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Reckless? You’re in Luck - By Floyd Norris - 18 years ago
"It is a sad commentary that the authorities are most worried about a market that they were unwilling to do anything about when it was growing and growing. That market is credit-default swaps. The people who developed that market hired good lobbyists, who got the law written to keep regulators away. Alan Greenspan, then the chairman of the Federal Reserve, thought it would be wrong for regulby ProjectC - ProjectC
Buffett's Derivatives `Madmen' Poison Capitalism - By Mark Gilbert - 18 years ago
"Derivatives generate reported earnings that are often wildly overstated and based on estimates whose inaccuracy may not be exposed for many years." -- Warren Buffett (2003) - (BBC Article - Avoiding a 'Mega-Catastrophe' - Buffett salvo revives fears of derivatives doom) *** Derivatives `Madmen' Poison Capitalism "A year ago, American International Group Inc.by ProjectC - ProjectC
The Market Loves Linux (That's Why It's Thriving) - By Daniel Coleman - 18 years ago
"It is one of the finest examples of beneficial social cooperation in our society." -- Daniel Coleman The Market Loves Linux (That's Why It's Thriving) By Daniel Coleman September 11, 2008 Source ( Against Intellectual Property - Patents - James Watt - Mandriva ) My wife often rolls her eyes at me, because once I find a new hobby I latch onto it as though life depby ProjectC - ProjectC
On Wall Street as on Main Street, a Problem of Denial - By Joe Nocera - 18 years ago
"Just months ago, Lehman assured investors that it had enough liquidity to weather the crisis, while Merrill raised some $15 billion over the last year to shore up its balance sheet. Now they’re both as good as gone. Last week, it was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that needed a government bailout. This week, it looks as though American International Group and Washington Mutual will be on tby ProjectC - ProjectC
Wall Street crisis: Is this the death knell for derivatives? - By Nils Pratley - 18 years ago
"In the long run, though, financial regulators must now know what must happen: it's time for them to bring down the curtain on the era of opaque financial derivatives." Wall Street crisis: Is this the death knell for derivatives? On page 62 of last year's accounts, under the heading "off balance sheet arrangements" Lehman had derivative contracts with a face vby ProjectC - ProjectC
Stroking reveals pleasure nerve - By Jenny Carpenter - 18 years ago
"Stroking could be used to treat chronic pain, he suggests." Stroking reveals pleasure nerve By Jenny Carpenter Science reporter, BBC News Source ( Haptonomy ) A new touch-sensitive nerve fibre responsible for the sense of pleasure experienced during stroking has been described at a UK conference today. The nerves tap into a human's reward pathways, and could help exby ProjectC - ProjectC
To Big to Suffer a Loss - By Doug Noland - 18 years ago
"The last thing the crippled leveraged speculating community needs right now is dislocation in the CDS marketplace. Again, the attention this week was on Lehman, while I believe a much more unwieldy facet of today’s crisis mounts with the bursting of the historic hedge fund Bubble. Perhaps Sunday we’ll read news of BofA acquiring Lehman – and perhaps the markets will rally big on such newsby ProjectC - ProjectC
Is there an exit strategy? - By Kenneth Rogoff - 18 years ago
"It is time to take stock of the crisis and recognise that the financial industry is undergoing fundamental shifts, and is not simply the victim of speculative panic against housing loans. Certainly better regulation is part of the answer over the longer run, but it is no panacea. Today's financial firm equity and bond holders must bear the main cost, or there is little hope they will bby ProjectC - ProjectC
Resurrection of the charlatan (Keynes) - By Martin Hutchinson - 18 years ago
"The resignation of Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda on the grounds that his “fiscal stimulus” of $18 billion was inadequate throws into sharp relief a troubling reality: That most economically counterproductive of activities, the Keynesian boost in government spending, is making a horrid comeback. Like some eldritch creature from a 1950s Saturday morning horror serial, the old charlataby ProjectC - ProjectC
Long-Term Capital: It’s a Short-Term Memory - By Roger Lowenstein - 18 years ago
"In the wake of Long-Term Capital’s failure, Wall Street professed to have learned that even models designed by “geniuses” were subject to error and to the uncertainties that inevitably afflict human forecasts. It also professed a newfound respect for the perils of borrowing. Whether this wisdom endured may be judged by events of the past year, when not only Bear Stearns but also scores of bby ProjectC - ProjectC
