Wall Street Journal (December 13)
“The North Korean nuclear threat to U.S. security is no longer theoretical, even if it will still take time for Pyongyang to build a warhead small enough to fit on its new missile. The only way to prevent a Korean nuclear threat to American territory is by working toward regime change, not another short-lived deal with the North.”
Tags: Missile, North Korea, Regime change, Security, U.S.
Washington Post (December 10)
“This is not a good time to be starting out in life. Jobs are scarce, and those that exist often pay unexpectedly low wages. Beginning a family—always stressful and uncertain—is increasingly a stretch.” America may be looking at a lost generation of 20-somethings.
Tags: Family, Jobs, Lost generation, U.S., Wages
Time (December 10)
“The Middle East today is a complex region that is changing fast. Grand generalizations about it are likely to be undone by events. But it is a more vibrant, energetic and democratic place than it was a generation ago.”
“The Middle East today is a complex region that is changing fast. Grand generalizations about it are likely to be undone by events. But it is a more vibrant, energetic and democratic place than it was a generation ago.”
Tags: Change, Democratic, Events, Generalizations, Middle East
Financial Times (December 9)
“The political comeback of Shinzo Abe is one of the stranger twists in the recent, convoluted history of Japanese politics…. No one should be under any illusion about Mr Abe. He was a lousy prime minister first time around.” If he now looks like the best candidate this can only be due to “China’s misguided foreign policy, and the sorry state of a Japanese political system unable to produce someone better.”
Tags: Abe, China, Foreign policy, Japan, Politics, Prime minister
The Economist (December 8)
“After years of bad headlines the industry finally has some good news.” Over the past decade, newspapers took a terrible tumble as U.S. revenues nearly halved. But newspapers haven’t died and things may be looking up. “Revenues from advertising are still falling, but those from circulation have at last started to stabilise. At some papers, such as the New York Times, circulation revenues this year are forecast to offset the decline in advertising for the first time in at least five years.”“After years of bad headlines the industry finally has some good news.” Over the past decade, newspapers took a terrible tumble as U.S. revenues nearly halved. But newspapers haven’t died and things may be looking up. “Revenues from advertising are still falling, but those from circulation have at last started to stabilise. At some papers, such as the New York Times, circulation revenues this year are forecast to offset the decline in advertising for the first time in at least five years.”
Tags: Advertising, Circulation, Newspapers, Revenue, U.S.
New York Times (December 7)
“The revolution in Egypt is in danger of being lost in a spasm of violence, power grabs and bad judgments…. It was Mr. Morsi’s dictatorial edict placing himself above the law last month that ignited this crisis.”
“The revolution in Egypt is in danger of being lost in a spasm of violence, power grabs and bad judgments…. It was Mr. Morsi’s dictatorial edict placing himself above the law last month that ignited this crisis.”
Tags: Crisis, Egypt, Morsi, Revolution, Violence
Businessweek (December 6)
“With the Nikkei stock average down 76 percent from its 1989 peak and 1.5 quadrillion yen ($18 trillion) in wealth erased when an asset bubble burst, a generation of Japanese investors has grown up convinced that stocks only go down.” They have become too risk averse. There’s a strong “case to be made for Japanese stocks. The country has the lowest taxes on dividends among developed nations and a 10 percent capital-gains tax, which compares well with 15 percent in the U.S. and 28 percent in Britain. Shares of companies in the Topix Index, a broader measure of stocks than the Nikkei, trade for less than the value of their assets.”
Tags: Capital-gains, Investors, Nikkei, Risk aversion, Stocks, Topix
Euromoney (December Issue)
We might be in line for some tasty economic porridge in 2013. “The US, Japan and Europe will be too cold next year. Manufacturing from emerging economies might be too hot. The result, though, might be just right.” World GDP could expand at 3% with industrial output up 5% or more. “Like Goldilocks’ porridge—growth is warm enough to reduce defaults and produce cashflow to service debt, but not too hot to spark inflation and a massive bond sell-off.”
We might be in line for some tasty economic porridge in 2013. “The US, Japan and Europe will be too cold next year. Manufacturing from emerging economies might be too hot. The result, though, might be just right.” World GDP could expand at 3% with industrial output up 5% or more. “Like Goldilocks’ porridge—growth is warm enough to reduce defaults and produce cashflow to service debt, but not too hot to spark inflation and a massive bond sell-off.”
Tags: 2013, Economic forecast, Emerging economies, Europe, GDP, Industrial ouput, Inflation, Japan, Manufacturing, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (December 4)
“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s high-profile attack on the Chinese affiliates of five major accounting firms calls into question the future of China-based companies listing on the U.S. stock exchanges at a time when accounting scandals have eroded investor appetite for these companies.” If the Judge rules for the SEC, the audit firms “could be suspended from seeking new U.S.-traded clients, or even blocked entirely from auditing U.S.-traded companies.”
Tags: Accounting scandals, Audit firms, China, SEC, U.S.
Financial Times (December 3)
The European Central Bank (ECB) wants “to reduce the City’s role as an offshore centre doing euro-denominated business…. A substantial clawback would hurt the City, which accounts for more than a third of all wholesale financial business in the EU and 40 per cent of global foreign exchange trading in the single currency. Quite how easily this activity could be repatriated by ECB fiat remains to be seen, as location, language and expertise also count for much in markets.”
Tags: Currency trading, ECB, EU, Forex, London
