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The Obama administration's lack of active support for the democracy movement in Syria follows its slow response in Libya (3)
08/06/2012
Linked Articles
Syrian rebels feel abandoned, betrayed by U.S. - The Washington Post
Washington Post 08/08/2012
McCain, Lieberman and Graham: The risks of inaction in Syria - The Washington PostWashington Post 08/06/2012
Election of a moderate cleric Rohani as Iran's president in 2013 after years of economic discontent from international sanctions.
07/13/2012
Rohani has attended theological seminary. He also attended law school in Tehran University and in Scotland where he completed master's and doctoral degrees in law. This gives him a unique understanding of the concept of the rule of law for an Iranian cleric. He cited his achievement of avoiding international sanctions as chief nuclear negotiator fo president Khatami, contrasting this with the Ahmadinejad years during pre-election televised debates.
Linked Articles
New Iran Leader Seen as Moderating Force
Wall Street Journal 06/16/2013
Iranâs Airliners Falter Under SanctionsNew York Times 07/13/2012
The Mass at Reims Cathedral in France then and now 50 years later for a lasting reconciliation between France and Germany
07/06/2012
German chancellor Adenauer and French president De Gaulle met at Reims Cathedral in May 1962 The service commemorating the 50th anniversary of that historic meeting and service was held recently. It was an occasion to bring together two leaders with diverging opinions on the eurozone financial crisis, Merkel and Hollande. Their mentors Jacques Delors of France and Helmut Kohl of Germany played an important role in setting up the EU and its institutions.
Linked Articles
Fifty Years Later, a New Chance for Reconciliation
Wall Street Journal 07/06/2012
Germany and France Celebrate Their BondNew York Times 07/08/2012
Torrelodones, Castilla La Mancha and the effort to clean up accounts in local government in Spain
06/25/2012
Wasteful spending, cronyism, corruption and lack of transparency in local government marked the years of the construction and real estate boom in Spain. Now grassroots efforts are taking place across Spain to clean up accounts, ensure transparency, and divert wasted resources to meet vital needs. Similiar efforts are taking place from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Sicily, Italy, as Europ faced with high unemployment and austerity cuts comes up with its own efforts for renewal from the bottom up setting the political elites aside.
Linked Articles
Europe's Recession Sparks Grass-Roots Political Push
Wall Street Journal 05/21/2013
A Spanish Leader Emerges as a Crusader for AusterityWall Street Journal 06/25/2012
Germany's distorted national priorities- underinvestment in childcare centers and in wages for childcare and early education teachers
06/06/2012
Melissa Eddy of the NYT provides these two exceptional accounts of Germany's national priorities gone awry as the economic revival takes place in manufacturing, but leaves behind important areas such as early childhood education and child care centers. A lack of investment in the people who form the backbone of the educational system, is one of the forms of the distorted priorities. It may be recorded as the singular lapse of the Merkel administration in the last decade.
Linked Articles
German Child Care Workers’ Strike Brings Debate on Priorities
New York Times 06/05/2015
Germany Considers Subsidies for Non-State Child CareNew York Times 06/06/2012
The focus on reviving the economy of Mohammed Morsi, new president of Egypt
05/25/2012
Egypt faces an economic crisis as it runs out of foreign reserves to finance basic imports. Morsi's election comes at a time when the dominant issues for years in Egypt will shift from the political to the economic as it tries to catch up with other countries in the developing world in Asia and Latin America that have made significant progress.
Linked Articles
Egypt’s president is U.S. critic, but could be an ally - The Washington Post
Washington Post 06/26/2012
Muslim Brotherhood claims lead for its candidate in Egypt’s presidential election - The Washington PostWashington Post 05/25/2012
How JP Morgan Chase let its London trading desk operate without risk management controls leading to large losses
05/18/2012
CEO Dimon is described as distracted by other issues. Ina Drew, the seasoned head of the Chief Investment that manages a $300 billionplus portfolio after the merger of other failed banks into JP Morgan Chase in 2008-2009, contracts Lyme disease in 2010 and is no longer the hands on person when she returns in 2011. Ms. Duersten, in charge of the North American trading desk at the New York office leaves in 2011 after 16 years at Chase. The controls over the London trading desk from New York are slipping away and Mr. Iksil and Mr. Macris of the London trading desk take massive trading positions to expose Chase to large losses. CEO Dimon learns about the Chase trading positions and the London Whale (Mr Iksil) from the Wall Street Journal on April 6, 2012, for the first time, astounding the business community and the financial world.
