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The cost of the electric battery in electric cars and building a viable electric car industry
07/02/2011
Major advances in battery technology and cost are needed for electric cars to take off. Gasoline needs to be higher than $4.50 a gallon in the U.S. for electric cars to be economically attractive. This includes a rebate of $7500 towards the higher cost of the electric cars. Battery cost is a major component of the extra cost.
Linked Articles
Ford CEO: Battery Is Third of Electric Car Cost
Wall Street Journal 04/18/2012
Long and Winding Road for Electric VehiclesWall Street Journal 07/02/2011
Austerity measures and economic contraction in Portugal 2010-2013- the terms of the 2011 EU-IMF loan agreement with Portugal
05/05/2011
The forecasts of higher unemployment reaching 17% and economic contraction of 7% for 2011-2013 are widely diverging from the original estimates in 2011 by EU and IMF officials. This increases the urgency for reappraisal of the terms of the original agreement including borrowing rates, giving more time to achieve deficit targets, and other action to put Portugal back on the road to growth in 2014.
Linked Articles
Portugal to Seek New Bailout Terms
Wall Street Journal 03/04/2013
Government Sees Deep Recession Ahead for PortugalNew York Times 05/05/2011
Contrasts in the approaches of S. Korea in 1997 and the U.S. in 2008 to banking crises, and the hobbled U.S. economic recovery
01/06/2011
S. Korea in 1997 at the urging of Treasury Secretary Rubin took decisive step to unwind failed financial institutions. This in stark contrast to Treasury Secretary Geither, regulators and U.S. Fed officials actions in 2008 to merge troubled mortgage institutions such as Countrywide and Washington Mutual with Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. In the process creating mega banks that are hard to manage and hard to run, and "too big to fail," according to former and current Fed governors Hoenig and Fisher. Prof. Cochrane of the University of Chicago says the U.S. Federal Reserve's new job as financial regulator after the 2008 financial crisis, is an impossible one.
Linked Articles
Red Flags said to Go Unheeded at Chase
New York Times 05/14/2012
South Korea Makes a Quick Economic RecoveryNew York Times 01/06/2011
Why at the heart of the Volcker Rule for bank regulation, according to Mr. Volcker, is the idea of CEO attestation
10/28/2010
Volcker's advice about writing the rule was to keep it broad so that it limited the room for evasion. Volcker advised regulators to remember what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography -"I know it when I see it." Treasury Secretary Lew pointed to the responsibility of the top executive to "set the right tone," for the whole organization.
Linked Articles
Volcker Rule to Require CEOs Guarantee Compliance
Wall Street Journal 12/06/2013
Volcker on His 'Rule'— Keep It BroadWall Street Journal 10/28/2010
Job saving in Germany, "kurzarbeit" and the experience of piecemeal implementation in France by 2014
07/29/2010
Piecemeal implementation of "kuzarbeit" type job preservation efforts leads to failure in France with unemployment reaching 10.4% by the third quarter of 2014, according to Insee. Proper implementation would require changes in the legal system, and a change in the culture for business, trade unions.
Linked Articles
French Attempt at German-Style Labor Reform Flounders
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2014
The Price of Saving Jobs in GermanyBusinessWeek 07/29/2010
China's policy makers make moves to make the economy less dependent on exports.
01/07/2010
Since 2004 China's consumer spending has fallen behind even more from 40% to 35% as a share of the economy. Steps to reverse this by allowig wages to increase significantly as at this Honda facory in Foshan.
Linked Articles
Unrest May Signal New Phase in China Economy
New York Times 05/29/2010
China Aims to Transform a Nation of Savers Into SpendersWall Street Journal 01/07/2010
Procter and Gamble (P&G) takes early success at low price points in Mexico to other emerging markets Brazil and China- 2009-2014
12/12/2009
Linked Articles
P&G Sales Rise on Strong Demand in Emerging Markets
Wall Street Journal 01/27/2014
P.& G. Sees the World as Its ClientNew York Times 12/12/2009
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
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
As the government sells $5 trillion in new debt by one estimate, the problem of an estimated $ 1 trillion in troubled assets on the banks books is being put off for another day.
