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I like Microsoft’s new corporate strategy but execution is key
Microsoft announced a major strategic overhaul yesterday, shifting to a 'One Microsoft all the time' organizational structure. Now, all of Microsoft's business are in five main functional silos irrespective of platform. I applaud the move.…
The wastefulness of automation
What if automation means that what capitalists really want is a very small, highly skilled workforce to control the robots that do all the work? What if paying people enough to live on simply is not cost-effective compared to the running…
The housing appraisers warned us about the crisis but we didn’t listen
The appraisers’ petition began in 2000 and was public. When the regulators and prosecutors did nothing in response to the appraisers’ warning the appraisers delivered it to government officials to ensure that no one could say they were not…
Policy makers everywhere willing to reflate if necessary
(News links for 11 Jul 2013) The totality of what we have seen over the past two or three days shows that policy makers in the US, Europe and China all are standing at the ready to support reflation if the varying triggers they have are…
India: reserves declining, record outflows from bonds and shares
Barclays Capital had a sobering update on India today. Apparently June saw the largest outflows on record from India bonds and equities portfolios. As a result, declines in India's foreign reserves are becoming material.
Bernanke’s comments suggest tapering will come later
The Federal Reserve delivered a one-two punch to market expectations today. First the FOMC minutes did not appear as hawkish as many expected. Several FOMC members wanted to see more job growth before pulling back on the throttle. Second,…
China trade slippage highlights growth deceleration risk
We learned today that China's trade volume unexpectedly 3.1% year-on-year in June with both imports and exports down. This unexpectedly weak data point highlights the risk of growth deceleration in emerging markets generally and China…
Briefly Comparing the Fed and the ECB
The ECB has moved toward forward guidance but they have been careful not to press too far ahead, I suspect because they wanted to get Weidmann on board. Here are two recent comments on ECB policy and some of my own.
Daily Commentary: The ECB’s move toward monetisation
The ECB's forward guidance last week was begun with unanimous support including the German contingent. I think this is a very significant development in the European sovereign debt crisis because it moves the ECB that much closer to full…