Wall Street Journal (March 15)
China is being forced to focus on the environment due to chronic air quality issues in Beijing and the discovery of 6,000 dead pigs in tributaries that provide Shanghai’s drinking water. “The pork soup scandal, as it has been dubbed, hits the trifecta of Chinese mistrust of government: lack of a plan to protect the public interest instead of companies and officials, political corruption that fails to hold polluters accountable, and withholding timely information when disaster strikes.”
Tags: Air quality, Beijing, China, Environment, Government, Pigs, Pollution, Shanghai, Water quality
Wall Street Journal (January 1)
“Encouraged by promises of strong action by Japan’s new government to weaken the yen, end deflation and introduce structural overhauls, market experts are generally bullish on Japanese equities for 2013…. Strategists almost uniformly agree that Japanese shares remain undervalued and underexposed to international investors.”
Tags: Equities, Government, Investors, Japan, Undervalued, Yen
Washington Post (October 24)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its World Economic Outlook. It predicts that during the next four years, the U.S. “will be the strongest of the world’s rich economies. U.S. growth is forecast to average 3 percent, much stronger than that of Germany or France (1.2 percent) or even Canada (2.3 percent). Increasingly, the evidence suggests that the United States has come out of the financial crisis of 2008 in better shape than its peers — because of the actions of its government.”
Tags: Canada, Financial Crisis, France, Germany, Government, Growth, IMF, U.S., World Economic Outlook
The Economist (October 22)
“While Monday’s trade gap increases the chance the Bank of Japan will embark on yet another round of monetary easing amid a liquidity trap, the government has recently signalled its intention to launch a new stimulus. However, don’t bet on a pro-growth fiscal game-changer.” Any stimulus will probably “prove too little, too late.”
Tags: BOJ, Government, Japan, Liquidity trap, Monetary easing, Stimulus
Washington Post (June 16)
Forty years ago, the Watergate saga unfolded, ultimately toppling President Richard Nixon. The episode left a deep scar on the American psyche. “Nixon and the Watergate episode did great, perhaps irreparable, harm to the American spirit…. The flag our forefathers raised on the moral high ground looked suddenly shabby and soiled.” Distrust of government and “the presumption of corruption” became the new norm. Today, that distrust continues. We are “a country without faith or trust in its institutions—from the presidency to Congress to the judiciary.”
Tags: Corruption, Distrust, Government, Nixon, U.S., Watergate
The Economist (May 19)
“Public companies built the railroads of the 19th century. They filled the world with cars and televisions and computers. They brought transparency to business life and opportunities to small investors.” And now they are endangered. “The number of public companies has fallen dramatically over the past decade—by 38% in America since 1997 and 48% in Britain. The number of initial public offerings (IPOs) in America has declined from an average of 311 a year in 1980-2000 to 99 a year in 2001-11.” More demanding regulations have been the main cause many have chosen to go or stay private. “Because public companies sell shares to the unsophisticated, policymakers are right to regulate them more tightly than other forms of corporate organisation. But not so tightly that entrepreneurs start to dread the prospect of a public listing. The public company has long been the locomotive of capitalism. Governments should not derail it.”“Public companies built the railroads of the 19th century. They filled the world with cars and televisions and computers. They brought transparency to business life and opportunities to small investors.” And now they are endangered. “The number of public companies has fallen dramatically over the past decade—by 38% in America since 1997 and 48% in Britain. The number of initial public offerings (IPOs) in America has declined from an average of 311 a year in 1980-2000 to 99 a year in 2001-11.” More demanding regulations have been the main cause many have chosen to go or stay private. “Because public companies sell shares to the unsophisticated, policymakers are right to regulate them more tightly than other forms of corporate organisation. But not so tightly that entrepreneurs start to dread the prospect of a public listing. The public company has long been the locomotive of capitalism. Governments should not derail it.”
Tags: Government, IPOs, Public companies, Regulation, Transparency, U.S., UK
Wall Street Journal (April 24)
“Europe’s voters have already swept several governments from office, and they seem ready to sweep out more. But what really needs to be swept away is the dominant and debilitating consensus that government spending can conjure prosperity.”
Tags: Europe, Government, Prosperity, Spending, Voters
Financial Times (April 10)
“Over a fifth of the world’s patent applications in 2011 came from Japan, eight times as many as from the UK. It is far better at turning basic research into commercial applications, with clear national priorities set by government and strong links between businesses and universities.” Japan has challenges, but knows how to face them. “The UK (and other countries) can learn a lot” from Japan.
“Over a fifth of the world’s patent applications in 2011 came from Japan, eight times as many as from the UK. It is far better at turning basic research into commercial applications, with clear national priorities set by government and strong links between businesses and universities.” Japan has challenges, but knows how to face them. “The UK (and other countries) can learn a lot” from Japan.
Tags: Businesses, Government, Japan, Patents, Research, UK
Washington Post (April 2)
“Though some visitors to China, dazzled by the high-rises and humming factories, may miss the point, the true sources of long-run stability and prosperity, for any nation, are the rule of law and transparent government. China still has neither.”
Tags: China, Government, Law, Prosperity, Transparency
Wall Street Journal (February 14, 2012)
“Athens has agreed to carve €3.3 billion out of this year’s budget (including €300 million out of pensions), slash the minimum wage by 22%, and eliminate 150,000 government jobs by 2015.” This will not put out the fires and rioting. The Greek crisis will continue. “The larger question is whether the rest of Europe and America will learn from Greece’s chaos before they experience the same fate.”