Government lies and squishy ethics - By Rob Arnott - 18 years ago
"In 2003, I wrote a column in the Financial Analysts Journal entitled Legal and Moral Ethics, in which I noted that the more people focus on what’s legal, and the less they focus on what’s right, the further we slide down the slippery slope of fast-eroding ethical standards. Fixing the problem of business ethics is easy, because most unethical firms are eventually unprofitable. This meaby ProjectC - ProjectC
The failure of two empires - By Dmitry Shlapentokh - 18 years ago
"The geopolitical structure of the global order created by Stalin and his American adversaries in the aftermath of World War II is collapsing, not just on the Russian side but also on the American side. This implies that the future - at least the immediate future - is not so much for Pax Russika or Pax America, but most likely a push for increasing global anarchy." The failure ofby ProjectC - ProjectC
The NI Interview: Gene Sharp - By Noreen Shanahan - 18 years ago
"For Sharp, hard-headed realism is more important than ethical and religious zeal in the struggle for peace. He sees non-violent action as a strategy for imperfect people in an imperfect world – a tool to achieve civil defence, justice or liberation. ‘While few individuals are able to “turn the other cheek” in a spirit of love and forgiveness, many are able to understand that for their partiby ProjectC - ProjectC
Der falsche Friedensfürst - Von Matthias Schulz - 18 years ago
LEGENDEN Der falsche Friedensfürst Von Matthias Schulz 07.07.2008 Source Bei den Vereinten Nationen in New York liegt - feierlich unter Glas - eine 2500 Jahre alte Keilschrift, verehrt als "antike Deklaration der Menschenrechte". Nun zeigt sich: Der Text stammt von einem antiken Despoten, der seine Gegner foltern ließ. Es sollte eine Gala der Rekorde werden, die Schah Mohaby ProjectC - ProjectC
Depressed, stressed: teachers in crisis - By Amelia Hill - 18 years ago
"The new academic year should bring with it a revitalised teaching staff, but many teachers began 2008 with a sense of dread. In staffrooms across the country, 2008 was nicknamed the 'meltdown year' because of the number of policy and curriculum changes the government had implemented, including the introduction of the new diplomas, revisions to A-levels and the new secondary schoolby ProjectC - ProjectC
Dutch venture promises cheap, powerful electric cars in 2009 - By Vijay Joshi - 18 years ago
By VIJAY JOSHI Associated Press Sept. 2, 2008, 2:07AM Source SHAH ALAM, Malaysia — A Dutch-based company announced plans today to produce affordable electric cars by the end of 2009, promising they will be much more powerful than existing models and have zero emissions. Detroit Electric is in negotiations with Malaysia's national auto maker, Proton, to produce the car in this Southeaby ProjectC - ProjectC
Russia and the West Are Entering the Danger Zone - By Bruce Chapman - 18 years ago
"In any event, American chickens truly are coming home to roost. That is because we let a unique opportunity with Russia languish in the 1990s. Other than sending hundreds of self-appointed advisers to Russia, along with the chickens, both the Bush 41 Administration and the Clinton Administration failed to respond adequately to what was then a fervent desire in Russia to become our bosom friby ProjectC - ProjectC
Extraordinary European Council - EU - 18 years ago
EU Brussels, 1 September 2008 Source 1. The European Council is gravely concerned by the open conflict which has broken out in Georgia, by the resulting violence and by the disproportionate reaction of Russia. This conflict has led to great suffering on both sides. Military action of this kind is not a solution and is not acceptable. The European Council deplores the loss of human life,by ProjectC - ProjectC
Georgia: more sinned against than sinning - By Robert Parsons - 18 years ago
"Steele also ridicules the notion that Saakashvili fell into a trap. The truth of the matter is that the Americans had been warning him since the spring to keep turning the other cheek in the face of persistent provocations – to begin with in Abkhazia, but since July, in South Ossetia as well. And the notion of a trap does not stem solely from the western side. I had many conversations withby ProjectC - ProjectC
Was der Westen nun gegen Russland tun kann - Von Alan Posener - 18 years ago
"...So kraftstrotzend sich Russland gibt, so schwach ist das Land wirklich. Die Wirtschaft basiert fast ausschließlich auf dem Export von Gas und Öl. Ein Verfall der Energiepreise kann das Land in den Ruin treiben, wie es in den 1980eer Jahren bereits einmal geschah. Die Bevölkerung Russlands altert und schrumpft. Alkoholismus und Aids haben epidemische Ausmaße angenommen. Das politische Sysby ProjectC - ProjectC
