The Economist (May 19)
Unless European “companies or their governments take the fight all the way to the White House, they have little choice but to abide by the long—and sometimes wrong—arm of American law.” America’s threat of sanctions on companies doing business with Iran impacts major players including Total, Airbus, Peugeot, Renault and SWIFT. Still, it remains to be seen if “there is the stomach for such a battle.”
Tags: Airbus, European, Fight, Governments, Iran, Law, Peugeot, Renault, Sanctions, Swift, Threat, Total, White House
Institutional Investor (November 23)
“After the global financial crisis of 2008-’09, a burgeoning gap in financing for long-term investments pushed many governments to take matters into their own hands. In fact, 17 new strategic investment funds have launched since 2008.” So far, these funds have received little scrutiny, but a recent World Bank study now suggests that these SIF’s “can promote economic growth” while delivering viable commercial returns: fulfilling their so called double-bottom-line mandate.
Tags: Commercial returns, Double-bottom-line mandate, Economic growth, Financing, Global financial crisis, Governments, Long-term investments, SIF, World Bank
Wall Street Journal (June 15)
The yield on 10-year German bunds turned negative, a new low. “This is good for governments that want to finance spending on the cheap, but it’s not so good for the private risk-taking that drives economic growth. Negative interest rates reflect a lack of confidence in options for private investment. They also discourage savings that can be invested in profitable ventures. A negative 10-year bond is less a sign of monetary wizardry than of economic policy failure.”
Tags: Bunds, Confidence, Finance, Germany, Governments, Growth, Investment, Negative interest, Options, Risk-taking, Savings, Spending, Yield
Financial Times (June 7)
“Given today’s high level of public sector debt and worsening demographics, it is inevitable that governments will resort to soft forms of default, including inflation, to escape from their fiscal straitjacket. This is a world in which elderly savers will be condemned to subsidise borrowers for a long time.”
Tags: Borrowers, Debt, Default, Demographics, Elderly, Governments, Inevitable, Inflation, Public sector, Savers
The Economist (June 4)
Swiss voters will go to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to adopt a basic income for all citizens. Smaller experiments are underway in Finland and the Netherlands, but fundamentally “basic income is an answer to a problem that has not yet materialized…. A universal basic income might just make sense in a world of technological upheaval. But before governments begin planning for a world without work, they should strive to make today’s system function better.
Tags: Basic income, Experiments, Finland, Governments, Netherlands, Switzerland, Technological upheaval, Universal, Voters
Washington Post (December 2)
Pfizer’s planned tax inversion highlights a dilemma “of almost-impenetrable complexity and contentiousness: How to tax multinational companies?” To minimize their taxes, “large global firms…are becoming more aggressive.” At the same time, governments are “increasingly desperate to raise tax revenue to pay for aging societies and cover persistent budget deficits.”
Tags: Aging societies, Budget deficits, Dilemma, Governments, Inversion, Multinationals, Pfizer, Taxes
Financial Times (September 18)
“The EU’s 28 member states have long been famed for squabbling among themselves whenever the bloc comes face to face with an acute issue. Confronted by the current refugee crisis—the biggest of its kind in the continent’s recent history—Europe’s governments are responding true to form.”
Tags: Crisis, EU, Governments, Refugee, Squabbling
Bloomberg (January 19)
“The actions that the European Central Bank will finally announce this week won’t give the continent the boost it needs.” The EU still depends on a “broken” system of economic governance. “What’s remarkable is that Europe’s governments haven’t even begun to confront this larger issue.” It is unrealistic to think that the ECB can again save the day. “Not even Mario Draghi can save Europe now.”
Tags: Broken, ECB, EU, Governance, Governments, Mario Draghi
The Economist (January 17)
“The fall in the price of oil and gas provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix bad energy policies.”Governments around the world should “seize” this chance.
Tags: Energy, Gas, Governments, Oil, Opportunity, Policies, Price
The Economist (November 29)
Regin, the latest computer virus for cyber spying, appears “to have been designed by a Western government. Due to its ease over conventional methods, cyber espionage is attractive to governments, but they should remember that it’s a slippery slope. “Cyber-warfare is an unruly business, where rules will be flouted. But it needs them. Cyber-warriors should remember that what they do to others will be done in turn to them.”
Tags: Computer, Conventional, Cyber-espionage, Governments, Regin, Rules, Slippery slope, Spying, Virus, Warfare
