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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 importance of vocational training in cities like Dayton, Ohio, with historically low college graduation rates
05/28/2012
These cities are being squeezed by high unemployment and declining incomes from lower paid manufacturing jobs. This makes college education more elusive than ever, and much worse so with the over $1 trillion in college debt in the U.S with spiralling cost of higher education. Vocational training in higher paid fields for families that cannot afford college and children who are not likely to go to college, is the only way not to leave behind a generation of growing children behind in these cities. It is an issue of the utmost importance for renewing America's smaller cities that do not have the advantages of San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Raleigh, S. Carolina, with their advanced university and technology hubs and access to finance.
Linked Articles
As College Graduates Cluster, Some Cities Are Left Behind
New York Times 05/30/2012
It’s time to drop the college-for-all crusade - The Washington PostWashington Post 05/28/2012
Obama and election advisor Plouffe- responsible governance, Simpson-Bowles and an election imprint on "everything"
05/26/2012
A White House aide says election advisor David Plouffe's influence affected "everything" in the Obama White House. Tom Friedman points to the influence of campaign consultants on the White House as overreaching and pervasive, going so far a to describe the campaign being developed in test tube fashion. Karl Rove pointed to president Obama keeping an eye on reelection 18 months before Nov. 6, 2012, as not a positive development. Friedman specifically mentions president Obama's failure to endorse the Simpson-Bowles commssion on deficit reductions as part of the imprint of election advisors because reducing tax expenditures or deductions might prove politically unpopular. Yet this was part of responsible governance to take on unpopular positions- something other presidents, including Democratic president Truman, did not fail to do choosing instead to educate pubic opiion on difficult steps needing to be taken. Truman took the decisions head on such as confronting the soviets in Greece and other parts of Europe and in Korea after the fall of the Iron Curtain, so soon after a major war when the public was weary of conflict.
Linked Articles
Obama Adviser's Strategy Is High Risk, High Reward
Wall Street Journal 10/31/2012
President Obama Should Seize the High GroundNew York Times 05/26/2012
The $436 million payment by Greece to holdout bondholder Dart Management and the $1.5 billion demanded by holdout bondholder Elliott Management leading to Argentine default in 2014
05/15/2012
Greece made the payment to Dart Management at a time of 20% unemployment and daily protests on Athens streets, a month before elections in June 2012. Greece only did this as a last resort for release of EU funds that were being held up to make pament of interest on debt. This exacerabated discontent inside Greece as pensions were being cut and layoffs taking place, including increase in electricity bills. The Syriza party made gains in that election and the two main parties lost ground to other parties, including a violent anti-immigrant party. Argentina's Christina Kirchner faces a difficult time with the unions and centrist parties in Buenos Aires province, with a shortage of cash and sovereign wealth fund down to $29 billion in May 2014. Stevenson points out the payment to Elliott Management could lead to a situation where Argentina owed $15-$27 billion to all holdout and exchange investors in its bonds.
Linked Articles
Argentina Finds Relentless Foe in Paul Singer's Hedge Fund
New York Times 07/30/2014
Bet on Greek Bonds Paid Off for a Vulture FundNew York Times 05/15/2012
Greece, Europe and the Austerity measures- "a swimmer underwater who needs to be able to take a breath" (1)
05/03/2012
Austerity measures alone cannot address the financial problems in the eurozone countries of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy. The need to create opportunities for economic growth.
Linked Articles
Election Heralds Power Shift in Alliance With Germany
Wall Street Journal 05/03/2012
France Reassures Greece on Euro Zone MembershipNew York Times 08/25/2012
De Anza College in Cupertino, California where a Apple co-founder got his start and the implications of tax avoidance strategies
04/28/2012
A U.S. Senate Report in May 2013 points to tax avoidance strategies by Apple, and Apple CEO Tim Cook appears before a Senate hearing. EU leaders meet in Brussels to address the problems of tax avoidance by digital companies which aggravate the budget deficits of EU countries, especially at a time of cutbacks in infrastructure spending and education that supports the digital companies access to to human resources. De Anza College in Cupertino is where on of the Apple cofounders went to school. The head of the college describes the effects of cutbacks in funding on the college. On the other side of the Atlantic Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden's prime minister makes a similiar case saying the digital companies need access to infrastructure and educational centres which makes the payment of taxes used to fund this necessary for the whole system not to fall into dysfunction.
Linked Articles
Apple's Tax Strategy Aims at Low-Tax States and Nations
New York Times 04/28/2012
Europe Tackles Tax EvasionWall Street Journal 05/22/2013
Spain's effort to fix regional finances, austerity measures and risks of high unemployment
04/27/2012
Efforts to fix regional finances with spending cuts have pushed unemployment to about 27% in one of Spain's largest regions, Castilla-La Mancha. As banks consolidate and reduce lending this depresses small and medium sized businesses, the public sector layoff increase unemployment, part time unemployment and the growing underground economy depress tax revenues, creating risks of a downward spiral.
