As President-elect Obama and his chief performance officer Nancy Killefer ponder how to make government more efficient, they could cast an eye on almost any federal agency and find savings for the American taxpayer. One example is the Federal Communications Commission. Join Discussion
In Gaza war, lions led by donkeys?
Tags: General, Bernd Debusmann, gaza strip, IDF, Israel, Middle East, Palestinians, The Great Debate
It's not often that a senior member of Washington's usually staid and cautious foreign policy establishment likens Israeli political leaders to donkeys and questions their competence. But the fighting in Gaza prompted Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies to do just that. Join Discussion
Reporting in Gaza: Striving for fairness
Tags: Full Disclosure, Alastair Macdonald, bias, david schlesinger, Douglas Hamilton, ethics, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, journalists, Leah Eichler, media, Nidal al-Mughrabi, reuters, Sean Maguire, trust principles
Dean Wright is Global Editor, Ethics, Innovation and News Standards. Any opinions are his own.
Let’s say it up front: Almost all of you will find something in this column to take issue with.
That’s because the subject is the conflict in Gaza and perceptions of bias in reporting on it. News consumers detect media bias on [...]
What Apple loses without Steve
In the 33 years since he co-founded Apple, Steve Jobs has attracted the fervent devotion of his followers -- the Mac faithful, and more recently, iPod and iPhone fanatics. To them, Steve is a secular messiah; to his detractors, a cult-leader. Join Discussion
Betting on the unthinkable in the euro zone
Tags: General, currency collapse, deficit spending, euro countries, euro zone, fiscal and monetary policy, fiscal squeeze, interest rate policy, saft, smaller economies, sovereign debt, tax receipts
Some crises bring partners closer together. Some, as investors in the euro zone are likely to discover this year, drive them further apart. Join Discussion
Pension assumptions hitting the wall
That 8 percent annual return on investment you and your pension fund manager were banking on is now looking almost as optimistic as Madoff's magic 12 percent, as deleveraging and deflation bite. Join Discussion
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Saft's comments are both accurate and misleading. Accurate in that attaining an 8% return in the next year or two will be challenging. Misleading for those with a longer horizon.
The 8% assumption was never meant to be an every year number but rather an average with some years doing much better and others doing much worse. For those who have a short-term horizon in terms of retirement, Saft's point is correct and a problem.
For those with a reasonably long horizon it is still a reasonable benchmark. Despite the current market, the average annual compound return of the S&P 500 for the past 39 years remains in 10% range (about 8% capital increase + about 2% dividend return). Unless one believes the economy will never recover, the long term assumption of 8% remains reasonable.
-Posted by Dave
Revival of U.S. automaking awaits if UAW will follow Toyota
If UAW's Gettelfinger accepts the Toyota model, then Washington should take a hard look at policies that can promote U.S. automaking at home and abroad. Join Discussion
Global imbalances and the Triffin dilemma
The whole concept of a single reserve currency (the dollar) and a principal reserve asset (U.S. Treasury bonds) is set to undergo a profound shift. Policymakers, businesses and households will in the future think about and hold a whole portfolio of competing reserve currencies and assets. Join Discussion
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Although the article does highlight many key issues concerning the global economic market it follows a continual theme that fails to recognize the lack of a Federal Sales tax. The US economy originally was built on manufacturing, domestic expansion, and foreign export providing an extensive robust base to stabalize the dollar. As the economy shifted to a global footprint the US has failed to recognize the weight of the income tax on US corporations. This has resulted in lower cost imports, a shift of manufacturing off-shore, and then inevitable devaluation of the US dollar. To compete globally the US must overhaul the antiquated tax code and convert to a sales tax.
-Posted by James Middleton
Ukraine gas crisis spurs EU energy policy
The cut-off of Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine highlighted how little progress the 27-nation EU has made in connecting national energy networks and diversifying supplies since the first such crisis three years ago. Join Discussion
Do tough times draw TV-viewers to Web?
In the first global recession of the Internet Age, budget-conscious consumers are showing they no longer have an endless appetite for every new gadget or media service. Join Discussion
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This makes perfect sense. I just graduated from college recently, and spent three of my four years there without a TV, only my wireless connection to the school network. Nowadays, it makes less sense than ever before to even own a TV. All of my favorite news sources are online, and movies and TV shows can be rented and watched online (I'm in the habit of renting movies on iTunes and then watching them in my living room on a 21" flat screen monitor that I can connect to my laptop).
Frankly, it's becoming difficult for me to imagine that television as a medium won't become obsolete and abandoned in my lifetime.
-Posted by Mark Tomarchio
8:43 pm EST