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Boeing Co and the union that represents its 23,000 engineers and technicians agreed to resume labor talks earlier this week. Both sides have now been sparring over mediation of the talks as well as dates and times to meet.  Boeing stated late Friday that the union declined its offer to attend meetings with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on Monday.  The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, said that it contacted the mediator before Boeing, and have been accommodating in the places to meet. It has taken a bigger initiative in setting up dates, and has been the one waiting for Boeing to confirm these meetings.  "I've responded that we have a mediator assigned to us ... but if Boeing is dissatisfied with that mediator, they need to take that up with FMCS not us," Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director, said. "We also don't see the need to meet in a hotel. I offered to meet on Boeing property if that would make them comf...

Sooner or later the harsh realities have to be faced.  Why not face it now?  Obama thinks Republicans will be blamed.  Maybe....maybe not.  Obama is in the White House and his party controls the Senate.  Why not fight the good fight right now.  Go over the cliff and do not raise the debt ceiling.  Force the country to come to grips with the debt situation while it is still possible to do something about it. By coming to a fictitious agreement that may seem politically advantageous in the short run, such an agreement gives up on the country.  Letting the national debt spiral out of the control, which is the Obama plan, destroys the American economy and potentially it's political fabric.  Why not tackle the issue now while Republicans control the House and can block any further madness by the Obama Administration.  The future isn't very bright either way, but there is no hope for the future if Republicans cave in here. The time is now.

According to Geithner, the President has no interest in reducing spending at all.  In fact, he proposes major spending increases for infrastructure.  As for taxes, the sky is the limit, apparently, to the President.  So much for the economy.  This is all about "revenge" after all. As noted in a journal op-ed two days ago, the unfunded liability in social security and medicare increases by over $7 Trillion every single year.  This $ 7 Trillion is not in the budget or under discussion.  So, raising $ 1.6 Trillion in taxes over the next ten years does what?  The only purpose of the Obama tax cut is to punish enemies.  That's it.  And if the American economy is condemned to stagnation for a generation or two, who cares?  Certainly not the President. Going over the cliff looks so much better than this.  Let's hope the Republicans think of country first, strap on their seat belts, and take us over the fiscal cliff.  Only in this mann...

                       President Barack Obama met with a group of CEOs from some of America’s largest companies yesterday regarding the upcoming fiscal cliff. Approximately 14 CEOs participated in the meeting, including Llyod Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Joe Echevarria of Deloitte, and Marissa Mayer of Yahoo.             The CEOs want the government to act fast before a combination of over $500 billion of spending cuts and tax hikes takes effect in 2013. Economists predict that the policies could cut GDP growth by up to four percent and raise unemployment by one percent, sending the US back into a recession. Losses from the economy are estimated at $280 billion from ending the Bush era tax cuts, $125 million from the expiration of the payroll-tax holiday, $40 million from expiring emergency unemployment benefits, and $98 billion from spending cuts under the Budge...

At the beginning of this month, Disney announced their acquisition of Lucasfilm, keeper of the Star Wars franchise, for $4.05 billion. Once again, the mass media giant is proving that it is willing to pay huge money to land a big franchise. Three years ago, Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion and that led directly to the production and release of a series of massively successful superhero movies, including Thor and Captain America last year and The Avengers earlier this year, which grossed $1.5 billion worldwide in box offices. In addition, Disney and Marvel currently have a number of sequels to these movies and even more related films in the pipeline. Dating back even further, Disney’s acquisition of Pixar for $7.6 billion brought with it the animation studio’s list of film series, including Toy Story and Monsters franchises. With the purchase of Lucasfilm, Disney is hoping to take over, revive, and build upon the existing Star Wars franchise in a similar fash...

