Category Archives: Politics

Satyajit Das: Two Views of Japan’s Setting Sun

Das discusses two recent books on Japan, and both provide windows on how Japan is coping with its now lost two decades. One of them is by Tag Murphy, who I met in my days in Japan and has long been a very insightful commentator. As I said at the Atlantic Economy conference, rather than trying to “jump start the economy,” which would take more radical restructuring than they are willing to engage in, the top wealthy might be better served to worry about managing low growth better. And for its many flaws, egalitarian Japan has muddled through a far more severe bubble and bust with more grace than we have.

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Eurogroup Demands Varoufakis’ Ouster; Trajectory Toward Default Continues

In case you had any doubts that Greece is supposed to act like a good debt vassal, the Eurogroup’s hissy fit over Yanis Varoufakis at last Friday’s meeting, which stoked a raft of unflattering articles, has now led it to demand to that Greek government remove him.

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Bill Black: Obama & TPP – Every One That Doeth Evil Hateth the Light

President Obama wants the world to know that he takes it personally that the Democratic Party’s base opposes his latest effort to sell out the people of the world to the worst corporations through the infamous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.

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Greece Endgame Nears

Despite the market jitters of last Friday, which were triggered in part by the recognition that the odds of Greece reaching a deal with its creditors are far lower than had been widely assumed, Greek-related coverage has ratcheted down, even as Greece seems certain not to get any funds released in the April 24 Eurogroup meeting and is very likely to miss the end of April deadline for getting its reforms approved by the Troika and Eurogroup.

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Bill Black: Lanny Breuer’s Defense of Not Prosecuting HSBC and its Officers

Bill Black shreds not simply Lanny Breuer’s lame justification for not prosecuting HSBC officers and employees, but also by implication, Loretta Lynch’s. And the Lynch nomination reveals the deadly confines of the two party system. Elizabeth Warren made a bold speech last week in which she called for far more fundamental bank reform. She also reaffirmed her criticism of the failure to lodge criminal charges against any major bank executives. Yet as a Senator, she can’t afford to buck the Lynch nomination, since she apparently feels it would cost her too much in terms of moving the other elements of her program forward. But isn’t this arguably the most important issue?

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