Newsweek (September 4)
“September 15 will mark the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and near meltdown of Wall Street, followed by the Great Recession.” With household debt at “an all-time high of $13.2 trillion,” we’re now close to a repeat. The direct cause will be income imbalance, not a banking crisis. “The U.S. economy crashes when it becomes too top heavy because the economy depends on consumer spending to keep it going…. For a time, the middle class and poor can keep the economy going nonetheless by borrowing. But, as in 1929 and 2008, debt bubbles eventually burst. We’re getting dangerously close.”
Tags: Anniversary, Banking, Collapse, Consumer spending, Crisis, Great Recession, Household debt, Income imbalance, Lehman Brothers, Meltdown, Top heavy, U.S., Wall Street
Institutional Investor (June 3)
“It’s been 25 years since the government cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.” Today, most younger Chinese have little awareness of the seminal event, and authorities are “taking extraordinary measures” to make sure the anniversary “passes without incident, or indeed recognition of any kind.”
Tags: Anniversary, Authorities, Awareness, Beijing, China, Crack down, Demonstrators, Government, Pro-democracy, Tiananmen Square
Chicago Tribune (June 18)
“June 18 marks the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the War of 1812, a conflict that may well be the last time most Americans thought seriously about Canada…. Awareness of Canada in general among Americans fails to register beyond a vague, favorable glow. But given the importance of Canada to the United States, thinking about it once every 200 years would seem to be justified.”
“June 18 marks the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the War of 1812, a conflict that may well be the last time most Americans thought seriously about Canada…. Awareness of Canada in general among Americans fails to register beyond a vague, favorable glow. But given the importance of Canada to the United States, thinking about it once every 200 years would seem to be justified.”
Tags: 1812, Anniversary, Canada, U.S.
Washington Post (March 9, 2012)
Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshito Noda writes, “March 11 is etched in Japan’s collective consciousness. Today, on the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which triggered the starkest crisis our country has faced in a generation, we pause to commemorate all of those who suffered. Our thoughts go out to all of the victims of the tragedy….We will not forget the loved ones, friends and colleagues lost in the disaster. Nor will we forget the outpouring of support and international expressions of solidarity that Japan received. For this, we feel deeply indebted and forever appreciative…. Our goal is not simply to reconstruct the Japan that existed before March 11, 2011, but to build a new Japan. We are determined to overcome this historic challenge.”
Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshito Noda writes, “March 11 is etched in Japan’s collective consciousness. Today, on the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which triggered the starkest crisis our country has faced in a generation, we pause to commemorate all of those who suffered. Our thoughts go out to all of the victims of the tragedy….We will not forget the loved ones, friends and colleagues lost in the disaster. Nor will we forget the outpouring of support and international expressions of solidarity that Japan received. For this, we feel deeply indebted and forever appreciative…. Our goal is not simply to reconstruct the Japan that existed before March 11, 2011, but to build a new Japan. We are determined to overcome this historic challenge.”
Tags: Anniversary, Appreciation, Earthquake, Japan, Reconstruction, Support, Victims
