The Perils of Inattention

In many sports, players are advised always to “keep your eye on the ball.” In 2008, we took our eye off the ball; as a result, we chose a president, and an administration, that did the same.

In the 2008 election cycle, voters were fed up with George W. Bush – and certainly not without some justification. They were ready to vote “not Bush” and “not Republican.” However, in a time fraught with enormous economic difficulty and peril, we elected a president whose background showed no particular familiarity with or interest in economics, and whose record revealed that he was likely to pursue, and to prioritize, the very sorts of policies he has in fact pursued.

For a man who has been president of the United States for nearly a full term, there is much that is not known about Barack Obama. What we do know,however, and can say with some certainty, is that Obama sees himself as a transformative figure in American history. His deepest and most abiding concerns are with his perception that the economic system is unfair and demands reform, particularly in the form of more social benefits to those he sees as in some way underprivileged, a larger government role in the regulation of business, and higher tax rates for high earners.

For More: http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/fpcnew/articledetails.aspx?id=31/The-Perils-of-Inattention

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Assessing The Trump Candidacy

There are some implications for the financial and investing communities.

But first, to address the well-founded skepticism after previous teases at runs each election cycle since 2000: Trump is running in the Republican primary and has just filed the requisite documents with the Federal Election Commission. He has the funds to tackle the ballot access requirements in each state, and to hire the brains to strategize a successful run.

In those respects, Trump evokes a comparison to an equally iconoclastic predecessor who ran twice for President in 1992 and 1996: H. Ross Perot. Now, Trump has a big advantage over Perot in that while it is far easier to get to the general election as a self-financing independent, it is far easier to actually win if you are the nominee of one of the two major parties.

For More: http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/fpcnew/blogdetails.aspx?id=1099/Assessing-The-Trump-Candidacy

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Bailouts – Reality vs. Fiction - Ziad K Abdelnour

The wiser course would be to penalize the CEO or board of directors who drove the company to the brink of failure. The most obvious punishment would be the elimination of any “golden parachutes” or bonuses for the executive and seizure of all company-derived assets, including any attempts to hide company assets in the spouse’s name. When C-level executives come to the realization that managing a company is not a game and that there are serious consequences for their actions, we will see fewer instances of requests for bailouts.

The system can recover from bankruptcies, as it has done throughout history. Would the world really have come to an end had AIG gone into bankruptcy or Goldman Sachs been forced to liquidate and close its doors?

For More: Ziad K Abdelnour

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