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Mexico's failures in introducing competition in the economy and addressing problems in education that restrict its growth potential 2011-2015
08/27/2011
The need for competition and other private sector involvement in sectors such as oil, telecom, airlines and other sectors, and the reform of labor laws that reduce GDP growth by an estimated 2.5%. The Mexican educational system suffers from a lack of trained teachers and change is blocked by a powerful union leading to poorly educated workers from the public educational system.
Linked Articles
Mexico’s economy: Making the desert bloom
Economist 08/27/2011
Mexico’s failing schools spell defeat for ruling party - The Washington PostWashington Post 06/09/2012
Increasing domestic consumption in Saudi Arabia will diminish reserve supplies and put pressure on oil prices in 2012-2013
06/23/2011
Saudi domestic consumption increasing at 10% a year will diminsh the Saudi role as a reserve supplier. Estimates are for zero reserve supplies by 2020 and oil imports by 2038, so large is the effect of growing use of oil at home. The Arab Spring means subsidies and social spending will increase, supporting continuing use of oil at current levels for a rapidly growing population.
Linked Articles
The End of the Saudi Oil Reserve Margin
Wall Street Journal 04/03/2012
Rising Saudi Thirst for Oil Drives Plans to Go NuclearWall Street Journal 06/23/2011
Pfizer and Merck organize R&D using international innovation hubs- 2011-2015
05/02/2011
Efforts to tap into the latest external science at universities and research centers outside company labs is leading pharmaceutical companies to try a different approach to R&D. Pfizer closed its R&D facility in Sandwich, England and opened one in Cambridge. It opened hubs in Boston, La Jolla. Merck has followed this approach with a decision to setup innovaton hubs in Boston, San Francisco, London and Shanghai.
Linked Articles
Merck Plans Radical Overhaul of Drug R&D Unit
Wall Street Journal 12/28/2013
Life Beyond Lipitor for Pfizer ChiefWall Street Journal 05/02/2011
OPEC social programs and need to maintain high oil prices
04/18/2011
PFC Energy estimates a price of $90 at which Saudi Arabia would start cutting output to maintain a floor on oil price to support large spending programs after the democracy protests in Arab countries.
Linked Articles
Fears of a 2008 Repeat for Oil
Wall Street Journal 03/18/2012
Overheard: Oil and UnrestWall Street Journal 04/18/2011
The human faces of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan
03/28/2011
Faces at the Tokyo Electric Power Company, workers at the site of the disaster in Fukushima prefecture, the Tepco president in Tokyo, and other faces.
Linked Articles
Amid Fight to Stem Threat, Tepco Worker's Email Reveals Personal Struggle
Wall Street Journal 03/28/2011
Vanishing act by Japanese executive during nuclear crisis raises questions - The Washington PostWashington Post 03/29/2011
Lower economic growth in the U.S. and Europe from oil price increases in 2012
03/01/2011
Linked Articles
Fears of a 2008 Repeat for Oil
Wall Street Journal 03/18/2012
Oil's Rise Threatens Economic GrowthWall Street Journal 03/01/2011
The slow shift to healthy choices at grocery chains and restaurants in the U.S. even as the healthcare costs reach alarming proportions
01/20/2011
U.S. companies, workers, and the U.S. economy is squeezed between the growth in obesity related diabetes and other obesity related diseases and the growth in health care costs to treat these diseases. Yet no coordinated action plan exists to tackle the problem between companies, government, universities, public interest groups, and other groups. And the progress charted out by grocery chains, restaurants and other organizations in the food business to provide and encourage healthy choices is incredibly slow.