Stalin’s Poison Pills - By Paul Goble - 18 years ago
By Paul Goble August 29, 2008 Source A lot of attention was focused on the symbolic importance when Russian forces occupied Gori, the birthplace of Stalin. Few reflected, however, that this conflict, like many others in the post-Soviet states, is the product of what many in business call “poison pills,” arrangements that make it difficult, if not dangerous, for anyone to try to takeover or eby ProjectC - ProjectC
Russia Has Crossed the Line - By Richard Holbrooke - 18 years ago
"Exactly what happened in South Ossetia last week is unclear. Each side will argue its own version. But we know, without doubt, that Georgia was responding to repeated provocative attacks by South Ossetian separatists controlled and funded by the Kremlin. This is a not a war Georgia wanted; it believed that it was slowly gaining ground in South Ossetia through a strategy of soft power."by ProjectC - ProjectC
Russia's Delusion - The Washington Post - 18 years ago
"Mr. Medvedev flatly asserted that Russia had not violated the cease-fire deal he signed two weeks ago. But that agreement contains a provision calling for international talks about the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- and those talks had not begun when Mr. Medvedev abruptly issued the decree recognizing the provinces' independence..." Russia's Delusion The Washiby ProjectC - ProjectC
China changes Linux tactics - By Chen Nan Yang - 18 years ago
By Chen Nan Yang December 23, 2005 Source China's Guangdong Linux Center (GDLC) and 27 universities last month set up the Guangdong Leadership of Open Source University Promotion Alliance (GDLUPA) to promote Linux in China's universities. The GDLUPA founded several Linux Practical Bases, which are learning centers for the university students. "The students will proliferateby ProjectC - ProjectC
Jerry Springer: The holocaust and my family - The Independent - 18 years ago
'He underlines that this story must never stop being recounted. As The Diary of Anne Frank – the biggest- selling book in the world after The Bible – has proved, the tale of one person's suffering can have more impact than an account of the slaughter of millions. "The story has more effect when it's about an individual," Springer says. "When you say six million peoplby ProjectC - ProjectC
Here's to Hoping Nouriel Roubini Is Proven Wrong - By William Pesek - 18 years ago
"Roubini didn't waver, and he took considerable flack for it." Here's to Hoping Nouriel Roubini Is Proven Wrong Commentary by William Pesek August 21, 2008 Source (First read) (Dr. Marc Faber: ‘Let us just assume the financial system blows up…’) Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- It's hard to forget your first Nouriel Roubini experience. Fifteen months ago, I watched aby ProjectC - ProjectC
Dysfunctional Pricing Backdrop - By Doug Noland - 18 years ago
"But, for now, fundamentals are not driving market prices. As I wrote last week, markets are about Greed and Fear – and right now Fear Dominates. Those that crowded into the crowded energy and commodities trade are having their heads handed to them. It is also my sense that the scores of long/short funds are likely struggling as well, as many popular longs are performing poorly and populaby ProjectC - ProjectC
The key to happiness is freedom not income - By Roberto Foa - 18 years ago
'Though the past 25 years have brought a happier world, there is no certainty that the next 25 will continue to do so. Many low and middle-income countries have experienced exceptionally high rates of growth, ranging from 4 to 11 per cent, while richer countries have undergone falling work hours and social liberation. There is no guarantee that either will persist indefinitely. Meanwhileby ProjectC - ProjectC
Dr. Doom - By Stephen Mihm - 18 years ago
"The article is a very friendly and sympathetic portrait of my views. I would take issue only with the characterization of myself as being a “perma-bear” or “perpetual pessimist”. For one thing I ended up a realist rather than a pessimist about the current economic and financial crisis; things are turning out even worse than I initially predicted." -- Nouriel Roubini, New York Times Arby ProjectC - ProjectC
A Question of Honor - By Samantha Power - 18 years ago
"Thucydides long ago concluded that people go to war out of "honor, fear and interest." Putin seems to have chosen conflict largely out of honor, or, put another way, out of perceived humiliation — one of the most prevalent, least explored factors behind global violence. ... Diplomats and intelligence professionals must acknowledge that honor and humiliation often weigh asby ProjectC - ProjectC