Warren Buffett opined today that a minimum tax of 30 percent should be placed on incomes north of $ 1 million, jumping to 35 percent for those with incomes above $ 10 million.  In the same interview he seemed to be either (1) unaware of how Berkshire Hathaway pays corporate taxes; or (2) intent on misleading his audience about the taxes that Berkshire actually pays.  You wonder if Warren is really doing his homework these days. Buffett argues that the fiscal cliff is easy to avoid.  Simply move tax revenues up to 21 percent and hold federal spending at 21 percent.  Thanks, Warren, but that won't even come close to getting it done.  The entitlements are on a trajectory to consume 40 percent of GDP within the next two generations (that 40 percent rises to over 100 percent eventually).  What's the plan, then, Warrren -- raise rates to a minimum of 60 percent and 70 percent on the way to 100 percent? Making tax revenues chase entitlement spending is a losers ga...

                 I’m sure you’ve seen them everywhere—on the bus, on train, people going to work, kids, your professor, etc. Yes, you guessed it, the iPhone. Living in NYC, one of the most iPhone dense cities in the world, you really cannot miss this device. The noticeable white earbuds, people taking quick photos and the variety of protective covers are ubiquitous in this small city, and even more prominent amongst NYU students. Even more so with the most recent launch of the iPhone 5, to the extent that Apple’s smartphones now, once again, lead the entire US market.                 If you go to NYU and you see all of these people with iPhones, it might be hard to believe that Android phones had actually controlled the highest percentage of the market for a period of time, up until the release of the iPhone 5. According to Kantar, Apple will continue to amass even mor...

Below is the 10 key achievements highlighted by CEO of Pemandu, that demonstrates the positive inroads of the ETP: Projects will be implemented within the 12 focused National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) and also implement 51 Strategic Reform Initiatives (SRI) to ensure competitiveness will flourish. Whilst Malaysia's GNI per capita was only US$6,700 in 2009, it grew dramatically by 45% in 2011. (Target is US$15,000 by 2020) GDP grew by 5.3% year-to-date. This is significant, considering Singapore's growth of only 1.3% while neighboring countries recorded the following GDP growth: Thailand 3.0% South Korea 1.6% Taiwan 1.0% Hong Kong 1.3% Economy continues to grow to reach new GDP and GNI records in 2011, with Government achieved its highest revenue in history with RM185 billion in 2011, allowing the Government to implement many programmes, including those under GTP such as BRIM1 and BRIM2. Private investment continues to achieve robust growth. As of Sept 2012, private inv...

On Cyber Monday, Amazon.com shoppers found deals on laptops, cameras, phones, ... and even Amazon's debt! Today, along with many online deals on consumer goods, Amazon also sold bonds to raise over $3 Billion for what what the company calls "general corporate purposes". Taking advantage of low interest rates, Amazon tapped into the bond market to build its cash reserves for the first time since May 1998, when the company was junk-rated. The bonds were met with mixed reactions. S&P rated the bonds double-A-minus, a relatively strong rating just 2 notches below the US government's rating. The company is expected to generate strong revenues with its products such as the Kindle over the next few years. Moody's however, rated the debt at Baa1, 2 notches lower than S&P's rating. Amidst the chaos of the start of the holiday shopping season, it seems most people were concerned with the hottest deals on electronics. According to a few investors, however, these ...

Growing the economy is no longer an American policy objective.  The Obama Administration rarely mentions the topic.  They talk about the economy but do not seem to think that eononmic growth is really all that important.  Somehow, according to Obama, you can get jobs and full employment with little or no economic growth.  There are no prior historical examples of job creation without economic growth, but maybe Obama knows something that we don't know. The main focus of the administration is to figure out how to put the economy into a straight jacket.  The political rhetoric that garners support for this absurd economic program is to demonize the rich and successful.  The media helps, of course.  When was the last time you watched a television program where a businessman was anything other than a sleazy crook.  The anti-business mentality not only infects the White House, it permeates our entire culture. If business is the enemy and economic growth...

Walmart has provided low wage jobs for hundreds of thousands of Americans.  None of those employees were promised a living wage, guaranteed health care, and a plethora of fringe benefits.  If an employee did not want the low wage job that was offered, they could look elsewhere.  That is still true.  Nothing has changed. Now the big unions want a new deal.  The new deal is all about the living wage, health care coverage and host of other goodies not normally available to low-skilled, low wage employees.  So, now Walmart is the bad guy, in the eyes of the unions. Walmart should be free to offer whatever jobs they want to offer and if people don't want those jobs, then they can work somewhere else.  This is an economic transaction, not a religious order.   Any Walmart employees, unhappy with existing working arrangements, can leave and work somewhere else.  That's what disgruntled employees of Walmart should do, instead of inconvenienc...