Linked Articles
Wal-Mart Plans to Make Its House Brand Healthier
New York Times 01/20/2011
Low-Cal Items Fuel Restaurant SalesWall Street Journal 02/07/2013
China's efforts to build its Strategic Oil Reserves in 2011-2012 and pressure on oil prices in 2012 (2)
12/30/2010
Linked Articles
China Seen Bolstering Oil Reserves
Wall Street Journal 04/11/2012
China May Throw Wrench Into Oil MarketWall Street Journal 12/30/2010
The growth compact for Europe: increasing German wages to benefit German workers and increase imports from other eurozone countries
08/17/2010
German workers exercized a decade of wage restraint under the Hartz reforms. This has led to a large increase in the sector of lower paid workers. Polls show 4 out of 5 workers feel they have not benefitted from the growth in the economy in Germany. Higher German wages coupled with wage restraint in France, Spain, Italy and other eurozone countries would help increase imports into Germany from other eurozone coutnries. This would help rebalance the eurozone economies.
Linked Articles
Germany's Inflated Fear of Inflation
Wall Street Journal 02/14/2012
German Workers' Wages Belie Country's ReboundWall Street Journal 08/17/2010
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
Research and Development (R&D) approaches of pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Glaxo with smaller budgets and smaller units
07/01/2010
Linked Articles
Pfizer Profit Declines 19% After Loss of Lipitor Patent
New York Times 05/01/2012
Glaxo Tries Biotech Model to Spur Drug InnovationsWall Street Journal 07/01/2010
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
Workers at Hon Hai, Honda, and other companies in China struggle for higher wages.
05/29/2010
China's governmet policy shifts to encourage higher wages to promote domestic consumption.
Linked Articles
Unrest May Signal New Phase in China Economy
New York Times 05/29/2010
Hon Hai to Raise Workers' PayWall Street Journal 05/29/2010
Ford Motor Company's push to meet new fuel efficiency standards on the F-150 for 2014
07/27/2011
Ford plans to cut body weight on the F-150 pickup truck by 700 pounds, 15% of the body weight, by switching to aluminium from steel. This will enable a 25% increase in fuel efficiency.
Linked Articles
Ford's Trade-In: Truck to Use Aluminum in Place of Steel
Wall Street Journal 07/27/2012
Five Car Makers Back White House's Tougher Fuel Economy RulesWall Street Journal 07/27/2011
Contrasting approaches of Germany and France after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan
05/11/2011
Linked Articles
Panel Urges Germany to Close Nuclear Plants by 2021
New York Times 05/11/2011
France's Election Heats Up over Nuclear PowerBusinessWeek 12/01/2011
BP's steady focus on safety under CEO Bob Dudley
04/20/2011
Dudley says BP is not going to get off the path of focus on safety, and "stepping up the accelerator of performance, thats not going to happen." BP's second quarter 2012 performance reflected lower levels of production to permit maintenance and improvements in infrastructure at its deep water oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico. Similiar maintenance will be undertaken at North Sea fields in the rest of 2012. Cost cutting on maintenance and infrastructure improvements to improve profit performance created an environment that led to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and created huge legal liabilities.
Linked Articles
BP Posts Unexpectedly Large Loss
New York Times 07/31/2012
The Lessons of Deepwater HorizonWall Street Journal 04/20/2011
Shift in U.S. energy dependence away from the Persian Gulf region and the Middle East
04/02/2011
Increase supplies from oil sands in Canada, development of oil and natural gas from shale deposits in the U.S. and the drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico are shifting the U.S. away from dependence on the Persian Gulf region for oil.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 12/12/2011
Stepping on the GasWall Street Journal 04/02/2011
Apple's low tax rate of 9.4% on global profits
03/24/2011
Companies ranging from Apple and Google to GE pay low tax rates. The New York Times reports that corporate share of U.S. tax receipts dropped from 30% in the 1950's to 6.6% in 2009. This has a serious impact on states and local governments and the federal government as they cut essential services and education to balance their budgets or lower deficits.
Linked Articles
Apple's Tax Strategy Aims at Low-Tax States and Nations
New York Times 04/28/2012
G.E.'s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes AltogetherNew York Times 03/24/2011
The Elop memo in 2011 and the sale of Nokia's mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2013- the startling change of fortunes for Nokia
02/09/2011
Nokia was a pioneer in the development of mobile phones in an earlier era when fixed lines were the norm. It dominated the mobile phone business in the period before 2009 for 2 decades before the coming of smartphones. The change in Nokia's market came quickly and suddenly with the advent of the iPhone and Nokia was unprepared for this development. This is a classic case of obsolesence and disruptions caused by innovation and new technologies. Other companies from the previous era before cloud computing and the internet, H-P, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft, face the continuing challenge to adapt or lose to new competitors.
