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How a services-led consumption based economy has failed America through a loss of jobs, prosperity and prestige.
01/21/2011
Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE, says the concept that the US could transition from a technology based export-oriented economic powerhouse to a services-led consumption based economy was fundamentally wrong. Mathew Slaughter of the Tuck School, Dartmouth, in a WSJ op-ed piece argues for a textbook principle of comparitive advantage, without considering the way it operates in a real the real world situation facing America as it struggles for economic renewal.
Linked Articles
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
Jeffrey R. Immelt - A blueprint for keeping America competitiveWashington Post 01/21/2011
Failures in China's financial system as seen by two bankers
12/11/2010
Failures in China's banking system as seen by two bankers Walter and Howie. The risks to the Chinese economy of real debt to GDP ratios that are upwards of 80% of GDP when local government and other debt that would end up as sovereign debt is taken into account. The inability of the system in China to control lending to state enterprises and local government.
Linked Articles
China's financial system: Look again
Economist 12/11/2010
Beijing's Financial Day of Reckoning Is NearWall Street Journal 06/21/2011
Housing in a deep slump in 2011.
10/16/2010
Housing markets surveyed show rising inventories. The faulty documentation crisis likely to make things worse for banks with efforts to force banks to buyback loans.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 10/16/2010
Housing Gloom DeepensWall Street Journal 10/26/2010
Japan's view of China as a low cost manufacturing base is challenged.
05/29/2010
The Honda strike for higher wages upsets this perception.
Linked Articles
Chinese Honda Strike a Wake-Up Call for Japan
New York Times 06/01/2010
Unrest May Signal New Phase in China EconomyNew York Times 05/29/2010
Apple products at manufacturing plants in China and at retail stores in the U.S.- low worker pay and lack of future prospects
05/29/2010
The high margins for Apple achieved through a combination of keeping costs low- even at the risk of providing poor wage and working conditions for the majority of employees employed in the retail stores in the U.S. and in supplier Foxconn plants in China- and by a grasp for innovation and technology. The paradox of a well deserved image for pioneering in technological innovation and the indifference to working conditions and prospects for employees who add value in manufacturing and customer interface. This model of growth is a recent development, put in place after 1997. In 1995-1997 Apple was nearing collapse under Michael Spindler and Gil Amelio, as documented by WSJ technology reporter Jim Carlton in his book- "Apple- The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders." Steve Jobs returned as CEO in 1997 and set the future course and this model in place emphasizing design, his ability to grasp technologies that would appeal to customers, and hired Tim Cook to set up the manufacturing which had high rate of defects and higher costs. The model was as full of paradoxes, of genius combined with mediocre behavioursas the man Steve Jobs. Tim Cook has responded to criticism in 2012 by having the Fair Labor association audit Foxconn plants in China. Foxconn increased wages in 2012, shifted plants to the interior of China, and increased use of robotics.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/29/2010
Apple Stores Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on PayNew York Times 06/23/2012
The increasing risk of a Double Dip Recession.
05/14/2010
Shiller, Wood and other experts on the risks.
Linked Articles
Don't Rule Out a Double Dip Recession
Wall Street Journal 05/24/2010
Fear of a Double Dip Could Cause OneNew York Times 05/14/2010
Experts Roach, Grantham, Roubini and Shiller see serious risks of a double dip recession.
05/13/2010
Dangers of another bubble from zero interest rates which reward excessive risktaking, a blow to confidence levels from some sudden event, the eurozone crisis, and a fragile world economy that has not made the normal recovery, are cited
Linked Articles
Charlie Rose Talks to Nouriel Roubini
BusinessWeek 05/13/2010
Beware a Bernanke-Fueled Market BubbleBusinessWeek 05/13/2010
Hatoyama fails to implement his vision for Japan.
12/23/2009
Perceived as indecisive over issues related to cutting wasteful spending and reducing the deficit, and the shift of an American base out of Okinawa, Hatoyama's popularity drops to 25%. He resigns (teary- eyed) after only 8 months in office. It shows how difficult it has become to find aleader since Mr Koizumi left office.
Linked Articles
Japanâs Premier Will Quit as Approval Plummets
New York Times 06/01/2010
Harsh Realities Stand in the Way of a Leader’s Vision of a New JapanNew York Times 12/23/2009
The risk of cancer from the chemicals in consumer products that surround us is something human society has never faced in this way before.
12/06/2009
Linked Articles
Commonly Used Chemicals Come Under New Scrutiny
New York Times 05/01/2015
Cancer From the Kitchen?New York Times 12/06/2009
The risks to the U.S. financial system posed by concentrating 50% of deposits in just 5 banks
10/21/2009
The failure to make changes during the financial crisis of 2008 and the risks this poses in the future.
Linked Articles
Warren Stephens: How Big Banks Threaten Our Economy
Wall Street Journal 04/29/2012
BOE's King: Big Banks Should Get Broken UpWall Street Journal 10/21/2009
Shift to Social Democrats as German chancellor loses public support in Germany.
09/28/2009
The main reason the Social Democrats did poorly in the 2009 elections in Germany says an expert is because they driftd aay from their working class base with their economic reforms. Now there is a shift back to the Social Democrats and Greens under the Christian Democratic government of chancellor Merkel.
