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Economic reform legislation in Israel that unwinds the large conglomerates in Israel, and limits concentration of wealth in a small number of business enterprises limiting competition.

LyrArc Article Gist
UBS presents the losses at the London trading desk as a result of a rogue trading scandal. Stewart points to the culture a the UBS's investment banking operation that is partly responsible. Investment bankers he has talked to at UBS say there is a culture at UBS that encourages individuals to work separately in isolation from others, to make their own deals for advancement, a sort of every person for himself. There is no emphasis on team effort and thinking of the bank first.

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Tax cuts initiated by the Bush administration and to a smaller degree by the Obama administration account for $6.3 trillon of the $10 trillion deficit in 2011. This is about half the $12.7 trillion gap between the $2.3 trillion surplus predicted by the CBO a decade ago for the year 2011 and the current deficit of $10.4 trillon. Two wars and higher defense spending add another $2 trillion. The Stimulus added $700 billon. The Prescription Drug Benefit for seniors $272 billion. This is based on new analysis of CBO data by the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative. The record shows unrestrained spending by both parties has led to the current mess. Pete Domenici who chaired the Senate Budget Committee at the time of the first tax cuts in 2001 says "in the end the floodgates were opened." This also shows how quickly the situation can change if sound fiscal practices are abandoned. Two wars were financed entirely with borrowed money for the first time in U.S. history.

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There appears to be a split in the Iranian leadership about whether Iran should forge ahead with the development of nuclear weapons. National Intelligence Estimate findings, show that economic difficulties resulting from international sanctions may be causing some of the Iranian leadership to question the value of forging ahead with the nuclear weapons program. Iran cut subsidies sharply for fuel, electricity, and food in December 2010.

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T-Mobile USA lost 1.65 million contract customers in 2011 and is clearly negatively impacted by the merger plans. The $3 billion impairment in the value of T-Mobile outweighs the breakup fee received. The $4 billion investment for LTE upgrading will occur in 2013 and additional customers will be lost by then. This puts Verizon and AT&T ahead.

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The choice of Arvind Subramanium as top advisor to the prime minister and finance minister of India, is likely to be received positively. Subramanium is a fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics. He has served in the IMF and the GATT organization that preceded the WTO. Subramanium's appointment complements the appointment of Rajan from the University of Chicago at the Reserve Bank of India. Financial markets and foreign investors are likely to see his appointment as a step in the direction of new policies from the Modi administration to increase growth and investment.