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Author Archives: Felix
Rupert Murdoch Already Is a Global Statesman
Murdoch is already a global statesman, and he has
been one for decades. In fact, he has been the most powerful press baron in
the world for many years now. Owning the Journal would, at the margin, increase
his influence. But Rupert is not some déclassé billionaire with
more money than clout.
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Posted in Media, publishing
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Why Do People Care So Much About All-Time Highs?
What’s with this obsession with the high-point of the Nasdaq, back in 2000? The Wall Street Journal is polling economists, asking them when they think the Nasdaq is going to hit a new high – to which the only reasonable … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
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Beware Performance Chasers
Posted in stocks
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Today in Murdoch: Devilish Deals
Rupert awards Roger Ailes $7,666,666.
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Posted in Media
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JetBlue Ouster: Look at the Shares, Not the Storms
The main job of a CEO is to get the share price rising, and Neeleman managed
that only during 2003. Ever since then, the stock has been either falling or
moving sideways, and that’s more than sufficient reason for the board to replace
him with someone else.
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Posted in defenestrations, stocks
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Lord Browne Resigns From Goldman Sachs Board
Lord Browne has now resigned
from the board of Goldman Sachs. I can’t believe he did so willingly,
either – Goldman seems to be hanging him out to dry.
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Posted in defenestrations
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In Defense of Rupert Murdoch
Have Dow Jones journalists really been so beaten down by mismanagement and underinvestment that they can’t recognize an optimist when they see one?
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Posted in Media, publishing
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US Steps Up Wolfowitz Support
Wolfowitz is sure to go one way or another, so at this point the interests of the US are in making his departure as painless as possible, and maximizing US control over the choice of his successor. Unfortunately, the US seems to be acting in direct opposition to both of those interests right now.
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Posted in defenestrations, world bank
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Time For a Fed Statement Overhaul
In the wake of all the Kremlinology spurred by yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting, I’m wondering if it might not be time to revisit the manner in which the Fed releases its statements.
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Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
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Remainders
Bits and pieces from around the world.
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Bolivia Exits ICSID, Endangers Global Direct Investment
Bolivia’s leftist president, Evo Morales, has announced that his country is unilaterally
exiting ICSID. What’s more, other countries in his bloc, including Nicaragua
and Venezuela, are likely to follow suit. This is bad news not only for Telecom Italia, but also for any companies investing abroad.
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Posted in geopolitics
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Realistic Counterfeiting Numbers Emerge
I’ve been waiting over two years for this. Since the end of 2004, I’ve had a close interest in counterfeiting statistics, and eventually I wrote a long piece in June 2005 saying that all counterfeiting statistics are bullshit. Towards the … Continue reading
Posted in statistics
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No Hedge Fund Regulation from the EU
German finance minister Peer Steinbruck is quoted as saying that “the regulatory approach is the wrong one”.
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Posted in hedge funds
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Clinton Stands Up to US Patent Bullies
If the next president of the World Bank is once again to be an American, George W Bush could do no better than to nominate his predecessor, Bill Clinton, to the job. Clinton’s bold Aids-drug initiative is one reason why.
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Posted in development, intellectual property
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This is a Bull Market, Not a Bubble
What we’re in right now is a bull market, not a bubble. And although both bull markets and bubbles do come to an end, the chances of a disastrous crash are much lower in the former case than in the latter.
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Posted in economics
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Taxing the Tax-Exempt
It doesn’t make any sense to single out “debt-financed investing” for taxation in these days of extreme financial sophistication and embedded leverage.
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Posted in hedge funds, taxes
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Kemal Dervis for World Bank President!
Dervis would be great for many reasons, not least because he would be the first president of the World Bank not to be a US citizen.
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Posted in world bank
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Do Stock Prices Reflect Economic Reality?
It’s always possible to find an argument why stocks should be rising, and it’s always possible to find an argument why stocks should be falling. I’ll go with whichever argument accords with what the stock market is actually doing at the time.
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Zipcar insurance, part 3
A couple of months ago, I spoke to three Zipcar executives about the Zipcar insurance situation. I reported then: Zipcar told me that they’re going to make it much clearer on their website that their liability coverage is pretty weak; … Continue reading
Posted in Not economics
38 Comments
Citi’s $50 Billion Climate Pledge: Less Than Meets the Eye?
Citi has pledged to do things to help the environment. But it hasn’t pledged not to harm the environment even more.
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Posted in banking, climate change
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Thomson-Reuters: Fierce Competitor, or Cozy Duopolist?
The big question is whether Thomson-Reuters will be a fierce competitor to Bloomberg, or whether the two companies will settle down into a relatively cozy duopoly, with every incentive to raise prices and little incentive to cut them.
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Posted in Media
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Larry Summers vs Martin Wolf on Russia
Summers seems to be incapable of admitting that US policy towards Russia in the aftermath of the Cold War was actually disastrous.
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Posted in economics
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Bloomberg vs Spitzer?
Mike Bloomberg
is splashed all over the front page of the New York Post today, saying he’s
interested in running
for governor of New York when his tenure as mayor of New York City runs
out at the end of 2009.
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Posted in Politics
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Rupert Murdoch: White Knight, or Dark Destroyer?
There’s a good rule of thumb in any takeover battle, when looking at the target
company: if the company’s competitors oppose the deal, it’s probably a good
deal. Let me add another: if the company’s present owners start falling back
onto soaring rhetoric in defense of the status quo, it’s probably a good deal.
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Posted in Media, publishing
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Markets: Efficient, More or Less
Even if markets aren’t efficient, you’re not going to be able to profit from it.
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Posted in stocks
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