Apple and the risks of trading 29,000 times per second

A mistake in the stock market on friday leads companies such as apple questioning software stability. On friday BATTS and APPL stocks dropped by $55 due to a software malfunction. These drops were quickly reported and erased. Unfortunately this is not the first time that there has been a software malfunction. There have been a few different instances of software malfunctions and companies are beginning to question why the results of these malfunctions are always a decrease in stock value.

Opening a Business in Brazil Just Got Easier

In Brazil, it is historically very difficult to start a business there. The World Bank ranks it 120th out of 183 countries in terms of how easy it is to set up a business there. It's difficult due to legal restrictions that you must have two partners to form a limited-liability company, and have someone you know bear the financial costs of the start-up-- no bank loans.

However, a new law was passed in Brazil, where a single person can start a single-holder limited liability firm, with a capital requirement of $35,250. There will be some challenges along the way, such as the implementation of the law and the transition period it may take; as well as potential hostility against foreigners who will try to enter the market.

Overall, I am curious to find out the implications this law will have on Brazil's economy, with more firms entering the market and perhaps raising overall GDP for their country. Only time will tell.

http://www.economist.com/node/21543210

An Interesting Perspective on the Failure of Incentives

In his new book, "Why Countries Fail", Daron Acemaglu argues that the economic success of a country is most closely correlated to the degree in which the average individual shares in the growth of the economy. This concept relates both to failures that have occurred in strictly (or primarily) capitalist economies as well as socialist economies.

If income inequality becomes too extreme, poorer workers have less incentive to work hard because any generated surplus will be taken by the elite. Adam Davidson gives the example of Haitian mango farmers, who had the expertise and resources to vastly expand their production, but did not because they also had the legitimate suspicion that a more powerful member of society would claim title to their land. This is a failure of the market, as property rights are not safely owned, rather than a failure of the perfect market system. However, corruption is an observable trait that frequently increasing when the balance of power shifts towards extreme inequality.

Although Davidson in his article does not address the relevance of Acemaglu's ideas to socialism, it is not hard to see that the lack of incentives that we have discussed in class relates to the individuals ability to share in the growth of the economy. Workers in socialist systems do not receive continual extra benefits for innovation or additional work, so their ability to create personal economic gain alongside the economic gain of the society as a whole is limited.

The gap widens, again

Quoting President Obama in his January state-of-the-union message, the struggle for a level economic playing field is the “the defining issue of our time”. This article states that the income gap in the United States is getting bigger, even worse than the Great Depression.

The data shows that income gaps reached extremes last experienced in the late 1920s. Currently, the top 10% of American earners brought in 46% of the nation’s salary income in 2007. "The top 0.1% alone earned over 12% of all salary income." Now in 2012, the condition could only be worse. These striking totals capped years of rising inequality. Between 1993 and 2010, over half of all real income gains in America flowed to the top 1%. Even worse, during the current recession since 2007, the income level of the bottom group has been decreasing, unemployment rate has been increasing, which cause the wealth gap augmented.

The tax action could be a way to solve this severe condition, but this piece of news thinks it is very unlikely, or highly depend on the presidential election result.

How farmer's helped transform China's economy

This story links up very well with the topics we have covered over the last two classes. The NPR story tells how a group of small Chinese villagers divide land and grant ownership rights within a community. By granting property rights farmers took a new pride in there work and productivity increased. These results where noticed by leaders and helped lay the ground work for a more free society that provided property rights for all of China. What do you find most interesting about this story

Caterpillar looks to fund growth in China

Many wouldn’t find a silver lining in the recent disasters that have left Japan crippled. How could anyone with all the casualties, buildings in ruins, and power plant crises! This isn’t the case for a rapidly growing construction equipment company. The caterpillar company has found successes in the aftermath. The construction and mining equipment manufacturer has had a stellar year with its stock up nearly 25% year-to-date after the company delivered record 2011.  The mess left behind, along with more developing areas, and China’s expansion plans have created a market segment perfect for the Caterpillar Company. Their growing market dominance in the US has caught the eye of Japan with the need for equipment not only needed for the clean up but also for the rebuilding. This along with the surrounding areas shifting from agriculture to a more developed city make-up has created a need for the company. This relevant no only due to the recentness of the earthquakes and the global effect but also this is a great example of foreign company being wanted to come in establishes dominance. The caterpillar probably would not have been as welcome if it wasn’t for the disasters.  

