New York Times (May 11)
Congress is “slower than snail mail.” The United States Postal Service (USPS) needs to make reforms. Unfortunately, these require Congressional agreement. While Congress delays, the USPS “is running deficits of $36 million a day. It will go bankrupt this year and annual losses could rise to $21 billion a year by 2016.”Congress is “slower than snail mail.” The United States Postal Service (USPS) needs to make reforms. Unfortunately, these require Congressional agreement. While Congress delays, the USPS “is running deficits of $36 million a day. It will go bankrupt this year and annual losses could rise to $21 billion a year by 2016.”
Los Angeles Times (May 9)
“Perhaps the only silver lining to the Great Recession is that it triggered a new focus on manufacturing in the United States. After 25 years of being sold a shiny vision of a service-dominated post-industrial economy, the U.S. is rediscovering how important it is to actually make things in order to spur innovation, raise wages, drive exports and lower the trade deficit.”
Tags: Exports, Great Recession, Innovation, Manufacturing, U.S., Wages
Washington Post (May 8)
“Nicolas Sarkozy is merely the latest leader felled by Europe’s economic crisis and the lassitude of its citizens. His flamboyant, hyperkinetic persona had grown jarringly dissonant with the grayness of the times and undermined his demands for belt-tightening and sacrifice by his countrymen.” France’s new president Francois Hollande will bring a change in tone. Blasé, rather than flamboyant, Hollande “has made clear that he will be less compliant than Sarkozy in the face of Germany’s demands.” Still, Hollande is more likely to bring “changes around the margins” than radical change, excepting his obvious change in demeanor.
“Nicolas Sarkozy is merely the latest leader felled by Europe’s economic crisis and the lassitude of its citizens. His flamboyant, hyperkinetic persona had grown jarringly dissonant with the grayness of the times and undermined his demands for belt-tightening and sacrifice by his countrymen.” France’s new president Francois Hollande will bring a change in tone. Blasé, rather than flamboyant, Hollande “has made clear that he will be less compliant than Sarkozy in the face of Germany’s demands.” Still, rather than radical change, Hollande is likely to bring “changes around the margins,” in addition to his more obvious changes in demeanor.
Bloomberg (May 7)
Greece’s election “raised the risk that the nation will exit the euro and prompted calls for policies to boost European economic growth.” The likelihood that Greece will quit the euro in the next 12-18 months has risen to 50%-75% according to Citigroup Inc. economists Guillaume Menuet and Juergen Michels.
Greece’s election “raised the risk that the nation will exit the euro and prompted calls for policies to boost European economic growth.” The likelihood that Greece will quit the euro in the next 12-18 months has risen to 50%-75% according to Citigroup Inc. economists Guillaume Menuet and Juergen Michels.
Tags: Ecoonomists, euro, Exit, Greece, Risk
CNN (May 7)
“As Japan began its workweek Monday morning, the trains ran exactly on time, the elevators in thousands of Tokyo high rises efficiently moved between floors, and the lights turned on across cities with nary a glitch.” But it wasn’t a normal Monday. Japan’s last operating nuclear reactor had shut down. “For the first time in four decades, none of the energy on this working day is derived from a nuclear reactor.”
Tags: Electricity, Japan, Nuclear reactors
Financial Times (May 5)
“A wave of shareholder insurrection is going through the corporate world…. In the past three weeks, managers have faced rebellions against executive pay packages at UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Xstrata, Aviva, Trinity Mirror, and Inmarsat…. This ‘shareholder spring’ has, like the Arab version, cost executives their jobs.” Shareowners are finally “waking up to the fact that ‘pay for performance’ too often translates into pay without the performance to match.” Non-binding “say on pay” votes are shaking things up, but “shareholders deserve more clout. Approval votes on executive pay should be made binding.”
“A wave of shareholder insurrection is going through the corporate world…. In the past three weeks, managers have faced rebellions against executive pay packages at UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Xstrata, Aviva, Trinity Mirror, and Inmarsat…. This ‘shareholder spring’ has, like the Arab version, cost executives their jobs.” Shareowners are finally “waking up to the fact that ‘pay for performance’ too often translates into pay without the performance to match.” Non-binding “say on pay” votes are shaking things up, but “shareholders deserve more clout. Approval votes on executive pay should be made binding.”
Tags: Binding, Executive pay, Non binding, Say on pay, Shareowners
Wall Street Journal (May 4)
“The unemployment rate fell a tick to 8.1%, albeit mainly because the labor force shrank by 342,000.” This is a major worry. In April, the civilian labor participation rate fell to 63.6%: “the second decline in a row and the lowest rate since December 1981.”
New York Times (May 2)
“Nearly two years after the passage of Dodd Frank, say-on-pay is slowly emboldening investors to question executive pay, most prominently this year at Citigroup, where shareholders recently rejected a $15 million pay package for the bank’s chief executive, Vikram Pandit.” But another Dodd Frank provision has yet to be introduced. The pay-gap provision would require companies to report CEO compensation as a ratio of the company’s median pay. “The delay is disturbing.” The SEC needs to implement this requirement promptly. “The pay-gap ratio is crucial to determining whether executive compensation is excessive and to judging the effect of pay gaps on company performance and the broader economy.”
Chicago Tribune (May 2)
“Tuesday marked the first anniversary of the last time Americans agreed on anything.” One year ago, Osama bin Laden was killed in a “gutsy” raid. For a brief shining moment, everyone rejoiced. Since then, partisan politics has split the country and impasse has reigned supreme. Still, it’s worth remembering that, in ordering the raid, President Obama “made a tough call and won.”
Tags: Obama, Osama bin Laden, Partisan, Politics, U.S.
Financial Times (May 1)
China’s vice-premier Li Keqiang writes of strengthening ties between China and Europe, which now trade over $1.5 billion of goods daily. “Economically, both regions have much to benefit from each other’s strength; this is the defining feature of China-EU relations. When ‘designed in Europe’ is combined with ‘made in China’ and when European technologies are applied to the Chinese market, there will be amazing results.”
China’s vice-premier Li Keqiang writes of strengthening ties between China and Europe, which now trade over $1.5 billion of goods daily. “Economically, both regions have much to benefit from each other’s strength; this is the defining feature of China-EU relations. When ‘designed in Europe’ is combined with ‘made in China’ and when European technologies are applied to the Chinese market, there will be amazing results.”
Tags: China, Europe, Li Keqiang, Markets, Technology, Trade
