Hong Kong clamps down on quirky property buys

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/07/news/economy/hong-kong-property/index.html?iid=SF_E_River

It's interesting to learn about the one of the oddest trends in the real estate market in Hong Kong. People there are paying hundreds of thousands dollars for a parking space or a roof. As weird as it sounds, almost every piece of privately-owned concrete is up for grabs in Hong Kong as the city's overheated property market continues to swell, driven by low interest rates, limited supply and waves of cash from mainland China. This somewhat bizarre trend was apparently started when the government tried to cool the market in October which may also have unnerved some investors and lead them into less regulated alternative property investments like parking spaces and roof decks. If you have been to Hong Kong, you know that it is an extremely dense region. There is very little buildable land and because of that, new construction is carefully controlled. The population is growing rapidly, people are well educated and they have a lot of disposable income. These are the perfect ingredients for a "frothy" real estate market.

China pledges to tackle pollution crisis

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/05/news/economy/china-environment-pollution/index.html?iid=SF_E_River

The article mentions the recent annual meeting of the Communist Party-dominated national congress in China, in which the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to control air pollution and make water supplies safer in China. China has been in a period of rapid growth and industrialization, but obviously with rapid growth comes the problem of growing pollution. As a matter of fact, China burns 3.8 billion tons of coal per year which is nearly as much as the rest of the world combined. And the pollution has only been increasing while the pollution and dust have been known to settle as far as California. Some measures that they may implement to reduce pollution are alternative energy sources and carbon taxes. The only question now is if the talk at the congress will be translated into action.

The wealthy haven't recovered from the Great Recession (but they're doing way better than you)

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/19/news/economy/top-income/index.html?iid=SF_E_Highlight

According to a recent study, the annual earnings of America's economic elite remain way below their 2007 peak. The top 1% of America's earners took home an average of $1.05 million in 2011, down nearly 30% from the $1.48 million they averaged four years earlier, before the Great Recession took hold. However, as the tittle suggests, they are still doing way better than the majority of Americans. Those in America's bottom 99% had an average income of $42,826 in 2011. That's essentially flat compared to two years ago -- meaning that while America's richest enjoyed a rebound, others have not. Their average income is the lowest it has been since 1995, compared to 2003 for the top 1%.

George W. Bush: The Art World's Rising Star

STORY HERE

I just needed to share this story with you guys. Apparently former president George W. Bush is an up and coming painter who mostly enjoys painting dogs and, more recently, landscapes. He has also painted self portraits of himself in the bathtub - you can find the images on Google.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/09/business/economy/us-added-236000-jobs-in-february.html?_r=0

The sequester is coming in March 1st. Though not being reflected on February's number, the public sector already lost 10,000 jobs this month and jobless rate in the sector is about the increase as predicted. Michelle Meyer, senior United States economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, says "we’re going to see federal job cuts and the spring is going to be a soft patch for the labor market." Needless to say, America will take a big hit this March and April when the Congressional impasse, let's see what is coming but right now, it's not too doomed while looking at job improvement as the nationwide unemployment rate is expected to reduce to 7% at the end of this year.

Click here to read more...

Chavez's death won't spur new Venezuela oil drilling

Chavez died but it is not certain that his death may bring Venezuela back to its once status of the largest oil producer as well as its credibility as a "democratic" country. The article recommends Venezuela to take immediate actions in restoring their credibility in the eyes of investors. It starts with privatizing the oil industry again by inviting the once ousted ConocoPhilips. Despite that attempt, it may take much longer time when the political apparatus Chavez set up seems entrenched. In the long term, government-run petroleum company PDVSA should be broken down and no longer serve as the piggy bank for the government to spend on experiment as it used to be under Chavez regime. It's essential to have room for foreign investors to come back and better use the resources.

Click here to read more...

Was Chavez bad for Venezuela?

Was Chavez bad for Venezuela?

In her article Megan McArdle writes that even though Hugo Chavez was a strongman he had very profound anti-democratic policies. She contends that his economic policies were very detrimental to Venezuelan’s future.