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=fe7efdc6-3a95-4383-9ace-ef34aa21d9cc

British Government to Issue Tax Breaks for 20 Million

http://www.independent.ie/business/european/british-budget-2012-2bn-spending-cut-funds-tax-breaks-for-20-million-people-3057034.html

This article describes the recent British attempt at tax reform.  It describes two key changes being made to the British system: raising the tax-free allowance of income from £7,475 presently to £10,000 by 2015 and a reduction (from 50p to 45p) in the top tax rate.  The latter will probably be controversial, as many people, both in Britain and America, believe the government coddles to the rich.  The way to prevent this from happening, the British government says, is to reduce the loopholes that the rich use.  This sounds like a good idea but will it have any real effect?  And if so, could the United States try to reform its tax system along similar lines, specifically with making the rich more accountable?

The National and Regional Economic Outlook

This article, or rather speech by William C. Dudley, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York details the current national economic conditions of the US economy. He explains that the economic recovery is looking more solid, and that we have had the most steady growth in the past year than we have seen in awhile. However, it is far too soon to conclude the actual condition of our economy, and how long it will take until we are "out of the woods." He goes on to discuss growth, employment and the current housing situation, three main topics of concern within the past few years.

http://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/speeches/2012/dud120319.html

Credit-rating agencies

Letters from India

India’s ratings agencies are thriving—without a CDO in sight

Mar 17th 2012 | MUMBAI | from the print edition

THERE’S a land far from Wall Street, where credit-rating agencies are not outcasts and can look in the mirror without feeling sick. This paradise is India, with six licensed ratings agencies, the biggest of which, CRISIL, has a market value that has just soared beyond $1.3 billion. (Moody’s, one of the three big Western agencies, is worth $8.9 billion.) These outfits use the same model—the issuer of debt pays for the rating—as their counterparts in rich countries, where the resulting conflict of interest helped devastate the economy. How exactly has India got things right?

Cynics might say the rot has just not had time to set in. Debt markets are still puny and the three big agencies, CRISIL, CARE and ICRA, were all set up between 1988 and 1993 and sponsored by worthy financial firms that were often state-controlled. But India’s financial supervisor, SEBI, has also been on the ball, passing rules on agencies in 1999, about a decade before the West got serious. If an agency wants to rate bank loans it also needs permission from India’s central bank, which takes a dim view of financial gymnastics.

The rupee debt market is ring-fenced from the outside world, which may have stopped sloppy habits immigrating. And those agencies with foreign shareholders seem to be fairly independent. Standard & Poor’s owns 52% of CRISIL, a position it took in 2005, and Moody’s owns 29% of ICRA. Both American outfits rate non-rupee debt issued by Indian firms separately.

Good regulation and distance from the rest of the industry have helped, but India’s agencies have also diversified cleverly. Rather than growing by rating structured products, most firms have stretched the business to small companies and beyond. ICRA rates local-currency debt in Indonesia (it leaves hard-currency stuff to Moody’s, its shareholder). Vivek Kulkarni of Brickwork, a newish agency, says it may offer quality ratings for hospitals.

Most firms are spreading beyond ratings altogether. CARE, which had been wary, wants to develop its consultancy business “as long as we can take care of conflicts of interest,” says D.R. Dogra, its chief. Naresh Takkar, the managing director of ICRA, reckons 35-40% of its sales come from services other than ratings. CRISIL, an impressive outfit, is furthest down this path with half its sales from abroad, mainly from helping banks with equity research and risk-management models, demand for which has soared thanks to more regulation in the rich world. Its boss, Roopa Kudva, says that in the mid-1990s it downgraded lots of its ratings and saw customers pull business from it as a result. The experience helped convince it that it needed to have other income streams to protect its independence.

What might threaten ratings’ integrity today? Some fear more new entrants that might offer softer ratings to win market share. Regulators will need to watch out for opportunists tempted to enter the industry given the frothy valuations agencies now enjoy. A deal between shareholders last year valued CARE at $300m-400m, and a listing seems likely.

The other worry is the economy, which is going through its worst patch for a decade. The local system of ratings notches isn’t directly comparable with international systems, but the ratio of upgrades to downgrades is now heading towards parity, from two or more a year ago. There must be doubt about the willingness of some local agencies to pull the rug from under one of India’s big banks or business houses if it got into trouble. Such firms can be as prickly as they are powerful. And as the bond and credit-default-swaps markets expand, the stakes will get higher. Agencies will be under pressure to react faster and issuers will be hit harder if they are downgraded. India’s agencies have passed the tests of the past decade. There will be more.

from the print edition | Finance and economics

Two Steps Back

This article talks about a recent agreement that between the United States and North Korea. The U.S. promised to give aid to North Korea in the way of food and supplies if North Korea would promise to allow UN officials access to the working or nuclear weapons within Korea. North Korea has already violated this in a way because they announced on March 16 that they will launch a new satellite called Kwangmyongsong-3.
While a satellite is not necessary a weapon or a missile, the UN says the technology of a satellite is so similar to a missile that the ban on nuclear weapons should include a ban on satellites. This article relates to our class because North Korea is one of the two countries who still uses a socialist system, and it is big news if they are willing even slightly to come make agreements with the U.S. or the United Nations.

