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The Volcker Rule banning proprietary trading by banks and recommendations by the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council
01/20/2011
Linked Articles
Charlie Rose Talks to Paul Volcker
BusinessWeek 10/27/2011
Volcker Rule May Work, Even if Rules Are VagueNew York Times 01/20/2011
Abbott Labs and aggressive marketing from stent use in hospitals to use of Depakote in nursing homes
12/06/2010
Linked Articles
Abbott Laboratories to pay $1.6 billion over illegal marketing of Depakote - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/08/2012
Abbott Hired Barred DoctorWall Street Journal 12/06/2010
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
The faces of the 61 million migrant workers away from parents, and of the 150 million children in single child families doted on by parents
08/27/2010
Linked Articles
End of China’s One-Child Policy Stings Its ‘Loneliest Generation’
New York Times 11/13/2015
Lixin Fan, Trailing Chinese Migrant WorkersNew York Times 08/27/2010
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
From online retail to selling consumer goods - different ways of selling in Nigeria, rural India, rural Brazil and other emerging markets
12/12/2009
Linked Articles
In Nigeria, Rising Dreams of Web Commerce
Wall Street Journal 06/03/2012
P.& G. Sees the World as Its ClientNew York Times 12/12/2009
Ed Whitacre and the revival at General Motors- restarting an American icon that had fallen into bad ways
11/13/2009
The management changes and the management style that went into changing General Motors, once an icon of American enterprise in the prewar and early post war period.
Linked Articles
After Bankruptcy, G.M. Struggles to Shed a Legendary Bureaucracy
New York Times 11/13/2009
Ed Whitacre's Battle to Save GM from ItselfBusinessWeek 04/29/2010
Bill Gates and David Rieff on the untapped resource for India and the global economy of India's children
10/11/2009
The challenge of getting hundreds of millions of rural Indian children into the development mainstream through better healthcare, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, education and agricultural improvement is the next major challenge for India and the global economy. It is a huge untapped resource for India and the global economy.
Linked Articles
Bill Gates: What I Learned in the Fight Against Polio
Wall Street Journal 11/10/2013
India’s Malnutrition DilemmaNew York Times 10/11/2009
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
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
The crisis in Eastern Europe and other developing countries and the G20 policy mandate to the IMF to support social help and stimulus spending
03/28/2009
The G-20 mandate that the IMF be the conduit for funds to help emerging countries, with the policy direction that an additional $850 billion be used not only to fix finances, but also emphasize social goals, and help people in these countries cope with the crisis. This is of great help to countries in difficulty, and assurance that the social fabric in these countries will not be torn apart as has happened before, and that people will get the necessary assistance.
Linked Articles
Steven Pearlstein - A Rare Triumph of Substance at the Summit
Washington Post 04/03/2009
Eastern Europe and the Financial CrisisWall Street Journal 03/28/2009
As capital markets shun small biotech startups large drug companies raise money for acquisitios and mergers.
03/16/2009
Drug companies have $155 billion they plan to use for mergers and acquisitions and are tapping the bond markets for funds. Meantime small biotech startups are running short of cash in large numbers. Will this squeeze innovation and new products as startups wither and the mergers run into problems?
Linked Articles
Drug Firms Bet Big on High-Risk Deals
Wall Street Journal 03/17/2009
Cash Dries Up for Biotech Drug FirmsWall Street Journal 03/16/2009
The administration's idea that somehow the bad asset problem can be solved by wishful thinking.
03/06/2009
Can a bad asset at abank really be disposed off through private investors purchases with the help of government money? Under the current circumstances who will decide the value of an asset, and would banks be willing to sell them at 40 cents when they see them worth 50 cents on the dollar?
Linked Articles
Economists Seek Breakup of Big Banks
Wall Street Journal 04/21/2009
The Big DitherNew York Times 03/06/2009
Increasing use of temporary workers in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece- the consequences for young people
01/01/2011
Linked Articles
Frenzy Over Teaching Test Points to Italyâs Woes
New York Times 12/24/2012
Lack of Jobs in Southern Europe Frustrates the YoungNew York Times 01/01/2011
The Volcker Rule banning proprietary trading by banks and its implementation
10/28/2010
Linked Articles
Volcker to Push Back on Banks' Trading
Wall Street Journal 02/13/2012
Volcker on His 'Rule'— Keep It BroadWall Street Journal 10/28/2010
Selling in smaller towns and rural areas of emerging markets
08/30/2010
Suzuki in India, Adidas and Philips NV in China maintain sales momentum by moving to smaller towns and rual areas in emerging markets.