Even though Chavez's government made considerable developments in the education sector but the poverty rates have fallen.  One of the worst things he did to the Venezuelan economy.

This graph is from the The Economist.  Even though the economy doesn’t look too bad here but the growth is not great as it should be considering Venezuela is an oil producing company.

This article suggests that they're pumping less oil than they used to, hence Venezuela's oil output has fallen by almost a third since Chavez took power.  That's why Venezuelan economic growth is pretty underwhelming.  

This sums up that Chavez was not very good for Venezuela' economy. 

Article: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/07/why-hugo-chavez-was-bad-for-venezuela.html

French Unemployment Rate Puts Pressure on a Labor-Market Reform

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/french-unemployment-climbs-to-106-percent-in-q4/2013/03/07/5d09aecc-86f4-11e2-a80b-3edc779b676f_story.html

In the last quarter of last year, France's unemployment rate rose to 10.6%, rising 0.3% from the third quarter of last year. This increase in unemployment along with a decrease in GDP in three of the last 4 quarters is putting pressure on Hollande to implement a labor-market reform. The strong rules that make it difficult to fire workers and employers reluctant to higher will be loosened with this reformation. It will also give companies more flexibility for setting it's working hours and salaries. These new policies will definitely help with France's increasing unemployment rate, but I feel that more needs to be done to combat their issues, as they are moving into a recession. Hollande appears to be responsive to the needs of his nation and it is possible that he might implement further reformations if these do not appear to be adequate.

In a First, Baby 'Cured' of HIV

http://news.discovery.com/human/health/baby-cured-aids-130204.htm
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2013/03/aids-research

On March 3rd, there was a case of a baby that was "functionally cured" of HIV. Functionally cured means that the HIV virus is not totally eradicated, but its presence is reduced to a level such that the body can control it without using drugs. Although researchers and doctors are unsure about how the cure came about, they speculate that it is due to the intensive dosage of the drugs given at birth and the timing of the drugs (given starting less than 30 hours after her birth). With this new "breakthrough" or discovery, there will definitely be a large investments and funding for the research by many more institutions.

Warren Buffett says federal budget cuts aren't too bad for economy

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-warren-buffett-sequester-budget-cuts-economy-20130304,0,3145208.story

Warren Buffet puts his two cents in about how Congress has dealt with the deficit situation. Although borrowing may be cheap right now, I do believe that there's some value in making sure the deficit does not get too out of hand. I remember an article published by the European Union that found correlation between more than 1 to 1 debt to GDP ratio and negative effects on the economy. I do not believe that it's healthy for politicians to already come out and play the blame game and predict the economy to take a downturn from this.
However, even though the method has been rough, I am optimistic that the deficit is being taken care of and that it's been a two way street of cuts and increase in revenue. Buffet seems to think that the cuts will not effect the U.S. economy very negatively and he is also in agreement that the deficit should be taken care of.
Hopefully, Congress can start working in a more efficient and sensible manner. 

Euro and its benefits for Germany

This article outlines the reason Germany will bailout other EU countries. Germany has done fairly well for themselves during the crisis; they have been able to keep their economic numbers a lot better than other countries - Spain, Greece, Portugal.

The article presents many examples of how the rewards for saving the Euro outweigh the costs (negatives). In most possible scenarios, Germany will do better if it loans money out to struggling EU members; Germany could even turn a profit on certain loans.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/business/economy/why-germany-will-pay-up-to-save-the-euro.html?pagewanted=all

Mexican Union Leader arrested on embezzlement accusations

The head of the powerful teachers union, Elba Esther Gordillo, has been arrested for partaking in a scam that brought her around 2 billion pesos. The arrest comes after newly elected President, Enrique Pena Nieto, signed a major educational reform law. Elba is known for high fashion and a flashy lifestyle, with many questioning how she maintained such a lavish reputation on a public servants salary. That question has been answered. The true question now is whether or not she will be found guilty, as Mexico has had some trouble sending wealthy, well-known criminals to jail.