JPMorgan Cracks the Mutual Fund Top 10

This article details the big move JPMorgan has made to be a major global competitor in the fund market.  They have taken advantage of a huge name brand recognition to seize an opportunity that many of their competitors have shied away from for the most part.  Their growth indicates that they likely will continue to move up the list with their assets and funds under management consistently increasing.  Many banks are unwilling to be this risky however, I think this focus on fund management will pay off in the form of cold hard cash.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-15/jpmorgan-cracks-the-mutual-fund-top-10

Cambodia Embracing Capitalism With First IPO Since Khmer Rouge

Cambodia is going IPO since the communist leader Khmer Rouge was captured in 1975. According to the Asian Development Bank, Cambodia is expected to grow at 6.5% rate this year.  The Cambodian government wants to stir up their economy by privatizing its state-owned companies and encourage private companies to list, so that later on, it could attract foreign investors.  People of Cambodia are welcoming the embrace of capitalism and eager to learn, although, there are some doubts because of their low saving rates and newcomer in financial market.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-18/cambodia-embracing-capitalism-with-first-ipo-since-khmer-rouge.html 

Private Health Insurance is Inefficient

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/16/zakaria-private-health-insurance-is-not-efficient/?hpt=wo_r1

Zakaria's article discusses health insurance and how health insurance should not be privatized because the public sector provides it in a more inefficient way. The article didn't discuss topics which are normally brought up in this argument including that the private market creates more competition which improves the quality of our health care and personnel in the field. It mainly focused on administration costs for health care which I have never looked into. The numbers are staggering showing that most private administration costs are about 30% of the money they charge you, while the public market administration costs are about 6%. It is because of these numbers that Zakaria claims the public sector is more efficient when it comes to health care.

Are Jobs Obsolete?

This article suggest that not everyone in a society today needs to have a job for all production needs to be filled. Instead, jobs are only necessary as a means of proving that one is worthy of consuming the things produced by others. The reason for this change from the past is primarily due to technological development. Just as mechanization during the Industrial Revolution eliminated the need for a great deal of employees, electronic automation and communication continue to do so. The example of this used in the article is that of the US postal service. People today send much less mail now due to alternatives like email and electronic billing which are more convenient. Because of this the postal service will likely have to largely scale back or shut down entirely up to 600,000 unemployed.

The writer of this article suggests that employment does not need to be "productive" in the sense that it used to be. Instead, more people can concentrate on creative endeavors like writing books. However, it does little to address those who are not needed in the production of necessities, but who are also not well suited to these kinds of pursuits.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/09/07/rushkoff.jobs.obsolete/

Is the world economy recovering?

http://www.economist.com/node/21550278

This article discusses the global economic situation, and whther or not the international market is recovering from the financial crises of the last several years. In particular, the article discusses the Greek debt developments, the potential of an oil-supply shock, and tensions with Iran over nuclear weapons. Signs of recovery are evident in the economies of many countries, including the U.S. and Greece. However, I would argue that as unemployment rates rise and debts are lowered in these countries, recovery is still not in sight. One reason I think this is because while the economies of these countries may be rising, instability within the countries is undermining these economic successes. How large of a role does the public's perception play in an economic recovery? Does civil unrest in the U.S. (think Occupy WallStreet and other movements) and Greece (massive daily protests) hinder the already unstable economies in these areas? Can economic recovery occur fully without the support and acceptance of the country as a whole or in part?

Unemployment rate drops in key swing states

Good news came on Tuesday for the Obama campaign, as unemployment rates drops in several key swing states. Ohio, Florida, and Michigan had the biggest drops in unemployment. Together, those three three states have a combined 63 electoral votes. This positive economic trend could influence these states to vote for Obama as the election date comes closer. Yet if the economic growth slows in the second half of the year it could mean trouble for the Obama campaign.

No Relief in Sight at Pump

Oil, one of the natural resource that run the economy. as the price rises higher and higher in the near future, will we see another sluggish economy? This is becoming one of the main factors in the presidential campaign, and I feel like, this economy is becoming more and more socialist.