Linked Articles
A Spanish Leader Emerges as a Crusader for Austerity
Wall Street Journal 06/25/2012
Spain, Pursuing Austerity, Still Waits for the PayoffNew York Times 04/27/2012
Samsung and Apple strategies in the smartphone market 2011-2014
04/24/2012
Linked Articles
Samsung Widens Lead Over Apple in Smartphone Market
Wall Street Journal 07/27/2012
The Two-Horse Smartphone RaceWall Street Journal 04/24/2012
India's import bill for energy supplies and its problem with a rising current account deficit
04/11/2012
A sense that India has not managed globalization as well as it should have, is the view expressed by India's central bank governor, Devi Subbarao, at a IMF discussion with Charlie Rose and central bank governors from Mexico and Sweden, Lagarde and and Christina Romer on April 20, 2012 at IMF headquarters. One facet of this is the rising current account deficit, declining foreign investment, and shortages of coal and other energy supplies.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 04/26/2012
India Grapples With Soaring Energy CostsWall Street Journal 04/11/2012
Krugman and Feldstein provide different views on the Fiscal Compact agreement for the Eurozone
04/05/2012
Krugman calls the austerity measures in the Fiscal Compact a form of suicide at a time of high unemployment in coutnries like Spain. Feldstein says the Fiscal Compact does not provide strict spending limits to fix Eurozone finances, with language that allows for exceptions.
Linked Articles
New York Times 04/15/2012
Europe Needs the Bond VigilantesWall Street Journal 04/05/2012
Something for nothing- the political class vs. renewal of the U.S. economy
03/29/2012
New York Mayor Bloomberg, and an editorial in the Washington Post after the Supreme Court hearings on the health care mandate and Medicaid expansion, describe the challenge facing America. The political class in the U.S. is quite content with promising something for nothing, which Bloomberg calls delusional.
Linked Articles
The Supreme Court’s civics lesson - The Washington Post
Washington Post 03/30/2012
Federal Budgets and Class WarfareWall Street Journal 03/29/2012
Deutsche Bank's hit to its image in Germany with legal settlements and ongoing investigations 2009-2013
03/21/2012
The criminal investigation into alleged tax fraud in trading of carbon emissions certificates, the raid at Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt headquarters in Dec. 2012, and arrest of some senior executives, continues problems with the bank's image in Germany since the 2008 financial crisis. Deutsche Bank's was highly leveraged during the 2008 financial crisis and is perceived as contributing to the crisis. Changing the culture at the bank is likely to take more than the introduction of the new co-CEO arrangement in mid 2012 with Anshu Jain and Jurgen Fitschen, say experts. Germany's judiciary was critical of Fitschen for not respecting the independence of the judiciary and understanding the separation of powers for a call he made protesting the raid in the investigation.
Linked Articles
Image Remake Suffers Hit at Deutsche Bank
Wall Street Journal 12/20/2012
Deutsche Bank Lists Litany of Legal RisksWall Street Journal 03/21/2012
The risks facing Spain in 2012 with austerity measures when unemployment is at 23%
03/06/2012
Finance Minister Luis de Guindos sees Spain loosing either way with spending cuts that worsen high unemployment and lower economic growth leading to a worsening debt to GDP ratio in 2012, and this situation in turn raising its borrowing costs on $86 billion in debt issuance for 2012. He estimates the debt to GDP ratio will increase under the 2012 budget of 27 billion euros in cuts and an economy shrinking by 1.7% in 2012, by 10% from 2011 to 78%. Markets are focussing on debt in Portugal and Spain in 2012, after focussing on Greece and Italy in 2011.
Linked Articles
Spain Faces Risks in Budget Refit
Wall Street Journal 04/03/2012
Spain Struggles to Unite Regional Leaders on CutsNew York Times 03/06/2012
Lenovo and the PC market in China and India 2010-2014
05/29/2012
Lenovo now has the largest PC market share in the two fastest growing markets- China and India.
Linked Articles
PC Firm Lenovo Hunts For Brazil Acquisitions
Wall Street Journal 05/29/2012
As Rivals Outsource, Lenovo Keeps Production In-HouseWall Street Journal 07/09/2012
The July 2012 Report by an independent parliamentary panel on the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and prime minister Naoto Kan's testimony
05/28/2012
The report calls the disaster "a profoundly man-made event," and "a disaster 'Made in Japan,' " citing cultural factors that contributed to the accident. It is sharply critical of TEPCO and the Japanese government's response. Both the report and the testimony of the prime minister at the time of the accident, Naoto Kan, refer to the 'nuclear bloc' or 'nuclear village' in Japan that promotes nuclear energy. Some of its actions are dangerous to safety, such as locating the nuclear safety agency NISA inside the same ministry that promotes nuclear power, a critical flaw. Ironically Germany made the decision to make a gradual shift out of nuclear power after looking at the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and near collapse in Japan, while Japan is reactivating its nuclear plants to meet energy needs without having obtained public confidence in the system of nuclear energy including the essential safety actions. The result is a profound credibility gap about the nuclear plant industry, and public opposition in Japan.