Linked Articles
Discord at JPMorgan Investment Office Blamed in Huge Loss
New York Times 05/19/2012
Inside J.P. Morgan's BlunderWall Street Journal 05/18/2012
Increasing U.S. dependence on Saudi Arabian oil supplies after sanctions on Iran
04/13/2012
U.S oil imports from Saudi Arabia in the first half 2012 compared to 2011 increased by 20%.
Linked Articles
U.S. Reliance on Saudi Oil Is Growing Again
New York Times 08/16/2012
Pressure on Oil Supply EasesWall Street Journal 04/13/2012
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
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 efforts to build a new Libya from scratch after decades of failure and neglect of basic administration, infrastructure and regions
03/06/2012
Linked Articles
In Libya, despot is gone but chaos reigns - The Washington Post
Washington Post 04/01/2012
Eastern Libya Demands Measure of AutonomyNew York Times 03/06/2012
BP stays in the Gulf after the Gulf Oil Spill
03/03/2012
BP executives say BP plans to invest $4 billion each year in oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico for the next decade, 2012-20122. Investments will be made in safety for deep water drilling.
Linked Articles
BP Expects to Spend $4 Billion a Year in Gulf
Wall Street Journal 04/30/2012
BP, plaintiffs reach Gulf of Mexico oil spill settlement - The Washington PostWashington Post 03/03/2012
Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, as the leaders of China after 2012, and the future direction of the economy.
02/23/2012
A gradual change away from the dominance of state owned companies as China shifts direction. The World Bank-DRC Report as the first step in this direction, marking the beginning of the beginning.
Linked Articles
Xi Appeals for 'Purity' Amid Party Scandal
Wall Street Journal 03/16/2012
New Push for Reform in ChinaWall Street Journal 02/23/2012
Spain macroprudential supervision of its banking system once lauded now turns out to be "timid" and false, could the same be true for China?
07/18/2012
Spain's central bank had a reputation of providing good supervision for Spain's banking system. The problems at the Cajas Savings banks and the current assessment after the request for $125 billion in EU funds for Spain's banks shows how this turned out to be false. Does China face a similiar problem with its housing bubble. The U.S., UK and Spain, failed to control and manage the effects of a housing bubble, can China be a lone exception? Rapid growth enabled China to cope with bad loans in the banking system, with slower growth, a weak European market for exports, and a stimulus that is about one eighth the size in annual investment- one trillion yuan over 4 years in the current stimulus compared to 4 trillion over 2009-2010 in the last stimulus plan. Can China manage this bubble, does it have the experience managing this type of problem or has it papered over the problems as Spain did? This has repercussions for industries and countries from the export sector in Germany, Australia and Brazil to industries such as the German automobile industry, and companies such as Caterpillar.
Linked Articles
As China’s economy slows, real estate bubble looms - The Washington Post
Washington Post 10/03/2012
Spanish Official: Slow Reaction to CrisisWall Street Journal 07/18/2012
Spain gets an extra year till 2014 to bring budget deficits down to below 3%
07/10/2012
A decline in GDP is leading to lower tax revenues leading to a relaxation of deficit targets. Spain faces an unemployment rate of 27% in 2012
Linked Articles
Euro Zone Eases Budget Demand on Spain
Wall Street Journal 07/10/2012
Spain Braces for Renewed Austerity as Tax Take HemorrhagesUnknown 07/10/2012
The Obama's administration's lack of active support for the democracy movement in Syria follows its slow response in Libya (1)
06/28/2012
Linked Articles
Syrian rebels feel abandoned, betrayed by U.S. - The Washington Post
Washington Post 08/08/2012
Turkey Steps Up to the Assad ChallengeWall Street Journal 06/28/2012
Boeing and lessons learned from the $50 billion Dreamliner project- (1) a shift to incremental improvement for the path ahead
06/08/2012
No more moonshot projects, say CEO McInerney, and Ray Conner, head of the airplanes division. The cost of the Dreamliner exceeds $50 billion by 2015, according to Barclays Capital, including R&D and related costs. The focus is now on incremental change, on striving for simplicity, reducing complexity, and increasing reliability, after the experience of over 3 years of repeated delays, cost overruns, and reliability failures, high complexity, and overloaded manufacturing processes on the Dreamliner project.