Linked Articles
Merkel Looks to Recharge Her Ratings
New York Times 07/21/2010
Germany's Long Road to ReformWall Street Journal 09/28/2009
Iran, N. Korea and President Obama's approach to nuclear weapons proliferation
07/05/2009
The views of Nunn, Perry, Shultz and Kissinger after meetings at the Hoover Institution on developing a new approach to nuclear proliferation after decades of relying on "mutually assured destruction", and the approach of President Obama. During the Cold War the U.S. and the Soviet Union faced each other, the situation in 2012 is very different with Iran, N. Korea, Pakistan, and the risks of terrorism.
Linked Articles
Youthful Ideals Shaped Obama Goal of Nuclear Disarmament
New York Times 07/05/2009
Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear ProliferationWall Street Journal 03/07/2011
Failure of HARP refinance program of the Obama adminsitration and rising mortgage rates.
06/11/2009
Rising rates makes refinancing difficult for homeowners. Mortgage rates reached 5.79% on June 10, 2009.
Linked Articles
Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest Rates
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2009
Rate Rise Clouds RecoveryWall Street Journal 06/12/2009
New York Mayor Bloomberg calls for letting the Bush tax cuts expire for all income groups to address the U.S. deficit
12/16/2010
Bloomberg tells Republicans and Democrats that promoting the idea of a free lunch or getting something for nothing is delusional. He points to the road for U.S. economic recovery based on this step combined with an up or down vote on the Simpson Bowles plan in Congress.
Linked Articles
Federal Budgets and Class Warfare
Wall Street Journal 03/29/2012
Washington Taxes Own CredibilityWall Street Journal 12/16/2010
Stiglitz and Krugman point to the dangers in the Cameron-Osborne austerity measures in Britain
10/20/2010
Jospeh Stiglitz writing in the Guardian in 2010, at the time of the first Osborne Budget, said it was a huge gamble that the private secotr would pick up enough to make up for the impact of the budget cuts. Lower growth would mean lower tax revenues and deficit reduction targets would be missed. Krugman points out that the 490,000 job losses planned through attrition under the Osborne plan is similiar to 3 million in job losses in the U.S., a huge risk for the British economy.
Linked Articles
Britain Details Radical Spending Cuts, Citing Debt
New York Times 10/20/2010
British Fashion VictimsNew York Times 10/21/2010
Crisis Prevention Insights from the 2008 financial crisis to the BP oil spill and Fukushima- Chinese walls that don't work and underestimation of risk
06/11/2010
Linked Articles
Chinese Walls, Pocked With Peepholes
New York Times 06/11/2010
Recipes for Ruin, in the Gulf or on Wall StreetNew York Times 06/11/2010
The rise in wages in China in 2011-2013
05/29/2010
Linked Articles
China's Wage Hikes Ripple Across Asia
Wall Street Journal 03/14/2012
Hon Hai to Raise Workers' PayWall Street Journal 05/29/2010
The European financial crisis of 2010 starting in Greece tests the social model of Euope.
05/14/2010
Officials see the need for more growth to support the social model and experts see the need for stronger action.
Linked Articles
Amid Europe's challenges, citizens face lifestyle shifts
Wall Street Journal 05/14/2010
Spain is simply shifting the problemWall Street Journal 05/14/2010
El-Erian's sees further problems from Europe and the overleveraged investor in the USA.
05/14/2010
Shiker and El-Erian's views on the risks to gorwth.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/22/2010
Fear of a Double Dip Could Cause OneNew York Times 05/14/2010
Shiller sees risks of a double dip recession from sudden events that further damage confidence.
01/31/2010
Shillers definition of adoubel dip recession is one in which unemployment stays stubbornly high for some years and a second recession occurs before a recovery is achieved from the first one. Statistical models and confidence indexes are poor at grasping and presenting this.
Linked Articles
Fear of a Double Dip Could Cause One
New York Times 05/14/2010
Stuck in Neutral? Reset the MoodNew York Times 01/31/2010
Volcker, the Volcker Rule, and the risks of the concentration of assets in a few banks in the U.S. financial system
12/17/2009
Linked Articles
Charlie Rose Talks to Paul Volcker
BusinessWeek 10/27/2011
A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to WasteBusinessWeek 12/17/2009
Bank of England's Mervyn King and the new Business Secretary Cable see a need to shrink the banks.
10/21/2009
Policy on banking regulation will be shaped by two visions of the future of banking, Tory and Liberal, both agree on the need to reduce sysemic risks posed by large banks.
Linked Articles
Economist 05/13/2010
BOE's King: Big Banks Should Get Broken UpWall Street Journal 10/21/2009
Merkel's shaky hold on public opinion in Germany.
09/28/2009
Merkel's Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats now have only 34% support, compared to 47% for the Social Democrats and Greens, according to a poll for Stern magazine by polling institute Forsa.
Linked Articles
Merkel Looks to Recharge Her Ratings
New York Times 07/21/2010
Victory Brings Risk of Conflict With Merkel’s AlliesNew York Times 09/28/2009
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
A drastic overhaul, a sweeping restructuring is needed of the "fee-for-service" system to fix healthcare, the Obama health "reforms" risk becoming cosmetic.
06/14/2009
Cowen and Samuelson point out that without this big restructuring, taking in the uninsured into the system will only magnify the costs further. It would simply continue a unaffordable system of healthcare, that also delivers poor overall quality of healthcare for a steep price tag.
Linked Articles
Something’s Got to Give in Medicare Spending
New York Times 06/14/2009
Robert J. Samuelson - Wrong Way on Health 'Reform'Washington Post 06/15/2009
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