journal 12/02/2011
Iran's young people under 35 who make up about 70% of the population of 74 million, and the future of Iran in 2015
05/07/2012
Linked Articles
Iran’s Legions of Weary Young People Push Against the Old Ways
Wall Street Journal 07/08/2015
Young Iranians Confront a Constricted FutureNew York Times 05/07/2012
The rapidly deteriorating unemployment situation in Spain with over 5 million unemployed in April 2012
04/27/2012
A sense that austerity policies are not working because of the speed with which unemployment is rising. Improving competitiveness and structural changes needed but work gradually over time, and this is stacked up against an unemployment situation that is accelerating downward with over 5 million unemployed in April 2012.
Linked Articles
Austerity Adds to Spain's Jobless Woes
Wall Street Journal 04/29/2012
Spain, Pursuing Austerity, Still Waits for the PayoffNew York Times 04/27/2012
Traders at JP Morgan Chase bank's Chief Investment Office- were they hedging risk or simply making wild bets and taking purely speculative positions
04/10/2012
As speculative positions these were trades that were massive bets on money loaned out by depositors. The CIO manages $350 billion in assets.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/20/2012
Making Waves Against 'Whale'Wall Street Journal 04/10/2012
Eliminating all Bush tax cuts to generate the revenue base to support spending programs for the middle class down the road
03/29/2012
Jared Berstein of the Economic Policy Institute, Peter Orszag, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Mayor Bloomberg of New York, say eliminating all Bush tax cuts would provide the revenue base needed to support middle class programs for future years. Orszag says making the tax code more progressive is desirable especially considering the inequality but this does not do much good if the revenue base to support middle class programs down the road is insufficient.
Linked Articles
Middle Class Malaise Complicates Democratsâ Fiscal Stance
New York Times 12/12/2012
Federal Budgets and Class WarfareWall Street Journal 03/29/2012
The Apple iPad's pricing strategy and the phenomenal sales achieved in 2011-2012
03/06/2012
Sales volumes high enough to make tablets surpass PC's by 2015, according to some estimates.
Linked Articles
Apple’s iPad price hits a sweet spot between popularity and profits - The Washington Post
Washington Post 03/06/2012
Apple Updates iPad With Some RefinementsNew York Times 03/07/2012
Ford to double its manufacturing capacity in Chongqing, China by 2014, making it the largest outside of Michigan
02/27/2012
Ford plans to invest $600 million to more than double manufacturing capacity in Chongqing to 770,000 by 2014. This comes at a time of major slowdown in the market in China after years of hyper growth. Ford lags behing GM and VW in China and missed some of the spurt in growth.
Linked Articles
Ford Plans to Boost Production in China
Wall Street Journal 04/06/2012
Ford Faces China HurdlesWall Street Journal 02/27/2012
Making teacher evaluations work in American schools
02/22/2012
Linked Articles
Teacher Evaluations Pose Test for States
Wall Street Journal 03/08/2012
For Teachers, Shame Is No SolutionNew York Times 02/22/2012
Greece and EU in 2015- (4) How are the structural issues such as tax evasion in Greece being tackled, after Monti's effort to tackle this in Italy in 2012?
02/18/2012
Surprisingly the Syriza government in 6 months in office did not come up with a plan to implement for tax evasion. This was a major issue for the IMF and in Greece's interest, even though it was going contrary to long standing practice in Greece as it was in Italy. Estimates of lost revenue are about $11 billion each year for tax evasion. By comparison the IMF payment due was less than $2 billion on June 30, 2015. Sustainable long term finances make this a major issue in Greece's own interest. Greece has an aging population and the number of retirees are growing in relation to young working people making this an important issue for stable finances under any administration, and regardless of the euro.
Linked Articles
How Greek tax evasion sunk the global economy
Washington Post 07/10/2012
A Hollow Target for Greek DebtWall Street Journal 02/18/2012
The views of Condoleeza Rice and Vladimir Putin on Russia's evolution through democratic processes
02/09/2012
Rice points out that diversification of the economy away from oil utilizing Russian technological capabilities will help Russia move away from the corruption of a resource based economy and build a healthy democratic setup. Putin says he recognizes the need for democratic processes to keep pace with the development of civil society and the growing middle class, but emphasizes that democracy cannot be built overnight, and places a higher priority on what he calls the "sovereignty of the people," the right to work, the right to education and free medical care.
Linked Articles
How Russia’s urban middle class can bring an end to Putinism - The Washington Post
Washington Post 03/09/2012
Vladimir Putin: My vision for a better Russia - The Washington PostWashington Post 02/09/2012
Spain's high jobless rate of 23% in 2011 and new labor laws to make it easier to hire workers
01/28/2012
Linked Articles
In New High, Spain's Jobless Rate Nears 23%
Wall Street Journal 01/28/2012
Spain Approves Changes to Labor PolicyNew York Times 02/10/2012
Honda's struggle to recover after the tsunami in Japan with lower margins
12/21/2011
Honda is seeing lower margins as it struggles to recover in the U.S. and other markets. Honda had to use more incentives than Toyota in the U.S. market leading to deteriorating profit margins in 2012. Sales of newer models failed to catch on making Honda dependent on the Civic and the Accord in the U.S. market. The appreciating yen added to the impact on margins with a further shift to manufacturing overseas planned as a response.
Linked Articles
Honda Pins Revival on U.S. Auto Sales
Wall Street Journal 06/01/2012
Honda Revs Up Outside JapanWall Street Journal 12/21/2011
Looking behind the unemployment numbers to better guage unemployment levels in the U.S. in 2011-2013
12/12/2011
Including the long term unemployed who quit working after months of furitless searching gives a better sense of the real level of unemployment in the U.S. Reconciling the Establishment Survey with the Household Survey using the third measure developed by the Labor Department which adjusts for multiple jobs held by one person and self employed farm workers, and adjusting for weather conditions, also helps give a better picture.
Linked Articles
Number of the Week: Did U.S. Actually Shed 195,000 Jobs in July?
Wall Street Journal 08/04/2012
Wonkbook: The real unemployment rate is 11 percent - The Washington PostWashington Post 12/12/2011
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