Carlos Tavares and the contrast with Fiat Sergio Marchionne, Tesla Elon Musk- the need today for new role models for health and worklife balance, respect for dignity of workern

02/05/2024

Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis that brings together Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, as shown in a WSJ report, respects workers right to have a weekend free of email requests to recharge their batteries for the new week starting Mondays. Tavares sees great value in worklife balance, respect for dignity and health of workers. He believes this delivers productive work better than alternatives such as that under Sergio Marchionne the Fiat leader running Chrysler who worked constantly, with excessively long hours, unending travel and smoking incessantly say reports, that took its toll on health- setting a poor role model for managing business and for the younger generation. A similar situation is presented by Mr. Musk compared to Mr. Tavares. Striking is the respect for the dignity of workers that comes with respecting worklife balance. This was a major issue in this years UAW negotiations. Leaders from Scholz in Germany and Biden in US, Modi in India, have called for respect for dignity of work and workers as the kind of society we want to build and we want to live in. The founder of Silicon Valley Andy Grove who founded Intel that powers the chips on every laptop always reminded his readers this is the kind of society he wanted to live in.

Linked Articles

Elon Musk Says Donald Trump Should ‘Sail Into the Sunset’ in Latest Spat

WSJ 07/12/2022

Gareth Vipers

WSJ 02/04/2024

Kirsten Grind, Emily Glazer, Rebecca Elliott, Coulter Jones

How Carlos Tavares is setting the way for remote workers in an hybrid work model to disconnect during the day and on weekends

07/08/2022

Carlos Tavares heads a auto company that has 75,000 employees across the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America and plans 75 new electric car models by 2030. He favors a hybrid work model and works one week a month from his home in Lisbon, Portugal. He works Portuguese time 7am to 4 or 5 pm when he disconnects from the workday by taking a one hour walk. Germans call this practice "feierabend" literally to break away from work to revitalize and get fresh by say taking a bike ride through the woods or in a park. Tavares does not call or email employees on the weekend, and believes to be in game shape on Monday one needs to disconnect on the weekends.

Linked Articles

Right to disconnect is vital for future health of home workers

04/23/2021

Mike Clancy

WSJ 07/08/2022

Ryan Felton

Carlos Ghosn and Nissan discontent in Japan- the failing Renault-Nissan alliance

12/18/2018

Renault-Nissan's failure to invest in Japan and the lack of interest in Nissan under Ghosn added to worries in Japan about the compensation of Ghosn being larger than all nine top executives of Nissan combined. A deep sense of affront was felt in Japan as one executive put it -"where is the transparency and where is the frugality." This special report by WSJ shows how the ego based executive which is not typical of Japan failed Nissan. It also shows why this type of management is not healthy for companies or the employees and all stakeholders. Its hard driving nature with unhealthy lifestyles is also becoming unpopular today.

Linked Articles

The Fall of the House of Ghosn

WSJ 12/16/2018

Sean Mclain, Phred Dvorak, Sam Schechner, Patricia Kowsmann

WSJ 12/18/2018

William Boston

Jean-Claude Juncker and Der Spiegel on the idea of politicians from traditional parties using the rhetoric of the populist parties

06/16/2017

Linked Articles

Essay: The Dangerous Nationalism of Europe's Left - SPIEGEL ONLINE

SPIEGEL ONLINE 06/16/2017

Spiegel Online, Hamburg, Germany

SPIEGEL ONLINE 06/09/2017

Spiegel Online, Hamburg, Germany

China's currency, the yuan, and the central bank PBOC's effort to limit depreciation of the currency and capital outflows in 2016-2017

01/15/2016

Linked Articles

China’s Jittery Savers Could Pose Capital-Flight Threat

Wall Street Journal 01/15/2016

Aaron Back, Aaron, Back

Wall Street Journal 01/15/2016

Lingling Wei, Lingling, Wei

The devaluation of the yuan in August 2015 as China responds to lower exports, the appreciation of the euro and the yen, and the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to raise rates

08/12/2015

China's currency appreciated 9.2% against the euro and 57% against the Japanese yen with its soft peg to the dollar in 2013-2015. The 8.3% decline in China's exports for July 2015 over the prior year led to the policy action to devalue the Chinese currency, the yuan on August 11, 2015.

Linked Articles

China is trying to save its economy with a cheaper currency - The Washington Post

Washington Post 08/12/2015

Matt O'brien, Matt, O'brien

Wall Street Journal 08/12/2015

Editorial

Deep differences in 2015 between Alexis Tsipras of Syriza and the Merkel government in Germany on debt forgiveness and the bailouts for Greece

01/26/2015

The deep differences between Greeks and Merkel operate at two levels. On the level of austerity policies Greece shares the view with other EU countries, the governments of Hollande in France and Renzi in Italy that austerity is not the best course for the eurozone. This view is also shared by people in Spain facing unemployment exceeding 20%, though the government of Rajoy in Spain like that of Samaras in Greece lived with the austerity policies with some changes. At this level there is also support from within Merkel's coalition government from Social Democrats. The other level of deep differences is on debt forgiveness and bailouts where Greece has to find its own way out in negotiations hoping that the EU and the IMF will agree to make concessions based on action taken by Syriza to ensure prudence in fianncial management. On issues such as minimum wage one would expect Syriza to be firm and make concessions where the hardship does not fall on the poorer and working class, winning support from the Social Democrats in Merkel's coalition. Beyond the symbolic moves and posturing the actual negotiations are likely to take into account the eurozone's need for help on the fiscal side desired by the ECB's Draghi to support monetary easing to fight deflation, and the need to keep the eurozone intact at a sensitive time. Syriza for its part is aware that a majority of Greeks favor staying in the eurozone.