Casey Mulligan, an econ prof at the University of Chicago, has provided a fascinating analysis of why so many people have given up looking for work in the Obama economy.  His new book, "The Redistribution Recession," lays out the "high marginal tax rates" that the unemployed and the poor in general face in the Obama economy. Here's an example you might not have thought about.  Under the Obama mortgage loan foregiveness rules, the amount of loan forgiveness depends upon your income.  The higher your income, the less you can receive in loan forgiveness.  This functions like a tax: if you work and receive income you lose the ability to receive loan forgiveness.  So, why work?  The same kind of disincentives are in place with food stamps, unemployment compensation and host of government programs to help the needy and the middle class. The result:  people rationally choose to leave the labor force and live off of the various pecuniary benefits that one can ...

As all of us know, Employees Provident Funds (EPF) is meant for our retirement savings which helps us go through our golden years. However, statistic shows that most of the contributors opted for full withdrawals at age 55 and finished it all within a period of 10 years . In addressing this issue and encouraging contributors to keep their savings longer, EPF has launched a campaign to promote awareness on their " Flexible Age 55 Withdrawal Scheme ". How flexible is it? If you're one of the to-be-retiree, then this post more than relevant to you. Read on and share this with other contributors if you think that this might be useful for them. How does " EPF Flexible Age 55 Withdrawal Scheme " works? By opting the scheme, contributors could withdraw part of their savings at any one time or make monthly withdrawals or a combination of both options. This is how flexible it is where you can vary the frequency and withdrawal amount anytime. In other words, withdraw onl...

Another economist for big government.  We don't seem to run out of these guys.  This time Eduardo Porter is in the spotlight.  His article in today's NY Times argues that the middle class is losing ground because government isn't big enough!  No, that is not a joke.  Porter really said that. I guess he must think government has been shrinking over the past few decades.  What rock has he been hiding under? As government in the US at all levels has expanded without any apparent limit, the position of the middle class has deteriorated.  Yes, that is true.  Guess why? The government is not the friend of the middle class.  It is the government that has taken away the incentives that the middle class once had to save and provide for their future and the future of their children.  Now, the middle class presumes, incorrectly it turns out, that the government is doing the saving for them and will provide for them in their old age.  Wron...

Who should decide whether or not a driver, alone in his/her car, should wear a seatbelt?  The government?  Why? What if the driver feels that they can drive more safely without the encumbrance and annoyance of a seatbelt?  Does that count for anything? The usual answer to this question is that if the driver sustains an injury the rest of society may have to pay for his/her injury.  But, why is that?  Why isn't the driver alone responsible for their own injury?  Why is this the responsibility of someone down the street? But what if the driver is correct?  The driver may be a safer driver without the imposition of the seatbelt.  What then?  Aren't other people less safe if the driver becomes more, not less, accident prone because of having to wear a seatbelt? It is not unreasonable to suppose that some people drive better when not encumbered by a seatbelt.  Should we ignore that? The requirement that a lone individual driving without passe...

Bal Thackeray, the controversial Hindu leader, died this past Saturday, November 17, at the age of 86. He had been sick in the weeks leading up to his death and ultimately passed from cardiac arrest. Thackeray is known throughout India for his Hindu nationalist beliefs and for inciting violent riots on their behalf. Many supporters refer to him as Hindu Hriday Samrat (emperor of Hindu hearts), while critics refer to him and his followers as thugs. Thackeray, who was originally a cartoonist, became involved in politics during the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement (United Maharashtra Movement) in the 1950s. It championed the creation of an Indian state named Maharashtra that would unite all Marathi speaking people and bolster their identity. The capital of the state would be the city of Bombay, India’s financial capital. This goal was achieved in 1960. Thackeray then founded the political part, Shiv Sena (Shiva’s Army), in 1966, and has led it since then. The Shiv Sena and Thackeray are...