06/04/2009
The FDIC's Legacy Loans Program's $1 billion pilot program attracts no interest. The Public Private Partnership Program of Secretary Geithner, like Secretary Paulson's TARP program before Geithner, is also unlikely to attract much interest as banks are not willing to take the prices that would require them to show large losses on their books. But this means that these problems are postponed for another day.
Linked Articles
Plan to Help Banks Clear Their Books Is Halted
New York Times 06/04/2009
Rising Interest on Nations’ Debts May Sap World GrowthNew York Times 06/04/2009
The smaller stimulus and selective investments in 2012-2014 in China and how this affects construction and heavy equipment manufacturers
04/30/2009
The impact on Caterpillar, Volvo AB, Komatsu, John Deere, Cummins and domestic Chinese manufacturers of the smaller stimulus and selective investments in China in the years ahead. Manufacturers are exporting from China during this period of slowing sales in China.
Linked Articles
China Bets Sour for Heavy Equipment Firms
Wall Street Journal 08/16/2012
China's Stimulus Spurs U.S. BusinessWall Street Journal 04/30/2009
Britain's RBS Bank and the incredulous- huge losses and large bonuses in the "Hard Times" of the 2008 financial crisis and again in 2014
02/09/2009
Linked Articles
In U.K., Getting Tough With Nationalized Banks
Wall Street Journal 02/09/2009
Royal Bank of Scotland to Slash Costs as Losses DeepenWall Street Journal 02/28/2014
An Alternate View of U.S., and EU relations with Russia from Gates and German public opinion
01/05/2009
A look back at former Defense Secretary Gates views about Russia in the larger context of the postwar years and what it is today, including Georgia (and Crimea) and other issues. A similiar perspective fom the German side as seen by former chancellor Kohl, Merkel, Schroeder, and Ischinger, going back to the days of Wily Brandt. Brandt was Mayor of West Berlin in the period of enormous tensions between the Soviets and the Federal Republic during the sixties and later initiated the policy of constructive engagement.
Linked Articles
Pentagon Chief Sees Opportunities In Russia and the War on Terrorism
Washington Post 01/05/2009
Germany's Angela Merkel Treads Softly With Russia's Putin On UkraineWall Street Journal 04/08/2014
Declining demand for gold in China by 2014-2015 and the future for gold prices
06/14/2011
Linked Articles
Cooling Chinese Demand for Gold Adds to Metal’s Gloomy Global Outlook
Wall Street Journal 11/04/2014
Investors Going for the Gold in China May Want to ReconsiderWall Street Journal 06/14/2011
Israelis fears and hopes for the Peace Treaty with Egypt
02/01/2011
Israeli opinion is gradually shifting from fears and uncertainty about the situation in Egypt to hope that the Peace Treaty with Egypt will be preserved. The poor economic conditions in Egypt and the need to attract foreign aid and foreign investment reinforce the view that new leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will focus on economic issues. Ehud Barak put this clearly when he said early in the Arab Spring that the movement towards democracy in the Middle East is setting the pathway to modernity.
Linked Articles
Israelis Cling to Faith in Peace Treaty
Wall Street Journal 05/24/2012
Islamists at the GatesNew York Times 02/01/2011
Bringing peace to Kashmir- the elections in 2014 with a 70% turnout as ordinary Kashmiris turn to development and infrastructure building
01/01/2011
Weary of conflict a whole region turns to economic development and infrastructure building plans as the next step to a brighter future. South Asia makes a new beginning as it catches up with its neighbors in East Asia. A billion plus market extending from South Asia to Indonesia makes a new beginning in 2014. Even the Kashmir Valley hears the message- the synergy of technology, capital, human resources and good governance can pave the way to a better future that is within the reach of today's young generation of South Asians and Indonesians.