Linked Articles

Greece’s new prime minister wants Germany to pay for Nazi war crimes - The Washington Post

Washington Post 01/26/2015

Ishaan Tharoor, Ishaan, Tharoor

Washington Post 01/27/2015

Griff Witte, Griff, Witte

Two party systems and Malaysia's UMNO Party- (2) the future economic prospects of Malaysia under Razak, India under Modi, Indonesia under Widodo

12/08/2014

Najib Razak follows his father Tun Abdul Razak, Mahathir before him, all the way back to Tunku Abdul Rahman, all of the UMNO party, in an uninterrupted control of the United Malay Naional Organization Party which has ruled Malaysia for almost 6 decades. Malaysia has followed the example of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore by keeping the opposition parties weak to maintain control. Both the UMNO and the party of Lee in Singapore face questions about the merits of suppressing the development of two party systems, at a time when government is changing hands to opposition parties in most of the region and improving economic prospects in each country with a change of government- Abe in Japan, Widodo in Indonesia, Modi and Sharif in India and Pakistan, Aquino in the Philippines, Wickremesinghe in Sri Lanka. A economic drift with no clear direction under Singh and Bhutto in India and Pakistan was reversed with the election of Modi and Sharif, the economic drift and deflation under the Kan and Noda governments was reversed in Japan with the election of Abe, and the economic drift in Indonesia is being reversed by the Widodo government. This shows how critical two party systems are to functioning democracies as middle classes develop and voters look for competing views of the future to choose from.

Linked Articles

Fund Controversy Threatens Malaysia’s Leader

Wall Street Journal 06/19/2015

Tom Wright, Tom, Wright

Wall Street Journal 12/08/2014

Patrick Mcdowell, Patrick, Mcdowell, Ben Otto, Ben, Otto, Matt Murray, Matt, Murray

Much needed boost from lower oil prices for eurozone countries Germany, France, Italy and Spain

10/09/2014

For countries like Germany in the eurozone with what Draghi calls "fiscal space" but did not use it, the drop in oil prices from $100 to $65 in 2014 offers relief at the right time to get back to growth in 2015.

Linked Articles

Falling Oil Prices Spur New Bets on Global Economic Growth

Wall Street Journal 12/08/2014

Ian Talley, Ian, Talley

New York Times 10/09/2014

Jack Ewing, Jack, Ewing, Alison Smale, Alison, Smale

Euribor close to zero and relief for suffering homeowners with mortgages in Spain, Portugal and other eurozone countries

05/28/2014

Most mortgages in Spain and Portugal are based on the Euribor rate. The ECB's monetary policy under Draghi has led to the decline of the Euribor rate to near zero in 2015, giving homeowners in extremely high unemployment countries such as Spain and Portugal much needed relief. Homeowners in Italy, with stagnant incomes and high unemployment, and other eurozone countries also get relief.

Linked Articles

Tumbling Interest Rates in Europe Leaves Some Banks Owing Money on Loans to Borrowers

Wall Street Journal 04/14/2015

Patricia Kowsmann And Jeannette Neumann, Patricia, Kowsmann, And, Jeannette, Neumann

Wall Street Journal 05/28/2014

Matt Moffett, Matt, Moffett, Olivia Crellin, Olivia, Crellin

The 150 million single children of parents, and the 61 million children of migrant workers- today's young generation in China growing up in unusual conditions

01/17/2014

The children of migrant workers were mostly brought up away from parents in rural areas by grandparents. The children born under a single child policy in urban areas had the opposite happen, with too much attention from doting parents. Both groups were raised in a manner not seen anywhere else in the world and face growing pains and lives with different burdens and needs than the rest of us. China's social and economic experiment may have come too fast, as policy planners may only now begin to realize. A lot may need to be done to address their needs and burdens, not so easily seen as the burdens of pollution and contamination whicha are easily observed.

Linked Articles

End of China’s One-Child Policy Stings Its ‘Loneliest Generation’

New York Times 11/13/2015

Javier C. HernÁndez, Javier, C., HernÁndez, Amy Qin, Amy, Qin

Wall Street Journal 01/17/2014

Andrew Browne, Andrew, Browne

Getting economic policy right- A second look at Japan, the European Union and the U.S. in 2014-2015

06/09/2013

In taking a second look, economists Stiglitz and Krugman ask if much derided Japan has avoided the worst effects of unemployment that have affected Spain, Italy, Greece, and France in the eurozone, and for the the long term unemployed in the U.S. And in doing so also avoided the widening income and wealth gaps opened up in the other industrialized countries.

Linked Articles

Apologizing to Japan

New York Times 10/30/2014

Paul Krugman, Paul, Krugman

New York Times 06/09/2013

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Joseph, E., Stiglitz

CBO projections in Jan 2014 show the U.S. debt stabilizing at 74% of GDP in 2014 and deficits below 3% for 2014-2017

12/16/2012

Higher economic growth of about 3% for 2014-2017 and the phasing out of spending to counter the effects of the severe recession of 2008-2010, have helped the U.S. stabilize debt levels and reduce deficits. After 2018 the long range projections show debt to GDP climbing to reach 79% in 2024.

Linked Articles

CBO | The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024

Unknown 02/05/2014

Elmendorf

New York Times 12/16/2012

Paul Krugman, Paul, Krugman