Progressive taxation, income maintenance schemes, food stamps, public housing, and other redistribution schemes determine priorities.  Given the level of redistribution in the US and Europe, there is no room left to provide for infrastructure rebuilding.  Uwe Reinhardt's article in today's NY Times is another example, as if anymore were needed, of an economist off the rails. Reinhardt laments the fact, undeniable, that US infrastructure is crumbling.  Guess what, Uwe, there is no money available for infrastructure.  Current tax revenues are mostly transfer payments going from one part of the US population to another.  There is no room left to provide for basic needs like infrastructure, national defense, the court system, the schools, etc.  Instead we need our tax revenues to provide things for people that they should be providing for themselves -- lunches for their own children is just one example. The price of redistribution is that you will not have mone...

It is very likely that many of you have already run to your nearest supermarkets and bought the remaining few boxes of Twinkies. After all, the iconic company, with whom our childhoods are associated with, has come to an unfortunate demise. Hostess filed for liquidation today, after a hard-fought battle with the baker’s union over contract negotiations, ending all business operations immediately. It is only natural after today’s events to determine who the real culprit at fault is. Some blame it on poor financial decisions made by management to raise their own salaries multiple times despite declining customer demand. This explanation is justified given a lack of improvement to Hostess’ financial statements after three previous sales and two prior bankruptcies. But that answer seems almost too simple and straightforward for such complicated failed negotiations. Hostess had warned its bakers that a strike would force the company into filing for liquidation. The union nonetheless decide...

As a percentage of GDP, revenues are at a lower level than they have been for years.  Why is that?  Because of the Bush tax cuts?  No.  The reason is that the recession of 2008 is still with us.  The economy is in slow motion, so revenues have never recovered (as a percentage of GDP). So, how do you get revenues up?  That is where the rubber meets the road. The democrats answer to that question is to raise tax rates.  If so, why not raise them to 90 or 95 percent?  That should raise revenues easily enough to solve the current deficit, if you take the democrat logic literally.  A good beginning would be to tax Congressional pay at a 90 percent rate. I like that one. Heck, 100 percent sounds even better.  We could begin to make progress on reducing the national debt if we just confiscated everyone's income above $ 1 million. Democrats believe that folks are indifferent to tax rates and will pay whatever the Congress decides without changin...

With the global football transfer market worth an estimated $3 billion, financial holding companies are increasingly interested in buying up the transfer rights of the world's biggest stars. And the returns can be enormous. The transfer market is a complicated system but can be simplified to this: most football teams have "youth systems" that train young talent of all ages. Barcelona's La Masia Academy, from which Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta were developed, can be considered the pinnacle of these youth systems. If players are good enough, they can make the first team as teenagers. In some cases, opposing teams do youth transfers to continue developing a young player but to also bring them to the club for cheaper than a full fledged star. From then on, each time the young player changes clubs, his original club that developed him will get a "development fee" and the rest of the money involved in the transfer will be given to the team transferring t...

President Obama was quoted today at his news conference: "Raising rates will not break the backs of the wealthy." I agree.  The wealthy are uniquely able to avoid these higher rates.  The net effect of raising rates will be to lower the taxes paid by the wealthy, because they will take measures to reduce taxable income and pay less in taxes. We are in agreement, Mr. President. Higher rates will discourage investment, increase the ranks of the unemployment and inhibit economic growth. What you should have said, Mr. President, and what is true is the following: "Raising rates will break the backs of the middle class, not the wealthy."

Obama proposes a $ 1.6 Trillion tax hike to solve a $ 66 Trillion unfunded liability.  He then proposes another $ 2.8 Trillion in Spending cuts.  This is the "Grand Bargain" that Obama seeks to strike. Is this some kind of joke?  Besides not making a dent in the entitlement disaster that looms ahead, the tax hike virtually guarantees an economy that will join the European race to the bottom.  Why not cut to the chase?  France just raised marginal rates to 75 percent.  Why don't we follow suit?  We will get to that point anyway, in time, with the President's logic. Instead of fixing the spending imbalance that is causing our national debt to explode, the President has a temporary fix that makes the situation look better on paper for a few months.  After a few months, the "Grand Bargain" will become the "National Straightjacket" as it becomes apparent that the higher tax rates reduce economic growth and dramatically lower tax revenues.  Since v...