Linked Articles
At Boeing, Innovation Means Small Steps, Not Giant Leaps
Wall Street Journal 04/03/2015
Boeing Hits a MilestoneWall Street Journal 06/08/2012
A recovery in auto sales in the U.S. market to the annual 14 million vehicle level in 2012
06/01/2012
The aging of vehicles to about 10.8 years on average for vehicles on the road in the U.S. is supporting a reovery in the automobile market in 2012. The strong recovery for Japanese automakers in the U.S. is reducing the advantage of American automakers who benefitted from the shortages of Japanese cars after the tsunami in Japan in 2011. The recovery for Japanese automakers is uneven with Toyota doing better than Honda in the U.S.
Linked Articles
May Car Sales Keep Up Healthy Pace
New York Times 06/01/2012
U.S. Auto Sales Keep RisingWall Street Journal 06/02/2012
Span's Cajas Savings bank, problems with managment and culture, lack of financial controls, and the large losses from the real estate bubble
05/24/2012
Bankia was the new name for seven troubled cajas savings banks that were merged. The failure of the government's handling of the bad real estate debt, the collapse of the IPO price for bankia's IPO, and the insovency followed by takeover of Bankia by the government, is what led to the $125 recapitalization request by Spain to the EU. The cajas in Galicia give an insight into the operation of these savings banks, in many cases run by leaders who became influential in the political system and expanded healvily int real estate during the bubble years. Management remained in place for decades with authoritarian leaders and there were no financial controls.
Linked Articles
Clash of Cultures Upends Spain's Cajas
New York Times 08/20/2012
Spain to Recapitalize Bankia in Latest BailoutWall Street Journal 05/24/2012
The remarkable achievement of Governor Jerry Brown of California- a budget surplus of $851 million for fiscal 2013
05/14/2012
The impossible becomes possible in California as political hurdles are overcome and the state's economy improves. The budget preserves spending priorities for education and healthcare by cutting back in other areas, another remarkable feat- a lasting legacy for Brown's second act as governor. His father was governor in the Kennedy years, he was governor in the 1980's.
Linked Articles
State’s Rare Sight: A Budget Surplus
Wall Street Journal 01/10/2013
Brown Proposes $8.3 Billion in Cuts for CaliforniaNew York Times 05/14/2012
Wide divergence in P/E ratios of France and Germany compared to the U.S. in March 2012
04/06/2012
The 10 year P/E ratios of France and Germany at 12 compared to the U.S.'s at 22 show a wide divergence in the P/E ratios. Analysts say this shows the U.S. equity market is overextended. One estimate shows a price valuation divergence of 10%, more than what is justified by "safety" and other concerns.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 04/07/2012
Job Growth Loses SteamWall Street Journal 04/06/2012
The absence of solutions to the underlying problem of increasing U.S. health care costs in fiscal cliff deficit negotiations
04/03/2012
Without a new approach to increasing health care costs, especially considering the demographic changes in the U.S. with more people on Medicare in future years, the problems of defunding other areas such as education, R&D, and infrastructure, to fund these increases is likely to continue. Estimates show that the 50 million Americans enrolled in Medicare in 2012 will grow to 80 million by 2030, according to the Medicare program actuaries. Demographic changes as the baby boom generation ages mean more Americans relying on Medicare and Medicaid. With continually increasing health care costs from costly technologies, increasing of diabetes, asthma and other diseases, pricing in the medical industry, and some fraud costs, this is a toxic mix that will lead to to a situation where one of three dollars in spending get swallowed up here.
Linked Articles
Beneath Budget Battle, a Health-Spending Juggernaut
Wall Street Journal 12/17/2012
What to Do on the Day After ObamaCareWall Street Journal 04/03/2012
Problems of unemployment and part-time employment in the U.S. in the first half of 2012
03/12/2012
Linked Articles
It's Good Work if You Can Get It—and Especially if You Can Keep It
Wall Street Journal 07/07/2012
Piecing Together the Job-Picture PuzzleWall Street Journal 03/12/2012
The administration of Japanese premier Noda after Ichiro Ozawa leaves the DPJ party
03/04/2012
Linked Articles
Rival of Japan’s prime minister fails to strike critical blow to ruling party - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/03/2012
Prime Minister Noda says tax hike essential for Japan's sustainability - The Washington PostWashington Post 03/04/2012
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
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