Linked Articles
Modi’s Campaign Stop in Kashmir Is Notable for Lack of Unrest
New York Times 12/08/2014
Kashmir's troubles: Shaking the mountainsEconomist 01/01/2011
How Apple's Steve Jobs put together the iPhone product in 2004-2007, and how Nokia missed the smartphone opportunity
09/26/2010
Linked Articles
Apple Engineer Recalls the iPhone's Birth
Wall Street Journal 03/26/2014
Nokiaâs New Chief Faces a Culture of ComplacencyNew York Times 09/26/2010
The problems facing Sony after developing the first e-reader in 2004 and the first OLED set in 2007- lack of a consumer mindset
04/22/2010
Competition from lower cost manufacturers adds to earlier problems of not keeping a consumer point of view for new products. A problem common to many of Japan's electronics companies.
Linked Articles
How Japan Lost Its Electronics Crown
Wall Street Journal 08/15/2012
How Vizio Beat Sony in High-Def TVBusinessWeek 04/22/2010
Danone and P&G's (Procter & Gamble) innovative strategies for reaching low income customers in emerging markets.
12/12/2009
In 2004 Indonesian managers showed Franck Riboud, CEO of Danone, a pyramid of customers in Indonesia's population of 240 million people. It showed only 20 million customers at the top of the pyramid as the only ones who could afford Danone products. At that point Ribaud made up his mind to go after the large number of people at the lower end of the pyramid and come with strategies to do this profitably. By 2010 46% of Danone's sales were from emerging markets, up from 10% a decade earlier, showing the pace of the change. Unilever, P&G, Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive and other companies are following similiar strategies. P&G has used Mexico as a lab for experimenting with new products at low price points and Danone has done this in Indonesia.
Linked Articles
Danone Expands Its Pantry to Woo the World's Poor
Wall Street Journal 06/25/2010
P.& G. Sees the World as Its ClientNew York Times 12/12/2009
Yale Prof. Fair and former Labor Secretary Reich differ on impact of yuan appreciation.
11/17/2009
Linked Articles
The Yin and Yang of Yuan Appreciation
Wall Street Journal 06/01/2010
China and the American Jobs MachineWall Street Journal 11/17/2009
Chuck Hagel and the fresh thinking he brings as leading candidate for U.S. Defense Secretary in 2013-
09/03/2009
Linked Articles
Chuck Hagel - Why Going It Alone No Longer Works
Washington Post 09/03/2009
Defense-Chief Candidate Has Conservatives WaryWall Street Journal 12/14/2012
The Economist cites IMF economist estimates that the public debt of the 10 largest industrialized countries will jump from 78% to 114% of GDP by 2014, leading to higher interest rates and inflation.
06/11/2009
The rising public debt and its unsustainability is what the future holds. For governments and decisionmakers there are very difficult choices, as fiscaly austerity and premature fiscal tightening or raising interest ratescan choke off a recovery. Raising taxes as happened earlier in Japan's lost decade also can choke off a recovery. Seriously tacklig health care costs and raising the retirement age, are much needed steps.
Linked Articles
Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest Rates
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2009
The biggest bill in historyEconomist 06/11/2009
The youth vote in India's 2014 and 2009 parliamentary elections
05/02/2009
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/02/2009
Hopes of a Generation Ride on Indian VoteNew York Times 05/15/2014
The NYT editorial questions the wisdom of letting banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs repay government money.
04/26/2009
The heavy lobbying by the banks may skew government decisionmaking, says the NYT, and lead to poor decisions. Banks still face losses in commercial real estate, and the higher unemployment and its effect on the economy could adversely affect their balance sheets.
Linked Articles
New York Times 04/26/2009
Payback TimeNew York Times 06/11/2009
Former Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin, and former SEC Commissioner, Arthur Levitt- leadership and responsibility
01/13/2009
Linked Articles
New York Times 01/25/2009
Parsing Rubin: The Exit MemoNew York Times 01/13/2009
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