"Balanced," according to whom.  With federal and state marginal rates in excess of 50 percent in many locales, how is more taxation "balanced?"  Most Americans do not pay any federal income tax at all.  Many Americans, off-the-books Americans, not only don't pay income taxes, they don't pay payroll taxes either, much less medicare taxes. So raising federal income tax rates targets the dwindling minority of Americans who pay taxes.  So this is balanced? Instead of trying to develop government programs that help the truly needy, America has developed entitlement programs that make no distinction between Warren Buffett and his yardman.  They both get social security and they both get medicare.  I guess that is balance. Over time Americans have grown accustomed to the idea that they need not pay for their retirements, health care, education, food -- frankly, much of anything.  So, it is no surprise that American spending habits are incredibly reckless....

It is time to take a ride "over the fiscal  cliff."  Any compromise is only likely to make matters worse by pushing the problem down the road.  It will not be long before the only solution to our fiscal woes is the kind of economic and political chaos that is modern day Greece. Far better to take the poison pill now.  Yes, the economy will suffer.  But, what happens in five years when the so-called compromise or grand solution unravels because it never had any substance anyway.  Politicians will find a way to "extend and pretend."  Why bother? If we plunge over the fiscal cliff, then the implications of the entitlement state will be front and center for the body politic.  Better to face it now than later.  It is fixable now, if we see it as an emergency, which a plunge over the cliff will provide. This Administration intends to insist on higher rates that will imperil our economic future and lead to a 1970s style economic stagnation or a 1930...

Obama and Boehner have made post-election comments stating forthrightly that they are both "open to compromise."  The President insists on higher "tax rates" for everyone whose incomes are in excess of $ 250,000.  The vast majority of such taxpayers have incomes well below $ 1 million per year, but the President labels them "millionaires and billionaires."  You wonder why  he doesn't lower the threshold to $ 100,000, since the label doesn't match the reality anyway. Boehner has offered a true compromise. He will agreed to tax changes that promise "higher revenues."  That is a significant change in the Republican position.  Alas, there is zero change in the Obama position.  Higher "tax rates" for "the wealthy," as Obama puts it, will lower tax revenues and stunt economic recovery.  That doesn't bother the president, so long as he wins the rhetorical war.  The election shows that you can, in fact, fool (a slim majori...

     In the next few years, the average age of the US population is going to start drastically increasing. By 2025, the population of people over 65 will almost double in the United States, while the population of working-age adults and children will only rise by about 15%. Clearly, since the older-aged population is growing faster than the middle-aged and youngsters, the American population’s average age will rise. The reason that the growth rate of the older population is so high is because the first of the people born in the baby boomer era have just begun retiring and will continue to do so until 2029. The baby boomers were people born after World War II, in the years 1946 to 1964 (marked in red on the graph below). These years were marked by high post-war birth rates, and now, 65 years later, they are aging and perhaps also taking a toll on the US economy, which is just now getting back on track.      The graying of the US population has serious implic...

When everyone thought that US and the world will be better if Obama won his presidential re-election again, world equities markets today declines with US being the most serious market by dropping more than 2%. What's the reason? Answer: Fiscal Cliff  ? Hmmm... Then, what is fiscal cliff actually which many of us on the street do not even heard about this new term before. No worry, Finance Malaysia blog did his homework over here. Share this out if you like. Understanding Fiscal Cliff... The US fiscal cliff refers to the effect of a series of enacted legislation which, if unchanged, will result in tax increases, spending cuts, and a corresponding reduction in the budget deficit. With Obama retaining the presidency, it sends the signal that it's US government policies will pretty much stay the same as previous 4 years. Ben Bernanke will stay as Fed chairman, which also meaning that the open-ended liquidity and bond buying programs will continue, fueling risk taking appetite of e...