Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category
After health law, Washington is still disconnected from the people
There is something incongruous about the celebrations among President Obama, his cabinet members, and other Democratic leaders the past few days, to mark the passing of the healthcare bill. Yesterday’s ceremony at the White House in which President Obama signed the bill into law was described as “raucous”, with the Democrats in attendance “jubilant and […]
Rapid decline of the US empire?
In this video, David Murrin, Chief Investment Officer of the hedge fund Emergent Asset Management, says the US will decline sooner than expected, and China will emerge as the superpower to fill the vacuum. This is the thesis of Murrin’s book, Breaking the Code of History, in which he argues that America’s decline is actually the […]
New law doesn’t make health coverage a right
Today at the White House, President Obama signed into law the healthcare reform bill. Towards the end of his speech to mark the occasion, Obama said: “We have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their healthcare.” Commentators […]
Healthcare bill: this is not History with a capital H
The health reforms in the US are neither historic nor disastrous. They simply show what ‘Change’ means under Obama: tinkering on the edges. Read my spiked article in full here.
Health reform victory for Obama: the pundits over-react again
A healthcare reform bill has finally passed, just barely. After a last-minute deal to secure the anti-abortion Democrats, the House passed the health bill by just three votes more than necessary. Just a day or so ago, many pundits presented Obama’s presidency as on the rocks. He is not only redeemed by the Democrats’ victory, but now some […]
To US critics of China’s currency: get your own house in order
The noise coming from the US about China’s supposed “manipulation” of its currency, the yuan (also referred to as the renminbi), has become noticeably louder this past week. Since July 2008, China has pegged its currency at about 6.83 yuan to one dollar. American critics assert that China’s policy effectively keeps its currency artificially low, […]
Curbing short-selling is shooting the messenger
Towards the end of February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted, by a 3-to-2 margin, to restrict the “short-selling” of stocks when they are declining rapidly. This is the result of fear on the part of regulators that the process of deleveraging could get out of control. But it only puts off the necessary restructuring, by slowing […]
In defense of the dot-com bubble, ten years on
It has been ten years since the dot-com bubble burst. On March 10, 2000 the tech-dominated Nasdaq index peaked at 5048.62. Today it closed at less than half that level, at 2358.95. Many now see the end of the tech boom as the beginning of the most recent financial crisis. On the Opinion page of the Wall Street Journal today, author and […]
Piling on regulation
In an essay last year, I speculated that “today there is a possibility that the Obama regime’s call for ‘more regulation’ will just pile on to the substantial [non-financial] regulation that already exists”. Well, it seems there is an attempt to do just that. The Financial Times reports about a legislative proposal that would give […]
Who says China isn’t innovative?
Writing in Fortune, Michael Elliott questions China’s record of innovation to date: “Sure, China can grow, but can its companies innovate? Can they build products that will compete in the global marketplace?” Elliott seems to suggest that, if growth does not come from private companies, it doesn’t count as innovation: Venture capitalists talk about the sheer thrill […]