Linked Articles
Report blasts Japan’s preparation for, response to Fukushima disaster - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/06/2012
Japan's Ex-Premier, Naoto Kan, Condemns Nuclear PowerNew York Times 05/28/2012
Enrique Pena Nieto's vision for the future of Mexico
05/20/2012
Nieto describes his vision and outlines his plan for Mexico in an op-ed in the NYT and in an interview with Lally Weymouth of the Washington Post. He says this is a new generation and this is not the PRI party of the past.
Linked Articles
New York Times 07/02/2012
Interview with Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto - The Washington PostWashington Post 05/20/2012
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
Sanford Weill of Citigroup, former U.S. Fed chairman Volcker, and other voices calling for breakup of the biggest banks
04/29/2012
Weill pushed hard to repeal the Glass Steagall Act. He now says the housing bubble and the financial crisis have proved that this was a mistake. He called for a breakup of the biggest banks on July 23, 2012, in comments to CNBC.
Linked Articles
Big-Bank Pioneer Now Seeks Breakup
Wall Street Journal 07/25/2012
Warren Stephens: How Big Banks Threaten Our EconomyWall Street Journal 04/29/2012
The rapidly deteriorating unemployment situation in Spain with over 5 million unemployed in April 2012
04/27/2012
A sense that austerity policies are not working because of the speed with which unemployment is rising. Improving competitiveness and structural changes needed but work gradually over time, and this is stacked up against an unemployment situation that is accelerating downward with over 5 million unemployed in April 2012.
Linked Articles
Austerity Adds to Spain's Jobless Woes
Wall Street Journal 04/29/2012
Spain, Pursuing Austerity, Still Waits for the PayoffNew York Times 04/27/2012
The risks to Ford Motor from its European operations in 2013-2014
04/26/2012
Linked Articles
Ford Could Be Slowed by Global Potholes
Wall Street Journal 01/29/2013
Fordâs Challenges Mount in EuropeNew York Times 04/26/2012
The Way Out for the U.S,. Europe, India and Pakistan- Boskin and Shaikh push for expanding trade and a free trade agreement
04/16/2012
A way out of conflict, wasted resources, and misshaped priorities, through a strong push for expanded trade and a free trade agreement between India and Pakistan. After several generations of conflict a way out. An opportunity to do in South Asia what happened between France and Germany under Adenauer, Monnet and De Gaulle. The Shaikh-Boskin proposal calls for expanded trade between India and Pakistan, and a free trade agreement between the two neighbors similiar to NAFTA in North America, and the European Common Market in Europe. This would generate a surge in growth in South Asia similiar to what happened in China in the last two decades and create new opportunities for hundreds of millions of people in South Asia.
Linked Articles
Pakistan's Untold Economic Story
Wall Street Journal 04/24/2012
A Passage to India-Pakistan PeaceWall Street Journal 04/16/2012
India's surging crude oil imports with a depreciating rupee reducing the impact of cuts in fuel subsidies- 2011-2015
04/11/2012
Cuts in fuel subsidies to reduce the current account deficit has less impact with a depreciating rupee. The emerging markets crisis in 2014 focusses attention on the current account deficits of emerging market countries. A decline in foreign investment adds to India's difficulties.
Linked Articles
India Grapples With Soaring Energy Costs
Wall Street Journal 04/11/2012
Rupee Throws Oil on India's Subsidy ProblemWall Street Journal 08/21/2013
Expert opinion and the behaviour of the U.S. stock market in 2009 to 2014- how the shift to a "more normalized growth environment" occurred faster than anticipated
04/02/2012
Expert opinion held that a more normalized growth environment would have to return before a recovery in the U.S. equity markets. This was expected to take a period beyond 2012-2013. The actual situation was a recovery in equity markets earlier than expected with support of $3 trillion in bond buying by the U.S. Fed, and similiar support provided in Europe by the ECB.
Linked Articles
Goldman Sachs: We Like Stocks, Just Not This Year
Wall Street Journal 04/02/2012
Lessons From the Bull MarketWall Street Journal 03/08/2014
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
Wage hikes and excess demand for labor in China in 2012-2013 reduce the need for Stimulus
03/14/2012
The need for stimulus to keep jobs for migrant workers and maintain social stability does not exist in 2012 the way it appeared in 2008, when about 20% of migrant workers lost their jobs and wages for migrant workers fell by 10%, according to estimates by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Stanford University. In 2012 there is excess demand for labor and reports show the efforts to reduce the 60 hour work week in some factories is running into problems with a shortage of labor. This means less need for stimulus that would aggravate problems in the housing bubble and inflation.
Linked Articles
China's Workers in No Need of Stimulation
Wall Street Journal 06/04/2012
China's Wage Hikes Ripple Across AsiaWall Street Journal 03/14/2012
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