2x new #Porsche 911s listed without manual #gearbox option in move sure to infuriate purists; '#computers shift gears smoother than #humans'—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 10, 2013
As #Porsche clientele has moved from car enthusiasts to global über-wealthy, +demands for easier, faster transmission tinyurl.com/c7pgpdt—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 10, 2013
Filed under Business, Culture, Technology
https://twitter.com/Mediolana/status/321961201368182784
Growing numbers of #Germans choosing to spend their retirement years in #Spain, #Asia or Eastern #Europe as unable to afford own care homes—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 07, 2013
Full care for an elderly person in a German home costs nearly €3k, only €1.5k of which is covered by state #insurance tinyurl.com/cfk6xke—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) April 07, 2013
#Sweden becomes first team ever to come back from 4-0 down to #Germany; serious Europe Group C rivalry 'commences' tinyurl.com/czptrqc—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) October 17, 2012
Filed under Football
Angela #Merkel oversees 'training session' mauling of #EU pariah state; Mesut #Özil 'steals show' tinyurl.com/72rtoqb
#austerity #Euro2012—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) June 23, 2012
Filed under Football
#Germany breaks record owing to boom in solar panel installation; c. 80% of .de's electricity from renewables by 2050 tinyurl.com/c35hh3l—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) June 13, 2012
Filed under Economic Development, Economics, Environment, Technology
Arguably the greatest debate of the second decade of the twenty-first century is presently playing itself out in the world’s broadsheet columns: should the path to recovery from the nearly half-decade old financial crisis be sought through austerity, where governments cut back expenditure with the aim of returning to solvency, or via an economic growth model where states intervene in the macroeconomy to stimulate aggregate demand?
Most pieces that we’ve come across bear pronouncedly ideological stamps: those wishing to use this historical juncture to severely circumscribe the role and capacity of the state are keen to push an austerity agenda, while those of a more statist bent find the need for implementing Keynesian countercyclical theory self-evident. One of the more balanced contributions to this issue – The boom was the illusion, authored by no less a figure than Baron Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick – does a decent job of sketching out the limitations of both approaches; however, contains the seeds of what in our eyes is an even more controversial issue: the rebalancing of the global economy.
Skidelsky posits that regardless of which lenses the present crisis is viewed through, the prevention of future crises must be facilitated via a global economy acting more uniformly. Credit-defined countries such as the United States (and presumably the United Kingdom) ‘must consume less and export more’; export-oriented economies such as China and Germany should do the opposite: save less, and import and consume more. The Harbin-born academic pulls no punches with his stark conclusion: ‘If China and Germany insist on being 21st-century mercantilists – exporting more than they import – the rest of the world will start to protect itself against them. Germany’s policy will lead to the breakdown of the eurozone, China’s to the breakdown of the world trading and payments system.’
From the perspective of possible consequences, this argument may have some merits, but is it remotely fair? Both Germany and China’s economic conduct has been exemplary insofar as these states are not responsible for creating the financial crisis. In Germany’s case, it has prized sober capital accumulation and the manufacturing of great products that the entire world is in love with; particularly within the last twenty years, high-saving China has taken great strides to educate its population, with millions of graduates now entering the labour force every summer.
Germany is almost single-handedly propping up the eurozone; China’s capital surplus was a lifeline for the American economy even as it enjoyed what Skidelsky correctly refers to as an illusory boom. Yet for all this, they are still being labelled as ‘mercantilist’ and their economies deemed in need of ‘rebalancing’.
To prescribe the United States and other similar economies to adopt sensible macroeconomic trajectories is one thing, but to tell economies whose own responsible management is one of the few reasons for optimism in an otherwise extremely uncertain climate is not merely counterintuitive, but possibly morally questionable.
Filed under Economics, Education, Finance, Political Science
#BMW recalls all 5 and 6 series models (2003-2010) for 'battery cable cover correction'; 1.3m cars affected tinyurl.com/bmd9era #Luxury—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) March 27, 2012
Filed under Business
#BMW-owned Rolls-Royce announces #2011 as its greatest sales year ever; #luxury brands generally buoyant despite d'turn tinyurl.com/7eyngsb—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) January 09, 2012