Linked Articles
Microsoft in $7 Billion Deal for Nokia Cellphone Business
Wall Street Journal 09/03/2013
Full Text: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop’s ‘Burning Platform’ MemoWall Street Journal 02/09/2011
How Samsung jumped ahead of Sony in the smartphone market- the dismal failure of the Sony-Ericsson joint venture
01/07/2011
The glaring weaknesses of the Sony-Ericsson mobile joint venture was the slow decisionmaking and the inability to take advantage of Sony's strengths in manufacturing and its companywide technological capabilities. As late as 2011 Samsung was struggling behind other competitors. A key advantage was the quick decisionmaking and marshalling of resources within the company for the smartphone effort in Samsung. The joint venture proved to be a disaster for Sony.
Linked Articles
Samsung Moves in Smartphone Race
Wall Street Journal 01/07/2011
Sony Stakes Recovery on New SmartphoneWall Street Journal 03/01/2013
The striking change for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the companies return $185 billion in aid provided by the U.S. government by 2013
11/04/2010
By 2013 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac return almost all of the $186 billion in aid injected by the U.S. government during the housing and mortgage crisis.
Linked Articles
Fannie, Freddie Payments Nearly Match Aid
Wall Street Journal 11/08/2013
Fannie, Freddie Overhaul Could Cost $685 BillionWall Street Journal 11/04/2010
Local governments and state-owned companies are fueling a real estate bubble in China in 2009-2010.
07/29/2010
Northwestern University Prof. Shih estimates that state banks in China hold $1.68 trillion in debt of local investment companies which invest for local governments. In many cases the banks have little collateral. The central government in China aggressively supported this lending to quickly get money to projects in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, but this may have backfired with money going into speculation and building a bubble.
Linked Articles
Chinaâs Real Estate Boom and Conflicting Policy
New York Times 08/01/2010
Where China Hides Its DebtBusinessWeek 07/29/2010
Greece's referendum and the 3 year bailout of July 12, 2015- military spending, shipowners taxes, and cuts to pensions
07/10/2010
Greece's left Syriza government almost pulled the country out of the eurozone over pension cuts, even as military spending in Greece remained at 2.4% of GNP compared to close 1.4% for the EU average. Greece did not propose further cuts to military spending to bring the Greece ratio closer to that of Germany and other countries in Europe, raising questions about prudent spending. Which is why Greece sometimes has aspects of the surreal to people not just in Germany and Holland, but other parts of Europe, and outsiders. Under the reform proposal and bailout of July 12, 2015 following the "no" referendum, Greece's parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the similiar cuts in pensions from an earlier EU proposal, with cuts of $300 million to the military spending by 2016. Greek shipowners will also pay taxes under the new bailout, negotiated by Greece with France's help when the referendum had damaged relations with the rest of the EU, particularly Germany with only 10% in polls willing to support any further concessions.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2015
The Submarine Deals That Helped Sink GreeceWall Street Journal 07/10/2010
BP's failure in the Gulf Oil Spill and the Justice Department settlement in Nov. 2012
06/15/2010
The Justice Department filed criminal charges against engineers and managers at BP citing wanton and negligent conduct.
Linked Articles
In BP Indictments, U.S. Shifts to Hold Individuals Accountable
New York Times 11/15/2012
Oil Executives Try to Explain Differences From BPNew York Times 06/15/2010
Crisis Prevention Insights from the 2008 financial crisis to the BP oil spill and Fukushima- the role of "human failure"
06/11/2010
Linked Articles
The Oil Disaster Is About Human, Not System, Failure
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2010
Report blasts Japan’s preparation for, response to Fukushima disaster - The Washington PostWashington Post 07/06/2012
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