Financial Times (May 30)
“In France, when public servants cash in by taking private sector jobs, it is called pantouflage. In Japan, it is amakudari (“descent from heaven”); and, in the US, it is normal.” The revolving door between government and private sector jobs is a perplexing global issue that recently garnered attention in Britain when the head of tax collection became a consultant to Deloitte.
Tags: Amakudari, Britain, Deloitte, France, Government, Japan, Private-sector, Public servants
New York Times (May 29)
SoftBank’s takeover of the mobile phone provider Sprint could benefit U.S. consumers. SoftBank “was largely responsible for making high-speed Internet affordable to consumers in the early 2000s by offering faster service and at prices that were less than half of N.T.T.’s rates. A few years later, it used a similar low-price strategy in the wireless business. If it competes aggressively in the United States, SoftBank could help shake up the highly concentrated American industry.”
Tags: Consumers, Internet, N.T.T., Phones, Prices, Service, SoftBank, Sprint, Takeover, U.S., Wireless
CFO Magazine (May Issue)
“In the face of extreme weather and natural disasters, companies are reengineering their supply chains for added reliability.” ATMI, Kimberly-Clark, Royal Caribbean and Ford Motor are just a few of the companies “that have elevated climate change in their enterprise risk management methodologies. Indeed, according to a September 2012 survey by the independent Carbon Disclosure Project, 83% of S&P 500 companies are integrating climate change into ERM processes.”
Tags: Carbon Disclosure Project, Climate change, Enterprise risk management, Extreme weather, Natural disasters, Reliability, S&P 500, Supply chains
Financial Times (May 28, 2013)
The visit of China’s Premier Li Keqiang to India brought progress on trade agreements and a new goal to achieve $100 billion in bilateral trade during 2015. The visit helped restore relations, overwrought since territorial incursions, between the two nations which account for nearly two-fifths of global trade. “It will take more than a few trade deals to overcome the suspicion with which India regards its eastern neighbour… But deeper economic ties are a good place to start, as long as both sides play fair. The greater the trade, the better the chance that trust will follow in its wake.”
Tags: Bilateral trade, China, Economic ties, India, Li Keqiang, Suspicion, Trust
Washington Post (May 27, 2013)
The U.S. has often benefited from the dollar which serves as the global exchange currency, but this is “turning into an extravagant curse. The United States wants export-led growth. So do most other countries. Not all can succeed…. The dollar’s global role puts the United States at a special disadvantage. It’s one cause of slow U.S. growth and high joblessness.”
Tags: Dollar, Exchange currency, Exports, Growth, Joblessness, U.S.
Euromoney (May Issue)
“The Cyprus solution is inadequate as well as sending the wrong messages on depositors’ risks and free capital flows. Then there’s Slovenia…and Italy….. So the euro debt crisis is not over….. Markets are far too sanguine about the outcomes.”
Tags: Banks, Cyprus, Debt crisis, Depositors, EU, euro, Free capital flows, Markets, Outcomes, Risks
The Economist (May 25, 2013)
“Unfortunately, the idea that the euro is yesterday’s problem is a dangerous figment. In reality, Europe’s leaders are sleepwalking through an economic wasteland…. For everyone’s sake, Europe’s leaders must shake themselves out of their lethargy. They must grasp that if they do not act, the euro zone faces stagnation or break-up—possibly both.”
Investment Week (May 22, 2013)
Mark Carney will soon head the Bank of England (BOE). In his last speech as Governor of the Bank of Canada, he was critical of European leaders for not doing enough to stimulate the economy, blaming Europe’s lingering recession on “fiscal austerity, low confidence and tight credit conditions” and warning against a lost decade. In contrast, Carney was highly supportive of recent monetary stimulus by the Bank of Japan. Much of Carney’s future success at the BOE will be determined by the state of the eurozone, which accounts for the majority of U.K. trade.
Tags: Bank of Canada, Bank of England, Bank of Japnan, Europe, Fiscal austerity, Japan, Mark Carney, Recession, Stimulus
Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2013)
“Today the U.S. is the world’s largest gas producer and amid the hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling boom could become a global supplier.” Recent approvals have allowed some exports to proceed. “Regulatory indecision,” however, has created a backlog of export proposals, some involving Japanese firms, awaiting approval. “Such deals will wither if regulatory uncertainty grows.”
Tags: Boom, Drilling, Gas producer, Hydraulic fracturing, Japan, Regulatory indecision, U.S., Uncertainty
Washington Post (May 20, 2013)
“For all the wonders of the digital revolution, there is a turbulent and largely hidden underside of theft and disruption that grows by the day; the losses are often not counted in stacks of $20 bills but rather in millions of dollars of intellectual property stolen or compromised. Computer networks are vital to American capitalism and society but remain surprisingly vulnerable to hijack and hijinks.” More worryingly, the electric grid and much of the public infrastructure is also vulnerable. The U.S. needs to “erect better defenses” against cyberattack.
Tags: Computer networks, Cyberattack, Digital revolution, Disruption, Electric grid, Infrastructure, Intellectual property, Losses, U.S.
