Washington Post (May 13, 2013)
“It’s been five years since the onset of the financial crisis — the rescue of Bear Stearns in March 2008 — and we still don’t know whether the financial system is safe.” Progress has clearly been made, but whether it’s sufficient or even the right sort remains very much to be seen. “Will Dodd-Frank save capitalism or suffocate it? It may be years before we know.”
Institutional Investor (September Issue)
Is the financial system safer “after four years of summit meetings, regulatory conclaves, landmark legislation and detailed rule-writing—all of it aimed at ensuring that the financial system would never again crash the global economy or force taxpayers to underwrite costly bailouts?” Many things appear to have changed for the better and the regulatory stance is more aggressive, yet some of the changes may be releasing new risks that could surpass anything we’ve seen before. “The answer is not simple.”
Tags: Bailout, Economy, Financial system, Regulators, Risk, Safety, Taxpayers
Financial Times (March 6, 2012)
Last year’s massive quake “awakened” Japan. The nation is now doing a comprehensive “rethink on how to mitigate the effects of disasters.” “Longstanding assumptions” are being overturned to envision even greater seismic risk. The newspaper emphasizes, “It would be wrong to dwell on such matters all the time. Despite its vulnerability to natural disaster, orderly Japan remains one of the world’s safest places to live.”
Last year’s massive quake “awakened” Japan. The nation is now doing a comprehensive “rethink on how to mitigate the effects of disasters.” “Longstanding assumptions” are being overturned to envision even greater seismic risk. The newspaper emphasizes, “It would be wrong to dwell on such matters all the time. Despite its vulnerability to natural disaster, orderly Japan remains one of the world’s safest places to live.”
Tags: Earthquake, Japan, Natural disaster, Risk, Safety
Wall Street Journal (July 27)
“Saturday’s tragic train crash near Wenzhou, in the coastal province of Zhejiang, raises important questions about the Chinese government’s ability to ensure basic safety standards.” The Journal points to the difficulty top-down Chinese institutions have in developing and supervising complex systems. “Like a multinational corporation with a long supply chain, a high-speed rail network depends on individuals at multiple levels of command taking responsibility for effective local operations. China’s predilection for top-down organization makes it difficult for information to flow horizontally and for subordinates to take the initiative to make improvements.”
Tags: China, Government, High-Speed Rail, Safety, Top-down
Washington Post (January 6)
The Post declares the oil drilling industry is “in over their heads.” The industry has raced to tap deeper, riskier drilling environments without making proper adjustments in processes and technology. Released portions of a presidential report on the BP Horizon oil spill demonstrate that government regulations and oversight must be strengthened. Most of all, “every company involved in oil drilling—not just BP—must individually and in concert with others evaluate industry standards and safety research programs. And none should assume that BP’s mistakes could not occur elsewhere.”
Tags: BP, Horizon, Oil drilling, Regulations, Safety
The New York Times (July 13)
As BP inches toward stopping the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the New York Times examines BP’s past performance. The newspaper draws a harsh conclusion. “In pursuit of growth and profits, BP has taken monumental risks and suffered the consequences. But its record shows that it has been unable or unwilling to learn from its expensive mistakes.”