Link: http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2013/02/mexico%E2%80%99s-teachers%E2%80%99-union

Youtube Clip of Rebels in Syria (taking over)

Here is an interesting link videotaping the rebels in Syria taking over a major city. The conquering of Raqqa has changed the dynamics of the civil war. This clip is from over the weekend. The statue coming down is Hafez al-Assad - the former president of Syria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6hFwEmgylJ4

Why Five Days in the Office is Too Many

This article is one woman's reflection of the benefits and disadvantages to a five day week of working in an office setting. The writer herself left the corporate world at the age of 23 to start her own software company. She found the idea of sitting in a cubicle everyday "maddeningly inefficient" and knew that flexibility made her a better, more productive worker. She reports that as her company grew, however, she began feeling the need to put her employees in a typical office setting to be completely sure that they were being productive, and so that she could more easily monitor and measure their productivity. She also noticed that the social interactions between workers was beneficial to the bouncing of ideas between employees. Yahoo argued that point when they made the switch to all employees required to work in the office, saying that "some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway or cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings." But the author also sees the benefits of giving the brain "unstructured time to think," and the value of ideas grown from that.

The writer mentions that she believes the classic five day work week is outdated and not needed as much anymore, because people have the technological resources to work at home and still stay in communication. She concludes her opinion piece by saying that the office should be a gathering space to communicate ideas, but that employees should be given the respect and the responsibility to work on their own schedules and complete their work wherever they choose, as long as they still make deadlines. Because of these reasons, she is in favor of a three day work week.

I see the benefits of this, especially for working parents, who still want to work, but may not be able to under the confines of a typical 9-5, five days a week work schedule. And there have been many studies that show that some people think more clearly at later hours of the night, while other's brains are most active first thing in the morning. Being able to choose when to be productive would perhaps increase productivity among employees. But I also understand the opposing argument that some people work better under a structured schedule, that the work place is a good environment for idea-sharing, and that it is the best way for an employer to oversee the work that's being done. What do you think? As an employer, what would you prefer? How about as an employee?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/jobs/in-defense-of-working-mostly-from-home.html?ref=business&_r=0

Putting a cap on banker bonuses

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/02/europes-decision-bankers-pay

European bankers now have a cap on the bonuses they can receive after their initial salaries. Even though negotiations with bankers is not an ideal thing for people to do it is a much needed checks and balances system that drives the economy towards more balance. By placing caps on these people the banking system can try and reload and restructure without banks losing millions in dollars of capital to the CEO's

Urban stability: Treating the symptoms

http://www.economist.com/news/china/21572814-name-social-order-government-turns-blind-eye-black-jails-treating-symptoms

The central government of Beijing has been and is turning a blind eye towards "black jails". These black jails are local jails that arrest petitioners who try to protest to the central government of Beijing about problems in their local areas. These black jails or detention centers are ran illegally by the local governments. Petitioners would be dragged against their will into jail with no one to help them; a case where the police are the criminals themselves. There are optimists who seen that the Beijing government may begin to try to crackdown on these black jails because in February 5th, the government sentenced a group of people for running black jails. However, the author believes that should there be progress on eliminate black jails, it would come at a slow pace because the central government also has some vested interest in the existence of these illegal detention centers. The author also suggests that the main problem with the central government is its obsession with the concept of weiwen or stability maintenance. I agree with the author that should the Beijing government want to crack down on the black jails, it will have to sacrifice some stability, but it will be better for Beijing in the long run.

For Some Landlords, Real Money in the Homeless

This is an interesting article from the New York Times discussing the ever growing demand to shelter the homeless. The city/state faces rising cost of homeless shelters and although they are efficient they are seeing a better alternative which is provided by the private sector. Some landlords are offering tenants up to $25,000 to move out in order to move in homeless people that the state will pay multiple times the value of rent to house them. I see this is as a great opportunity for the private sector but at the same time it seems like a great cost to the government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/nyregion/for-some-landlords-real-money-in-the-homeless.html