Linked Articles
Philips's CEO Urges Local Strategies for Emerging Markets
Wall Street Journal 08/30/2010
Maruti Suzuki Bets Big on BackwatersWall Street Journal 12/24/2013
Who is the sucker in this war? Mohamed Hanif and Thomas Friedman offer two perspectives on the Afghan war.
07/31/2010
Mohamed Hanif of the BBC's Urdu Service gives the view of ordinary Pakistanis outside of the small military and civilian elite that runs Pakistan. They are just looking in and are more interested in the electricity that can illuminate a village, than with an obsession for India. Pakistan has lagged in economic development and has no emerging middle class like India. Friedman of the New York times sees America a the sucker in this game, but is oblivious to the feeling of ordinary Pakistanis who were never part of this.
Linked Articles
In Pakistan, Echoes of American Betrayal
New York Times 07/31/2010
The Great (Double) GameNew York Times 07/31/2010
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
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
David Rieff provides insights on why all developing countries, Mexico, Brazil, India, Indonesia and China need to take child malnutrition seriously
10/11/2009
The Indian lower house of parliament passed a Food Security bill in August 2013. Rieff says China made serious progress to reduce malnutrition from over 21% for children under 5 years to around 7% today after 1990. In India malnutrition for children under 5 years is above 40%. There is a lot that developing coutnries can learn from each other in this area including the Bolsa Familia program in Brazil which uses the concept of improving vaccination for children and school attendance as requirements for subsidy payments to the poor. Mexico and Indonesia have different versions of programs to help the poorer sections of society. The problem is acute in India because of indifference induced by caste and other considerations and the high level of malnutrition for children. Rief says how good is ademographic dividend when many of these children are permanently and silently impaired by malnutrition by the age of three. India's Congress party leader, Sonia Gandhi, put it differently in parliament: "What is our responsibility to these people?"
Linked Articles
New York Times 10/11/2009
India's Lower House Passes Food Bill to Help PoorWall Street Journal 08/26/2013
Intractable conflicts and a way out- the U.S., Europe, India and Pakistan in Afghanistan, and South Asians in Kashmir
09/23/2009
Linked Articles
Obama Is Considering Strategy Shift in Afghan War
New York Times 09/23/2009
Kashmir's troubles: Shaking the mountainsEconomist 01/01/2011
Bank lending still in bad shape in April 2009.
04/16/2009
Not much of the bailout or recovery by banks is showing up in lending practices. Is it ashort lived recovery in bank stocks and one quarter earnings that will fizzle out, and meantime with credit still tight the economy deteriorates.
Linked Articles
Economists Seek Breakup of Big Banks
Wall Street Journal 04/21/2009
Lending By Bailout Recipients Falls AgainWashington Post 04/16/2009
Fighting for Main Street against an Ersatz Capitalism and Bankers
04/01/2009
Stiglitz uses the term "ersatz" to refer to something not genuine, a false substitute for real capitalism, in describing the Obama adminsitration's handling of highly overleveraged and badly managed banks in the 2008 global financial crisis.
Linked Articles
New York Times 04/01/2009
Ex-Regulators Has Harsh Words for Geithner and BankersNew York Times 09/24/2012
The Rosenfeld-Krugman solution for clean banks and new lending in the economy.
03/23/2009
Krugman and Rosenfeld, in no uncertain terms, say the only solution is for government to seize insolvent banks and create clean banks, using its existing authority and government money. Rosenfeld outlines his solution which puts banks back in private hands quickly or at the earliest possible moment.
Linked Articles
New York Times 04/06/2009
Financial Policy DespairNew York Times 03/23/2009
Child hunger in India and India's Food Security legislation in August 2013
03/13/2009
Food expert Rieff cites figures showing child malnutrition at over 40% in India for children under the age of 5 in 2009. A World Food Program report says 230 million people in India are hungry each year. India's Food Security legilation has to be seen in this context. Rieff says India is in danger of losing its demographic dividend as a result of child malnutrition. All developing countries can learn from each other and their programs to reduce child malnutrition, improve health care and vaccinations, and introduce healthy food and sanitary practices. Programs are in place in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, and China.
Linked Articles
As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists
New York Times 03/13/2009
India's Lower House Passes Food Bill to Help PoorWall Street Journal 08/26/2013
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