Chicago Tribune (July 15)Chicago Tribune (July 15)
American politicians “have their compression shorts in a knot over the news that the U.S. athletes competing in London will march wearing berets and blazers made in China.” They should relax. “The U.S. Olympic Committee got the outfits from Ralph Lauren, which made them in China. That’s not exactly unusual these days.” Given the economics, it’s sensible and “it’s folly to resist that reality….The Games, like international markets, are a truly global phenomenon that binds the people of the Earth together. They are no place for petty nationalism.”
American politicians “have their compression shorts in a knot over the news that the U.S. athletes competing in London will march wearing berets and blazers made in China.” They should relax. “The U.S. Olympic Committee got the outfits from Ralph Lauren, which made them in China. That’s not exactly unusual these days.” Given the economics, it’s sensible and “it’s folly to resist that reality….The Games, like international markets, are a truly global phenomenon that binds the people of the Earth together. They are no place for petty nationalism.”
Tags: China, Free markets, Nationalism, Olympics, Politicians, Ralph Lauren, U.S., Uniforms
New York Times (June 11)
“Bailouts—this one is worth up to $125 billion—are supposed to help restore investor confidence. But investors have clearly figured out what too many European politicians are still denying: serial bailouts, piecemeal plans and one-size-fits-all austerity are not a solution.” The Spanish bailout did not calm anybody’s nerves. The next flashpoint lies just days away with the upcoming Greek election. “With every stopgap solution to the euro-zone debt crisis, the gaps have gotten larger and the stops have gotten shorter.”
“Bailouts—this one is worth up to $125 billion—are supposed to help restore investor confidence. But investors have clearly figured out what too many European politicians are still denying: serial bailouts, piecemeal plans and one-size-fits-all austerity are not a solution.” The Spanish bailout did not calm anybody’s nerves. The next flashpoint lies just days away with the upcoming Greek election. “With every stopgap solution to the euro-zone debt crisis, the gaps have gotten larger and the stops have gotten shorter.”
Forbes (June 4)
“Japan’s political leaders are more obtuse and irresponsible than those found in Europe. They have completely forgotten the prescriptions of sound money and ever lower taxes that fueled their nation’s extraordinary postwar economic expansion. As if in the grips of a death wish, Japan has, since the late 1980s, repeatedly raised taxes, with new levies of all kinds imposed…. Unlike Greece, Japan still has immense assets. But the tremors foretelling an economic apocalypse are there: Its once vaunted individual savings rate, for example, has virtually disappeared.”
Economist (February 18, 2012)
Overcapacity is plaguing European automakers. EU sales have dropped four straight years and are expected to decrease again this year. A price war, with discounts of up to 30%, has resulted as car makers struggle to sell units. “As the firms’ bosses face up to the need for big capacity cuts, the politicians must resist back-seat driving.” Some factories will need to be closed and some production work shifted overseas.
Overcapacity is plaguing European automakers. EU sales have dropped four straight years and are expected to decrease this year. A price war, with discounts of up to 30%, has resulted as car makers struggle to sell units. “As the firms’ bosses face up to the need for big capacity cuts, the politicians must resist back-seat driving.”
Tags: Automakers, EU, Overcapacity, Politicians, Price war, Sales decline
Athens News (February 11, 2012)
“Sacrificed at the altar of continued eurozone membership, Greece’s youth are paying the highest price for the politicians’ inability to implement virtually any of the reforms stipulated in the first bailout memorandum….Greece is better off in the euro than with the drachma, whatever the arguments to the contrary. But it will not be long before people in their twenties and early thirties say that enough is enough.”
Tags: Drachma, eurozone, Greece, Politicians, Youth
Financial Times (November 25)
The news on climate change grows worse and worse, so too the odds of politicians doing something. They should. “Voters will support climate policy if they see it as an opportunity and not an end to their way of life. Achieving this matters as much for our planet’s future as what is agreed – or not – in Durban.”
The news on climate change grows worse and worse, so too the odds of politicians doing something. They should. “Voters will support climate policy if they see it as an opportunity and not an end to their way of life. Achieving this matters as much for our planet’s future as what is agreed – or not – in Durban.”
Tags: Climate change, Durban, Politicians, Voters
Institutional Investor (September 15)
“The rise in government debt and consequent decline in sovereign creditworthiness…stand out as the biggest and most pernicious legacies of the financial crisis.” Political uncertainty ranks nearly as high. “European leaders careen from one crisis summit to the next” and U.S. politicians pursued a “similarly shaky direction” over the debt ceiling. “As a result, market participants are losing confidence that politicians can strike the right balance and contain debt without killing growth.”
Tags: EU, Politicians, Sovereign debt, U.S., Uncertainty
Los Angeles Times (August 28)
“Politicians who dismiss the risk of climate change like to talk about the uncertainties of the science.” They’d spend less time talking and more time working to halt climate change if they took their cues from professionals who deal with risk. “The real economic costs of mispricing this risk have caught the attention of a good segment of the business community, from commodity traders to insurers. Reinsurers in particular (companies that insure the insurers against catastrophe) see risks on a global scale.”
Tags: Catastrophe, Climate change, Global warming, Politicians, Risk
The Economist (July 30)
America and Europe are “turning Japanese.” Their politicians are failing to meet their obligations and make difficult decisions. The Economist does not welcome this trend. “Japan’s politicians had umpteen chances to change course; and the longer they avoided doing so, the harder it became. Their peers in the West should heed that example.”
America and Europe are “turning Japanese.” Their politicians are failing to meet their obligations and make difficult decisions. This newspaper does not welcome this trend. “Japan’s politicians had umpteen chances to change course; and the longer they avoided doing so, the harder it became. Their peers in the West should heed that example.”
Tags: Europe, Japan, Politicians, U.S.
Times of India (November 9)
Barack and Michelle Obama made a positive impression in India with their “air of informality” when interacting with the public and the press. The Times of India laments that Indian politicians are too often bound by formality and protocol, adding ““Our politicians would do well to take a cue from the Obamas.” President Obama also made an impression during his 45-minute address to parliament. Obama’s speech was interrupted more than 36 times by applause. The Times notes the speech hit “all the right notes.”
Tags: India, Obama, Politicians
